PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Is quality or cost more essential? The international cellphone market

2015-04-29
(Press-News.org) As businesses move into international markets, they often do so with a "one size fits all" customer satisfaction strategy. But factors as basic as how consumers prioritize pricing and quality can differ sharply across cultures and economic systems, according to a new study in the Journal of International Marketing. Success will depend in part on understanding these perceptions across cultures.

"A company's success abroad will depend in part on understanding how people of different cultures sometimes perceive value very differently," write authors Forrest V. Morgeson III (American Customer Satisfaction Index), Pratyush Nidhi Sharma (University of Delaware) and G. Tomas M. Hult (Michigan State University). "The current study provides new insights into important ways in which customer perceptions vary from nation to nation."

The authors studied cellphone customer attitudes across the very different cultures and markets of Barbados, Singapore, Turkey, the UK, and the US. This industry was chosen because cellphones are used by the richest and poorest consumers, making it ideal for comparing national experiences. Participants were given surveys and interviews about their cellphone service provider, answering such questions as "How high were your expectations when signing up for your service? How would you rate the overall quality of the service? Have you ever complained to your provider?"

The differences between cultures were often striking. In less-developed markets such as Barbados, the product needed to be affordable above all else. In more developed countries such as Singapore, quality was essential, even at a higher cost. Satisfaction with quality fostered customer loyalty in developed nations, while customers in less-developed nations were likely to remain loyal even if the quality was less than stellar.

"The findings provide a wealth of insight across cultures and economies. The implications are vital, in what promises to be an important and colorful field of study into how customer satisfaction varies worldwide, and the need for modern companies to swiftly understand these make-or-break differences," the authors conclude."

INFORMATION:

Forrest V. Morgeson III, Pratyush Nidhi Sharma, and G. Tomas M. Hult. "Cross-National Differences in Consumer Satisfaction: Mobile Services in Emerging and Developed Markets." Forthcoming in the Journal of International Marketing. For more information, contact Forrest V. Morgeson III or Mary-Ann Twist.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Lack of oxygen in the groundwater

Lack of oxygen in the groundwater
2015-04-29
Jena (Germany) Spring has arrived in Europe with mild temperatures and sunshine. Where just a few weeks ago the ground was frozen and partly covered in snow and ice, it is now thawing. This doesn't only have an impact on the flora and fauna. Thawing results in soil and the groundwater at airports being impacted by chemicals, which are contained in melt water. The reason: Airports have to use de-icing agents during the winter, which end up on unpaved areas and infiltrate into the soils during snowmelt. "Admittedly, airport operators in EU-countries are compelled to sustain ...

Even an hour of TV a day ups risk of childhood obesity

2015-04-29
Children who view television as little as an hour a day are significantly more likely to be overweight or obese and gain more unhealthy weight over time, according to a new study from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Based on the findings, the researchers say physicians should encourage families to restrict young children's TV viewing to prevent unhealthy weight gain. Many previous studies that have examined the link between television and childhood obesity evaluated the effects of watching at least two hours a day; the UVA researchers, on the other hand, ...

Dust from the Sahara Desert cools the Iberian Peninsula

Dust from the Sahara Desert cools the Iberian Peninsula
2015-04-29
Spanish and Portuguese researchers have analysed the composition and radiative effect of desert aerosols during two episodes which simultaneously affected Badajoz (Spain) and Évora (Portugal) in August 2012. Results show that the intrusion of dust from the Sahara Desert caused radiative cooling of the Earth's surface. Atmospheric aerosols (solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere) are difficult to examine for various reasons. Firstly, they remain in the atmosphere for a short time and secondly, their cause may be natural or anthropogenic. Yet there ...

Cytokine may play a major role in multiple sclerosis

2015-04-29
(PHILADELPHIA) - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused by immune cells that activate a cascade of chemicals in the brain, attacking and degrading the insulation that keeps neuronal signals moving. These chemicals, called cytokines, drive the inflammation in the brain, attracting more immune cells, and causing the debilitating disease marked by loss of neurological function. Researchers have long debated which cytokines drive the disease and which are merely accessory. Now, a study published online April 27th, in the Journal of Immunology, confirms that the cytokine GM-CSF ...

Erosion, landslides and monsoon across the Himalayas

2015-04-29
29.04.2015: In these days, it was again tragically demonstrated that the Himalayas are one of the most active geodynamic regions of the world. Landslides belong to the most important geohazards. Besides earthquakes they are triggered mainly by strong rainfall events. A team of scientists from Nepal, Switzerland and Germany was now able to show how erosion processes caused by the monsoon are mirrored in the sediment load of a river crossing the Himalaya. The geoscientists used data from two stations along the Kali Gandaki, a river that traverses the Himalaya from North ...

Making robots more human

2015-04-29
Most people are naturally adept at reading facial expressions -- from smiling and frowning to brow-furrowing and eye-rolling -- to tell what others are feeling. Now scientists have developed ultra-sensitive, wearable sensors that can do the same thing. Their technology, reported in the journal ACS Nano, could help robot developers make their machines more human. Nae-Eung Lee and colleagues note that one way to make interactions between people and robots more intuitive would be to endow machines with the ability to read their users' emotions and respond with a computer ...

Science Academies hand over statements for G7 summit to German Chancellor Merkel

2015-04-29
Today the national science academies of the G7 countries handed three statements to their respective heads of government for discussion during the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau in early June 2015. The papers on antibiotic resistance, neglected and poverty-related diseases, and the future of the ocean were drawn up by the seven national academies under the aegis of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The G7 academies call for a comprehensive strategy to tackle health threats from infectious diseases; progress toward preventing, controlling and eliminating ...

Enron becomes unlikely data source for computer science researchers

2015-04-29
Computer science researchers have turned to unlikely sources - including Enron - for assembling huge collections of spreadsheets that can be used to study how people use this software. The goal is for the data to facilitate research to make spreadsheets more useful. "We study spreadsheets because spreadsheet software is used to track everything from corporate earnings to employee benefits, and even simple errors can cost organizations millions of dollars," says Emerson Murphy-Hill, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of two new papers ...

Drug resistant bacteria common for nursing home residents with dementia

2015-04-29
NEW YORK (April 29, 2015) - A new study found one in five nursing home residents with advanced dementia harbor strains of drug-resistant bacteria and more than 10 percent of the drug-resistant bacteria are resistant to four or more antibiotic classes. The research was published online today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. "Nursing home residents with advanced dementia usually have an increased need for healthcare worker assistance, as well as frequent exposure to antibiotics. This combination ...

Stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma: New data did not change conclusion

2015-04-29
An update search enlarged the pool of study data, but did not change the content of the conclusion of the benefit assessment of stem cell transplantation (SCT) for multiple myeloma conducted in 2012. Overall, the evidence base remained insufficient: Until now, data on quality of life have not been recorded in any study at all. And three large studies, some of which were under German management, have not been completely published even more than 10 years after their completion. This is the conclusion of a rapid report published by the Institute for Quality and Efficiency ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Is quality or cost more essential? The international cellphone market