Diagnosing member-customer ostracism in co-operatives and counterpoising its relationship-poisoning effects
Purpose: This paper aims to examine a core member-customer threat in co-operatives (co-ops) by drawing from ostracism research, assessing co-op ostracism’s impact on critical membership and relational exchange outcomes and discussing why relationship marketing research needs to pay more attention to the overlooked role of implicit mistreatment forms in customer harm-doing. Design/methodology/approach: Three studies were conducted. In Study 1, ostracism in co-ops was explored, and a measurement scale for co-op ostracism was developed. In Study 2, the core conceptual model was empirically tested with data from members of three different co-ops. In Study 3, a coping strategy was integrated into an extended model and empirically tested with a new sample of co-op members. Findings: Ostracism is present in co-ops and “poisons” crucial relational (and membership) outcomes, despite the presence of other relationship-building or relationship-destroying accounts. Coupling entitativity with cognitive capital attenuates ostracism’s impact. Research limitations/implications: Inspired by co-ops’ membership model and inherent relational advantage, this research is the first to adopt a co-op member-customer perspective and shed light on an implicit relationship-destroying factor. Practical implications: Co-op decision makers might use the diagnostic tool developed in the paper to detect ostracism and fight it. Moreover, a novel coping strategy for how co-ops (or other firms) might fend off ostracism threats is offered in the article. Originality/value: The present study illuminates a dark side of a relationally profuse customer context, painting a more complete picture of relationship marketing determinants. Little attention has been given to ostracism as a distinct and important social behaviour in marketing research and to co-ops as a research context.
Year of publication: |
2018
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Authors: | Benos, Theo ; Kalogeras, Nikos ; de Ruyter, Ko ; Wetzels, Martin |
Published in: |
European Journal of Marketing. - Emerald, ISSN 0309-0566, ZDB-ID 2002936-6. - Vol. 52.2018, 9/10 (03.08.), p. 1778-1801
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Publisher: |
Emerald |
Saved in:
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