The study reports the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty in the luxury and first-class hotel industry. A questionnaire derived from the literature review was completed by 300 customers of luxury and first-class hotels in Ghana. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple regression were used to test the impact of six key relationship marketing practices, namely competence, commitment, conflict handling, trust, communication, and relational bonds on customer loyalty. The findings suggest that all six relationship-marketing practices have a significant and positive effect on customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Ghana. Apart from extending knowledge on relationship marketing practices into a domain without much empirical work, the study also provides hotel managers with practical ways of implementing relationship-marketing strategies for achieving customer loyalty in Ghana.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of brand regulations on the relationship between enterprises’ branding capabilities (internal and external) and performance. It also examines the hypothesized relationship effects across manufacturing and service-based enterprises. Design/methodology/approach The study uses data from 384 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within an emerging market setting. Moderated hierarchical regression was used to examine the theoretical interrelationships between branding capabilities and enterprise performance within the boundaries of regulations. Findings Results from the study suggest that both internal and external branding capabilities positively affect enterprise performance. However, the effect is confounded as brand regulations attenuate the relationship between enterprises’ branding capabilities and performance. Varying outcomes across manufacturing and service-based enterprises are also assessed. Originality/value The study suggests that policy makers should review regulations on businesses, particularly those relating to the small business sector. Regulations that ameliorate activities of SMEs should be implemented to promote existing enterprises, and attract new ones for industrialization in emerging markets. The findings provide evidence for issues of potential research and managerial interest, with implications for both policy makers, small business owners and the academic community.

Purpose Given that the peculiar nature of the internet has introduced new dimensions of service delivery as well as new dimensions of service failures and recovery, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the relationships between recovery strategies and recovery satisfaction within offline and online settings. Design/methodology/approach Data for the empirical tests of our hypotheses were collected via offline and online (specifically Facebook and Twitter) samples of customers who have experienced some form of service failure and recovery measures from service providers within the past year. Findings The results indicate that recovery strategies largely influence recovery satisfaction among aggrieved customers. However, these are conditional and not invariant across the two settings. In the authors’ offline setting, in particular, apology did not show a statistically significant impact on recovery satisfaction, even though, along with compensation and explanation, this relationship was significant among the online sample. Originality/value The study offers practical implications for service managers within emerging economies on the various conditions where they can maximise their service recovery efforts (both offline and online) to generate optimum recovery satisfaction.

Purpose The existing literature has emphasized the importance of frontline service employees developing a sense of ownership for the overall well-being of customers. However, studies into why frontline service employees develop ownership and responsibility for customers are still lacking. The purpose of this paper is to address the question, “Why do frontline service employees engage in responsible customer service behaviors and protect the interests of customers in Ghana?" Design/methodology/approach A semistructured interview with 61 frontline service employees was used in the study. This study used a thematic analysis technique to analyze the data. Findings The findings show that frontline service employees develop a sense of customer stewardship because of organizational values, human resource management initiatives (rewards and in-service training) and ownership and accountability. Originality/value Studies on why frontline service employees engage in responsible customer service behaviors and protect the interests of customers is limited. This study addresses this gap in the literature.

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