Research limitations/implications Since the study is qualitative, a larger empirical study would be useful to attempt to replicate our results in this and other geographic markets. Practical implications The results suggest that the Hong Kong SME market is characterized by high level of disloyalty, and that attaining 100% loyalty from this group of customers will be very difficult. 3 Instead, a banking strategy that focuses on service and on developing a sustained relationship with the customer may have the greatest chance of maximising the share-of-wallet of SME customers. The study offers important marketing implications for banks which are operating, or are planning to operate, business banking in Hong Kong and comparable Asian markets. Originality/ value It is the first paper to study the incidence of, and reasons underlying, SME banking loyalty in an Asian market. It shows that disloyalty appears to be the norm in this sector, presenting a reminder to managers and researchers that customer loyalty may be the exception, rather than the norm.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a method for estimating the tradeoffs that banking customers make between different attributes of a service, thus allowing businesses to estimate the likely impact on customer loyalty of changes in different attributes of a service. Design/methodology/approach -The data were collected using a mail survey that was sent to small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) decision makers in Hong Kong. The data were then analyzed using a choice modeling approach in the form of ordinal logistic regression. Findings -Both affective components, such as relational bonds, and cognitive components, such as perceived service quality, are shown to influence customers' switching behavior. The specific tradeoffs that customers make between these attributes are also estimated. Research limitations/implications -This study is the first to quantify the effect of different variables on SME customer loyalty in a largely disloyal services sector. The study also demonstrates and quantifies the tradeoffs that customers make between various cognitive and affective attributes. Practical implications -The tradeoff analysis shows how improvement in one attribute can have an impact that is equivalent to a change in another attribute. This provides additional strategic options for financial services marketers to cost-effectively achieve a higher level of loyalty. Originality/value -The study is the first to show how choice modeling can be used to calculate the tradeoffs that customers make in their purchase decisions, thereby providing financial services marketers with an effective way to estimate the impact of alternative strategies on customer loyalty.

Purpose Understanding the influences in the decision-making process of prospective students when choosing a university is crucial in student recruitment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of perceived source credibility on attitudes and intentions towards taking advice from significant others (e.g. parents, peers and teachers) on university choice. Design/methodology/approach In total, 626 samples from eight government-subsidised secondary schools were collected and tested using the component-based structural equation modelling of partial least squares. Findings The findings verified factors of source credibility that determine prospective students’ attitudes towards taking advice from others. Attitudes and subjective norms explained 49 per cent of the variance in intention to take advice from others on university choice. The findings of the present study provide practical marketing insights for enrolment and recruitment managers. Originality/value While most studies focus on students’ university choice in the recruitment process, studies on perceived source credibility of significant others in the university choice decision-making process are limited.

We concluded that the shift in intensity within this angle range and wavelet domain might be used to document fatigue of the quadriceps during dynamic maximal knee extension exercise.