The onset of Internet marketing is revolutionising marketing practice. Although growth in sales of goods and services online has been dramatic, very little research has addressed the factors that lead to the delivery of superior service and the creation of effective marketing relationships. This paper explores and defines two related constructs – service quality and relationship quality – to ascertain whether consumers can meaningfully distinguish between the constructs. The research uses focus groups and an online survey to address this issue. The paper finds that, although service quality and relationship quality are distinct constructs, they overlap in the area of personal interaction and problem solving. The key drivers for the delivery of superior service and the creation of an effective relationship are reliability and trust emanating from service quality and relationship quality respectively.

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.

This study investigates motives for gift giving by young males on Valentine's Day and advances previous research on this ritual by controlling for the giving context (occasion and relationship). The study is consistent with previous work by Goodwin et al. (1990) which found that motivations based on obligation, self-interest and altruism do indeed exist. More significantly, however, this study points to the finding that individual motivations for the gift-giving ritual on Valentine's Day may be more intricately intertwined and have deeper manifestations in the perceived social power relationship between the genders. The study recommends that marketers delve beyond the immediate horizon of individual motivations and become even more acutely aware of the 'intrinsic social power messages' that arise from the conjoint influences of motivations. This would have great potential for marketing even more meaningful gift products to both givers and receivers.

Viral stealth marketing is a contemporary marketing technique, which has evolved in reaction to the increasingly competitive marketing environment. This paper notes that despite its huge potential, very little research is being targeted towards understanding the utility of viral stealth marketing, particularly in the context of Generation Y, whose behavioural characteristics are particularly suited to this form of marketing. This paper explores the nature of viral stealth marketing and its ethical implications; then formulates an agenda for future research that has a potential to add significant value to organisations.

The study examines the patterns of perceptions of retail banking consumers in respect to banking services in regional Australia from a corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective. A novel two-dimensional measure of corporate social responsibility was used for this purpose. Findings from the analysis of levels of contentment/discontentment of bank consumers are noteworthy. Contrary to popular belief, consumers in this study not only portrayed a diversity of opinions on the corporate social responsibility roles of banks, but also showed general support for the two main opposing views of CSR which represent the classical and the emerging perspectives. The implication of these findings is that banks need to cater for both perspectives by maintaining a careful balance between pursuit of profits and being concerned with society-related issues. The observance of the triple bottom line as a practical philosophy for supporting the diverse interests of diverse stakeholders is recommended. Disciplines Business | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details