Drawing on detailed qualitative case study evidence from four retail banking organisations, this article highlights the connections between customer relations strategy, the psychological contract and employee behaviour. The purpose of the research is to extend our understanding of the links between employees and customers by showing how this relationship evolves over time and by highlighting that a front-line employee's service orientation needs to be understood within the broader context of the employee's service experience. It is suggested that a better understanding of these connections could facilitate improved customer service standards and enhance the experiences of those working in service industries.

The judgements and valuations made on Internet review sites are part of contemporary consumer culture. This article considers what such sites do in the market for commercial sex. It contributes to policy discussions in two ways. Firstly, it considers how the infrastructure and mechanisms of the web enables organising, searching and reporting of consumer experience, and hence how web reviews mediate commercial markets. It thereby draws links between social policies that concern the Internet and those that relate to sex work. Secondly, it explores how sex review sites mediate the field of commercial sex and discusses some of the potential insights for policy audiences. Policies directed at the regulation of this market will benefit from clear recognition of what customers understand their actions to be and how they participate in the construction of norms about commercial sex.

The purpose of this paper is to examine firms’ adoption of corporate social responsibility activities and the efficacy of such activities in specific contexts and industries. This paper analyses the specific context of the Spanish construction and real-estate industry. By using a longitudinal multi-case approach, the study suggests links between market orientation and corporate social responsibility. The research also identifies two profiles of firms. The first group, which is proactive (e.g., market oriented), demonstrate altruistic concerns about consumers and corporate social responsibility; for the second, which is more reactive, their concerns about corporate social responsibility are more opportunistic and aimed at attracting additional customers or responding to competitive pressures.