0000000000262742
AUTHOR
Magne Supphellen
The effects of religion on development efforts : evidence from the microfinance industry and a research agenda
Author's version of an article in the journal: World Development. Also avaliable from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.030 This study responds to the need for more empirical knowledge pertaining to the effect of religion on development efforts. We use data from the microfinance industry to study performance differences between Christian and secular Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). We find that Christian MFIs have significantly lower funding costs and consistently underperform in terms of financial profit indicators. Contrary to our hypotheses Christian MFIs are as efficient in assuring loan repayment and their average loan sizes are on par with those of their …
Building Brand Relationships Online: A Comparison of Two Interactive Applications
Due to its potential for interactive communication, the Internet is considered a promising tool for relationship marketing. However, the effects of interactive communication on marketing effectiveness may depend on several factors related to each individual consumer, such as Internet experience. In this study, two of the most common applications for interactive communication—personalized Web sites and customer communities—were compared for their ability to develop consumer-brand relationships as measured by the Brand Relationship Quality (BRQ) framework of Fournier (1998). No main effects of the applications were observed. However, significant effects of Internet applications were found wh…