Showing papers on "Relationship marketing published in 2013"

Online Engagement Factors on Facebook Brand Pages

Abstract: Social networks have become an additional marketing channel that could be integrated with the traditional ones as a part of the marketing mix. The change in the dynamics of the marketing interchange between companies and consumers as introduced by social networks has placed a focus on the non-transactional customer behavior. In this new marketing era, the terms engagement and participation became the central non-transactional constructs, used to describe the nature of participants’ specific interactions and/or interactive experiences. These changes imposed challenges to the traditional one-way marketing, resulting in companies experimenting with many different approaches, thus shaping a successful social media approach based on the trial-and-error experiences. To provide insights to practitioners willing to utilize social networks for marketing purposes, our study analyzes the influencing factors in terms of characteristics of the content communicated by the company, such as media type, content type, posting day and time, over the level of online customer engagement measured by number of likes, comments and shares, and interaction duration for the domain of a Facebook brand page. Our results show that there is a different effect of the analyzed factors over individual engagement measures. We discuss the implications of our findings for social media marketing.

Understanding social media effects across seller, retailer, and consumer interactions

Abstract: In this research, the authors propose a contagion effect of social media use across business suppliers, retailers, and consumers. After developing and validating social media usage measures at three levels—supplier, retailer, and customer—the authors test social media contagion effects and their ultimate impact on multiple performance measures. The conceptual framework and empirical results offer new insights into the contagion effects of social media usage across the channel of distribution as well as important social influence mechanisms that enhance these effects. Consistent with the predictions, social media use positively contributes to brand performance, retailer performance, and consumer–retailer loyalty. Also, the effect of supplier social media usage on retailer social media usage and in turn on customer social media usage is moderated by brand reputation and service ambidexterity. With the ever-increasing growth and adoption of social media applications and similar technologies, this research provides a framework to promote usage by supply channel partners which ultimately influences performance-related outcomes.

“Greening” the marketing mix: do firms do it and does it pay off?

Abstract: Growing concern about the sustainability of the natural environment is rapidly transforming the competitive landscape and forcing companies to explore the costs and benefits of “greening” their marketing mix. We develop and test a theoretical model that predicts (1) the role of green marketing programs in influencing firm performance, (2) the impact of slack resources and top management risk aversion on the deployment of such programs, and (3) the conditioning effects that underpin these relationships. Our analyses show that green marketing programs are being implemented by firms, and we find evidence of significant performance payoffs. Specifically the results indicate that green product and distribution programs positively affect firms’ product-market performance, while green pricing and promotion practices are directly positively related to firms’ return on assets. In addition, industry-level environmental reputation moderates the links between green marketing program components and firms’ product-market and financial performance. Finally, we find that slack resources and top management risk aversion are independently conducive to the adoption of green marketing programs—but operate as substitutes for each other.

Customer Loyalty to the Salesperson and the Store: Examining Relationship Customers in an Upscale Retail Context

Abstract: Only recently has research interest in relationship marketing and customer loyalty converged in the retail context. Although this research shows that relationship customers maintain their primary loyalty to the salesperson, which then “spills over” and affects loyalty to the store, other research suggests that salesperson loyalty has direct effects on store-level outcomes, such as spending and word of mouth. However, this has not been comprehensively investigated, and relationship researchers have specifically called for research examining the effects of salesperson and store loyalty on store-level outcomes. Our research addresses this call, and shows that in an upscale retail context a relationship customer's loyalty to the salesperson is significantly related to store loyalty as well as the important store-level outcomes of share of purchases, word of mouth and competitive resistance.

Marketing renaissance : Opportunities and imperatives for improving marketing thought, practice, and infrastructure

Abstract: My three-year term as editor of Journal of Marketing concludes with the October 2005 issue. On the basis of my interactions with various people in the marketing community, I believe that marketing science and practice are in transition, bringing change to the content and boundaries of the discipline. Thus, I invited some distinguished scholars to contribute short essays on the current challenges, opportunities, and imperatives for improving marketing thought and practice. Each author chose his or her topic and themes. However, in a collegial process, the authors read and commented on one another's essays, after which each author had an opportunity to revise his or her essay. The result is a thoughtful and constructive set of essays that are related to one another in interesting ways and that should be read together. I have grouped the essays as follows: •What is the domain of marketing? This question is addressed in four essays by Stephen W. Brown, Frederick E. Webster Jr., Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, and William L. Wilkie. •How has the marketing landscape (i.e., content) changed? This question is addressed in two essays, one coauthored by Jagdish N. Sheth and Rajendra S. Sisodia and the other by Roger A. Kerin. •How should marketing academics engage in research, teaching, and professional activities? This question is addressed in five essays by Debbie MacInnis; Leigh McAlister; Jagmohan S. Raju; Ronald J. Bauerly, Don T. Johnson, and Mandeep Singh; and Richard Staelin. Another interesting way to think about the essays, as Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp suggests, is to group the essays according to whether they address issues of content, publishing, or impact (see Table 1). These 11 essays strike a common theme: They urge marketers—both scientists and practitioners—to expand their horizontal vision. What do I mean by horizontal vision? In The Great Influenza, Barry (2004) describes the enormous strides that were made in medical science early in the twentieth century. His depiction of William Welch, an extremely influential scientist who did not (as a laboratory researcher) generate important findings, includes a characterization of the “genius” that produces major scientific achievements. The research he did was first-rate. But it was only first-rate—thorough, rounded, and even irrefutable, but not deep enough or provocative enough or profound enough to set himself or others down new paths, to show the world in a new way, to make sense out of great mysteries…. To do this requires a certain kind of genius, one that probes vertically and sees horizontally. Horizontal vision allows someone to assimilate and weave together seemingly unconnected bits of information. It allows an investigator to see what others do not see and to make leaps of connectivity and creativity. Probing vertically, going deeper and deeper into something, creates new information. (p. 60) At my request, each author has provided thoughtful and concrete suggestions for how marketing academics and practitioners, both individually and collectively (through our institutions), can work to improve our field. Many of their suggestions urge people and institutions to expand their horizontal vision and make connections, thereby fulfilling their potential to advance the science and practice of marketing. In his essay, Richard Staelin writes (p. 22), “I believe that it is possible to influence directly the generation and adoption of new ideas.” I agree. I ask the reader to think about the ideas in these essays and to act on them. Through our actions, we shape our future. —Ruth N. Bolton

Reexamining the Market Share–Customer Satisfaction Relationship:

Abstract: Market share and customer satisfaction are often used to assess marketing performance. Despite the widespread assumption of a positive relationship between these two variables, the limited extant empirical literature on the subject indicates either a negative or a nonsignificant relationship. The authors reexamine this relationship over a longer time period than has previously been possible in a representative sample of U.S. consumer markets and find a consistently significant negative market share–customer satisfaction relationship. This is because customer satisfaction is generally not predictive of firms' future market share, but market share is a strong negative predictor of firms' future customer satisfaction. In follow-up analyses, the authors find that a firm's customer satisfaction can predict its future market share when it is benchmarked against that of its nearest rival and customer switching costs are low. In examining why the market share–future customer satisfaction relationship is generally...

Towards green trust: The influences of green perceived quality, green perceived risk, and green satisfaction

Abstract: Purpose – This study aims to combine the literature on green marketing and relationship marketing into a new managerial framework of green trust In addition, this study seeks to elaborate the relationships among green perceived quality, green perceived risk, green satisfaction, and green trustDesign/methodology/approach – The research object of this paper focuses on Taiwan's consumers who have the purchase experience of information and electronics products This study undertakes an empirical study by means of the questionnaire survey method The questionnaires were randomly mailed to consumers who had the purchase experience of information and electronics products Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to test the research frameworkFindings – The empirical results indicate that green perceived quality would positively affect green satisfaction and green trust, whereas green perceived risk would negatively influence both of them In addition, this study points out that the relationships between

Relationship Marketing and Social Media in Sport

Abstract: Relationship marketing (RM) is about retaining customers through the achievement of long-term mutual satisfaction by businesses and their customers. Sport organizations, to retain customers by establishing, maintaining, and enhancing relationships, need to communicate and engage in dialogue with their customers. To achieve this on an ongoing basis, sport organizations need to employ effective communication platforms. In this regard, social media (SM) is becoming an ideal tool for a continuing 2-way dialogue. However, the effects of SM, primarily in terms of addressing RM goals, are not yet well understood. This study explores the opportunities and challenges facing managers in sport organizations in using SM in an RM strategy. Eight case studies were undertaken on organizations that put on running events. The article presents the findings on the use, opportunities, and challenges of SM and recommendations encouraging continued investigation.

The Future of Marketing Education: A Practitioner’s Perspective

Abstract: Drawing on the marketing literature, as well as the views of both marketing educators and current marketers in Canada, a survey was conducted of marketing practitioners to determine their top priorities for improvement in marketing education, as well as the key challenges in need of attention. An importance-performance analysis was carried out on these data. Findings indicate that the top current priority for practitioners is knowledge related to areas associated with measuring return-on-investment and strategic marketing. Results also support that meta-skills are perceived as high priorities for improvement, including the ability to creatively identify, formulate, and solve problems; the ability to write in a business environment; and the ability to set priorities. Some of the areas identified as lower priority in this study included design-related skills, production, and merchandising. Suggestions for changes to marketing education, future research, and considerations for practitioners are provided.

Enhancing customer-needs-driven crm strategies: core selling teams, knowledge management competence, and relationship marketing competence

Abstract: Managing relationships with customers is often challenging because firms engage in many different types of transactions and their customers vary considerably as to their wants and needs. To meet these challenges, firms are turning increasingly to formal customer relationship management (CRM) programs. Because of their ability to enhance interfirm relationships in business-to-business marketing, firms often turn specifically to customer-needs–driven CRM strategies. These strategies focus on the use of database technology to aid in developing long-term cooperative relationships with key customers. One important resource that enables firms to more easily develop and implement customer-needs–driven CRM strategies is the core selling (CS) team. We examine CS teams’ ability to enhance the development of two competences (a knowledge management competence and a relationship marketing competence) that are important components of customer-needs–driven CRM strategy.

Investigating the Types of Value and Cost of Green Brands: Proposition of a Conceptual Framework

Abstract: This conceptual article applies the customer value (CV) concept in the context of green marketing aiming to provide insights on the factors that motivate and/or hinder the development of consumer–green brand relationships. The article draws upon existing literature on the streams of CV, relationship marketing and environmental behaviour and synthesises relevant findings to propose an integrated conceptual framework entailing all identified types of value and cost, psychographic characteristics, as well as dimensions of relationship quality (RQ) and loyalty. Furthermore, it addresses existing questions on the links among constructs and proposes several relationships that may lead to a better understanding of consumer behaviour towards green brands. Through the here-proposed conceptual model, the article initiates the process of empirically examining the consumer adoption of and relationship development with green brands. The CV framework adopted here may provide practitioners with knowledge on the value and sacrifice factors, as well as the dimensions of RQ that are the most important in targeting green consumers and designing relationship marketing strategies. The article also fulfils an identified gap in the literature, as it is the first that brings together and applies research findings from CV and relationship marketing fields in the green marketing context and proposes an integrated approach to understanding consumer–green brands relationships.

Exploring Salespersons' Customer Orientation as a Mediator of Organizational Culture's Influence on Buyer-Seller Relationships

Abstract: This manuscript reports the results of a theoretically-based empirical study which incorporates the paradigm of relationship marketing. The study specifically examines the relationships among three major variables: organizational culture, customer orientation, and buyer-seller relationship development. Both organizational culture and customer orientation are expected to directly effect relationship development. However, customer orientation is hypothesized to mediate the relationship between organizational culture and relationship development. Thus, the influence of organizational culture on relationship development would be through the customer-oriented behavior of a firm's salespeople. The results from a study of 459 buyer-seller combinations confirm the mediational effect of customer orientation between the selling firms' culture and relationship development.

Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty: Evidence From the Ghanaian Luxury Hotel Industry

Abstract: 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.

The Sales-Marketing Interface in Consumer Packaged-Goods Companies: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract: For those companies marketing branded consumer packaged-goods to an increasingly powerful retail trade, collaborative relations within the marketing function are crucial, particularly between trade customer-focused sales personnel and brand-focused marketing personnel. Yet although there is a well-developed body of literature on marketing's relations with other major business functions, relations within the marketing function itself remain unresearched. Drawing on theory and empirical results from studies of marketing's cross-functional interfaces, the authors develop a framework for understanding the nature, causes and effects of relations between sales and marketing in consumer packaged-goods firms. Propositions to guide further research are also developed.

Fresh ideas: services thinking for social marketing

Abstract: Purpose The social marketing literature tends to focus on upstream marketing (policy) and downstream (individual behaviour change) and has a limited view on midstream (working with partners and community groups) social marketing. The paper proposes midstream social marketing should also include an understanding of how services and service employees influence and support individual behaviour change goals. The paper presents four key services marketing principles - derived from services theory and thinking - which the paper believes to be essential for implementing effective midstream social marketing. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that uses service theory and case-examples to show how service thinking can be used as a midstream social marketing approach. Findings For effective uptake and impact of social marketing services amongst people and populations, social marketers need to design programs that consider the service experience, the service employee, service quality/customer value and the active role of the customer in value creation. Research limitations/implications Services marketing is a well-established sub-discipline of marketing which, until recently, has not interacted with social marketing. The extension and application of services theory for social marketing can enrich and propel the social marketing discipline forward. Further research is recommended to evaluate how service principles can be applied in practice. Social implications Given that social marketing services tend not to be accessed in sufficient numbers by the people who most need them, social marketers need to think beyond the technical, cognitive, and organisational-focused goals when designing social services. Originality/value This paper identifies key service theories that social marketers should understand and use and is thus a source of fresh ideas for theory and practice.

The Influence of Social Media Investment on Relational Outcomes: A Relationship Marketing Perspective

Abstract: Given that the majority of businesses are using social media as a marketing tool, this article investigates whethersocial media actually contributes to building and maintaining relationships with consumers. Specifically, socialmedia is conceptualized as a part of relationship investment, and tested for its influence on satisfaction, loyaltyand word of mouth behaviors through the mediator of relationship quality. Results indicate that social mediafollowers perceive higher levels of relationship investment, report higher perceptions of relationship quality, andhave higher levels of customer satisfaction, loyalty and positive word of mouth intentions with the organizationthan do non-followers. Taken together, these findings indicate that social media does seem to influence keyrelationship marketing variables that lead to more relational consumers.

Building customer relationships: an inventory of service providers’ objectives and practices

Abstract: A study of 205 US commercial service providers, representing 31 two‐digit SIC codes, identified companies’ customer relationship‐building objectives and practices. Of 42 possible relationship‐building objectives, the four rated as top priorities were: encouraging customers to think of the firm first when considering a purchase; providing better service; encouraging customers to speak favorably about the firm; and encouraging customers to trust the firm. Answers to open‐ended, exploratory questions revealed 18 categories of relationship‐building initiatives. The findings suggest that “customer relationship‐building” means different things to different people and that practices to build such relationships vary considerably. By inventorying the range of relationship‐building objectives, quantifying their priority levels, and identifying specific practices used to build customer relationships, a greater understanding of current practices was achieved. Thus, the findings promise to benefit researchers, practit...

Value co-creation in social marketing: functional or fanciful?

Abstract: Purpose – Value co-creation thinking is reshaping the understanding of markets and marketing and presents a significant opportunity to develop the theory and practice of social marketing. However, whilst value co-creation offers thought-provoking new directions for the field, applying this theory and its core concepts in social marketing is not without significant challenges. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that seeks to integrate lessons from social marketing practice with the value co-creation discourse from commercial marketing. Drawing upon two projects that have applied principles of collaboration and co-design, the paper provides a critical perspective on the adoption of value co-creation in social marketing. Findings – The collaborative and emancipatory ambitions of co-creation seem highly compatible with social marketing. However, the paper notes some significant conceptual, ethical and practical obstacles in the path of a workable t...

The Study of Relationship among Experiential Marketing, Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty

Abstract: Experiential marketing is one of the marketing approaches that gives a great framework to combine experience and entertainment elements into a product or service. Some of businesses in Indonesia have already used this approach and one of them is Strawberry Cafe which provides many kinds of free board games for the customer. The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of experiential marketing used by Strawberry Cafe related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The data were collected from 142 respondents but after screening, only 80 that met the requirements and could be analyzed. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using LISREL software was used to analyze the data. This research found that it experiential marketing used by Strawberry Cafe can affect customer loyalty. Keywords: Experiential Marketing, loyalty, customer satisfaction, service quality

Aggressive Marketing Strategy Following Equity Offerings and Firm Value: The Role of Relative Strategic Flexibility

Abstract: Firms raise a significant amount of funds and gain competitive advantage over their rivals through equity financing, namely through initial public offerings and seasoned equity offerings. The authors find that both initial public offering firms and seasoned equity offering firms adopt a more aggressive marketing strategy during the two years following their offering. However, not all equity issuers benefit equally from increased marketing spending, which can help signal companies' growth prospects to investors. A key moderator of the link between marketing investment and firm value is the strategic flexibility of rivals with respect to issuers. In particular, the stock market reacts favorably to an aggressive marketing strategy initiated by issuers competing against rivals with relatively less flexibility, whereas increased marketing expenditures do not translate into higher firm value when rivals have greater flexibility. Furthermore, the authors show that marketing expenditures create value within conte...