刍议移动互联网传统零售企业营销能力的提升

面对运用现代信息技术而形成的新型商业模式的竞争,传统零售业在经营观念、人才储备、基础设施、创新精神上,都处于不利的位置。传统零售企业可以借助无线互联网技术,借鉴电子商务企业的成功经验,开展营销业务与手段的创新;开展基于LBS服务创新;通过APP占领消费者手机桌面;利用顾客碎片化时间;开设智能商店;提供移动在线客服;加大客户数据挖掘,使无线营销活动更具有针对性。     

Trialogue on Facebook pages of grocery stores: Customer engagement or customer enragement?

Abstract

The pervasiveness of social media is compelling businesses to review their way of managing customer experiences. Businesses use social media to interact and engage with customers. Several studies have studied why businesses have adopted social media. However, there is a dearth of research as to why customers interact with businesses on social media in the grocery sector. This paper aims to explore how and why customers react to corporate messages on Facebook pages of Tesco and Walmart. Netnography approach was adopted to gain an insight into the various ways customers engage with the grocery stores on its Facebook pages. This study reveals that social media empower customers, influence the relationships customers have with grocery stores and generate customer engagement. Findings also show that the social customer is both a curse and a blessing to Tesco and Walmart when they create or destroy value for the business. This paper contributes to knowledge by (1) uncovering how customers react to corporate and customer posts on corporate Facebook pages; (2) showing how value can be created and destroyed; and (3) proposing a model illustrating how the main constructs of the study are interconnected: social media, relationship marketing, customer empowerment and customer engagement.     

生鲜新零售可持续发展模式探析——基于盒马鲜生和小象生鲜的案例分析

随着互联网技术的不断发展,各行业零售模式都在不断创新,传统生鲜行业也正在打造基于线上线下相融合的新零售业态。本文以盒马鲜生与小象生鲜的案例为切入点,分析生鲜新零售的营销模式,并对其发展过程中出现的问题进行深入剖析,最后从构建生活社区、重视客户关系管理、增强核心竞争力三方面对生鲜新零售可持续发展提出建议。     

Undergraduate Education: The Implications of Cross-Functional,Relationships in Business Marketing–The Skills of High-Performing Managers

ABSTRACT

Like other specialty areas in the business school curriculum, marketing management classes emphasize an analytical perspective and provide students with a valuable set of strategy tools, but fail to come to grips with other facets of the managerial work of marketing-namely, the relational skills that are required for managing across functions, reconciling diverse interests, and creating integrated strategies and customer solutions. By serving as an advocate for the customer at various levels of the organizational hierarchy and across functions, the business marketer must initiate, develop, nurture, and sustain a rich network of relationships with multiple constituencies within the firm and within customer organizations. To effectively perform this challenging interdisciplinary role, a unique set of relationship management skills are required. This article explores the collaborative skills that high-performing managers have mastered and examines the resulting implications for the business marketing course. Recent research is examined that reveals the characteristics of reputationally effective managers, isolates the factors that define effective cross-functional exchange episodes, and details the specific behavior that top-performing account managers employ. By exploring the relational competencies that are instrumental to the work of marketing managers, the business marketing course can fill an important gap in the marketing curriculum.     

The impact of new technologies on customer satisfaction and business to business customer relationships: Evidence from the soft drinks industry

Sales technology has been touted as a primary tool for enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) and thus improving overall customer satisfaction. The marketing, IT, and practitioner literatures make numerous references to the impact of CRM on business orientation and performance. However, according to Richard et al. (2007), not many studies have investigated customer relationship technology adopted by a firm and the impact on relationship development. The aim of this paper is to examine the relative impact of new technologies on improving customer relations and overall customer satisfaction within the sales industry. New technologies have revolutionised the workplace and have become an integral part of organisations throughout the world (Forster, 2000). Driving this revolution are two powerful new forces, cyberspace and computing power. This article defines three key terms which include CRM, customer satisfaction and new technologies and evaluates the impact of these emerging technological developments on relationships and customer satisfaction in a sales force/customer context. Primary research was conducted using two focus groups consisting of nine participants from Britvic. The analysis reveals that technology is both beneficial and essential within the sales force industry for both the sales representative and their customers and provides an insight into the impact of technology on the sales force/customer relationship. The paper concludes with reference to new technologies and the future.     

企业微博营销策略分析

微博的迅速发展,已经超越了设计者的初衷,不仅是一种简单意义上的信息共享,更是在互联网上为我们展示了一个崭新的社会化传播平台。企业利用微博进行营销,是一种投资少、见效快的新型网络营销模式。微博营销已经在许多企业中得以推广应用。本文奠骛拿些微博功能和企业微博策略两方面,阐述了企业微博营销的四大功能和营销策略,为企业开展微博营销提供了一定的参考意见。     

What factors determine e-satisfaction and consumer spending in e-commerce retailing?

Evidently, the Internet has resulted in a fundamental shift in retailing practice, creating a shift in both consumer and business behavior, which has been compared to that of the Industrial Revolution. The purpose of this paper is to analyze customer satisfaction in e-commerce market. In particular, we determine the factors that affect customer e-satisfaction and the relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer spending in e-commerce retailing. We focus on how American based e-commerce firms are impacted by these developments and how marketing practices have reflected the developing e-commerce situation. The results show that customer satisfaction does have an impact on consumer spending in American based e-commerce retailers. Further, the relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer spending is positive, where higher e-satisfaction results in more spending in e-commerce. The results also show that there is a direct relationship among e-service quality, e- satisfaction and e-loyalty in terms of online spending by consumers. However, the analysis shows that e-commerce still faces challenges compared with traditional offline retailers since customers cannot feel and try the products, and may end up choosing the products that they do not want.     

Does online relationship marketing enhance customer retention and cross-buying?

One characteristic of online consumer behavior is the low cost of searching for alternatives. Therefore, customer loyalty is more difficult to achieve in the online context than in the offline one. Although studies have discussed the effectiveness of relationship marketing, nearly all studies examining such constructs have been in the context of ‘offline’ consumer behavior. With regard to the ‘online’ context, the integration of Internet technology with the customer loyalty concept is rarely discussed in the relationship marketing literature. Furthermore, empirical research that integrates the actual purchase behavior of customer retention and cross-buying is relatively sparse. In response to this, the current study develops and empirically tests a model that examines the relations among relationship-bonding tactics, perceived relationship investment, perceived relationship quality, customer loyalty, customer retention, and cross-buying. Using survey data from 766 online customers of a securities corporation, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of relationship marketing as it positively influences online customers' perception, then their loyalty, and ultimately, their actual purchase behavior.     

Managing boundary-spanning marketing activities for supply-chain efficiency

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to advance and empirically investigate how perceived organisational support influences marketing managers' boundary-spanning marketing activities (cross-functional communication and customer connections), and how these activities subsequently impact supply-chain efficiency. By analysing survey responses from 348 marketing managers, we demonstrate that a supportive organisational climate provides managerial incentives not only to develop strong allegiance to the welfare of multi-foci groups within the organisation but also to engage in active cross-functional market intelligence exchange and customer servicing, which in turn leads to superior supply-chain efficiencies. The paper offers strategic guides to both academicians and practitioners on how to promote marketing managers' role in strengthening dependencies among various functional departments for cohesive product, service, and financial offerings.     

The opportunity to improve psychological competences of project managers in international businesses

Many projects are currently conducted in international businesses in which cultural issues play an important role. In‐depth analysis of the risks associated with the unknown of this type of issues offers companies a better understanding of how to focus their marketing tools to be more effective, and provides project managers with strategies to improve customer relationships. Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions and Meyer's Culture Map have demonstrated that every society possesses distinguishing features. These cultural theories serve as foundation for including the category of culture in a proposed Cultural Risk Breakdown Structure. Through a literature review, risks associated with cultural differences are identified in projects executed in Africa, China, and the Middle East. By linking these risks to cultural dimensions, it is possible to identify the psychological competences framework in international businesses. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to create not only a comprehensive record of these risks but also a list of the new skills and competences that project managers must possess to improve client satisfaction and make decisions in a cross‐cultural environment. By considering the association between psychological aspects and cultural issues, this analysis will be of considerable benefit for improving relationships in international contexts.     

Customer Retention Strategies of Fast-Food Outlets in South Africa: A Focus on Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Nando's,and Steers

The primary aim of the research was to critically analyze and evaluate the different customer retention strategies being implemented by fast-food outlets such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Nando's, and Steers in South Africa. The fast-food industry in South Africa is experiencing numerous market-related changes, which range from intense globalization forces to heightening competition levels. The pressure on businesses today is further increased by a market where the customer acquisition rate is slowing, customer loyalty is decreasing, and sales cycles are lengthening. In such an environment, losing a valuable customer to a competitor can have a significant impact on profitability and growth. As a result, many companies have shifted their focus from customer acquisition to customer retention. The research was primarily concerned with assessing customer relationship management, relationship marketing, and communication through technology as strategies to maintain intimate relationships with customers. Personal interviews and in-depth interviews with the help of questionnaires were used to collect primary data in the research. The results indicated that KFC, Nando's, and Steers adopt similar marketing strategies or use the same concepts to manage their relationships with both internal and external customers and other stakeholders. These strategies and concepts include customer relationship management, relationship marketing, and technological means of communication.     

Case Study of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the On-Line Affluent Financial Services Market

ABSTRACT

In the current period of constrained economic conditions, this study initiates an analysis of customer relationship management (CRM) on the Web sites of financial service businesses. Customer relationship management is a critical differential that enables competitive edge for businesses focused on the affluent customer market. Though investment in marketing, sales and service innovation is limited under existing conditions, the analysis of the study on large financial businesses indicates that the businesses enable higher commerce, content and context, but lower and generally inadequate communication, community, connection and customization design on their Web sites. The analysis, conducted as an assignment by adult graduate students in an information systems course, contributes important insight into the competitive dynamics of customer relationship management for Web empowered financial service businesses striving to service the demanding affluent market. This study furnishes an expanded framework to research customer relationship management of financial service businesses competing in the paradigm of the Web.     

Exploring interactive communication using social media

Engaging consumers in interactive marketing communication is instrumental in business–customer relationships building and development. Social media enables consumers to initiate marketing messages and gain growing control in the communication process due to its enhanced interactivity features. This study investigates whether communication between businesses and their social media users is interactive and how interactive it is. It also attempts to determine what types of messages are more likely to result in interactive communication. The findings reveal that businesses are attempting functional interactivity while individual users are increasingly securing a control to achieve contingent interactivity. Businesses are adopting a consumer-centric approach in designing and executing marketing communication messages to achieve interactivity though significant variance is established between businesses as measured by Interactivity Performance Matrix. Challenges remain for businesses as to how to engage their customers by utilizing the interactivity features of social media to facilitate relationships formulation and development.     

Client Relationship Marketing Practices: An Exploratory Study of the Legal Industry

This article aims to identify and examine the responsibilities of the marketing specialists and legal practitioners in the legal industry at different stages of the client relationship development process. A conceptual framework is proposed to analyse the single case study of this research. The relationship marketing practices of a global law firm were examined through fifteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with key personnel. Ten client relationship marketing practices were identified. Whereas organising and attending social events, managing the communications or interactions process, managing the cross-selling, service recovery, changing the impression, truly understanding clients' businesses and industries and other small little gestures are similar to the findings of Claycomb and Martin (2002), social bonds beyond the professional level, treating every job seriously regardless of the size, and utilising client relationship management software were three practices that emerged from this study. Although the ten practices presented are pivotal in contributing to a successful client relationship, further research is needed to examine the effects of each practice and the quality of the client relationship. This article demonstrates that in order to succeed in the highly competitive marketplace, law firms need to understand not only the potential outcomes of each relationship marketing practice but also how to practice it systematically. A new relationship development process model incorporating the essence of the customer relationship life cycle was developed and its practicality was confirmed by the research findings.     

Relationship Selling

Abstract

Recently marketing has witnessed an explosion of interest in creating and maintaining relationships. It is widely being heralded as a revolutionary new way of responding to markets. But has this ?new“ method been explored or practiced before? Undertaking an early century literature review, the author uncovers evidence that writers and practitioners of 1910-1935, contrary to current belief, incorporated relational methods and espoused a relationship philosophy. Results indicate that relational selling was not only practiced for the benefit of the seller, but was also for the customer and the relationship. Conclusions about why relationship selling disappeared only to resurface again at the end of the twentieth century are put forth     

Why does service inclusion matter? The effect of service exclusion on customer indirect misbehavior

In recent years, there has been much conceptual work calling for research on transformative service, and service inclusion in particular. However, quantitative studies focusing on service inclusion are scant, and little is known about customer responses to the opposite of service inclusion, i.e. service exclusion. Taking a transformative research perspective, this study advances the service inclusion literature by focusing on service exclusion and its downstream consequences. We first build the causal link between service exclusion (vs. inclusion) and customer indirect misbehavior, reveal the underlying mechanism, and further identify negative reciprocity beliefs as a boundary condition. The results of three studies suggest that customers who experience service exclusion (vs. inclusion) are more likely to engage in indirect misbehavior (Study 1), and that this effect is mediated by perceived need threat (Study 2). Moreover, the basic effect holds true only for customers with strong negative reciprocity beliefs (Study 3). The findings of this research not only contribute to the literature on transformative services, service inclusion, and social exclusion, but also have managerial implications for marketing practitioners in terms of creating an inclusive service system.     

New opportunities in social media for ad-restricted alcohol products: The case of ‘Yeni Rakı’

The rapid diffusion and technological evolution experienced in the new format of the Internet, particularly social media, have forced many brands to keep pace with this ongoing process in order to engage with their customers. Social media utilize multiple Internet-based communication platforms, including, but not limited to, blogs and social networking sites. This paper aims to examine how social media can be used to interact with consumers in the case of ad-restricted alcohol products, providing a case study from Turkey. The explored case provides an example of a well-planned, creative campaign that successfully exploits the opportunities provided by interactivity. The analysis of an alcohol product is critical due to the fact that such products face many restrictions, thus calling for a more creative and efficient approach to the design and implementation of social media practices, and their integration into integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaigns. This case will contribute to the articulation of the best ways to shape both business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer dialogue and fruitful applications of this new IMC tool.     

The Relationship Marketing View of the Customer and the Service Dominant Logic Perspective

Based on the concept of service-dominant logic as the emerging organizing logic of marketing that would replace the traditional goods-dominant view, Vargo and Lusch (2004) originally proposed that among several other approaches to research and marketing practice that had emerged, relationship marketing would be subsumed by this broader view. More recently, however, Vargo (2009) suggested that because relationship marketing focuses on increasing the series of on-going transactions with a customer, coupled with the goal of enhancing their long-term patronage, that relationship marketing extends the goods-dominant perspective, rather than transcending into the service-dominant logic. This article counters that the relationship marketing view of the customer has already transcended the goods-dominant view to the to service-dominant view based on the way that customers are brought into the relationship as active participants in the service creation, and act as “co-producers” of value. To address the apparent goods-dominant approach in two widely used relationship marketing practices and measures, customer relationship management and customer lifetime value, this article proposes that these tools can be used from a goods-dominant view, but they can also serve as essential steps towards the practice of relationship marketing from the service-dominant logic.     

关系营销中基于承诺与信任的客户回报计划的机制研究

客户回报计划已成为一种重要的关系营销手段,但却没有太多研究着眼于回报计划的运作机制。本文研究了回报计划感知价值与承诺和信任的关系以及感知价值通过承诺与信任对客户忠诚的影响,并建立了回报计划运作机制研究模型,之后通过实验设计获取数据验证了此模型。研究结果为营销研究和客户回报计划实践提供了理论指导。