Industrial brand value and relationship performance in business markets — A general structural equation model

This paper develops a general model of industrial brand value and relationship performance in business-to-business markets from the perspectives of consumer and industrial marketing literature. The structural equation model integrates the analysis of industrial brand value and relationship performance. The model describes the extent to which supplier-buyer transaction performance is influenced by the eight important factors: supplier competence, purchasing value, customer satisfaction, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty, relationship quality, commitment, and transactional performance.The general model is applied to organizational buyer groups of comprehensive industrial markets (Electronics, Chemicals, Equipment, etc). The analysis finds that supplier competence directly affects purchasing value and customer satisfaction, and via purchasing value and customer satisfaction, it indirectly affects commitment, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty. The managerial implications of the study results are also discussed.     

Customer attitudes of stayers and defectors in B2B services: Are they really different?

Identifying attitudinal differences between stayers and defectors is important in establishing a deeper understanding of customer satisfaction and loyalty research. Both managers and academics often use global customer attitudes, such as customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions, as determinants of customer loyalty. The implicit assumption is that customer satisfaction and/or behavioral intentions are valid, and accurate, predictors of actual loyalty behaviors. This study compares customer attitudes of stayers and defectors in B2B services using respondents (primary decision makers) from a Fortune 100 company. The results show that the commonly used customer metrics of service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions have some differences between stayers and defectors. However, these metrics are shown to be relatively weak differentiators of actual customer defection. The stayers and defectors are much more similar, than different, on most metrics. The most notable difference is price perceptions, where defectors appear to be more price sensitive than stayers. These findings have significant implications for the design and use of customer-focused research by managers.     

Service quality versus service experience: An empirical examination of the consequential effects in B2B services

The present study investigates the role of service experience in B2B services vis-a-vis service quality. In particular, the study addresses the question: how do the relative effects of service quality versus service experience in a B2B setting influence the immediate (satisfaction and perceived value) and subsequent customer outcomes (loyalty and word of mouth)? To this end, three surveys were conducted (with a combined sample size of 626) of customers of financial consultancy services. The collected data is subjected to factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the study hypotheses. Major findings indicate a stronger influence of service experience on satisfaction and perceived value as compared to service quality. Results also show a stronger indirect effect of service experience on loyalty and word of mouth (via satisfaction) compared to service quality. In addition, service experience was found to influence both perceived utilitarian and hedonic value derived from service while service quality was found to influence only utilitarian value. The findings underline the importance of service experience in a B2B setup.     

Determinants of customer loyalty in the wireless telecommunications industry

This paper reports the results of research investigating the determinants of the propensity to switch wireless service providers. A model generated from the data rather than from a priori theory is presented, and it is found to uphold the strong relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty exhibited in prior studies. In sharp contrast to the prevailing industry practice of ‘locking in’ customers by means of restrictive contracts, this research suggests that wireless service providers are better off improving customer satisfaction in order to minimize customer defection. This would imply shifting scarce resources to customer retention through improved service, saving costs of expensive customer acquisition campaigns. The paper also proposes two methodological innovations. First, the research employs the ‘Tetrad methodology’ as an exploratory technique prior to building a Structural Equation Model (SEM) making it possible to identify drivers of loyalty—direct or indirect—when it might not be known a priori what these drivers might be. Secondly, the paper proposes an approach to estimating moderator effects on the relationship between satisfaction and customer loyalty.     

顾客满意与企业效益

介绍了顾客满意研究的基本内容，分析了顾客满意与顾客心理、顾客满意与顾客忠诚以及顾客忠诚与企业利润之间的关系，特别强调，企业在实施顾客满意管理时应综合考虑顾客心理、忠诚度、利润、经营策略等因素才能实现企业的战略目标。     

基于行为和态度的顾客多忠诚研究

顾客多忠诚是现实中普遍存在的现象。本文以行为学习理论和认知失调理论为支撑,从行为和态度两个维度重新审视了顾客多忠诚,在对其进行明确界定的基础上,采用日记式(Diary Study)方法调查了51名被试者28天的餐厅选择。结果发现,被试者在餐厅选择上的确呈现出了多忠诚、单一忠诚和无忠诚;对相同几个餐厅多忠诚的顾客,其忠诚得分也并非完全相同。研究结果对指导营销者利用顾客忠诚进行市场细分和顾客关系管理具有重要的参考价值。     

Brand stability as a signaling phenomenon — An empirical investigation in industrial markets

The present study investigates the interplay between brand stability and customers' response toward the brand in an industrial buying context. Based on an information economic perspective, the authors develop a conceptual framework that incorporates perceived brand stability, risk reduction, brand loyalty, and customers' willingness to pay a price premium. This framework is empirically tested based on a survey with one hundred and forty nine key informants from business units within the food industry. In order to analyze the proposed relationships, the authors employ structural equation modeling. The present research contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of brands in business-to-business contexts by highlighting the signaling effects of brands in an industrial buying context. Second, the present research empirically demonstrates that brand stability is a key factor to (1) reduce perceived risk, (2) build brand loyalty, and in turn (3) achieve a price premium.     

Determinants of Relationship Quality and Loyalty in Personalized Services

The study adopts a relationship perspective to examine and better understand customers' interactions with service firms' contact personnel, physical environment and customer environment and their influence on the relationship quality, that is trust and satisfaction, and consequently loyalty. The conceptual model, which integrates relational and evaluative perspectives, is validated in the Asian context of personalized service through findings from a survey of 325 respondents. The findings at the aggregate level indicate that while the physical environment is an important determinant of both trust and satisfaction in personalized service encounters, the customer environment influences only satisfaction but not trust. Service contact personnel's friendliness and knowledge of customers strongly influence relationship quality; while expertise, similarity and disclosure influence trust but not satisfaction. Both relationship trust and satisfaction were found to significantly influence loyalty to the service provider. At the disaggregate level, trust was found to be a stronger predictor of loyalty for high-end service providers while satisfaction was a stronger predictor of loyalty for low-end service providers. The implications for high-end and low-end service providers to enhance loyalty by strategically leveraging on key customer-firm antecedents of relationship trust and satisfaction are discussed.     

Customer value anticipation, customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical examination

A service-dominant logic by definition is inherently customer oriented and relational, reflecting deeper and more complex connections between suppliers and customers. The service mindset driving increased collaboration enables suppliers to have deeper insights to what customers' value. Customer value perceptions are dynamic, sometimes in constant flux, necessitating anticipatory capabilities on the part of suppliers. Yet, there is a notable lack of discussion about customer value anticipation and related empirical evidence of whether or not customers care if suppliers anticipate what they value. The authors report on two survey studies that test using structural equation modeling the notion that suppliers good at anticipating what customers will value realize higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Understanding this relationship is critical for marketing managers wrestling with allocation of limited resources. We find that customer value anticipation is a strong driver of satisfaction and loyalty, with satisfaction acting as a mediator for loyalty.     

Servitization in global business-to-business distribution: The central activities of manufacturers

Manufacturers' servitization development is a prevalent trend in the current business world. Companies then aim to increase customer closeness and complement product offerings with services. However, extant literature on distribution and marketing channels literature remains limited in terms of the implications of servitization for global business-to-business distribution. Therefore, this qualitative multiple case study identifies the central activities of servitizing manufacturers in global distribution. The study concludes with the following research propositions: Servitizing manufacturers develop global service portfolios and customize offerings according to local customer characteristics; build global operation models and adjust local service processes; ensure global brand coherency and design the customer experience according to local customer expectations; and create global value propositions and enhance local value co-creation with business customers. The study outlines managerial implications in terms of organizing global distribution. It also discusses new knowledge sharing and capability needs regarding solution sales, service provision and customer relationship management.     

品牌忠诚驱动因素的区域差异分析

本文实证研究中国不同区域间消费者品牌忠诚驱动因素的差异。先根据社会经济发展水平将中国市场分为时尚之都、相对成熟区、新兴区和老少边穷区四个细分市场．然后研究不同区域间消费者品牌忠诚驱动因素的差异。研究结果显示，在现代性水平较高的区域．象征性和体验性价值对促成品牌忠诚起主要作用；而在现代性水平较低区域．功能性价值成为品牌忠诚的主要驱动因素。这一研究结论有助于深入理解中国这个新兴大市场的多样化消费行为．对企业制定差异化品牌策略具有重要参考价值。     

Behavioral and Attitudinal Customer Loyalty in the Power Sector

The emergence of smart grids changes the customer-utility relationship. To facilitate the transition towards a sustainable, reliable and economically viable energy system, utilities need to develop smart grid products and services that have strong customer acceptance and enable different customer segments to engage in energy efficiency. Thus, integrating customer feedback on innovative smart grid services early in the innovation process is of crucial importance. Further, energy providers need to increase customer loyalty and invest in relationship marketing in order to survive and be successful in a competitive market environment.This article presents the findings of a five-month field experiment that investigated the effectiveness of different reward programs in increasing customer loyalty and customer feedback provision in the energy sector. The results demonstrate that reward programs have a positive effect on behavioral (customer feedback provision) and attitudinal (e.?g. satisfaction with the energy provider) aspects of customer loyalty. The reward type matters, however. While monetary reward programs are effective in increasing customer feedback provision, only social reward programs can improve attitudinal aspects of customer loyalty. Energy providers should therefore consider tailoring the reward type to meet their program objectives when employing reward programs.     

Business customers' satisfaction: What happens when suppliers downsize?

Organizational downsizing has become commonplace in today's competitive environments. Over the past 10 years in the U.S. alone over 10 million positions have been eliminated. Recently, questions related to the holistic benefits of downsizing have emerged. One of these questions suggests that downsized companies may find it more difficult to fully satisfy their customers; especially if there have been significant cuts in key contact personnel. In view of this question, the work presented here examines whether downsized suppliers, as compared to non-downsized suppliers, enjoy higher (or lower) levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty among their business customers. Based on a sample of 560 purchasing professionals, this study indicates that contrary to popular managerial schema ([Lewin, J. E. (2003). An empirical investigation of the effects of downsizing on buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Business Research, 56(4), 283-293]; [McKinley, W., Zhao, J., & Rust, K. (2000). A socio-cognitive interpretation of organizational downsizing. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 227-243]), downsized suppliers do a significantly worse job in delivering quality and value to their business customers. As a result, their customers are less satisfied and less loyal.     

Branding a B2B service: Does a brand differentiate a logistics service provider?

Existing research has shown that strong brands serve as an important point of differentiation for firms, assisting customers in their evaluation and choice processes. Although there is considerable research on the branding of consumer goods and an increasing literature on industrial and service brands, little is known about branding in the context of business-to-business services. This research extends existing brand theory to a new setting, namely B2B services. Drawing on the results of two mail surveys, we examine B2B services branding in the context of logistics services. Findings suggest that brands do differentiate the offerings of logistics service providers and that brand equity exists for this commodity-like B2B service. Findings also support the extendibility of Keller's [Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22] brand equity framework into the logistics services context. However, results of this study show that; logistics service providers and their customers have different perspectives on the relative influence of brand image and brand awareness on brand equity. Implications of these findings for managers and directions for future research are offered.     

The influence of brand image and company reputation where manufacturers market to small firms: A customer value perspective

Branding research has largely focused on consumer goods markets and only recently has attention been given to business markets. In many business markets the company's reputation has a strong influence on buying decisions which may differ from the more specific product related influence of the brand's image. In this paper we investigate these differences by testing the hypotheses about the influences of brand image and company reputation on customers' perceptions of product and service quality, customer value, and customer loyalty in a business market where there are three manufacturers marketing their brands directly to a large number of small firms. The results indicate that the brand's image has a more specific influence on the customers' perceptions of product and service quality while the company's reputation has a broader influence on perceptions of customer value and customer loyalty.     

The antecedents of client loyalty in business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces

The globalization of economic activity and the emergence of the Internet have led to the appearance of a new model of business-to-business (B2B) known as the electronic B2B market or e-marketplace which facilitates the establishment of marketing relationships between buyers and sellers. In view of the limited research in this area, the present study examines the elements that may influence client (i.e., user) loyalty in this context. The basis of the study is an analysis of empirical data provided by 197 Spanish e-marketplace selling-side users, investigating the influence of image, quality, satisfaction, and value on client loyalty. The results indicated that satisfaction had no direct impact on client loyalty, but that the e-marketplace's image and user-perceived quality and value are antecedents of its clients' loyalty.     

Outcomes of service encounter quality in a business-to-business context

Service encounter quality is an area of growing interest to researchers and managers alike, yet little is known about the effects of face-to-face service encounter quality within a business-to-business setting. In this paper, a psychometrically sound measure of such service encounter quality is proposed, and consequences of this construct are empirically assessed. Both a literature review and a dyadic in-depth interview approach were used to develop a conceptual framework and a pool of items to capture service encounter quality. A mail survey of customers was undertaken, and a response rate of 36% was obtained. Data analysis was conducted via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings reveal a four-factor structure of service encounter quality, encompassing professionalism, civility, friendliness and competence dimensions. Service encounter quality was found to be directly related to customer satisfaction and service quality perceptions, and indirectly to loyalty. The importance of these findings for practitioners and for future research on service encounter quality is discussed.     

关于服饰类奢侈品牌的品牌忠诚度建设探究——以中国奢侈品市场的消费者为例

著名品牌战略专家David Aaker提出了品牌五大资产,即品牌忠诚、品牌知名、品质认知、品牌联想和专有资产。这些资产的总和构成了企业的品牌资产,它可以提升一个产品或服务的价值。其中,品牌忠诚在品牌资产中占有特殊的地位,它是顾客价值和企业价值的载体[1]。随着市场经济的发展,品牌竞争的时代已经到来。品牌忠诚作为企业资产的重要组成部分,可以为企业带来切实的利润增长和竞争优势。任何品牌想要长久立于不败之地,培育消费者长期的品牌忠诚是有效途径,这就需要品牌企业准确地分析行业特征和目标客户群,不断地维护和提升目标消费者的品牌忠诚度。     

Understanding the role of service innovation behavior on business customer performance and loyalty

Providing new services to customers gives firms a competitive advantage in the market. Consequently, firms strive to develop innovative service that delivers new value propositions to customers and leads to customer satisfaction and the acquisition of new customers. The authors investigate the relationship between the innovative behavior of service providers, business customer performance, and business customer loyalty in the safety industry. The study's results show that technology-oriented and co-creation-oriented innovative behavior leads to business customer performance. Business customer performance is closely related to recommendations and re-contracts. Moreover, the degree of safety involvement has a moderate effect between service innovation and business customer performance. The findings have important theoretical and managerial implications for service innovation for researchers as well as service providers.     

Organizational resources enabling service responsiveness: Evidence from Greece

This article examines the implementation of relationship marketing strategy based on a sample of business-to-business firms operating in Greece. Organizational resources, including a focus on learning and flexibility/adaptation in strategic planning, are demonstrated to be antecedents of effective relationship marketing strategies. The possession of these resources lead to superior customer performance (as measured by customer satisfaction and loyalty) and, ultimately, superior financial performance (as measured by profit levels, profit margin, and ROI). Our results provide support for the development of organizational resources that foster and enable relationship marketing in business-to-business environments since such resources are linked with improved firm performance.