Relationship Intention and Length of Customer–Firm Associations in Two Emerging Markets

ABSTRACT

Despite the benefits of following a relationship marketing approach, firms should use caution when targeting customers with relationship marketing strategies as not all customers want to enter into long-term relationships. Targeting customers based on the length of customer-firm association could also be flawed as the success of doing so is disputed. This study explored relationship intention under cell phone customers in two emerging markets, namely the Philippines and South Africa. Findings show that relationship marketing strategies should only be focused on customers displaying high relationship intentions rather than, erroneously, investing in relationships with customers based on association length.     

A New Kind of Marketing: Creating Micro-Niches Using Resonance Marketing

ABSTRACT

Marketing has been dramatically changed by the Internet, the old rules do not apply. The Web allows companies to create products using micro-segmentation for target markets that are extremely small. Firms that want to be successful have to learn about resonance marketing. Resonance marketing used in conjunction with cause marketing and/or multicultural marketing can help a company find new market niches, charge premium prices. It can also be of great value to those interested in starting a small business.     

The Genesis of Relationships

SUMMARY

Productive relationships between a company and its customers are often the result of positive relationships between the company and its boundary spanning employees. The career entry transition marks the beginning of these interpersonal relationships, which have a significant impact on marketing performance. Using a sample of newly hired boundary spanning employees, we examine the influence of individual difference factors on boundary spanners' appraisals of the career entry transition. Significant relationships are found between boundary spanners' positive and negative appraisals of the transition and personal and non-organizational factors: perceived centrality of the work role, availability of resources (finances, social support, personal hope), and sense of coherence.     

Customer Lifetime Value as the Basis of Customer Segmentation

SUMMARY

In this article, we examine current trends in customer life-time value and customer segmentation models and identify key issues for future research. CLV-based segmentation is a segmentation approach that groups customers into meaningful segments based upon customer lifetime value and (potentially) other factors. In the article, we discuss the extent to which CLV-based segmentation meets the criteria for effective segmentation. We also identify six areas for future research: (1) models and management of “micro-segments,” (2) using CLV-based segmentation to improve the efficiency of marketing programs, (3) the need for more dynamic CLV-based segmentation models, (4) applying CLV-based customer segmentation to new products and new customers, (5) challenges associated with implementing CLV-based segmentation, and (6) the need for new models that enable firms to segment customers by response to marketing activities and CLV at different points in the customer decision process.     

Towards an Improved Understanding of Industrial Services: Quality Dimensions and Their Impact on Buyer-Seller Relationships

ABSTRACT

The rapidly growing field of services marketing has had a strong focus on consumer services. This article deals with industrial services, i.e., services provided by a manufacturing company to organizational customers. The authors suggest a triangular model of industrial service quality involving a distinction between structural, process-related, and outcome-related aspects. These three quality dimensions are shown to have strong impacts on the customer's trust, satisfaction, and commitment. The authors discuss theoretical and managerial implications of their findings.     

Effects of Various Types of Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) Ad Appeals on Consumers' Visual Attention,Perceptions, and Purchase Intentions

ABSTRACT

The study examined whether various types of cause-related marketing (CRM) appeals (informational, emotional, or a combination of the two) influenced visual attention, as captured by eye fixation, and perceptions of the company and the ad, thus, leading to purchase intentions. The results suggest that a combined appeal generates more favorable responses to the ad. An eye-tracking experiment showed that an informational ad led to longer visual attention, and that visual attention was affected by the level of consumers' cause involvement. Visual attention had a negative impact on company credibility. Company credibility mediated the relationship between visual attention and CRM ad attitudes.     

The Metrics of Relationships

Abstract

In the last two decades, it has been suggested that the marketing discipline is undergoing a paradigm shift from a transactional perspective to a relational perspective (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 2002). At the same time, there has been a call for the discipline to focus on accurate measurement of the outcome of marketing activities (Rust, Ambler, Carpenter, Kumar, & Srivastava, 2004). Extant research in this area has predominantly examined the sales and profitability of relationships through customer life time analysis or examined attitudinal measures such as satisfaction and loyalty. This paper attempts to combine both streams of research by examining the profitability, satisfaction and probability of switching associated with transactional customers, relationship customers (less than five years of relationship) and deep relationship customers (more than five years of relationship) in three business to business industries. The results demonstrate the transactional customers are most profitable followed by relationship and deep relationship customers. The probability of switching was in the reverse direction of profitability and there were no difference in satisfaction measures. Implications for research and practice and also derived in the paper.     

Hide and uncover: the use of secrets in marketing

ABSTRACT

Amidst the forceful public demand for organisational transparency, there is an ambition to explore the limits of openness. What kind of information could and should firms keep secret and under which conditions? In this paper, we explore the limits of transparency in the marketing domain and develop a conceptual model of secrecy in marketing. We describe three modes of ‘secretive’ relations: between the brand and customers who know the brand secret (insiders), between the brand and customers from whom the secret is hidden (outsiders), and between insiders and outsiders. The effects of secrecy in marketing extend along with these three modes. First, secrecy creates value for insiders by reinforcing their connection to the brand. Second, it provokes outsiders’ curiosity, especially when the secret is related to a prominent brand. Finally, secrecy establishes insiders as an aspirational reference group for outsiders.     

Marketing and engineering: Can there ever be synergy?

This paper puts forward a number of views about marketing that are commonly held by engineers. It goes on to argue the link between marketing and engineering taking into account past areas of conflict. It then poses new ways forward as a result of new methods of manufacture, together with new demands being made on manufacturing companies by more discerning customers. Flexibility is seen to be critical in the link between customers and the company, and the catalyst is seen to be marketing.

A postulation is made in relation to the future, and suggestions are made as to what marketing and engineering must do in order to provide the levels of customer satisfaction that will be demanded.     

Targeting direct marketing campaigns by neural networks

Abstract

Market-oriented companies increasingly aim at maximising the return of targeted direct marketing campaigns, rather than trying to reach customers and prospects indistinctly, according to a mass marketing approach. The profitability of direct marketing campaigns depends on a detailed definition of prospects and an accurate prediction of the response rate. This study shows how the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) can improve the effectiveness of direct mail marketing campaigns thanks to a better prediction of the response rate for subjects included in the target population according to factors that are believed to have an impact on their purchase intention. Results show the effectiveness of ANNs – in comparison with multiple regression analysis and logistic regression analysis – in identifying complex relationships among the data, and particularly in profiling customers and prospects and anticipating their behaviour.     

A Preliminary Study of Fintech Industry: A Two-Stage Clustering Analysis for Customer Segmentation in the B2B Setting

ABSTRACT

This practitioner note proposes a new approach considering two-stage clustering and LRFMP model (Length, Recency, Frequency, Monetary and Periodicity) simultaneously for customer segmentation and behavior analysis and applies it among the Iranian Fintech companies. In this practitioner note, the K-means clustering algorithm and LRFMP model are combined in the customer segmentation process. After initial clustering, for a better understanding of valuable customers, additional clustering is implemented in segments that needed further investigation. This approach contributes to a better interpretation of different customer segments. Customer segments, consisting of 23524 business customers are analysed based on their characteristics and appropriate strategies are recommended accordingly. The first stage clustering result shows that customers are best segmented into four groups. The first and fourth segments are clustered again and the final 11 groups of customers are determined. This note provides a systematic and practical approach for researchers and practitioners for segmentation, interpretation, and targeting of customers especially in the B2B setting and the Fintech industry and helps managers to make effective marketing strategies and enhance customer relationship and marketing intelligence.     

Research Trends of Marketing: A Bibliometric Study 1990–2017

Abstract

Interest in the role of marketing has grown in recent decades due to its impact in brand value, value creation for customers, profitability of customer base, and organizational results. The paper shows an overall view on marketing research to explore the development of research trends, showing the high-frequency keywords at different time periods. Using bibliometric methods, the research analyzes publications between 1990 and 2017 found in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The paper shows the evolution of keywords to reveal emerging topics as demonstrated in the connections network which includes “advertising,” “consumer behavior,” “trust,” “innovation,” and “customer satisfaction.”     

Uncertainty representation and risk management for direct segmented marketing

ABSTRACT

Mining for truly responsive customers has become an integral part of customer portfolio management, and, combined with operational tactics to reach these customers, requires an integrated approach to meeting customer needs that often involves the application of concepts from traditionally distinct fields: marketing, statistics, and operations research. This article brings such concepts together to address customer value and revenue maximisation as well as risk minimisation for direct marketing decision-making problems under uncertainty. We focus on customer lift optimisation given the uncertainty associated with lift estimation models, and develop risk management and operational tools for the multiple treatment (recommendation) problem using stochastic and robust optimisation techniques. Results from numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the effect of incorporating uncertainty on the performance of recommendation models.     

Marketing Concept Manifestations in Fiji Enterprises: Confirming the Link to Organizational Competitiveness

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes an integrative view of the marketing concept (i.e., the ability to understand and satisfy customers) and examines its prevalence and effect on competitiveness in organizations operating in an isolated and less economically developed country. The marketing concept manifests as marketing expertise, market orientation, and externally directed organizational values. Based on a sample of 86 firms operating in Fiji, the results indicate that these three mechanisms promote organizational competitiveness, thus supporting the universality of the marketing concept. These findings confirm the important role of the marketing concept in the competitiveness of firms in a less developed economy.     

How competent are consumers? The case of the energy sector in France

This paper discussed the notion of value co‐creation and the concept of customer competence as suggested by this notion. This led us to consider the competent customer as a social construction related to managerial representations. In order to examine this issue, a longitudinal exploratory research based on participant observation and in‐depth interviews with employees of a French energy supplier was conducted to explore whether customers are perceived as competent or incompetent market actors. The data analysis revealed four categories illustrating customers' profiles coping with the new situation of the ‘Utility X’ group in the energy sector. ‘Utility X’ employees define their customers according to four profiles: myopic, ignorant, uncreative and organizer of company resources. Even if the marketing studies that share the Service‐Dominant Logic point‐of‐view suggest that the customer would be competent at all times, our findings showed that customer competencies are in fact socially constructed and emerge partially from managerial representations. Therefore, the adoption by companies of a marketing philosophy (‘market with’ philosophy), in which the customer and supply chain partners are collaborators in the entire marketing process, seems only possible if they recognize customers' competencies and identify situations when customers do not activate their competencies or do not have the resources that enable them to develop their competencies.     

The impact of fairness on trustworthiness and trust in banking

Abstract

Theorists and empirical researchers in marketing and other fields suggest that fairness is important in underpinning trust, which, in turn, is integral to developing and maintaining buyer–seller relationships. However, empirical investigation of fairness in the domain of marketing has, to date, been limited. Consequently, the relationship between fairness and trust is not well understood. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide a fully developed social exchange model examining the differential effects of various dimensions of fairness on trustworthiness and customers’ trust. Data were collected from customers of banks and were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings of the study show that perceptions of fair treatment on the part of customers are important in driving trustworthiness and engendering trust.     

Creating Value for Customers,Clients, Partners and Society: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Food Waste

ABSTRACT

Roughly one-third of edible food produced in the world is wasted, that is, it is never consumed by humans, despite the persistent demands for nutrition throughout the world. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “…the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” When it comes to food, an increasing number of these key stakeholders question how a global marketing system that routinely wastes a startling fraction of its product comports with “…value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large,” and whether the food marketing system can do more to sustainably convert scarce planetary resources into global nutrition. We introduce the articles in this special issue, which provide an intellectual and empirical basis for exploring how the global marketing system generates a substantial amount of food waste and how the food marketing system can do more to reduce the amount of wasted food.     

Exploring the Internal Customer Mind-Set of Marketing Personnel

SUMMARY

With a traditional focus on external customers, marketing personnel could be expected to provide a leadership role in bringing an internal customer focus to the organization. In this study, we focus on the internal customer mind-set (ICMS) of marketing personnel and how this might impact the organization. We present a theoretically driven model that integrates current human resources literature by representing ICMS as a mediator of job satisfaction/organizational commitment and job performance/turnover intentions. The most notable results are found between ICMS and job performance, through both direct and indirect effects. Future research and study limitations are discussed.     

A Commentary on “Undergraduate Education: The Implications of Cross-Functional Relationships in Business Marketing–The Skills of High-Performing Managers”

ABSTRACT

This commentary reinforces the importance and need for developing the student's knowledge, abilities, and understanding of what is required to collaborate with the firm's internal and external constituencies, in the context of B2B marketing environment. It is an important goal to be achieved in the B2B marketing course. The new era of business marketing is built around achieving “collaborative advantage” with the new breed of customers who demand relatively more complex product and services arrangements as well as nature of relationships from their vendors. Today's customers also expect intellectual input and consultative selling approaches from group of diverse and independent marketing entities, whom they expect to work together to meet their requirements. The firm's success or failure in the market place may indeed be predicated on their ability to achieve this “collaborative advantage”. The commentary also expands the authors' suggestions in the areas of course pedagogy and design for building the student's know-how and capability for practicing the art-of-collaboration.     

Mid-America Parts Company: An E-Commerce Case Study of a Successful International Small-Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME)

ABSTRACT

Mid-America Parts Company (MAPC) is a small U.S. firm located in the Midwest specializing in supplying heavy earthmoving equipment parts worldwide. In the mid-1990s the company began to experience challenges maintaining quality assurance while meeting a broad base of global customer parts needs at a profitable level. In the later half of the 1990s, the company initiated the use of a computer-based system to supply parts more efficiently to their customers. After numerous iterations, in 2000, Mid-America Parts Company finally established a customer data entry system that ensured ease of customer use while maintaining quality assurance. An important outcome of these efforts was enhanced customer relationships. This case study describes the company as it has successfully progressed along that path and identifies current issues yet to be addressed including the networking of both suppliers and customers. This paper includes questions related to reinforcing global customer relationship management (CRM) while pressing for the needs of efficiency gained from advanced computer technology. The information has been collected through site visits (2003 and 2004) in addition to traditional information-gathering methods. Although the company name and names of individuals have been changed, the specifics of the case are true as concerns the actual experience of this small-medium-sized enterprise (SME).