A Stakeholder Perspective for Analyzing Marketing Relationships

This paper proposes a framework that enables the application of stakeholder theory to the analysis of marketing relationships. By distinguishing between different types of stakeholder relationships, stretching from the positive to the negative side of relationships (i.e. the ladder of stakeholder loyalty), and describing the various relational factors (i.e. relationship orientation, trust, communication, learning, power, reciprocity and commitment) that shape a specific relationship, the proposed framework enables marketers to analyze their firm's diverse relationships. The paper provides a meaningful starting point for developing strategies to change the type of relationship with a specific stakeholder.     

Evolving Relationship Marketing into a Discipline

Abstract

Relationship marketing is considered a paradigm change in both academic and practitioner literature. However, despite its popularity, relationship marketing has not yet evolved into becoming a discipline. The authors propose focus on eight areas to help relationship marketing evolve into a discipline. They compare the successful evolution of consumer behavior, services marketing and marketing strategy with the failure of international marketing, social marketing and business marketing as a discipline.     

The Application of Stakeholder Theory to Relationship Marketing Strategy Development in a Non-profit Organization

Non-profit (NP) organizations present complex challenges in managing stakeholder relationships, particularly during times of environmental change. This places a premium on knowing which stakeholders really matter if an effective relationship marketing strategy is to be developed. This article presents the successful application of a model, which combines Mitchell’s theory of stakeholder saliency and Coviello’s framework of contemporary marketing practices in a leading NP organization in the U.K. A cooperative enquiry approach is used to explore stakeholder relationships, dominant marketing practices, and to surface differing perceptions about the organization’s marketing strategy. Resolving these differences sets the scene for developing choices in marketing strategy for the future. Simon Knox is Professor of Brand Marketing at the Cranfield School of Management in the UK and is a consultant to a number of multinational companies including Levi Strauss, DiverseyLever, BT and Exel. Upon graduating, he followed a career in the marketing of international brands with Unilever plc in a number of senior marketing roles in both detergents and foods. Since joining Cranfield, Simon has published over 100 papers and books on strategic marketing and branding and is a regular speaker at international conferences. He is a Director of the Cranfield Centre for Brand Management Development in the School and is currently looking at the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand Management. He is the co-author of two recent books, "Competing on Value", published by FT Pitman Publishing in the UK, Germany, the USA and China, and "Creating a Company for Customers", FT Prentice-Hall, in the UK, Brazil and India. Colin Gruar is currently studying for his Doctorate of Business Administration at the School. His thesis is concerned with developing marketing strategy across stakeholder groups in the Not-for-Profit sector.Formerly Head of Marketing at a major UK medical research charity, Colin has also had senior roles in sales, marketing and operations management in a range of sectors including manufacturing, financial services and energy supply.     

Pre-Production Relationship Marketing

Abstract

The benefits of relationship marketing and customer relationship management have been well documented in the marketing literature and in business practice. Relationship marketing instruments (RMIs) are specific methods that can help bring about those benefits. The authors describe a unique type of RMI, one that can be used prior to product or service production. Designed to market season tickets for new or remodeled professional football stadiums before the stadium is built, Permanent Seat Licensing has been used effectively over the past decade for nine National Football League teams. The authors propose that this type of pre-production RMI has possible application for marketers of other products and services .     

欧美国家近年来市场营销模式及发展动态分析

近十几年来,欧美发达国家的一些大的制造商普遍出现了市场营销活动绩效下滑和受挫的征兆,使很多大公司的市场营销经理感到困惑,甚至对市扬营销的作用与效力产生了疑虑,从动态的角度着重考察了近10年来欧美发达国家的企业在市场营销的模式及其执行的发展动向,分析了引起这些变化的深层次原因,并对其变化趋势进行了预测。     

Internet-Based Relationship Marketing: A Sub-Saharan African Perspective

Establishing, maintaining, and enhancing relationships over the Internet have progressively gained global attention. Nevertheless, the dawn of this modernization draws many theoretical debates and practical concerns, some of which have received little research attention, especially within the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. On this premise, we explored the contemporary practice, challenges, and benefits of Internet-based relationship marketing (RM) within the Ghanaian telecommunication industry. Expert interviews with 12 employees from four telecommunication firms elicited a wealth of experiential data analyzed thematically to understand the practice, challenges, and emerging benefits of Internet-based RM. Our findings suggest that issues of privacy concerns, erosion of face-to-face communication, and the tendency of unsolicited communication do not necessarily militate Internet-based RM within the Ghanaian telecommunication industry. We also identified emerging benefits, including online “virality,” a discovery environment, and improved firm reputation. We suggest enhancing online personalization through empathy, creating value with analytic information and managerial openness, and supporting enhanced knowledge development within the area. Directions for future studies include the possibility of comparative studies across service industries and examining the role of content marketing in Internet-based relationships. The challenge of exploring Internet-based RM was similar to hitting a moving target, as the use of the Internet for relationship marketing activities is constantly evolving. Additionally, our findings and conclusion are confined to the knowledge contribution of the experts interviewed. As one of the few studies within the Sub-Saharan region, we expand contributions from the Sub-Saharan domain. The findings of this study also bring to light new insights for establishing, maintaining, and enhancing Internet-based relationships.     

关系营销理论与顾客关系管理

关系营销将建立和发展与相关个人、企业组织的关系作为市场营销的关键变量 ,把握了现代市场竞争的时代特点 ,体现了电子商务时代的互动性、合作性和个性化发展趋势。因特网作为一种有效的双向沟通渠道 ,使企业与顾客之间可以实现低成本、高效率的沟通和交流 ,为关系营销提供了有效的技术保障。在电子商务时代 ,抢占市场的关键已从管理营销组合转变为企业与顾客的互动关系管理 ,顾客关系管理为关系营销提供了有效的技术支持     

Relationship Strategy,Effectiveness, and Responsiveness in Services Marketing

Abstract

Relationship marketing has been recognized as a new paradigm in marketing. Although the practice of relationship marketing has expanded rapidly across the globe, most of the published researches in this area of study are based on data collected from North America or Europe. This research studies the relationship between relationship strategy, relationship effectiveness, and responsiveness to customer needs using data collected through the administration of the One-to-One Gap Tool (Peppers, Rogers, and Dorf 1999) in the Indian service sector. The results of statistical analysis using LISREL provide strong support for the positive relationship between relationship effectiveness and responsiveness to customer needs. The Organizational Activity of relationship strategy was also found to possess relationships consistent with theory. However, findings regarding the Informational Activity and the Operational Activity are less conclusive. Managerial implications and directions for future research in relationship marketing are discussed.     

关系营销视角下的企业个人关系对策研究

在商务交往中,个人关系是一种双刃剑,既能够促进甚至决定顾客和企业关系的发展,又由于稳定性的缺乏或过于强调个人关系给企业带来风险。企业应客观认识个人关系的作用,加强基础管理工作和客户关系管理,完善客户档案,建立与顾客之间互动的关系网络,做好关键时刻的具体工作。同时,企业应采取措施,留住关键员工,促进个人关系向企业层面关系转化,促进和带动顾企关系的发展,实现企业的经营目标。     

社会营销与关系营销的理论对比分析

本文通过对社会营销观念和关系营销观念的理论对比,找出两种营销观念在理论和观点上的联系与区别,并对两种观念在具体实践中的应用进行了分析,对企业树立科学发展观,追求社会与企业的可持续发展具有极其重要的现实意义。     

可操作的关系营销与相关的道德问题

关系营销是营销理论界的一个热门话题。然而,历经近20年的发展,它的操作性问题却没有解决好。关系营销的可操作性涉及三个问题:关系市场、关系营销组合和关系营销的道德问题。关系营销是一种道德问题颇大的营销方式或营销思想。要解决关系营销的道德问题,需要对关系营销的范围加以限制,需要降低对于关系营销的道德要求,或者需要为关系营销建立一套新的道德标准。     

企业间关系质量：渠道影响策略的权变模型

文章基于渠道行为与嵌入理论,探讨了营销渠道中的经济型影响策略（组织间强制性影响策略和非强制性影响策略）与社会型影响策略（组织间人际影响策略）对企业间关系质量的影响。通过对152家制造商的调查数据分析发现：企业在治理渠道关系时,使用组织间强制性影响策略会降低它与合作伙伴之间的关系质量;使用组织间非强制性影响策略对它与合作伙伴之间关系质量的影响不显著;使用组织间人际影响策略则有助于提高它与合作伙伴之间的关系质量。此外,组织间人际影响策略还会减弱组织间强制性影响策略对企业间关系质量的负面影响。     

Relationship Marketing and Consumers: A Social Dilemmas Approach

In this article a Social Dilemmas approach is taken toward relationship marketing, and consumer and seller behavior. This approach offers several advantages. It explicitly takes into account the dilemma that results from the differences in interests between consumers and sellers, as well as their interdependency and tendency toward opportunistic behavior. It focuses simultaneously on the two parties in dynamic interaction. It therefore provides a more generic and encompassing perspective than the common consumer behavior perspective, or the one-sided emphasis in marketing on seller activities. In contrast to a non-marketing (or selling) orientation of sellers, both transaction and relationship marketing seek a cooperative win-win solution to the consumer-seller dilemma. This requiresboth parties to compromise and cooperate and refrain from non-cooperation. Cooperative and non-cooperative consumer and seller behaviors are described. In addition, the SD-approach suggests some factors that influence interactions, transactions and relationships between consumers and sellers and may stimulate cooperation in real-life commercial dilemma situations. Some implications for marketing and consumer behavior theory and research, and marketing practice are discussed.     

The Role of Price in Consumer Quality Judgments for Professional Services

Abstract

Classifying services according to their level of search, experience and credence properties can help professional service providers better understand their customers. This research uses an experiment to study the influence of price information on consumer judgments of service quality and patronage intentions for professional services. The conceptual framework predicts that consumers believe in a price-quality relationship for search-based services but not necessarily for professional services that are high in credence properties. The study findings provide support for this proposition and suggest that professional service providers should carefully consider how consumers view their services when using price as a promotion tool.     

基于利益相关者关系质量改进的商业模式价值创造分析

从利益相关者关系质量、连续质量改进理论出发,采用理论分析和逻辑推理方法,考察了利益相关者关系质量、质量维度、维度层次性,提出了利益相关者关系质量连续改进的构想,并建立由焦点企业、利益相关者及跨越二者边界活动所组成的关系质量改进框架。在此基础上,分析了关系质量改进下的价值创造逻辑、过程和机制,阐释了关系质量改进对焦点企业与利益相关者之间的产品和服务交易效率、资源和能力互补、业务和活动锁定以及网络价值传递的影响,为企业商业模式创新和价值创造实践提供借鉴。     

Examining the Relationship Marketing,Marketing Productivity Paradigm

Abstract

The authors examine the relationship marketing research literature and identify three schools of thought regarding relationship marketing. The Inter-organizational, customer relationship, and customer valuation research perspectives are described and representative studies are discussed. The predominant conceptual approaches to marketing productivity in the research literature are identified and described. The shareholder value model of Srivastava, Shervani, and Fahey (1998) is selected as the most useful conceptual framework linking relationship marketing and marketing productivity. The linking constructs of customer equity and brand equity are identified as the critical conceptual connections between relationship marketing and marketing productivity. A research agenda is suggested, covering both conceptual and operational issues for further development of both relationship marketing and marketing productivity.     

论关系营销中的道德决策

本文在分析亨特和维特尔营销道德理论模型，探讨其在关系营销应用中出现的缺陷的基础上，试图构建一个关系营销中的道德决策模型作为补充，并结合现实环境对企业营销道德决策过程进行了分析。     

The Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing at 21 and My Perspective on the Field of B to B Marketing

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The author shares his thoughts on the progression of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing and the field of business-to-business (B to B) marketing over the last 21 years. The author discusses the field of B to B marketing research and examines the gaps that exist between theory and practice and in the quality of papers among the top-tier marketing journals and the three journals that are dedicated to B to B marketing research.

Methodology[#x0002F]approach: Because the article represents both the author[#x02019]s perspective on the current state of B to B research and his views on how well the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing has contributed to and influenced the field, the approach taken is primarily conceptual. Also, the approach allowed the author to opine as to the future direction of the field.

Findings: Although much progress has been made in improving the quality and relevance of B to B research, there still exists a relative gap in the number of submitted papers, the quality of these papers, and the impact, with some exceptions, that B to B scholars have on marketing theory and practice. Much of the gap can be attributed to the lack of adequate doctoral training. The gap is more a relative comparison to those who would follow a business-to-consumer (B to C) research path.

Research implications: Doctoral training for those interested in B to B marketing need to explore other fields of study (e.g., political science, sociology) as well as to be better equipped in more rigorous methods by which to examine the phenomenon that they select to study. The quality of the research in the domain referred to as B to B marketing has improved over the years. The belief that it is more difficult to conduct B to B research than it might be in the B to C world is no longer an excuse for a poorly conceived and executed study. The journal gives a voice to those who wish to study and conduct research in B to B marketing.

Practical implications: The implications for practice are immediate and would result in an increase in the dialogue between academics and practicing managers. Given the importance of B to B marketing to the world[#x02019]s economy, B to B scholars ought to pursue problems that are relevant to the world of practice.

Originality[#x0002F]value[#x0002F]contribution: In light of the fact that this is the 21^st anniversary of the journal, I was asked by Editor-in-Chief David Lichtenthal to present my

opinions as to the state of both the journal and the state of the field. I believe that the article builds on the work of others and hopefully sets a direction for future B to B scholars.     

关系营销导向:量表的重新设计与检验

基于关系营销理论和前人关于关系营销导向的论述与测量,针对关系营销导向测量中存在的问题,本文设计了一个新的关系营销导向量表,并以营销渠道中制造商与其经销商的关系为背景,检验和评估了新量表的信度与效度。结果发现:新量表在内部一致性、表面效度、内容效度、内敛效度、判别效度和工具效度等都达到了测量的要求。最重要的是,新量表修改了原有量表的用语,使其更符合关系营销导向的内涵,弥补了原有量表缺乏表面效度的缺陷。     

A Case Study of Stakeholder Identification and Prioritization by Managers

The purpose of this article is to examine stakeholder identification and prioritization by managers using the power, legitimacy, and urgency framework of Mitchell et al. (Academy of Management Review 22, 853–886; 1997). We use a multi-method, comparative case study of two large-scale sporting event organizing committees, with a particular focus on interviews with managers at three hierarchical levels. We support the positive relationship between number of stakeholder attributes and perceived stakeholder salience. Managers’ hierarchical level and role have direct and moderating effects on stakeholder identification and perceived salience. We also found that most stakeholders were definitive, dominant, or dormant types – the other five types were rare. Power has the most important effect on salience, followed by urgency and legitimacy. Based on our case study, we offer several ways to advance the theory of stakeholder identification and salience.