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.     

Customer Relationship Management: A Strategic Perspective

Over the last decade and a half Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has developed into an area of major significance. However, there is considerable confusion in the academic and managerial literature about what is meant by CRM and how if differs from relationship marketing. Further, despite heavy investment by organizations in CRM, there is extensive reporting of CRM’s failure to achieve anticipated results in the literature. This article reviews the conceptual differences between CRM and relationship marketing and defines these terms. It argues that, in many organizations, CRM failures have occurred through a lack of strategic focus. Key strategic issues are identified. A CRM Strategy Matrix is presented which considers the strategic context of companies and the implications for the development of their CRM strategies. Four alternative approaches towards building customer relationships are identified and migration paths between them are reviewed. Implications for implementing CRM strategy and future research are discussed.

运用CRM提升客户忠诚度的途径探讨

提升客户忠诚度是当前营销领域的一个热点和难点,良好客户服务是提升客户忠诚度的最佳方法。为营造以客户为中心的业务流程、建设客户数据库、完善客户服务、开展客户分析和个性化服务,在CRM支持下提高客户忠诚度的途径,运用CRM中的分析型功能收集、整合和分析客户数据以提高客户忠诚度。     

An integrative approach to relationship marketing,customer value,and customer outcomes in the retail banking industry: a customer-based perspective from Turkey

Given how important it is to provide superior value to customers and to maintain customer loyalty for a sustainable competitive advantage, the aim of this paper is to examine the relationships among relationship marketing components of – trust, competency, commitment, communication, and conflict handling, – relationship investment, relationship quality, perceived customer value, satisfaction and loyalty in an integrated framework in the Turkish retail banking industry. Unlike previous studies, this research extends the literature by analysing affective as well as cognitive dimensions in the same model with a holistic view by simultaneously examining the direct and indirect effects of the related concepts. The distinctive nature of this study is its evaluation of customer satisfaction and loyalty from the perspective of actual consumers. The research model was tested using data collected from 685 retail banking customers by applying structural equation modelling. The findings show that relationship marketing induces loyalty through relationship quality, customer value, and satisfaction, which are mainly provided by trust, communication, and relationship investment. Furthermore, relationship investment and relationship quality are the most important factors in the development of customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty. The emotional value dimension, which captures the affective aspects of perceived value, has the strongest effect on both satisfaction and loyalty.     

Building customer trust and loyalty: an empirical study in a retailing context

This paper integrates the seller's characteristics and the consumer's individual characteristics in testing the person-to-person and person-to-firm effects of trust on loyalty in the department store. A multidimensional model of the behavioural components of trustworthiness is used to examine their differential effects on consumer trust. The results reveal that the effects of behavioural components of trustworthiness on trust in salespersons and trust in department stores are different. Trust in salespersons contributes to the trust in the department stores they work for. In addition, although both trust in department stores and trust in salespersons are expected to enhance customer loyalty, person-to-person trust has stronger influence on loyalty than does person-to-firm trust. The findings also suggest that customers' individual characteristics should be considered in assessing the role of trust in business relationships other than sellers' characteristics.     

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.     

The Consequences of Consumers’ Use of Pre-Existing Social Relationships to Make Purchases

In this article, we extend and refine previous research on marketing relationships by specifically examining consumers’ use of pre-existing social relationships (i.e., friendships) with firm representatives to make purchases. This study identifies the various consequences of using pre-existing social relationships and integrates these new outcomes with existing research to develop a cohesive theoretical framework. Doing so highlights the unique advantages of developing stronger relationships between firms and customers, while also extending marketing scholars’ and practitioners’ understanding of relationship marketing. Finally, this study links the outcomes of using these relationships to important marketing constructs, such as satisfaction and loyalty.     

论商业银行顾客忠诚度的提高

忠诚的顾客对商业银行的经济效益影响极大,影响顾客忠诚度的因素有转移成本、顾客满意、顾客信任以及顾客感知价值。要提高商业银行的顾客忠诚度,必须在“以客户为中心”的理念的指导下,在利用数据仓库,对顾客进行分类管理,提供个性化服务的同时,进行业务流程创新,实行内部营销。     

谈饭店顾客关系的软、硬管理

近年来饭店业的过热增长使得这个行业的竞争焦点由“量”的竞争转变为“质”的竞争,也即从关注市场份额转变为关注忠诚顾客。硬管理和软管理是两种不同风格的管理方式。而如何刺激顾客的重复购买决策,硬管理诉诸于顾客的理性抉择,软管理则侧重培养顾客的情感忠诚。     

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     

Engaging Customers through Social Media to Improve Industrial Product Development: The Role of Customer Co-Creation Value

This study aims to investigate the effect of social media on customer loyalty with the mediation of customer co-creation value and to build a customer engagement model through co-creation value, which is supported by product improvement perceived in increasing customer loyalty. The data collection employed a survey method with structured questionnaires which were distributed to 150 respondents who were the members of social media product communities in Indonesia. The findings showed that interactions through social media are able to increase customer engagement, facilitaitng collaboration in co-creation value, allowing the company to improve and develop products based on customers' needs and desires, which will eventually increase customer loyalty.     

Customer retention in sports organization marketing: examining the impact of team identification and satisfaction with team performance

Over the past two decades, relationship marketing efforts have assumed a prominent role in sports organization marketing. A sports organization that successfully implements relationship marketing programmes is able to develop long‐term relationships with its fans, thus increasing the likelihood of customer retention. This study examines customer retention in sports organization marketing by considering the impact of team identification and satisfaction with team performance on four fan consumption behaviours: in‐person attendance, media‐based attendance, purchase of team merchandise and word‐of‐mouth communication related to the team. Survey data were collected from 300 fans of more than 40 professional and collegiate teams involved in seven sports. Results suggest that both team identification and satisfaction with team performance impact multiple consumption behaviours, as represented by fans' intentions to engage in future consumption. Team identification was found to have the greater impact on consumption behaviours, suggesting that a sports organization's continuing efforts to bond with its fans may provide greater benefits than efforts to improve the team's competitive performance.     

Loyalty in the Business-to-Business Service Context: A Literature Review and Proposed Framework

Loyalty has been named as one of the greatest competitive advantages for companies operating under high competition conditions. However, different authors look at this concept from different views and take different factors into account. This article consolidates academic research on loyalty in business services. The determinants of loyalty are identified and the development of loyalty as a process is investigated. These findings, together with the relationship development process and the possible influence of culture, are integrated into the resulting research framework. This framework suggests that relationship quality, comprising trust, satisfaction, and commitment, is a mediator of the loyalty development process. Furthermore, it suggests that these mediators, determining the transition from one stage to the other, are influenced by different antecedents. Finally, managerial recommendations and directions for future research are provided.     

培育合理的客户忠诚

本文认为,客户的忠诚是相对的,企业没有必要使所有的客户都维持高度忠诚,否则就有可能跌入客户忠诚陷阱。企业应根据不同客户的实际情况,在客户忠诚、客户关系成本和客户忠诚成本之间寻找较好的平衡,培育合理的客户忠诚。当企业愿意支付的客户关系成本刚好能补偿客户的忠诚成本和保留收入时,客户忠诚成本的灵敏系数或最小忠诚成本系数越小,企业能够培育的合理客户忠诚度越高;当企业愿意支付的客户关系成本大于客户的忠诚成本和保留收入时,客户关系成本的灵敏系数或最小关系成本系数越小,企业能够培育的合理客户忠诚度越高。     

Communicating Competency in References: A Qualitative Analysis of the Utilization of References in Mechanical Engineering

ABSTRACT

Purpose: In order to explore the multiplicative interaction between clustering and reach, as well as their effect on members’ knowledge production and patent value, the authors researched university–industry collaboration networks in the emerging interdisciplinary field at a corporate level.

Methodology: The authors based their research on a platform of nano-biopharmaceuticals complex network analysis. Furthermore, they built a network to analyze the influence of small-world properties, as well as the impact of the largest component on the patent value of innovation activities at a corporate level. In this article, the authors conduct an empirical investigation of university–industry patent innovation collaboration in the nano-biopharmaceutical field and propose that their research be considered as new evidence in addition to the previously published literature in this field. Given the pre-existing high skew of patent values in relation to registered patents, they used weighted patent value in the measurement of university–industry innovation performance, rather than simple patent counts.

Results: The results show that small-world structures have a parabolical influence on patent innovation performance at corporate level.

Findings: The findings go beyond previous research results and can contribute to policy formulation and relevant entrepreneurial decisions in the establishment of university–industry collaboration.     

基于多情境因素调节的顾客忠诚管理研究

本文以移动通信服务业为对象,通过实地访谈和抽样调查等研究方法,应用SPSS11.0统计软件包,分析不同情境因素调节作用下顾客满意、关系信任和转换成本对顾客忠诚的驱动机制,探讨顾客忠诚的形成机理。研究结果表明,顾客忠诚的形成离不开顾客满意、关系信任和转换成本等驱动因素的直接影响,而在顾客忠诚的形成过程中,这种驱动作用总是受制于产品经验、利益相关性、替代选择性和产品复杂性等情境因素的调节作用。研究结果对我国企业经营者制定顾客忠诚驱动策略和改善顾客关系管理工作具有重要的现实意义。     

客户关系管理研究进展及其未来发展方向

客户关系管理在过去十多年得到了快速发展。然而目前由于不同学者研究视角和研究出发点等方面差异,他们研究的结论并不相同,甚至是相互矛盾,因此有必要从客户关系管理的理论基础、客户关系管理的内涵及其演进、客户关系管理对组织绩效的影响效应等几个方面对该领域现状进行了系统研究,并在此基础上探明现有研究存在的局限及其未来发展趋势。     

论关系营销原理在旅行社顾客管理中的应用

在激烈的旅游市场竞争中与顾客保持长期的良好关系,是旅行社企业获得经营优势的关键。所以必须将关系营销理论与传统的市场营销相结合,在遵循顾客让渡价值、提升顾客满意度与盈利能力的原则指导下,使关系营销原理在旅行社顾客管理中具体运用,才能有效地提升旅行社的经营效益。     

关系营销是客户关系管理的核心理念和指导思想

关系营销是客户关系管理的核心理念和指导思想,客户关系管理的核心是客户关系。通过客户关系管理这一过程,企业最大程度地掌握和利用顾客信息,以培养和增强顾客的忠诚度,实现顾客的终身挽留。关系营销与客户关系管理进行有效整合,可以使关系营销理论得到全新发展,也让客户关系管理理论在中国的环境中得到更好的发挥和实现。