Transforming under deep uncertainty: A strategic perspective on risk management

Companies increasingly face the need for transformation in today’s rapidly changing business environment, characterized by major shifts in technology, regulation, and customer behavior. A lack of strategic risk insight and foresight leaves many incumbents insufficiently prepared in the face of such deep uncertainty. We argue that traditional risk management falls short because it predominantly focuses on strategy execution while leaving strategy formulation largely untouched. Moreover, an administrative-heavy risk management process can create strategic inertia and a misleading sense of control. In today’s dynamic business context, companies must not only increase the speed and impact of their strategy execution but also continuously explore the development of new strategies in response to disruptive events or emerging opportunities. Our research shows how leading companies develop a strategic risk management (SRM) capability to increase their resilience and agility in response to deep uncertainty. SRM takes a strategic, forward-looking perspective and focuses on strengthening processes, people, and practices for purposefully integrating risk into the strategy formulation process. This article offers a framework with three proven configurations of content and timing integration, risk management roles, and leading practices that enable effective SRM.     

Customer perceived value,satisfaction, and loyalty: The role of switching costs

It is a marketplace reality that marketing managers sometimes inflict switching costs on their customers, to inhibit them from defecting to new suppliers. In a competitive setting, such as the Internet market, where competition may be only one click away, has the potential of switching costs as an exit barrier and a binding ingredient of customer loyalty become altered? To address that issue, this article examines the moderating effects of switching costs on customer loyalty through both satisfaction and perceived‐value measures. The results, evoked from a Web‐based survey of online service users, indicate that companies that strive for customer loyalty should focus primarily on satisfaction and perceived value. The moderating effects of switching costs on the association of customer loyalty and customer satisfaction and perceived value are significant only when the level of customer satisfaction or perceived value is above average. In light of the major findings, the article sets forth strategic implications for customer loyalty in the setting of electronic commerce. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Measuring Satisfaction with Services when the Customer Is Not the Consumer

Typically, nonprofit and public institutions offer their customers services as opposed to manufactured, marketed, tangible products. Marketers in the not-for-profit and public sectors must be aware of the ways in which traditional, product-bound marketing tools must be changed to accommodate the unique nature of services. This paper considers how measures of customer satisfaction are inadequate to capture satisfaction with services especially in the situation typical to nonprofits where the customer (purchaser) of the service, is a different person from the consumer (user) of the service. This customer-consumer differentiation is necessary because it appears that in the case of high involvement services in which the customer is not the consumer, inflated satisfaction ratings occur when conventional measures are applied. It is argued that these ratings may be caused by a desire to avoid dissonance or by a faulty attribution process, but whatever their cause, new measures of satisfaction need to be developed to accommodate the special nature of these services.     

体验营销对顾客满意度的影响研究——以宜家为例

体验营销侧重于消费者精神和心理需求的满足,顾客满意度是体验营销效果的一个重要考量指标。本研究选取宜家作为研究对象,围绕体验营销的五个构成维度与顾客满意度的相关性展开研究。分析表明,体验营销对顾客满意度有正向影响,其中感官体验的影响最大。本文基于实证分析结果,为我国企业更好的实施体验营销提出了相关建议。     

网络营销策略:消费者行为黑箱与客户满意度

电子商务的快速发展给网络营销提供了商业平台,同时也要求网络营销采取面向客户关系、网络营销成本与风险管理以及提升客户满意度等方面的营销策略。在分析网络营销特性基础上,通过对消费者行为模式和购买过程以及消费者行为黑箱分析,提出了相应网络营销策略。最后指出,网络营销应结合传统营销策略、虚实结合、差异营销,“一对一”客户交流等措施,以提升网络客户满意度。     

It's a secret: Marketing value and the denial of availability

Marketing thrives on secrets, yet surprisingly little formal attention has been paid to how the marketing of secrecy and the secrecy of marketing can play a significant role in contemporary organizations. We draw upon the fields of organizational studies, psychology, and marketing to develop a typology of secrets that reflects their marketing value and their knowledge value. Marketing secrets can have value to the firm (strategic value), to the customer (marketing value), or to both parties. Based on these two dimensions, we identify four different types of marketing secrets: (1) appealing secrets have high strategic value, as well as high marketing value; (2) mythical secrets mean little to the firm but a lot to the customer; (3) plain secrets are critical to the firm but are irrelevant to customers; and (4) weak secrets have neither strategic value nor marketing value. Our typology enables academics to formulate research questions regarding secrecy in marketing, and serves as a guide for practitioners in the construction of strategies that can exploit the strategic value of secrets by ‘romancing’ them, and increase their knowledge value by ‘educating’ the secrets.     

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.     

The complex firm financial effects of customer satisfaction improvements

It has been widely assumed that increases in customer satisfaction have continuous financial benefits for firms. However, recent meta-analysis results and anecdotal evidence suggest substantial variability in satisfaction-performance effects. We propose and investigate three explanations for this variability: (1) changing trade-offs of financial benefits vis-à-vis costs along the satisfaction continuum, (2) varying stickiness of benefits and costs over time, and (3) contextual effects related to a firm’s marketing strategic situation. For our empirical investigation, we used customer satisfaction scores and financial data for around 100 U.S. firms over a 15-year period. The results show that revenues and savings in marketing and acquisition costs can accelerate at high satisfaction levels. However, for many firms, operating costs and capital investments also accelerate, and shareholder returns for satisfaction improvements can become negative. Tests over different assessment horizons show that operating cost increases are sticky while top line benefits fade. Finally, firm strategy, offering customization, potential of customer word of mouth, and competitive innovation pressure determine the satisfaction payoffs. Our study will help managers to predict more accurately than before the financial effects of their customer-directed investment decisions.     

Influencing factors of customer loyalty in mobile payment: A consumption value perspective and the role of alternative attractiveness

The rapid development of mobile payment has attracted many competitors and made customer retention a crucial issue for mobile payment service providers. This study examines the influencing factors of mobile payment loyalty from a multi-dimensional value perspective by extending and integrating the Cognitive-Affective-Behaviour (C-A-B) model and the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV). We also incorporate alternative attractiveness as a moderating variable to reveal the potential influence of the competitive market environment. This study collected 427 questionnaires from mobile payment users in China. The empirical study results show that customers’ loyalty is determined by satisfaction, and satisfaction is influenced by functional, emotional, epistemic, and monetary value. The findings also demonstrate that satisfaction has mediated the consumption values and loyalty relationship, and alternative attractiveness has weakened the influence of satisfaction on loyalty. This study shifts the focus in mobile payment research from adoption to the post-adoption stage and establishes a new research model by integrating two fundamental theories in explaining customer behaviour. Our study could guide mobile payment providers to cultivate customer satisfaction and loyalty by determining the values that are worth investing in their marketing strategies and help them notice and neutralise the weakening effect of competitor attractiveness.     

顾客承诺的内涵、维度及影响因素研究

顾客承诺是西方有关如何留住顾客的营销理论中继顾客满意、顾客忠诚之后又一重要概念。根据国内外学者对顾客承诺理论的研究,从行为层面和心理层面系统论述了顾客承诺的内涵。依据顾客承诺的产生将顾客承诺划分为盘算性承诺、情感性承诺、规范性承诺三个维度。综合国内外研究以及根据市场营销环境,分别总结归纳出顾客承诺三维度的主要影响因素:经济价值,转换成本;顾客满意,顾客信任;主观规范,优惠待遇。     

Limits to growing customer value: Being squeezed between the past and the future

Marketing managers often have to balance between marketing exploitation strategies (reaping value from what already is known) and marketing exploration strategies (reaping value from new sources). However, do marketing strategies once exploited or explored in a certain way or direction leave enough potential for further exploration? Based on the various cases of Apple, Alpro, Intel, Nutella, Patagonia, and Ryanair, this article shows that several risks and limits come into play when trying to answer this question. Companies may get squeezed between the past and the future while facing the pressure of temporal consistency driven by past behavior and experiencing the limits of future growth in the dominant customer value drivers. To counter this problem, companies often start integrating new value drivers in their story, leading to other risks, such as incompatibility with existing drivers. The cases discussed in this article reveal that companies may have to accept more sacrifices in order to increase returns within their growth trajectory. Value engineering will become a crucial discipline for companies to survive in many industries. This article gives a step-by-step approach on how to implement this in an organization.     

Is “proof” the Eighth “P” of Service? A Conceptual Model and Propositions

The article aims at making a conceptual contribution to services marketing literature by proposing an eighth “P” called “proof.” Proof is a simple operational measure or an intuitive indicator that helps the customer quickly assess the efficacy of a service. The article discusses services marketing literature and develops propositions that underscore the importance of proof as the eighth P. When proof is provided about a service to the customer, it affects all service outcomes (i.e., service evaluation, purchase intent, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intent). Though conceptual, the article provides practical implications as well.     

Choosing the Right Metrics to Maximize Profitability and Shareholder Value

There is an ever-present need for managers to justify marketing expenditures to the firm. This can only be done when we can establish a direct link between marketing metrics and future customer value and firm performance. In this article, we assess the marketing literature with regard to marketing metrics. Subsequently, we develop a framework that identifies key metrics that firms should focus on that can give a firm a better picture of how they got to where they are now and insights towards how they can continue to grow into the future. We then identify several organizational challenges that need to be addressed in order for firms to build the capabilities of collecting the right data, measuring the right metrics, and linking those metrics to customer value and firm performance. Finally, we offer guidelines for future research with regard to marketing metrics to help firms establish successful marketing strategies, measure marketing effectiveness, and justify marketing expenditures to top management.     

Utilizing the access value of customers

Customers are critical resources for the success of any business, not only because they bring in sales and profits directly, but also because of their access value in a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected. However, the mechanisms by which the customer access value may be exploited and the implication for management has not been well understood. Access value can be defined as the worth of utilizing patrons for further marketing and sales of value-added or third party products. The access value, which mainly results from the aggregation of the customer base and customer data, is essentially a corporation's internalized asset. This article shows that the size of the customer base and the extent of engagement have a significant impact on the customer access value. To develop and gain the benefits of customer access value, traditional business models often need to be transformed: firms and platforms should provide free or subsidized products to attract people and then embed value-added products to make money. The success of the new business model depends on not only the right pricing and product strategies, but also an embedding strategy.     

零售商品牌资产管理策略体系构建——基于多维理论视角的探讨

零售商品牌资产的管理和创建是零售企业获取持续竞争优势的关键,但关于零售商品牌资产管理策略的理论指导并不系统和丰富。因此,本文从零售商品牌营销管理、顾客情绪管理、顾客体验管理、顾客关系管理、顾客忠诚管理5个多维理论视角,对零售商品牌资产管理的策略体系进行了构建,以期为零售商品牌资产的创建过程和途径提供丰富的管理视野与思路。     

Customer Evaluation of Supply Systems: The Case of Ethiopian Seed Supply Systems

This study explores the performance of Ethiopian seed systems from a customer’s perspective. The study builds on the view that seed supply systems perform marketing functions such as developing new varieties of seed, multiplying the right quantity and quality, and distributing to the right places, at the right time, for an acceptable price. Hence, supply systems create value and satisfy customers. This study’s contribution is twofold. First, customer satisfaction theory is applied to complex chains (i.e. seed supply systems) in emerging markets, with their specific contextual challenges. Second, it identifies the criteria that farmers use to evaluate seed supply systems and evaluates Ethiopian seed supply systems from a farmer customer’s perspective, which can be used as a basis to increase customer satisfaction.     

Relationship Quality and Customer Retention through Strategic Communication of Customer Skills

This article discusses the idea of a strategic communication of customer skills - a rather neglected relationship marketing strategy. This idea is based on an interpretation of the customer as the company's partner in the value production process. Customer skills are defined as the total of all product-related knowledge and skills of relevance to any aspect of the customer's post-purchase behaviour (e.g. the ability to use the full range of product features). The author assesses whether communicating customer skills strategically may lead to an increase in perceived relationship quality and customer retention as key variables in relationship marketing. Several hypotheses regarding the interrelations between an increase in customer skills and relationship quality are drawn out from a conceptualisation of both constructs. The validity of these hypotheses is then tested empirically using a structural equation modelling approach for two products, i.e. video recorders and reflex cameras. Results give strong support to the relevance of skills communication for relationship marketing success.     

Social perspectives of e-contact center for loyalty building

Recently, e-contact centers have gained popularity among online companies as a preferred channel to communicate with their customers. E-contact centers are respected among e-retailers and online customers because they provide customers value within a social construct. This research suggests that an e-contact center serves as an effective marketing vehicle, which can be used for establishing and maintaining desired relationships with customers. E-contact centers enhance the relationship between e-retailers and online customers by providing social values and quality interpersonal service to customers. Despite the strategic importance of e-contact centers in relation to customer loyalty, little attention has been given to the topic. To remedy this, the primary objective of this study is to assess the impacts of social elements (i.e. perceived social value and interpersonal service quality) delivered by e-contact centers on customers' loyalty formation processes. Loyalty formation process is parsimoniously explained by an integrative model, which incorporates interpersonal service quality, social value, retailer satisfaction, and e-contact center satisfaction constructs.     

The Influence of Customer Relationship Marketing Strategies on Supply Chain Relationships: The Moderating Effects of Environmental Uncertainty and Competitive Rivalry

Purpose: A firm's customer relationship marketing strategy also may affect its attitudinal loyalty toward its main supplier. Furthermore, environmental uncertainty and competitive rivalry could moderate this relationship. This research investigates both questions.

Methodology/Approach: The empirical study involves a structured survey of 141 industrial firms. A structural equation technique with EQS 6.1 estimated the causal model. Multi-sample analysis revealed whether environmental uncertainty and/or competitive rivalry act as moderators.

Findings: The influence of customer relationship marketing on attitudinal loyalty toward the main supplier is positive but indirect, working through effective communication, satisfaction, and trust. However, when environmental uncertainty is high, the negative direct effect becomes significantly more intense, and when competitive rivalry is high, the positive indirect effect through satisfaction and trust is less intense.

Originality/Value: This study explores potential new paths in the relationship marketing field. Most scholars focus on the influence of a firm's relationship marketing strategy on customers' loyalty, but no previous works consider its potential influence on the firm's relationship with other partners in the supply chain, notably its strategic suppliers.

Research Implications: Structured academic research on this topic is lacking, even though many firms have implemented customer relationship programs. Supply-side researchers must evaluate the effects of such programs. Furthermore, this study combines different theoretical approaches.

Practical Implications: Practitioners can use the findings to segment their customer base and develop specific programs adapted to each target.     

Customer satisfaction as a buffer against sentimental stock-price corrections

Previous research has shown that customer satisfaction is a market-based asset that can contribute to a firm’s value by increasing its stock-market returns, while simultaneously reducing the riskiness of these returns. This study contributes to the growing literature on the marketing–finance interface by examining the relationship between customer satisfaction and a type of risk that has not been previously studied in the marketing literature: the vulnerability of a firm’s stock price to the stock-market corrections that typically follow periods of high investor sentiment. The results show that customer satisfaction can function as a buffer against the risk of such sentimental stock-price movements and reduces their negative impact on a firm’s market value. In particular, we find that firms with higher (lower) levels of customer satisfaction exhibit smaller (greater) price corrections and higher returns after periods of high investor sentiment.