Case based models of the relationship between consumer resistance to innovation and customer churn

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between customer resistance to innovation and customer churn based on young Chinese consumers' characteristics. This study uses smart phone apps as the product category. Based on the methodology of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this study uses 101 cases. Three major configurational results and core factors are found in this study. Configuration 1 points out the importance of affect response and functioning dimensions; configuration 2 points out the effect of emotional consumers’ attitude toward innovation; configuration 3 suggests that cognitive rigidity plays a critical role against innovation. This study bridges the academic gap between customer resistance to innovation and customer churn and adopts different methodologies to test and prove previous research. Based on the results, this study contributes to the customer churn studies from CRI with a different methodological angle compared with current studies in the consumer behavior domain. Meanwhile, this study provides managerial suggestions for marketing practitioners to reduce CRI and on how to make consumers accept the new products.     

The influence of satisfaction on customer retention in mobile phone market

This study examines the determinants of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the Peruvian mobile phone market. Based in a survey to 1259 customers, Multinomial Logit and GSEM estimations show how determinants of customer satisfaction can be assessed when satisfaction is measured through ordered categorical data. The results confirm that in mobile phone market Customer Satisfaction influences strongly on Customer Loyalty, and in turn Loyalty is an important determinant of Customer Retention. In contrast with previous literature, this study identified the differentiated influence of diverse factors on positive and negative customer satisfaction categories. Indeed while results show that quality of service assessments made by customers had a significant impact on both negative and positive customer satisfaction categories; assessments of other service attributes like customer care, information on tariffs and plans and billing clarity, only showed a significant statistical influence on positive categories of customer satisfaction. Similar asymmetrical results were found with regard to other economic, socioeconomic and geographical determinants of customer decisions. As well, an analog effect is also observed in the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty, where only positive satisfaction assessments helps to explain the loyalty of users. Finally, results show that while satisfaction can be identified as a powerful cause of CR, switching barriers did not deter more demanding customers to switch to alternative carriers, suggesting that recent pro-competition regulatory reforms implemented in Peru contributed to reduce these barriers to competition in mobile markets.     

The effects of loyalty programs on customer lifetime duration and share of wallet

In the retailing sector, consumers typically patronize multiple outlets, which confronts these outlets with an important issue: determining how to gain a greater part of consumer expenditures. One potential avenue is to increase consumer lifetime duration and repeat purchases through loyalty cards. This research, using BehaviorScan single-source panel data, examines the impact of loyalty programs on customer lifetime duration in grocery stores. The findings suggest that loyalty schemes have positive effects on customer lifetimes and share of consumer expenditures. However, multiple loyalty card memberships of geographically close retailers reduce lifetime duration. Furthermore, the higher the share of consumer expenditures in a store, the longer the lifetime duration will be.     

The effect of customer service on retailers’ shareholder wealth: The role of availability and reputation cues

Retailer customer service has been shown to lead to increases in consumer attraction and retention, but what is less apparent is whether shareholders are fully rewarded for retailers’ customer service efforts. Results from an event study on 48 retailer announcements of customer service strategies indicate that customer service increases retailer market values by 1.09 percent on average. The magnitude of this abnormal return suggests that customer service is one of the more effective ways for firms to create shareholder wealth. Further, analysis of the abnormal returns suggests that the shareholder value created by the retailer's customer service is affected by the heuristics and cues used to judge the likelihood of service delivery. Consistent with the availability heuristic, we find that services that are difficult to bring to mind and non-vivid services create significantly less shareholder value. Results further show that the retailer's reputation can also significantly inhibit the customer service's shareholder wealth creation.     

The effect of shipping fees on customer acquisition, customer retention, and purchase quantities

The growth of the e-commerce sector has highlighted the importance of shipping fees. We empirically study the effects of shipping fees and marketing activities on customer acquisition, customer retention, and average expenditures using data from an online grocer. We find that shipping fees greatly influence order incidence rates and graduated shipping fees significantly affect average expenditures. The analysis indicates that customer acquisition is more sensitive to order size incentives while retention is more influenced by base shipping fee levels. Furthermore, a profitability analysis suggests that shipping policies that provide incentives for larger order sizes may outperform free shipping promotions and standard increasing fees structures.     

Social interaction,convenience and customer satisfaction: The mediating effect of customer experience

The present study is an effort to investigate the impact of both convenience and social interaction on customer satisfaction and the mediating role of customer experience. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data (n=840) using systematic sampling from department store shoppers of age 18 years and above in India. Multivariate data analysis techniques like Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that convenience and social interaction affect both customer experience and customer satisfaction. Arguably, this paper is the first to examine the four constructs namely, social interaction, convenience, customer satisfaction and customer experience using them together in the same model. Academic and managerial implications are further discussed.     

The impact of personalised incentives on the profitability of customer retention campaigns

Traditional approaches to managing customer churn have typically concentrated on those customers most likely to defect. While accurately predicting customer churn probability is important, this metric alone does not sufficiently empower managers to make optimal decisions. Hence, the current study focuses on the relationship between retention incentives and profit maximisation. Specifically, we improve existing churn management practices by: (1) allowing for customer heterogeneity in incentive redemption behaviour, (2) introducing the dependence of the probability of accepting an incentive on its monetary value, and (3) offering an improved model for developing retention campaigns. We support our conclusions with empirical data and simulations and make tangible managerial recommendations.     

Understanding the usability of retail fashion brand chatbots: Evidence from customer expectations and experiences

The existing literature suggests that chatbots tend to provide automated and generic responses that may not fully address complex customer inquiries, particularly when additional guidance is required. To improve the usability of retail fashion brands, this study examines how socially constructed experiences and expectations influence customer interactions. Data was collected from various sources, including online reviews, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions, to enhance the credibility of the results. The research reveals that individuals in the retail industry demand a broader variety of fashion products and more sophisticated capabilities to bolster the reminiscence of their shopping experiences. Retail fashion chatbots hold potential in recommending items that align with customers' preferences and goals, yet it is crucial for developers and brand managers to address numerous usability challenges and provide multilingual assistance to boost user engagement. Moreover, optimizing fashion retail chatbots is vital to reduce battery consumption, curtail instances of conversation window freezing, and hasten response times. This study provides a novel research framework that offers valuable insights on how to enhance the retail customer experience by improving interactivity, compatibility, credibility, and other factors that promote the use and adoption of retail fashion chatbots.     

On linking the perceived values of mobile shopping apps,customer well-being,and customer citizenship behavior: Moderating role of customer intimacy

Marketing studies that seek to determine the drivers of Customer Citizenship Behavior (CCB) are still relatively rare, especially for its multi-faceted relationship with perceived values in the context of online transactions. This study seeks to bridge this research gap by exploring the relationship between the perceived values of mobile shopping applications (MSApps) and CCB through perceived well-being based upon the social exchange theory. This study also makes another original contribution by investigating the moderating role of customer intimacy. A quantitative approach was adopted by collecting data through a web survey and then applying structural equation modelling, as well as cluster and multigroup analyses to test the proposed hypotheses. Perceived values were found to influence consumer well-being, thus predicting CCB, with consumer intimacy playing a significant moderating role in this relationship. This study is one of a few seeking to verify the drivers of CCB for MSApps, and it is the first of its kind to investigate consumer intimacy as a moderating factor. The findings will prove useful to providers of MSApps and retailers.     

Multichannel customer journeys and their determinants: Evidence from motor insurance

This study focuses on channel choices in motor insurance. Our aims are twofold: to fill a gap of empirical studies on the determinants of multichannel behavior in the insurance industry and to help companies improve their retail strategies by better predicting customers’ channel decisions. The paper adopts a broad set of personal and digital channels and several dimensions of customer profiling, including psychographic and channel-experience variables. We identify four different customer journeys, based on channel combinations. Our web-based survey, which has turned out 338 valid responses, shows that the majority of insurance customers adopt multichannel search behaviors. However, although most of the search is carried out through digital media, such channels generate low search-to-purchase conversion rates. Most customer journeys are, instead, finalized in the personal channels (namely, the insurance agents), thus evidencing an interesting webrooming effect. We test our set of hypotheses on the determinants of customer journeys with a multinomial logistic regression. Our findings show that multichannel journeys can serve several purposes: they may reflect the customer need to collect more information, the customer preference for shopping innovation, and his/her preference for shopping convenience. Corporate channel management strategies and practices shall consider such determinants and be revised accordingly.     

The influence of customer loyalty program design on the relationship between customer motives and value perception

Despite the strong use in marketing practice, the effectiveness of loyalty programs is still heavily questioned among researchers. In our study we present an empirically tested framework that views customer loyalty programs (CLPs) with their differing designs as a moderating tool in a means-end relationship between customer motives and value. By disentangling customer value perceptions of loyalty programs we contribute to the remaining question of the efficacy of CLPs and set the road for further research. Our results support the argument that CLPs can be an effective tool and are not only something that adds to the value of a product or service, but rather creates value by itself. However, this is only the case for programs that target prevailing customer motives and hence provide a higher level of perceived value.     

The effect of variety-seeking on customer retention in services

Intrinsic variety-seeking has been analyzed as an individual consumer trait affecting consumer's varied behavior. However, very little research has been done on the consumer service sector. In this paper, the authors explore the negative role of variety seeking on customer retention for services. This basic hypothesis is tested through structural equation modeling applied to an empirical study of food-service at three Universities. The results support the hypothesis: variety-seeking negatively affects customer retention and lessens the impact of the management efforts to improve service quality and customer satisfaction.     

Feel the VIBE: Examining value-in-the-brand-page-experience and its impact on satisfaction and customer engagement behaviours in mobile social media

A critical issue for marketing managers is how best to orchestrate branded social media consumption experiences via mobile applications. This is important because in a mobile first world, these experiences are perceived to be valuable to consumers which in turn facilitate positive consumer behaviour toward the brand. So far, marketing literature offering managerial guidance on this issue remains limited. To this end, this study investigates for the first-time consumer perceptions of ‘Value-In-The-Brand-Page-Experience’ (VIBE), a multidimensional construct, in an emerging market setting of China. China represents an appropriate contextual condition to study given its high mobile penetration and its integration within consumer's lifestyle. This study further examines the impact of VIBE on customer satisfaction and customer engagement behaviours toward the brand via a survey of 714 Chinese consumers. The results substantiate the VIBE framework which contributes to the sparse conceptual development of value perceptions in mobile social media. Furthermore, it confirms the existence of a value–satisfaction–customer engagement behaviour chain. The findings are managerially relevant and focus on leveraging the components of VIBE. These components act as key mechanisms for unlocking customer satisfaction and customer engagement behaviours for brands in the domain of mobile social media.     

The influence of customer experience with automated games and social interaction on customer engagement and loyalty in casinos

Drawing on experiential marketing theory, This study examines the relationship between casino customers’ experience with automated games and their engagement and loyalty responses to casinos. Social interaction as a proxy of visiting motivation is modelled as a moderator in the relationship. Customer behaviours include word-of-mouth, visiting frequency, and average spending. The study focuses on Australian land-based casino members with automated game experience. The results show that customer experience with some features of automated games had a positive and significant impact on customer engagement with the casino, which led to positive loyalty. Automated game experience also had an indirect effect on customer loyalty. Social interaction exhibited a significant moderating effect on the relationship between customer engagement and visiting frequency. Discussion and implications of these findings for the literature and practitioners conclude the paper.     

The innovativeness of Born-Globals and customer orientation: Learning from Indian Born-Globals

Born-Global firms, a newly emerging organizational form targeting international markets as a primary source of business from their inception, have innovativeness, requiring an intimate knowledge of their customer, as a primary feature. This study explores how a Born-Global's customer orientation leads to innovativeness through technological capability for customer relationship management (CRM) and external customer information management. Our empirical results, based on responses from 154 Indian managers, indicate that a Born-Global's customer orientation is an effective enabler of its innovativeness, whose effects are mediated by technological capability for CRM and external customer information management. Although significantly affected by customer orientation, the results further indicate that relationship quality with the buyer does not influence a Born-Global's innovativeness. When CRM technology and managing customer information obtained from external sources are employed, customer orientation significantly helps maintain the innovativeness of Born-Globals according to the results.     

The antecedents of customer loyalty: A moderated mediation model of customer relationship management quality and brand image

This study examines the mediating role of customer relationship management (CRM) quality to better explain the effects of service evaluation variables (service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value) on customer loyalty. The study also investigates the moderating effect of brand image on these mediated relationships. The mediating role of CRM quality on the relationship between the service evaluation variables and customer loyalty is supported. Further, it is found that the indirect effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty via CRM quality is stronger when perceived brand image is high than when it is low. The results have implications for relationship managers, brand managers and scholars who use service evaluation and relational metrics to predict customer loyalty.     

Engaging the unengaged customer: The value of a retailer mobile app

Mobile apps are becoming a go-to tactic for retailers because they offer the promise of highly convenient digital engagement. We hypothesize that two types of customers are best served by these apps — “offline-only” customers currently purchasing exclusively from the retailer's physical store, and “distant” customers who reside far from the physical store. For offline-only customers, the app complements the physical engagement they currently have. For distant customers, the app offers convenient engagement their remoteness currently precludes. We model app access and purchase behavior of 629 customers who downloaded a retailer's app. We find that apps generate more incremental sales among distant customers compared to near customers, and more incremental sales among offline-only customers compared to online customers. On an illustrative base of 100 K app users, we find accessing the app would generate $2.3 M in incremental sales. Consistent with our segmentation results, we find that the users with the greatest purchase lift (9.5%) due to app usage are those that are distant and offline-only. Our results confirm the economic value of retailer apps and their role as a segmentation strategy to enhance customer engagement.     

The effect of mental availability on snack food choices

This research evaluates how mental availability affects consumer choice of specific branded packaged snacks versus unbranded non-packaged snacks. Mental availability captures the probability of concepts coming to mind when making decisions. Concepts nested within a broad network of memory associations (e.g., those created by marketing for branded packaged goods) are more likely to come to mind and be chosen - potentially disadvantaging unbranded non-packaged foods. However, our research shows that some unbranded non-packaged snacks actually have greater mental availability and are more likely to be chosen, countering concerns over the detrimental effect of marketing food and inadvertently encouraging sub-optimal choices. The effect of mental availability holds when taking into account established drivers of snack food choice, such as hunger, self-control and past behavior.     

The effects of service quality,perceived value and trust in home delivery service personnel on customer satisfaction: Evidence from a developing country

The rapid growth of online purchasing in recent years has emphasized the accompanying role of home delivery service provided by delivery personnel in ensuring customer satisfaction. On-time delivery, better service, generating positive customer perceived value, and trust towards service providers are influential factors that contribute to customer satisfaction. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of service quality of home delivery personnel and perceived value on customer satisfaction, with trust playing an intervening role. It was conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a less developed country with a new but rapidly growing digital sector. Data was collected from 259 respondents who received home delivery service, using a structured questionnaire. The conceptual model was analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS tool. The findings revealed that service quality, customer perceived value, and trust influenced customer satisfaction. The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction and the relationship between customer perceived value and satisfaction were both partially mediated by trust. The findings contribute to the development and validation of a trust-based satisfaction model by extending the SERVQUAL model to incorporate perceived value in the presence of trust, while complying with expectation disconfirmation theory This study provides insights for managers to develop reliability and build trust in their service delivery personnel.     

The impact of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability

We study the effects of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability in a business-to-business setting. Using data from a company providing hygiene services, we look at the impact of a hitherto unstudied type of expense targeted at individual customer relationships: the offering of free equipment to customers. The data allow tracking the activities performed in more than 4,500 customer relationships over a period of 4 years. Retention rates are higher for customers targeted with free equipment, but this effect results from an interaction with customer size. First-order dynamic panel data analyses show that the impact of targeted marketing expenses on customer dollar profit is positive for large customers, but there is no effect for smaller customers. Thus, targeted marketing expenses seem to be a tool for relationship maintenance rather than customer development: they help in retaining large customers that generate more profit, but they do not seem to work in developing new customers into larger, more profitable ones.