The outcome of company and account manager relationship quality on loyalty, relationship value and performance

This study explores the effects of perceived relationship quality of the company and account managers with customers. It examines the effects of both types of relationship quality on relationship outcomes including: loyalty, relationship value, and performance. Consistency and relationship-specific investments are tested as mediating constructs between relationship quality and relationship outcomes. The model was tested in the automotive parts industry in Brazil. Findings indicate that relationship quality with account managers is directly related to loyalty and perceptions of relationship value. However, relationship quality with the firm is related to loyalty indirectly, through relationship-specific investment. Further, perceptions of consistency do not mediate the linkage between relationship quality with the company and account managers and specific investments. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are presented.     

A relationship strategy perspective on relationship portfolios: Linking customer profitability,commitment, and growth potential to relationship strategy

The paper develops a three-dimensional portfolio model for business relationships which distinguishes among six different categories. Based on assessments of customer profitability, customer commitment, and growth potential, the positioning of a given customer relationship in the portfolio allows managers to determine appropriate customer relationship strategies and appropriate performance indicators. Results from applying the portfolio model are reported and managerial implications and future research are discussed.     

Managing opportunism in a developing interfirm relationship: The interrelationship of calculative and loyalty commitment

This research develops a framework for investigating associations among the duration of an exchange relationship, the interrelationship between a supplier's calculative and loyalty commitment, and opportunistic behavior on the part of a buyer. The findings indicate that (1) calculative commitment and loyalty commitment by suppliers function as substitutes; (2) a supplier's loyalty commitment increases gradually as a developing exchange relationship endures, whereas calculative commitment increases and then decreases; and (3) a supplier's calculative commitment leads to an increase in a buyer's opportunism, whereas the supplier's loyalty commitment leads to a decrease, and a supplier's loyalty commitment decreases the positive impact of calculative commitment on opportunism. These findings provide insights into how relationship duration affects buyers' opportunism through the interrelation between suppliers' calculative and loyalty commitment.     

Are key account relationships different? Empirical results on supplier strategies and customer reactions

In this paper, the authors analyze 91 key account relationships and 206 ordinary supplier-buyer dyads regarding differences in suppliers' relational behaviors and customers' perceptions of relationship quality (satisfaction, trust, and commitment). The results suggest that while - as compared to ordinary relationships - suppliers put significantly more effort in “value-creating behaviors” in key account relationships, they do not modify their “value-claiming behaviors” in those dyads. On the customer side, suppliers' increased value creating activities lead to increased commitment. However, customers are neither more satisfied, nor do they trust their suppliers more when they receive key account status.     

Applied customer knowledge in a manufacturing environment: Flexibility for industrial firms

Dynamic business markets are forcing B2B marketers to create flexibility in their firms. The present study investigates: (1) made-to-stock (MTS) versus made-to-order (MTO, which is considered more flexible); (2) production technology routineness (with nonroutine considered more flexible); and (3) a marketing-based enabler of flexibility, i.e., applied customer knowledge. SEM analysis shows that applied customer knowledge completely mediates the relationships of both MTO and routineness with financial performance. This delineates two routes to financial performance, beginning with manufacturing-based flexibility constructs and operating through marketing-based applied knowledge. In addition, exploratory analysis of a subsample confirmed empirically that the financial success of mass customization depends on extensive customer knowledge application and low finished goods inventory levels. Managerial implications are discussed, along with ideas for future research.     

The antecedents of client loyalty in business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces

The globalization of economic activity and the emergence of the Internet have led to the appearance of a new model of business-to-business (B2B) known as the electronic B2B market or e-marketplace which facilitates the establishment of marketing relationships between buyers and sellers. In view of the limited research in this area, the present study examines the elements that may influence client (i.e., user) loyalty in this context. The basis of the study is an analysis of empirical data provided by 197 Spanish e-marketplace selling-side users, investigating the influence of image, quality, satisfaction, and value on client loyalty. The results indicated that satisfaction had no direct impact on client loyalty, but that the e-marketplace's image and user-perceived quality and value are antecedents of its clients' loyalty.     

Antecedents and consequences of commitment in marketing research services: The client's perspective

Commitment is one of the most frequently studied variables in business-to-business relationships and several researchers propose it is the main antecedent of customer loyalty. However, while marketing relationships researchers agree on the importance of the construct, differences remain in its conceptualization and operationalization. This study examines commitment from the customer's perspective, consisting of three components: calculative, affective and normative. Relationships were tested between the three dimensions of commitment and social bonds, trust and satisfaction in the context of professional business services providers and their clients. The results of the model that was tested in Central and Eastern European companies show that affective commitment is the only one of the three components that significantly influences customer loyalty. Trust and social bonds have no significant relation either to normative or to calculative commitment while a relation of overall satisfaction with normative and calculative commitment is negative. The theoretical and managerial implications for the model to assist in the development of appropriate strategies to achieve affective commitment and loyalty in business relationships are discussed.     

Return on marketing investments in B2B customer relationships: A decision-making and optimization approach

The basic notion of relationship marketing entails that firms should strive for mutually beneficial customer relationships. By combining relationship marketing theory and operations research methods, this paper aims to develop and demonstrate a managerial decision-making model that business market managers can use to optimize and evaluate marketing investments in both a customer-oriented and economically feasible manner. The intended contributions of our work are as follows. First, we add to the return on marketing literature by providing a first decision-making approach that explicitly assesses the optimization of marketing investments in terms of profitability, effort, and resource allocation. Second, we show how the risk of marketing investments can be assessed using sensitivity analysis. By means of an empirical study the versatility of our decision-making approach is demonstrated by assessing various critical decision making issues for business marketing managers in detail.     

The antecedents and consequences of organizational and personal commitment in business service relationships

This paper explores the potential for business service customers to form separate bonds of commitment with the service firm and the service representative. It examines the role of the individual and identifies six potential antecedents to each type of commitment. It also proposes that both types of commitment will influence the degree of relational exchange between the customer and the service firm. The hypotheses are tested using multiple regression and data from a survey of marketing research managers. The results support the majority of the hypotheses.     

The role of renqing in mediating customer relationship investment and relationship commitment in China

There is a growing research interest in guanxi marketing, which has been considered the Chinese version of relationship marketing. However, very little empirical research has investigated the implicit nature of renqing, the underlying mechanism that explains the cultivation and maintenance of guanxi. This study examines the role of renqing in mediating customer relationship investment and relationship commitment in the insurance industry. The authors surveyed 245 car insurance policyholders in China. The findings confirm the mediating role of renqing in such relationships and show that renqing explains a very high proportion of the variance in levels of customer relationship commitment. This result offers valuable insights and suggestions as to how to increase levels of customer relationship commitment in China.     

Product configurator impact on product quality

More and more firms today rely on product configurators to more efficiently and effectively meet increasingly diverse customers’ needs. In literature, however, the discussion of the performance outcomes of product configurator use is limited and largely based on anecdotal evidence. Our paper contributes to fill this gap by developing and empirically testing hypotheses about the relationship between product configurator use and product quality. We find empirical support for the hypotheses that product configurator use improves product quality and that this relationship is negatively moderated by the difficulty for a company to determine the needs of its target market. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings for both research and practice.     

Specific customer knowledge and operational performance in apparel manufacturing

Customer knowledge is an important organizational asset that can be exploited to yield competitive advantage to a firm. However, empirical research on the application of customer knowledge to improve operational performance has been lacking in operations management. In this study we explore how customer knowledge can be used to improve operational performance under a supply chain environment in the clothing industry. We first conceptualize the relationship between customer knowledge and operational performance and delineate their attributes based on a review of the pertinent literature. We then formulate several hypotheses based on past studies and interviews with experienced industry personnel. We develop a self-reported questionnaire to collect data to test the hypotheses. Finally, we conduct a number of regression analyses to identify the key attributes (constructs) of customer knowledge that have a significant impact on operational performance. This paper contributes to research by demonstrating that there are relationships between specific customer knowledge and different facets of operational performance, and provides practitioners in clothing manufacturing with managerial insights on how to leverage customer knowledge for operational performance improvement.     

Perceptual gaps and similarities in buyer-seller dyadic relationships

The research aims to develop a conceptual framework to explore dyadic relationships across a range of industries, involving firms of different size (Medium Sized Enterprise (MSE) suppliers and Multinational Enterprise (MNE) buyers). The purpose is to explore dyadic views of three different relationship durations, identify where perceptual gaps may exist at the various stages, and address these in order to improve relational exchange. A triangulated methodology is implemented with data initially obtained from fifty-four dyads. These findings suggest: a) similar views are associated with the performance and importance attached to four relationship dimensions measured, b) significant perceptual differences are more apparent in shorter term relationships, c) overall suppliers have stronger views of the relationship, and d) relationships may not necessarily follow a linear development path over time. Three case studies offer qualitative insights, several managerial implications are extracted, and a strategic matrix developed related to the management of different typologies of relationship exchange.     

Refining value-based differentiation in business relationships: A study of the higher order relationship building blocks that influence behavioural intentions

Research on the behavioural intentions (BI) of business-to-business customers has focused on the influence and the interactions among constructs driving BI, giving rise to two perspectives for the structural equation modeling of constructs influencing BI. In the first perspective, BI is impacted directly by relationship quality (RQ) and its antecedents such as relationship benefits (RB) and relationship sacrifices (RS). The second perspective suggests that antecedent dimensions of RB and RS may act indirectly through the construct of relationship value (RV), which drives RQ but also directly influences BI. The current study was undertaken to resolve the differences between these two perspectives. The findings indicate that RQ has a strong direct influence on BI while RV has a weak direct influence but a significant indirect influence on BI through the RQ construct. In addition, the constructs of RB and RS influence RQ directly, as well as through the RV construct.     

Antecedents and consequences of the quality of e-customer-to-customer interactions in B2B brand communities

The opportunities that interactions in business-to-business (B2B) brand communities offer companies as well as brand community members have already been recognized by B2B firms, but are still an underexplored field of B2B academic marketing research. To provide a first step in analyzing B2B brand communities, we develop a conceptual framework of the quality of customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions in B2B brand communities by drawing on several theories and concepts (e.g., social exchange theory, uses and gratifications approach and value-in-the-experience). Based on an online survey (n = 330) spanning three virtual B2B brand communities in the IT-sector, we test our framework using structural equation modeling. Our results reveal that brand trust has a positive impact on brand community trust. Brand community trust leads to an increase in the quality of C2C interactions in B2B brand communities. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the quality of C2C interactions in B2B brand communities has a positive impact on functional, experiential, and symbolic brand community benefits, which, in turn, foster brand loyalty.     

Conceptualization and measurement of relationship quality: Linking relationship quality to actual sales and recommendation intention

Following over a decade of relationship marketing, this paper re-visits the notion of relationship quality to determine relational drivers of account profitability. Customer executives from multiple industries are interviewed to identify critical success factors in buyer-seller relationships. Based on their responses, a “back-to-the-basics,” grass roots approach to the measurement of relationship quality is offered. To further demonstrate its value for marketing practice, this measure of relationship quality is administered to a nationwide sample of key customer decision-makers to determine its link to profitable outcomes. The results support this measure as a driver of actual sales and recommendation intention.     

The effects of market orientation on relationship learning and relationship performance in industrial marketing: The dyadic perspectives

From dyadic perspectives, this study explores the effect of market orientation on relationship learning and relationship performance and the moderating effect of relationship quality in Taiwan manufacturing industry. The results reveal that: (1) both customer market orientation and supplier market orientation are positively related to relationship learning; (2) relationship learning is positively related to relationship performance; (3) both customer and supplier market orientation has positively interaction effect on shared information and negatively interaction effect on sense-making activities; and (4) trust of relationship quality has moderating effect on the relationship between customer market orientation and relationship learning.     

A service perspective on business relationships: The value creation, interaction and marketing interface

Adopting a service perspective or logic on business directs suppliers' focus in business relationships towards engaging with their customers' business processes. The purpose of this article is to analyze implications for value creation and marketing of adopting a service logic in business relationships. In the article it is demonstrated that a service perspective is multi-dimensional, enabling the mutual creation of value, with service as a mediating factor in that process. It is argued that value creation, purchasing, usage and marketing are intertwined processes. Here supplier-customer interactions are in a focal position. This perspective enables marketers to better understand how to develop and extend service offerings through assistance to customers' processes relevant to their businesses. Therefore, the underpinning logic of industrial interactions is analyzed in detail, extending marketing's conventional boundaries.     

Product competence exploitation and exploration strategies: The impact on new product performance through quality and innovativeness

The ability to manage existing assets and capabilities (exploitation) and the development of new capabilities (exploration) are arguably among the most relevant new product success factors. However, while exploitation-related capabilities are based on certainties regarding the efficiency of a company, exploration-related capabilities require the analysis of new technologies and processes. In existing literature, there is a gap concerning the trade-off between the exploitation and exploration of competences. Based on the theoretical background of Resource Based Theory, Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Discovery and Creation Theory, a model is proposed to analyze this gap. In this study, which examines 197 manufacturing organizations, we build on the dualities of the two types of competences and their impact on speed-to-market and market performance. The findings indicate that the choice between exploitation and exploration depends on the goals of new product development. While exploitation increases product objective quality, exploration enhances product innovativeness to the firm. Furthermore, we found that both exploitation and exploration constitute important success factors when it comes to launching new products. Finally, moderate effects of competitive intensity and market turbulence are also examined. High levels of market turbulence improve the results of exploitation, while low levels of competitiveness may encourage exploration.     

Supplier market orientation and accommodation of the customer in different relationship phases

As customers' needs have changed rapidly, market orientation has become a more primary focus of marketing literature. This study explores the strategies market-oriented suppliers use to accommodate customer needs. In addition, because buyer-seller relationships proceed through phases characterized by distinct behaviors, this study explores the relationship between market orientation and accommodation strategies over the course of the buyer-seller relationship lifecycle. The results show that market-oriented firms use flexibility and relationship-specific adaptation as accommodation strategies. Also, three market orientation components (customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination) relate differently to flexibility and relationship-specific adaptation during the relationship lifecycle. Finally, accommodation strategies significantly mediate the effects of the three market orientation components on customer satisfaction. Thus, market-oriented firms can satisfy their customers and avoid an overreliance on current relationships by emphasizing either flexibility or relationship-specific adaptations that correspond to the lifecycle of the relationship.