Industrial brand value and relationship performance in business markets — A general structural equation model

This paper develops a general model of industrial brand value and relationship performance in business-to-business markets from the perspectives of consumer and industrial marketing literature. The structural equation model integrates the analysis of industrial brand value and relationship performance. The model describes the extent to which supplier-buyer transaction performance is influenced by the eight important factors: supplier competence, purchasing value, customer satisfaction, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty, relationship quality, commitment, and transactional performance.The general model is applied to organizational buyer groups of comprehensive industrial markets (Electronics, Chemicals, Equipment, etc). The analysis finds that supplier competence directly affects purchasing value and customer satisfaction, and via purchasing value and customer satisfaction, it indirectly affects commitment, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty. The managerial implications of the study results are also discussed.     

Is perceived value more than value for money in professional business services?

It is well documented in the literature that customer perceived value plays an important role in understanding behavioral outcomes of business customers. However, most business-to-business research has focused on the functional dimension of perceived value, while consumer research has already advanced to a multidimensional value conceptualization. This study expands the concept of perceived value in the professional business services context to functional, emotional, and social perceived value. Based on signaling theory, we conceptualize and empirically support links between the three dimensions of perceived value and its antecedents (perceived corporate reputation, perceived corporate credibility, and perceived relationship quality) and outcomes (satisfaction and loyalty). The results of a survey involving 228 business clients reveal differences in links between value antecedents and the three perceived value dimensions: while perceived corporate credibility and relationship quality impact all dimensions, perceived corporate reputation impacts only perceived emotional value. Results of our study help in understanding how satisfaction and loyalty are viewed as perceived value outcomes; apart from functional value, emotional and social values play a significant role in the satisfaction and loyalty of professional business services clients.     

Outcomes of service encounter quality in a business-to-business context

Service encounter quality is an area of growing interest to researchers and managers alike, yet little is known about the effects of face-to-face service encounter quality within a business-to-business setting. In this paper, a psychometrically sound measure of such service encounter quality is proposed, and consequences of this construct are empirically assessed. Both a literature review and a dyadic in-depth interview approach were used to develop a conceptual framework and a pool of items to capture service encounter quality. A mail survey of customers was undertaken, and a response rate of 36% was obtained. Data analysis was conducted via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings reveal a four-factor structure of service encounter quality, encompassing professionalism, civility, friendliness and competence dimensions. Service encounter quality was found to be directly related to customer satisfaction and service quality perceptions, and indirectly to loyalty. The importance of these findings for practitioners and for future research on service encounter quality is discussed.     

Integrating the Kano model into a robust design approach to enhance customer satisfaction with product design

The aesthetic qualities of products are critical factors in achieving higher customer satisfaction. This study presents a robust design approach incorporating the Kano model to obtain the optimal combination of design form elements. This can effectively enhance customer satisfaction and aesthetic product qualities with multiple-criteria characteristics. The Kano model is used to better understand the relationship between performance criteria and customer satisfaction, and to resolve trade-off dilemma in multiple-criteria optimization by identifying the key criteria in customer satisfaction. The robust design approach combines grey relational analysis with the Taguchi method to optimize subjective quality with multiple-criteria characteristics. This simultaneously yields the optimal aesthetic performance and reduces the variations in customer evaluations. Based on Kano model analysis, a weight adjustment process determines the weight of each product criterion for achieving the desired customer satisfaction performance. This process guides the prioritizing of multiple criteria, leading to higher customer satisfaction. A mobile phone design experiment was conducted to verify the benefits of using the proposed integrative approach. Results show that the generated optimal mobile phone design can effectively enhance overall aesthetic performance and customer satisfaction. Although mobile phone designs are the examples of this study, the proposed method may be further used as a universal robust design approach for enhancing customer satisfaction and product quality with multiple-criteria characteristics.     

Small business industrial buyers' price sensitivity: Do service quality dimensions matter in business markets?

One of the major obstacles to effective pricing emanates from difficulties experienced in predicting business buyers' price sensitivity. With a view to obviating these obstacles, this study examines the effect of five key physical distribution service quality dimensions on price sensitivity from the perspective of small and medium retail buyers. Based on a survey of 233 cellular phone retailers in China, the authors articulate how the five salient service quality dimensions exert either direct effects on price sensitivity or indirect impacts through perceived value and customer satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are also provided for effective retailer relationship management, profitability improvement, and customer segmentation in distribution channels.     

Relationship quality as a resource to build industrial brand equity when products are uncertain and future-based

This article extends our understanding of industrial branding and the influence of buyer–seller relationships by examining key constructs within an industrial context where products are uncertain and future-based. SEM results elicited from 249 buyer surveys empirically validate satisfaction, trust and commitment as dimensions of relationship quality, and show that buyer–seller relationship quality facilitates direct and indirect seller brand equity accruals. Findings reveal that while focusing on sellers' corporate and product brands is good advice for building buyer–seller relationships, seller resource allocations to these areas should vary depending upon the selected target market segment(s). Findings support that sellers should place more focus on developing quality relationships with buyers than they should in focusing on the non-relational attributes of their corporate brands; however, if sellers choose to bypass building high quality customer relationships, they should instead funnel resources into their product brand offerings. Findings demonstrate that buyers credit their own skills and acumen when evaluating products with which they are confident, and ascribe increased value to the involvement of the seller as their attitude and certainty decrease. These findings provide strategic guidance to the sellers of uncertain and future-based industrial products.     

基于因子分析的卷烟物流终端客户满意度研究

改善卷烟物流服务质量是提高终端客户满意度、增强烟草企业综合竞争力的有效途径。通过对A省卷烟配送中心业务流程所涉及的23项物流服务性指标进行因子分析,明确界定出接纳订单措施、订单完成措施等影响终端客户满意度的主要因子,进而基于对货源分配不合理、卷烟交接不规范、投诉机制不健全等导致终端客户满意度偏低的具体原因的深层次挖掘,提出推行战略配货、加强"服务客户"培训、拓展投诉渠道等提高卷烟终端客户物流服务质量的建议,以期提升A省卷烟终端客户的满意度。     

Functional,emotional, and social benefits of new B2B services

While marketing literature has defined the benefits concept broadly, there is limited empirical research clarifying what benefits constitute and how they contribute to customer satisfaction in the B2B service context. Benefits have typically been characterized as falling under a single, all-encompassing concept, but emerging thinking views them as multi-dimensional, including functional, emotional and social benefits. This research examines whether this demarcation applies in the B2B services context, and if so, how these three types of benefits are related with customer satisfaction. Based on a survey of 335 customers of recently launched B2B services, the demarcation of these three types of benefits appears warranted and each type of benefit exhibits a different pattern of relationship with customer satisfaction. Functional benefits are found to be positively related with customer satisfaction, while emotional benefits and social benefits exhibit non-linear relationships. Emotional benefits have a diminishing effect on customer satisfaction as they increase and social benefits reach a plateau after a threshold point. These results suggest that recognizing the three types of benefits and the different shapes of their relationships with customer satisfaction can result in effective strategies for driving customer satisfaction when innovating new B2B services. Managerial and research implications are discussed.     

The influence of brand image and company reputation where manufacturers market to small firms: A customer value perspective

Branding research has largely focused on consumer goods markets and only recently has attention been given to business markets. In many business markets the company's reputation has a strong influence on buying decisions which may differ from the more specific product related influence of the brand's image. In this paper we investigate these differences by testing the hypotheses about the influences of brand image and company reputation on customers' perceptions of product and service quality, customer value, and customer loyalty in a business market where there are three manufacturers marketing their brands directly to a large number of small firms. The results indicate that the brand's image has a more specific influence on the customers' perceptions of product and service quality while the company's reputation has a broader influence on perceptions of customer value and customer loyalty.     

油田物资供应部门顾客满意度评价指标体系的构建

构建评价指标体系是顾客满意度测评的基础,文章针对油田生产建设单位对产品实体质量和供应服务质量的要求,构建了物资供应部门顾客满意指标体系,并通过实例提出满意度测评结果分析和改进方法.     

Market orientation and customer satisfaction: Evidence from British machine tool industry

This paper examines empirically the relationship between market orientation and business performance in the context of British machine tool industry. An industry-specific market orientation scale was developed. Factor analysis revealed that there were four latent dimensions underlying the market orientation: customer orientation, competitor orientation, departmental responsiveness, and customer satisfaction orientation. Findings suggest that customer orientation and customer satisfaction orientation have a stronger impact on performance than the other dimensions, and that competitor orientation has a U-shape relationship with performance. Departmental responsiveness did not appear to be significantly related to the business performance. Managers could use the multidimensional conceptualization to develop particular kinds of orientations required for better performance.     

Customer value anticipation, customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical examination

A service-dominant logic by definition is inherently customer oriented and relational, reflecting deeper and more complex connections between suppliers and customers. The service mindset driving increased collaboration enables suppliers to have deeper insights to what customers' value. Customer value perceptions are dynamic, sometimes in constant flux, necessitating anticipatory capabilities on the part of suppliers. Yet, there is a notable lack of discussion about customer value anticipation and related empirical evidence of whether or not customers care if suppliers anticipate what they value. The authors report on two survey studies that test using structural equation modeling the notion that suppliers good at anticipating what customers will value realize higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Understanding this relationship is critical for marketing managers wrestling with allocation of limited resources. We find that customer value anticipation is a strong driver of satisfaction and loyalty, with satisfaction acting as a mediator for loyalty.     

Understanding the interfaces:: How ocean freight shipping lines can maximize satisfaction

Physical distribution services are becoming increasingly important as supply chains strive to become more efficient in the logistical flow of goods to industrial customers. Performance of these services, however, takes place during encounters that customers have with various interfacing departments within the firm. These encounters may ultimately determine the level of satisfaction clients have with the service and the concomitant perceived quality. While previous research in this area has focused on service quality assessment, little attention has been given to determining the pattern of interfacing departments that maximize service satisfaction. This study examines a sample of shipping managers in Singapore who evaluated the service dimensions of ocean freight shipping lines (or companies). Using an analytical method called decision tree calculus, this article identifies the combination of interfacing departments that maximize service satisfaction. The results of this approach offer definite guidance to ocean shipping lines in terms of the importance of key interfacing departments in shaping satisfaction and perceived quality. Implications are discussed.     

Satisfaction of individual mobile phone users in Spain

Consumer satisfaction is a key determinant of consumer retention, consumer welfare, and is also a strategic variable for competition and international comparisons. Spain's mobile customer satisfaction is the lowest in the European Union. The focus of this paper is to identify the determinants of residential mobile phone users' satisfaction among private consumers of mobile telecommunications in Spain. Two innovative aspects of this paper are the focus on a nationwide representative sample of residential consumers in Spain, and the usage of rich individual data to convey high quality statistical information. The correlation of each of the aspects to the overall satisfaction are measured. Also, relationships between different aspects of satisfaction and its determinants are formulated. The paper specifies econometric models and estimates them using a survey of 4249 mobile phone users. The results indicate that customers are less satisfied with larger carriers, and are more satisfied with smaller and newer operators. Policy recommendations are suggested to improve customer satisfaction, contribute to customer retention and improve the position of the country in the international rankings.     

Success and Failure in New Industrial Services

The critical role of innovation has long been recognized in physical goods; however, the development of innovative services has received much less attention. The research described here reports on an early major study of success and failure in new industrial services. Building on her integration of two literatures on new product innovation and services marketing, Ulrike de Brentani reports how companies measure new service performance and the factors which are associated with success. She reports that new industrial services share some important success factors with physical goods, such as the firm's market orientation, a formal service development process, project synergy and a truly superior new service offering. Yet she finds that firms must adjust their approach to the distinctive character of services, including customer perceptions of service quality, features that successfully differentiate services in competitive terms and cost reduction.     

A rolling stone gathers no moss: the effect of customers' perceived business model innovativeness on customer value co‐creation behavior and customer satisfaction in the service sector

Both researchers and practitioners have been focusing extensively on business model innovation, as it has shown to positively influence business performance. Although the effect of business model innovativeness on customer behavior might be an important mediator between business model innovation and business performance, it has not yet been analyzed. In line with recent calls to consider the customer side in business model innovation research, our paper addresses this problem by studying the influence of customers' perceived business model innovativeness (CPBMI) on customer satisfaction and customer value co‐creation behavior in the service sector. We, therefore, emphasize customers' perceptions and reactions to business model changes. Relying on data from a large‐scale survey of restaurant customers, we find that perceived value creation innovativeness and value proposition innovativeness positively affect customer satisfaction and customer value co‐creation behavior. In addition, we identify a significant indirect effect of CPBMI on customer satisfaction via customer value co‐creation behavior. Our findings allow deriving concrete implications for both researchers and practitioners.     

Do business customers perceive what salespeople believe? Perceptions of salesperson adoption of innovations

A salesperson's commitment and effort toward an innovation can determine whether the customer agrees to buy it, such that customers' perceptions of such commitment and effort are critical. But these perceptions also might differ fundamentally from the salesperson's self-perceptions of commitment and effort. Therefore, this paper presents a theoretical framework of the relation between salesperson-perceived and customer-perceived commitment and effort, as exhibited by the salesperson while selling an innovation, which represents salesperson adoption. In the framework, job satisfaction factors also exert contingent, moderating effects. The authors gather unique, dyadic data from surveys of salespeople and their (potential) business customers during visits to sell a conventional, incremental innovation, complemented by objective purchase data gathered from company records. Three key insights emerge fromt this study. First, salespeople's own perceptions of their commitment and effort have only moderate influences on customers' perceptions of salespeople's commitment and effort. Second, customers seem to recognize salesperson effort more readily than salesperson commitment, although salesperson commitment has a higher sales performance impact than salesperson effort. Thus, sales managers should seek to encourage and support both the commitment of salespeople and also perceptions of that commitment among customers. Third, while a higher organizational support or job autonomy strengthens customers' perceptions of salesperson adoption, a higher pay satisfaction diminishes it. Thus, firms might need to find ways to increase the support for the salespeople and their autonomy and to reduce salespeople's satisfaction with their (direct) payments. In total, these findings suggest significant scientific and managerial implications.     

Customer attitudes of stayers and defectors in B2B services: Are they really different?

Identifying attitudinal differences between stayers and defectors is important in establishing a deeper understanding of customer satisfaction and loyalty research. Both managers and academics often use global customer attitudes, such as customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions, as determinants of customer loyalty. The implicit assumption is that customer satisfaction and/or behavioral intentions are valid, and accurate, predictors of actual loyalty behaviors. This study compares customer attitudes of stayers and defectors in B2B services using respondents (primary decision makers) from a Fortune 100 company. The results show that the commonly used customer metrics of service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions have some differences between stayers and defectors. However, these metrics are shown to be relatively weak differentiators of actual customer defection. The stayers and defectors are much more similar, than different, on most metrics. The most notable difference is price perceptions, where defectors appear to be more price sensitive than stayers. These findings have significant implications for the design and use of customer-focused research by managers.     

Changes in sales call frequency: A longitudinal examination of the consequences in the supplier-customer relationship

Sales calls are one of the most valuable and expensive resources available to industrial sales managers. The main purpose of this research was to look at the relationship between an increase in sales call frequency and some important outcomes in the buyer-seller relationship. To do so, we adopted a longitudinal research design where data from 357 customers of one industrial supplier were obtained over a two-year period of time. Results indicated that an increase in call frequency has a positive effect on sales volume, perceived service quality, perceived value for money and overall customer satisfaction. Furthermore, these effects tend to diminish as relationships become longer, and are stronger at higher levels of hierarchy in the buying company.