Customer Relationship Management in Electronic Markets

Abstract

Customer relationship management, or CRM, has found increased attention in both the academic and managerial worlds of marketing in recent years. While the Internet has greatly enabled the application of CRM in fostering loyal customers, the preliminary results on the effectiveness and efficiency of technology-based CRM has been far from discouraging. The authors identify various contentious issues behind the various key concepts of relationship management and identify several areas that deserve closer academic scrutiny and managerial inspection. The paper also comments on the extent to which Internet technology can bring about closer relationships with a firm's customers.     

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.

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。     

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     

消费者-品牌关系的影响因素:一项探索性研究

近年来,消费者-品牌关系已经成为品牌研究领域的一个热点,但是,以前的研究比较偏重对品牌关系的维度和测量指标的探讨,有关消费者-品牌关系的影响机制的研究比较缺乏。如果采用开放性问卷进行调查,将探索出影响消费者-品牌关系的主要因素。同时对调查结果的内容进行分析,识别出五种影响消费者-品牌关系的因素类别,确认了一系列促进或破坏消费者-品牌关系的企业行为,并按照"企业能力"因素和"企业社会责任"因素的分类框架对这些企业行为进行系统分类。     

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。     

One-to-One and One-to-Many Business Relationship Marketing: Toward a Theoretical Framework

ABSTRACT

Purpose. This work addresses mixed findings in relationship marketing literature regarding the importance of micro-level (interpersonal) relationships on firm outcome.

Methodology/Approach: The article leverages impression formation theory to advance a framework to understand one-to-one and one-to-many marketing relationships to better predict firm outcome.

Findings: The authors suggest that 5 framework moderators—the type and consistency of the encounters, relationship age, purchase frequency, relationship interruptions, and two customer side characteristics (i.e., need to evaluate [NTE] and need for cognitive closure [NFCC]”)—can qualify the relationship building process and impact the effectiveness of interpersonal and/or group relationships on firm outcome.

Practical Implications: The framework suggests that (1) highly consistent sales team behaviors reduce the risk of losing business in case of a sales team member leaving; (2) low frequency purchases are better suited for one-to-many selling relationships; (3) temporarily suspending relationships by individual salespeople is more harmful than suspending relationships by sales teams; (4) involving the customer in the acquisition process facilitates team selling; and (5) a positive first impression is more important for high (vs. low) NFCC and high NTE customers.

Originality/Value. The theoretical framework (1) distinguishes between individual-to-individual and individual-to-group relationships, (2) suggests a distinction between micro-level individual-to-individual and individual-to-group relationships and macro-level individual-to-firm relationships, (3) analyzes the impact of micro-level relationships under the influence of context-related and customer-related factors, and (4) provides managerially relevant guidelines for strategic sales planning.     

Evolving Relationship Marketing into a Discipline

Abstract

Relationship marketing is considered a paradigm change in both academic and practitioner literature. However, despite its popularity, relationship marketing has not yet evolved into becoming a discipline. The authors propose focus on eight areas to help relationship marketing evolve into a discipline. They compare the successful evolution of consumer behavior, services marketing and marketing strategy with the failure of international marketing, social marketing and business marketing as a discipline.     

Identifying the Communication,Behaviors, and Interaction Patterns of Agency-Client Relationships in Development and Decline

Abstract

Leichty and Springston (1993) suggest that “if the relationship management metaphor is to be taken seriously, we need to develop a theory of how relationships between organizations and publics develop, change, and are maintained” (p. 334). The current investigation is a response to that challenge by suggesting a theoretical grounding, drawn from Knapp and Vangelisti's (1996) interaction stages research, for describing how agency-client relationships are initiated, developed, maintained, and deteriorate. The research was conducted with 25 account executives of a medium-sized mid-western public relations agency. The participants provided examples of communication, behaviors, and interaction patterns that are experienced when agencies and clients initiate, develop, maintain, deteriorate, and terminate relationships. A total of five phases of organization-public relationship development and five phases of organization-public relationship decline are reported. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role that relationship management should play in the study and practice of public relations.     

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.     

论关系营销中的道德决策

本文在分析亨特和维特尔营销道德理论模型，探讨其在关系营销应用中出现的缺陷的基础上，试图构建一个关系营销中的道德决策模型作为补充，并结合现实环境对企业营销道德决策过程进行了分析。     

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。     

基于企业不同发展阶段的关系营销模式探讨

随着市场经济的发展,关系营销模式正在企业的广泛应用中得到不断发展。关系营销的核心在于保持顾客,为顾客提供高度满意的产品和服务价值,从而建立以客户关系为导向的利润模式,结合企业发展的三个阶段探讨以客户关系为利润导向的发展模式。     

Creating a Sustainable Supply Chain Network by Adopting Relationship Management Strategies

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This paper develops a conceptual framework to analyze the impact of a supply chain network (SCN) structure on relationship management strategies (RMS) that focal firms apply to manage sustainability issues within the SCN.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a comprehensive review and analysis of the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP), sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), and SCN literature.

Findings: The conceptual framework expands the network perspective in the SSCM context by considering the important role of the SCN structure in the firm’s decision-making process. Four factors (dependency, distance, power, and transparency) were found that are useful in conceptualizing the SCN structure. The conceptual framework also categorizes various sustainability practices into four RMS (noncompliance, transactional, dictatorial, and collaborative), which are needed to make an SCN more sustainable. In addition, 16 propositions are developed based on how firms may identify the most effective RMS to implement appropriate sustainability practices through examining their SCN structure.

Research limitations/implications: The conceptual framework, developed as a result of a comprehensive review of the literature, led to the development of 16 propositions, which can assist in furthering a research agenda on RMS to diffuse various sustainability practices within SCN structures.

Originality/value: The relationship between SCN structure and RMS in the sustainability context remains an under-researched but emerging area of interest. This paper leverages existing research to develop a conceptual framework suitable for empirical testing.     

The Role of Business and Friendships on WeChat Business: An Emerging Business Model in China

ABSTRACT

WeChat business is an emerging way of doing business in China, which can be considered as a marriage between traditional e-business and social networking communications. In WeChat business, firms have developed customer relationships along two distinct ways: business relationships and friendships. However, research on the combination of business relationships and friendships is relatively nascent, and there are contradictory findings. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of the two relationship strategies using data from a field experiment through the WeChat platform by an apparel firm. Results from the field experiment suggest that development of friendships with new customers can help the strategy of developing business relationships; but developing friendships and business relationships with experienced customers negates each other. The study contributes to the literature on relationship marketing and role theory, and helps WeChat managers clarify how new social networking relationships with customers can be effectively leveraged.     

营销渠道中的人际关系与跨组织合作关系:概念与模型

关于营销渠道中的跨组织管理行为和中国的关系,各自已有相当数量的学术论文发表。也有人将二者结合起来,探讨人际关系对中国企业进行渠道跨组织合作与管理的影响。然而,由于关系这一概念有丰富的内涵,大家的认识不统一,所以造成了相关的研究存在概念不清、测量工具混乱、讨论难以深入的问题。为了弥补这一缺陷,文章首先讨论了关系这一概念的基本内涵,然后将营销渠道中企业间的人际关系与跨组织合作关系相结合,提出一个理论模型,作为今后在理论上对相关问题进行进一步探讨的基础。     

The Process of Business Relationship Ending – Its Stages and Actors

How to describe a process of business relationship ending, while considering both the aspects of time and the multiplicity of actors involved? The process of ending consists of actions performed by the actors, as well as their perceptions and decisions concerning the future of the relationship and the consequences they have on the relationship. A longitudinal, dyadic case study is used to empirically ground a process framework. The model distinguishes six stages in the ending process and depicts different actor levels involved. The process model helps to understand the events and actions that end the relationship.     

Service Business Markets: Relationship Development in the Maritime Industry

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Prior literature has acknowledged the growing importance of service business markets (SBMs). However, relatively little research has examined the relationships and the motives for relationship development in SBMs. The aim of this paper is to investigate the nature of relationships and the various motives for relationship development between service provider and customers.

Methodology: This paper adopts a qualitative research strategy and a case study approach. The context is the maritime industry. One of the largest container terminals in China represents a unique and revelatory case study, wherein nine container terminal-shipping line dyads are the units of analysis. The data were mostly collected via 34 semistructured interviews with maritime industry professionals. The data were triangulated by including archival records and industry reports.

Findings: The interdependence and nonidentical nature of service delivery episodes are identified and considered to add to the knowledge on SBMs. This research provides evidence of the applicability of three groups of motives—economic, strategic, and social—for relationship development to SBMs. The motives are found to coexist and to have greater or lesser weight in the actors’ decision making depending on external factors, such as industry and company development stage, and internal factors, including the companies’ common vision and desire to collaborate.

Contribution: Academic papers have usually focused on specific types of motives, associated with a particular theoretical framework (e.g. transaction cost theory). Motives have rarely been discussed from multiple theoretical lenses. When motives are identified it is not clear what they really imply in different contexts, and what factors cause them to appear. This paper provides a number of contributions. First, it integrates several theoretical perspectives and specifies three groups of motives for relationship development in SBMs: economic, strategic, and social. Second, through the analysis of empirical findings the paper provides a deeper understanding of each group of motives, proposing an integrated framework of motives and the factors affecting their appearance. Subsequently, the research is carried out through a dyadic perspective, which is relatively rare in SBM research. A dyadic perspective allows similarities and differences in actors’ perceptions and actions to be illuminated. Finally, the research brings in a relatively new and important context—the Chinese maritime industry.

Practical implications: Knowing the needs and motives of counterparts can greatly assist SBM actors in formulating their strategies and planning their investments. It is also important that actors realize that the extent to which the other side is open to collaboration depends on the interplay of various motives. In general, business professionals should realize that end users increasingly perceive various service delivery stages within a supply chain as interdependent. Thus, to deliver a more integrated and flawless service to the end user, service providers and customers in SBMs should develop communication and collaboration beyond the operational level.     

国内利益相关者理论应用研究回顾

利益相关者理论可以应用于企业管理实践。国内学者对利益相关者理论在企业管理中的应用研究,主要表现在公司治理、企业财务管理、企业绩效评估、企业伦理管理、企业价值链经营战略五个方面,但目前研究成果还不多。