The impact of customer attractiveness and supplier satisfaction on becoming a preferred customer |
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| Affiliation: | 1. University of Twente, School of Management and Governance, Department of Business Administration, P. O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands;2. University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Operations, Nettelbosje 2, 9747 AE Groningen, The Netherlands;1. School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, PR China;2. School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia;3. School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, PR China;1. Dept. of Commerce and Business, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, United States;2. Dept. of Marketing, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, United States;1. Department of Business, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland;2. Department of Information and Service Economy, Aalto University School of Business, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland;3. Department of Marketing, University of Vaasa, P.O. Box 700, FI-65101 Vaasa, Finland;4. Department of Management and International Business, Aalto University School of Business, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland |
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| Abstract: | This paper discusses how a firm can become preferred customer, defined as a particular buying firm to whom the supplier allocates better resources than less preferred buyers. Two concepts play a central role for a firm aiming to become preferred customer: (i) customer attractiveness and (ii) supplier satisfaction. However, the current literature still lacks a clear discussion on the conceptual differences between these constructs and their attributes and is ambiguous with regard to the relationships between the concepts. This study addresses these shortcomings. We examine customer attractiveness and supplier satisfaction as distinct conceptual variables and test how these constructs relate to each other and to preferred customer status. We build upon practitioner input and survey data from 91 suppliers to do so. Our analyses show that the impact of customer attractiveness on preferential resource allocation from suppliers is significantly mediated by supplier satisfaction. These findings expand the current understanding of these concepts. In addition, our findings might help managers better evaluate their relationships with suppliers and align their strategies accordingly to obtain better resources from their suppliers. |
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