The Role of Social Media in Affective Trust Building in Customer-Supplier Relationships

Trust represents a key issue in building successful customer-supplier relationships. In this sense, social software represents a powerful means for fostering trust by establishing a direct, more personal communication channel with customers. Therefore, companies are now investing in so-cial media for building their social digital brand and strengthening relationships with their cus-tomers. In this paper, we presented two experiments by means of which we investigated the role of traditional websites and social media in trust building along the cognitive and affective di-mensions. We hypothesize that traditional websites (content-oriented) and social media (interac-tion-oriented) may have a different effect on trust building in customer-supplier relationships, based on the first impression provided to potential customers. Although additional research is still needed, our findings add to the existing body of evidence that both cognitive and affective trust can be successfully fostered through online presence. Specifically, social media provides companies with tools to communicate benevolence to potential customer and, therefore, foster the affective commitment of customers. Traditional websites, instead, are more appropriate for communicating the competence and reliability of a company, by fostering trust building along the cognitive dimension. The results of our studies provide implications for researchers and practi-tioners, by highlighting the importance of combining the two media for effectively building a trustworthy online company image

Bringing Relationship Marketing Theory into B2B Practice: The B2B-RP Scale and the B2B-RELPERF Scorecard

This study presents a new measurement scale to assess the performance of a relationship between two firms. The Business-to-Business Relationship Performance (B2B-RP) scale is presented as a high order concept. When tested in a sample of nearly 400 SMEs purchasing managers operating in a B2B e-marketplace, our findings reveal that greater relationship performance results in better 1) relationship policies and practices, 2) relationship commitment, 3) trust in the relationship, 4) mutual cooperation, as well as 5) satisfaction with the relationship. The multi-dimensional scale shows strong evidence of reliability as well as convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. Findings also reveal that B2B relationship performance is positively and significantly associated with loyalty. While building on this scale, the authors develop the B2B-RP Scorecard intended to be included in periodic reports. At the managerial level, both the scale and the scorecard are expected to help disclose relationship performance, and act as useful instruments for periodic planning, management, controlling, and improvement of B2B relationships.Relationship Performance; Relationship Marketing; B2B-RP Scale; B2B-RELPERF Scorecard; Electronic Markets

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Committed to Content Provider or Mobile Channel? Determinants of Continuous Mobile Multimedia Service Use

The focus of the article is analysis of relationships between value perceptions, commitment and intentions to use mobile multimedia service (MMS) content. Attracting a committed wide audience end-user base that uses multimedia content frequently is essential for success of the services. Customers’ preferences for both the content provider and for the channel used are included. This is necessary for exploring further how to increase continuous use and revenue per user in the mobile field. In the empirical case of mobile multimedia services in the real estate business, intentions to use the same service provider again were found to be directly influenced by commitment to use the same provider, and indirectly by emotional and social value perceptions of MMS content. The usefulness of the content had no effect on intentions to use the same provider. However, it influenced intentions to use the mobile channel as such. Implications for theory and marketers are discussed

Customer experience in the business-to-business context, drivers, measures and consequences

The concept of customer experience (CE) has received increasing attention since the 1990s as researchers in the marketing field have sought to understand its relationship with customers’ behaviour. While there has been a wealth of studies undertaken that have explored CE in relation to business-to-consumer (B2C), there has been limited empirical work carried out on business-to-business (B2B). This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining CE within the B2B context. It first attempts to define the concept of CE in B2B by examining the range of existing pertinent literature. Then, through the use of data from customers of B2B professional service providers in the UK, the study identifies the dimensions of CE and their relative drivers. It also explores the influence of time when present customer experience is formed, and perhaps most importantly, the outcomes of CE in relation to the customer’s satisfaction and subsequent reported behaviour towards the professional service provider in terms of repeated purchase and word-of-mouth. To help ensure a comprehensive study with insightful results that would contribute to the CE concept, the research undertook two studies. Study 1 employed a mixed-method approach for the purpose of empirically deriving measures for CE. It also served to confirm the proposed conceptual framework. The purpose of Study 2 was to validate the newly developed measures identified from Study 1 and test the research hypotheses in terms of investigating CE as a multi-dimensional construct, the impact of past experience on present experience as well as assessing the drivers and the reported outcomes of CE. Thus, a panel study of B2B customers was employed and a longitudinal study was completed. Findings from this research provide insights into the CE concept in the context of B2B. They empirically validate the measures of CE, address its drivers including the impact of time, and through longitudinal data, demonstrate how B2B customer loyalty can be attributed to CE management to a considerable extent. Indeed, by sharing these findings, practitioners will better understand what leads to more efficient CE management, enabling them to reap the advantages of providing superior experiences for their customers.The concept of customer experience (CE) has received increasing attention since the 1990s as researchers in the marketing field have sought to understand its relationship with customers’ behaviour. While there has been a wealth of studies undertaken that have explored CE in relation to business-to-consumer (B2C), there has been limited empirical work carried out on business-to-business (B2B). This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining CE within the B2B context. It first attempts to define the concept of CE in B2B by examining the range of existing pertinent literature. Then, through the use of data from customers of B2B professional service providers in the UK, the study identifies the dimensions of CE and their relative drivers. It also explores the influence of time when present customer experience is formed, and perhaps most importantly, the outcomes of CE in relation to the customer’s satisfaction and subsequent reported behaviour towards the professional service provider in terms of repeated purchase and word-of-mouth. To help ensure a comprehensive study with insightful results that would contribute to the CE concept, the research undertook two studies. Study 1 employed a mixed-method approach for the purpose of empirically deriving measures for CE. It also served to confirm the proposed conceptual framework. The purpose of Study 2 was to validate the newly developed measures identified from Study 1 and test the research hypotheses in terms of investigating CE as a multi-dimensional construct, the impact of past experience on present experience as well as assessing the drivers and the reported outcomes of CE. Thus, a panel study of B2B customers was employed and a longitudinal study was completed. Findings from this research provide insights into the CE concept in the context of B2B. They empirically validate the measures of CE, address its drivers including the impact of time, and through longitudinal data, demonstrate how B2B customer loyalty can be attributed to CE management to a considerable extent. Indeed, by sharing these findings, practitioners will better understand what leads to more efficient CE management, enabling them to reap the advantages of providing superior experiences for their customers

Entrepreneurial networking, trust process and virtual interactions.

The aim of this research was to understand the entrepreneurial networking process and the role played by virtual interactions. In particular, the objective was to establishing how, and if, virtual interactions enhanced collaborative incremental product innovation in supplier-customer networks within biotechnology SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises). Employing a phenomenological approach, two data collection techniques were used; participant observation within a small biotechnology firm provided a preliminary study and was followed by 16 in-depth interviews with bioscience entrepreneurs in SMEs in Scotland. The results indicated that entrepreneurial networking was important for the generation of collaborative incremental innovation; innovation opportunities were embedded in entrepreneurial networking process. In addition, the study found that the networking process was complex and dynamic but was punctuated by several relationship stages, whereby each stage constituted a relationship state. Each state could be characterized as dynamic and complex but an evolving relationship stage. The progress of collaboration was thus dependent on the evolution of the relationship. Moreover, the research identified trust to be the key determinant of the relationship process; the nature of trust invoked was found to be dynamic, progressive and multi-dimensional. The study explored and classified how the entrepreneurs used three ideal types of networking strategies to engage in the trust formation process. These were, namely, Technical, Combined and Social Approach, utilised in different relationship situations. Furthermore, the study showed how factors, such as inter-personal characteristics for bonding social capital, the use of virtual interaction, trust process, the level of knowledge tacitness and relationship processes, all impacted on the collaboration for incremental innovation. Importantly, the study indicated that an understanding of virtual interaction needed to be contextualised in the circumstances and conditions of the entrepreneurial networking process. Consequently this study contributes to knowledge in the areas of entrepreneurial networking process, virtual interaction, supplier-customer relationships, trust and product innovation generation

Customer Service Retention – A Behavioural Perspective of the UK Mobile Market

Abstract Customer retention is essential for firms in the service sector and will subsequently receive a great deal of attention in the coming years. A large majority of firms are losing their current customers at a significant rate. UK operators lose over a third of their subscribers every year in spite of incurring large customer acquisition and retention expenditures. A study of customer retention from a variety of angles, including economic, behavioural and psychological perspectives, was rigorously carried out. It has been found that a majority of scholars explain customer retention from a behavioural perspective by using unrelated or indirect factors such as trust and commitment, price terms, and loyalty terms. It has also been noted that previous studies lack a clear theoretical background and a solid empirical proof to support their findings of customer operant retention behaviour. This study approaches the customer retention problem in the mobile phone sector from a behavioural perspective, applying the Behavioural Perspective Model as the main analytical framework. The model includes a set of pre-behaviour and post-behaviour factors to study consumer choice and explains its relevant drivers in a viable and comprehensive way, grounded in radical behaviourism. Many data collection methods were used to collect data from the study sample, including mobile contracts content analysis techniques, customer focus groups, and, principally, a customer survey supported by interviews with a number of managers. The data were analysed using different regression measurements to test the study model, and the propositions were constructed and tested quantitatively and discussed qualitatively. Analysis revealed that a customer will buy a mobile telecommunication package and engage in a long-term relationship with a supplier whom he or she believes will honour the relationship’s functional and emotional benefits; the consumer will be expecting to obtain such benefits when he/she buys, consumes, and has a positive experience of both the purchased object and the seller

The role of market orientation in developing and sustaining market relationships: an empirical study in Taiwan.

Significant work has taken place in the development of our understanding of business dyadic relationships but much work remains to be done in determining the antecedents, particularly our understanding of cultural contexts. This research aims to add to the debate about what counts in developing a long-term orientation in channel relationships by investigating the role of the concept of market orientation; it explores the possible interface existing between the marketing concept and development of channel relationships. The context is relationships between distributors and suppliers in Taiwan. This study examines the relationship literature from a social exchange theoretical perspective and conducts multiple-case in-depth interviews at the dyadic ends to develop an integrated research model for analysing potential effects of market orientation on the relationship factors influencing long-term oriented relationship building. Quantitative mixed-mode questionnaire surveys were undertaken to test the research model and hypotheses drawn from the model. Data were collected from 158 distributors from four selected business sectors, including both commodity and noncommodity ones. The results confirm the applicability of the marketing concept to an eastern country: Taiwan, and provide empirical evidence that adoption of the marketing concept can be a strategy for stimulating and sustaining long-term oriented channel relationships while mediated by a number of relationship constructs. Communication and shared value are highlighted as the primary mediators while satisfaction signals an inclination to continue a relationship. Market orientation is found to exert significant direct effects on communication and shared value and indirect effects on the other relationship components: trust, cooperation, commitment, conflict and satisfaction, which all contribute to a continuing relationship