An investigation into the relationship between customer relationship marketing and customer retention: superstore retailing context in Bangladesh

The context of this study is Bangladesh`s food retailing sector. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) and customer retention. The core aim of Relationship Marketing is to build long lasting mutually bonded relationships with customers and various other important stakeholders. The concept has attracted considerable attention among scholars in recent decades and has appeared in service marketing literature as a new marketing paradigm. The concept is critical to the success of any organisation as it has been an accepted phenomenon that maintains that existing customers are far easier to retain than is the process of acquiring new customers. In order to stay in business and cope with the challenging business dynamism, organisations are continuously searching for reliable and serviceable strategies to be employed in order to increase customer retention. However, there is a lack of consensus among researchers on the core antecedents of relationship marketing that can be used to achieve the above aims, especially while the concept is new in the context of organised retailing sectors in Bangladesh. In response, the study developed a conceptual framework of customer retention strategy which incorporates bonds, service quality and relational quality into one relationship model. The model establishes eleven hypotheses. A sample of 202 grocery food retail customers were selected in a random sample from four selected superstores. The results support hypothesized relationships built on the model. The findings indicate that service quality, trust, bond and customer satisfactions are vital for creating positive customer loyalty which in turn creates customer retentionPeer reviewedFinal Published versio

High-street fashion brand communication amongst female adolescents

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The nature of high-street fashion brands amongst female adolescents is a combined set of fast fashion movements and early adopter demands within a compressed timeframe. This research has investigated the need for a communication plan to appropriately deliver the brand message for this sector. There are a number of information barriers for high-street fashion brands to build customer value and differentiate the core values of their brands from competitors because of 1) imbalanced strategic communication implementation particularly in the encoding process, 2) ambiguous interpretation of target audience behaviour as a key disseminator of brand messages and 3) a lack of an integrated communication approach to complement the brand building communication plan. Accordingly, there is a need for a brand building communication framework to formulate and direct the female adolescent perceived values within a limited time based on mutual understanding and shared requirements between a high-street fashion brand and its target audience. Moreover, a strategic plan using an integrated brand-building communication in the encoding process which optimises the contribution of the audience must be developed. This research has revealed that high-street fashion brands should concentrate on consumer self-construal, consumer-brand congruence and consumer-brand relationships of female adolescents in order to clearly construct brand messages which match audiences’ values and lifestyles. Due to the needs for informative cooperation amongst the target audiences, the brand-building communication strategy as a persuasive medium, which encourages audiences and prospects to initiate interactivity with the high-street fashion brand, was thoroughly examined in the empirical study. A conceptual model of a high-street fashion brand-building communication was developed and evaluated by means of design research methodology and soft systems methodology. The proposed model explains the platform of brand-building communication strategy in the encoding process for the high-street fashion market. A number of advantages are offered: Firstly, brand managers may use the model to overcome the barriers to integrate a fashion brand communication strategy. Secondly, it can enhance the recognition of fashion brand-building communication. Thirdly, the model offers an approach to leverage customer-brand relationships by means of the communication process. Fourthly, it allows the description of a holistic view of brand message construction in the encoding process. Finally, it offers a strategy to integrate online and off-line communications

Generation, susceptibility, and response regarding negativity: an in-depth analysis of negative online reviews

Negative online reviews can drastically influence consumer behavior and business strategies. Recent attention on the subject demonstrates its importance in the consumer and marketing literature. Even so, no study quantitatively investigates the corpus of the literature. This study quantitatively and systematically investigates the foundational research streams of negative online reviews to identify influential sources and main areas of knowledge in the domain. The study employs an integration of text mining and co-citation analysis, recognizing that firms’ responses to negative online reviews cannot be analyzed without understanding the role of customers. Accordingly, this study generates insight into customers and firms in each negative online review stage, furnishing a conceptual framework that synthesizes the previous literature and highlights the most important research gaps requiring attention. Ultimately, the conceptual framework can guide future researchers in unfolding new and novel directions to expand the boundaries of the negative online review literature

Brand Response to Consumer Backlash in Social Media: A Typology

The use of social media by consumers to admonish firms for their conduct has become increasingly common. Such backlash can take many forms and often occurs rapidly, spreads widely and is highly visible. The potential damage to brands can be severe if these situations are not dealt with effectively. To date, the issue has been examined relatively superficially in a range of disciplines without specific regard to the management of consumer-brand relationships in online environments. Our research examines the nature of company reactions to social media backlash and conceptualises a typology that categorises reputational damage and effective response. We present four typical reactionary scenarios and conclude that insufficient research exists in this domain proportionate to the level of consumer-brand social media discourse to the peril of practitioners operating via these channel