An Integrated Framework for Competitive Multi-channel Marketing of Multi-featured Products

For any company, multiple channels are available for reaching a population in order to market its products. Some of the most well-known channels are (a) mass media advertisement, (b) recommendations using social advertisement, and (c) viral marketing using social networks. The company would want to maximize its reach while also accounting for simultaneous marketing of competing products, where the product marketings may not be independent. In this direction, we propose and analyze a multi-featured generalization of the classical linear threshold model. We hence develop a framework for integrating the considered marketing channels into the social network, and an approach for allocating budget among these channels

Online Reviews in B2B Markets: A Qualitative Study of Underlying Motives

While online reviews in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Consumer-to Consumer (C2C) markets have reached an advanced state of maturity in both academia and practice, the study of the dynamics of online reviews in the B2B market is still in its early stages. For this market, there are numerous unanswered questions concerning online reviews. The growing number of B2B review platforms and reviews makes it increasingly important to better understand the heterogeneous motives for writing online reviews for a business partner. Structured by the scales of the Motivation Sources Inventory, the literature on online reviews in the B2C market, and specifically the motivation underpinning review writing, and the characteristics of B2B review platforms, a semi-structured interview protocol is derived and presented. This research-in-progress describes the concept and proposed next steps of a qualitative study aimed at identifying the underlying motives for writing B2B online reviews

The role of reference marketing in capital buying decisions: evidence from the Portugueses electric power industry.

Doutoramento em GestãoIn marketing reference processes, existing customers act as advocates for firms. With their enthusiasm, they provide testimonials, receive visits from potential customers, and contribute information on adopted solutions and their performance. This activity is highly valuable for firms insofar as it helps them to acquire strategic assets that allow for profitable marketing action, either by increasing credibility and reputation or by reducing the perceived risks associated with the purchasing of services or products from a particular supplier. In this study, I suggest that the literature on organizational buying behaviour lacks the empirical input necessary for a theory of customer referencing. In particular, I argue that studies of customer referencing practice do not give sufficient attention to the potential customer’s point of view. Instead, empirical research has favoured the supplier as its unit of analysis and has ignored the other two constituents of the reference triad: the reference customer and the potential customer. Empirical work featuring the potential customer as its unit of observation is therefore a promising area of research for those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of customer referencing and its influence on the buying behaviour of industrial firms. This study aims to contribute to filling this gap by considering the following question: “How does reference marketing influence capital buying decisions?” I respond to this question by collecting data from firms in the Portuguese energy industry, with a view to creating a multiple case study. This empirical work, which adopts a critical realist approach, grounds a new theoretical model for describing the causal mechanism that connects reference marketing to its outcomes. By identifying this causal mechanism, I aim to deepen our understanding of the role played by customer referencing in capital equipment buying decisions. In addition, this research identifies a new form of reference practice and two new referencing effects not yet described in the literature on referencing.No marketing de referências, os clientes de uma empresa agem como seus embaixadores. Com o seu entusiasmo, fornecem depoimentos e testemunhos, recebem visitas de potenciais clientes e contribuem com informações sobre as características das soluções adoptadas e do seu desempenho. Esta actividade é muito valiosa para as empresas, pois ajuda-as a adquirir activos estratégicos que permitem uma acção de marketing rentável, quer através do aumento da credibilidade e reputação, como reduzindo os riscos associados à compra de produtos ou serviços de um fornecedor. Neste estudo sugiro que a literatura sobre o comportamento de compra organizacional tem falta do input empírico necessário para uma teoria de referenciação de clientes. Em particular, argumento que os estudos da prática da gestão de referenciação de clientes não dão a devida atenção ao ponto de vista que versa o potencial cliente. Em vez disso, a pesquisa empírica tem favorecido o fornecedor como a sua unidade de análise e ignorado os outros dois componentes da tríade: o cliente de referência e o potencial cliente. O trabalho empírico que contempla o potencial cliente como sua unidade de observação é, portanto, uma área de pesquisa promissora para aqueles que desejam obter uma compreensão mais profunda da referenciação de clientes e da sua influência sobre o comportamento de compra de empresas industriais. Este estudo pretende contribuir para o preenchimento desta lacuna, considerando a seguinte pergunta: "Como é que o marketing de referências de clientes influencia as decisões de compra de bens de capital?" Eu procuro responder a esta pergunta através da recolha de dados de empresas que estão presentes na indústria Portuguesa de energia, com vista à criação de um caso de estudo múltiplo. Este trabalho empírico, que adopta uma abordagem assente no realismo crítico, fundamenta um novo modelo teórico para descrever o mecanismo causal entre o marketing de referências de clientes e os seus resultados. A identificação deste mecanismo causal aprofunda a compreensão do papel desempenhado pela referenciação de clientes nas decisões de compra de bens de capital. Além disso, esta pesquisa identifica uma nova prática de referenciação de clientes e dois novos efeitos da referenciação de clientes que ainda não foram descritos na literatura sobre referenciação de clientes.N/

Customer referencing as business actor engagement behavior – Creating value in and beyond triadic settings

The rising impact of customer engagement is increasingly evident in business markets. This paper studies customer referencing as an important manifestation of engagement behavior in the business-to-business (B2B) context. To extend extant research, which has thus far examined referencing almost exclusively from the seller's viewpoint, we study how referencing affects value creation in business networks. We explore resources contributed and gained though referencing and the resulting value outcomes for the entire reference triad (the seller, the reference customer, and the prospective buyer). Empirically, the paper draws on an extensive field study conducted in knowledge-intensive business service industries. The results explicate how customer referencing affects value creation within and beyond the triad, by i) enhancing or impairing actors' internal processes; ii) strengthening or damaging relationships between the triad actors; and iii) facilitating exchange in their broader business network. The paper contributes to research on customer referencing by explicating its role in value creation on a network level. As one of the first studies on engagement in the B2B context, this paper contributes to the emerging actor engagement research by analyzing how influencing behavior operates in a business network. These insights can help firms to facilitate exchange in complex markets.</p

Essays on Customer Engagement Strategies and Tactics in Business and Consumer Markets

In the last decade, customer engagement has become a key topic for both practitioners and researchers. Classically, customer engagement deals with customer behavior beyond purchase and thus non-monetary contributions by the customer, such as Word-of-Mouth (WOM), feedback and online reviews, or participation in the innovation process. While previous literature largely focused on the conceptualization of customer engagement itself, only a few studies have investigated how managers can actually stimulate and/or facilitate customer engagement. However, the latter is of high importance since only a few customers are truly engaged and it is often left to the firm to take the initiative to engage the customer. Thus, marketers need to understand how to design and successfully implement customer engagement initiatives. Accordingly, this dissertation investigates customer engagement strategies and tactics. While customer engagement strategy pertains to the overarching plan to leverage customer engagement to achieve the firm’s goals, customer engagement tactics deal with single actions taken by the firm to facilitate customer engagement across the various touchpoints in the customer journey. Specifically, this dissertation includes three essays, each addressing distinct questions with respect to customer engagement over the customer journey. Specifically, the first essay is conceptual in nature and provides an analysis of the strategic relevance of customer engagement in business-to-business (B2B) markets. The second essay explores how industrial firms can leverage service touchpoints as opportunities to engage their B2B customers in the post-purchase phase by employing the field service force for cross- and up-selling. Finally, the third essay investigates how marketers can use executional content cues in their TV advertisings (e.g., informativeness, creativity, or branding) to engage consumers and mitigate zapping behavior. Both empirical studies are based on unique datasets of real-world engagement tactics and related customer behavior obtained from co-operating companies

Electronic Word-of-Mouth and the Crowdfunding Environment: A Store Environment Approach to Crowdfunding Success

Crowdfunding has transformed the new venture financing process by expanding the possibilities for not only who can receive funding but also who can become a funder in new venture projects. Rewards-based crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo.com offer individuals a “reward” in return for their contribution. The rewards-based crowdfunding environment is imbued with aspects of both new venture funding and internet-based consumer purchasing. A funder may hope to obtain a valued commodity in return for their contribution to a crowdfunding project. Yet, the uncertainty associated with the outcomes requires the funder to infer quality by considering the viability of the project plan and the abilities of the project team. Building upon the complementary perspectives of a rewards-based crowdfunding contribution as both an investment and a purchase, I use the store environment model from the consumer behavior literature as a lens for identifying the informational cues project teams use to convey the worth of their project to funders. Since crowdfunding relies on the interaction of the community, I draw from research on electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM) and social media to understand how social media “buzz” can act as a social cue within the crowdfunding environment, transforming the nature of the message conveyed by the project team. My findings indicate that crowdfunding environment does impact the total amount received for a project, alone and in tandem. More importantly, the type of cue matters; design cues (vividness and structuredness) work best when combined with other design cues and social cues (project team cues and social media “buzz”) work best with other social cues. First, vividness matters –particularly when combined with a well-structured text. Next, neither project team attributes not community discourse matter in isolation, but in combination they do. Finally, too much social media “buzz” has a negative effect on funding, particularly later in the campaign. My research presents the store environment model as a valuable lens for understanding crowdfunding outcomes. By illuminating the complementarities between the new venture financing and internet-based consumer purchasing perspectives of crowdfunding, I utilize a more comprehensive application of the store environment model than has been employed in online contexts previously and present social media eWoM (i.e. social media “buzz”) as a social cue having a significant impact in online store environments and the rewards-based crowdfunding environment in particular. I also highlight the importance of eWoM, in the form of social media “buzz,” as an indirect force on organizational outcomes, acting in tandem with other environment cues and differentially over time

The impact of reputation on a firm's financial and non-financial outcomes

This thesis examines the role of reputation on a firm’s financial and non-financial outcomes through three studies. The first study examines whether the reputation incentives of busy audit committee members improve their effectiveness in monitoring the financial reporting process. I find that firms with a larger proportion of audit committee members where the membership is the most prominent are associated with higher financial reporting quality and more effective monitoring of internal control. Additional analyses reveal that my results are driven by audit committee members’ reputation incentives rather than independent non-audit committee members’ reputation incentives. I conclude that audit committee member reputation is a strong incentive for audit committee members, such that it influences their monitoring effectiveness over the financial reporting process. The second study explores whether the reputation incentive offered by a firm’s directorship has an impact on a firm’s CSR performance. I find that firms with a larger proportion of independent directors where the directorship is the most prominent are associated with better CSR performance. The positive effect of independent directors’ high reputation incentives on CSR performance is driven by better performance in CSR strengths rather than CSR concerns, and by better performance in both stakeholder CSR and third-party CSR. The effect is more pronounced in an environment where firms face less external pressure to perform CSR, and in firms with a less diverse board. Overall, my results suggest that independent directors have incentives to develop their reputation as a socially responsible director. The third study investigates the role of corporate reputation in enhancing the timeliness of external audits and earnings announcements. Changes in audit and financial reporting regulations have resulted in longer audit delay, leading to an increase in firms that announce earnings prior to audit completion, both of which have implications on the quality of financial information. I find that corporate reputation is negatively associated with audit report lag and the likelihood of firms announcing earnings after audit completion. I document important benefits in the form of timelier audits and earnings announcements derived from developing and maintaining a good corporate reputation