Further Thoughts on CRM

Skepticism and disappointment have replaced the initialenthusiasm about CRM. The disappointing results ofCRM-projects are often related to difficulties thatmanagers encounter in embedding CRM in their strategyand organization structure. In this article we presenta classification scheme on how CRM can be strategicallyembedded in organizations using the value disciplinesof Treacy and Wiersema. We use the findings from threecase studies to illustrate our classification. Based onthese case studies and interviews with managers wedistinguish between strategic and tactical CRM, andderive important issues that managers should considerbefore successfully implementing CRM.customer relationship management;marketing strategy;marketing performance

Consumer Perception and Evaluation of Waiting Time

Telephone waiting times for a commercial service were varied in two different experiments. In the first experiment, the telephone rate was either zero or fixed at Dfl.1.- (approx. $0.40) per minute. Consumer perceptions of waiting times could be described best by a psychophysical power function. Furthermore, wait evaluations were mainly influenced by the difference between the consumers' acceptable and perceived waiting times. The negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations was increased by the monetary costs of waiting.In the second experiment, the waiting times were filled in different ways: music, queue information, and information about expected waiting time. Information about the expected waiting time significantly reduced the consumer's overestimation of waiting time, whereas information about wait duration and queue increased the negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations.customer satisfaction;experiment;psychophysics;telephone waiting times

Predicting Customer Potential Value: an application in the insurance industry

For effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM), it is essential to have information on the potential value of customers. Based on the interplay between potential value and realized value, managers can devise customer specific strategies. In this article we introduce a model for predicting the potential value of a current customer. Furthermore, we discuss and apply different modeling strategies for predicting this potential value.marketing models;customer potential;customer relationship management;insurance industry

Explaining Choice and Share of Category Requirements of Biologic Meat

In this paper we examine factors determining choice and consumption of biologic or organic meat. In our model explaining choice and share of category requirements, we consider economic/marketing variables (quality, price, and distribution), emotions (fear, empathy, andguilt), social norms, environmental variables (environmental concern, green behavior, and perceived consumer effectiveness) as main antecedents of the choice and share of categoryrequirements of bio-meat. We also control for the effect of socio-demographics. Using a sample of 269 Dutch consumers we estimate a Tobit (2) model explaining choice and share of category requirements. Our results show that the choice for biologic meat is mainly affected by perceived quality of bio meat, in addition to the price-perception and fear of the health consequences of eating regular meat. Price perceptions and fear are also important determinants of share of category requirements, but beyond these factors empathy and social norms are also determinants of share of category requirements. Theoretical and policy implications of our results are discussed.modeling;consumers;environmentalism;organic products

The Effect of Relational Constructs on Relationship Performance

We examine the effect of relational constructs, such as satisfaction, trust and commitment on relationship performance (that is, positive word-of-mouth communication and the margin provided by each customer) of customers of an insurance company. A central issue concerns the effect of duration on the associations between relational constructs and relationship performance. Our empirical results provide strong evidence of duration dependent effects of satisfaction and trust, but we find only weak evidence of such effects on performance.Insurance industry;Performance;Relationship duration;Relationship marketing

The impact of brand and category characteristics on consumer stock-out reactions

We develop two models to test hypotheses on the specific impact ofbrand and category characteristics on consumer stock-out responses.Our empirical results show that both characteristics are importantdeterminants. Consumers are more product loyal in hedonic productgroups than in utilitarian product groups and consumers are more brandloyal to high equity brands than to low equity brands. Brand loyaltyis especially strong for high equity brands in hedonic product groups.Our study also confirms findings from prior research on OOS reactions.Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings of the studyare discussed.retailing;consumers;brand management;fast moving consumer goods;marketing-models

Changing Perceptions and Changing Behavior in Customer Relationships

We formulate a theoretical model in which we postulate that if a customers' behavior is perceived as not optimal, customers will adjust this behavior based on their current satisfaction and payment equity. Furthermore, customers will also include new experiences. In our empirical study we particularly investigate customer referrals and the amount of services purchased. Our results show positive effects of current satisfaction and payment equity on referrals, while also changes in satisfaction and payment equity affect customer referrals. With respect to the amount of services purchased, our estimation results reveal a positive significant effect of only changes in satisfaction.satisfaction;customer relationships;dynamic modeling;preference updating

The Quest for Citations: Drivers of Article Impact

Why do some articles become building blocks for future scholars, while many others remain unnoticed? We aim to answer this question by contrasting, synthesizing and simultaneously testing three scientometric perspectives – universalism, social constructivism and presentation – on the influence of article and author characteristics on article citations. To do so, we study all articles published in a sample of five major journals in marketing from 1990 to 2002 that are central to the discipline. We count the number of citations each of these articles has received and regress this count on an extensive set of characteristics of the article (i.e. article quality, article domain, title length, the use of attention grabbers and expositional clarity), and the author (i.e. author visibility and author personal promotion). We find that the number of citations an article in the marketing discipline receives, depends upon “what one says†(quality and domain), on “who says it†(author visibility and personal promotion) and not so much on “how one says it†(title length, the use of attention grabbers, and expositional clarity). Our insights contribute to the marketing literature and are relevant to scientific stakeholders, such as the management of scientific journals and individual academic scholars, as they strive to maximize citations. They are also relevant to marketing practitioners. They inform practitioners on characteristics of the academic journals in marketing and their relevance to decisions they face. On the other hand, they also raise challenges towards making our journals accessible and relevant to marketing practitioners: (1) authors visible to academics are not necessarily visible to practitioners; (2) the readability of an article may hurt academic credibility and impact, while it may be instrumental in influencing practitioners; (3) it remains questionable whether articles that academics assess to be of high quality are also managerially relevant.Impact;Citation Analysis;Referencing;Scientometrics;Cite

Using Selective Sampling for Binary Choice Models to Reduce Survey Costs

Marketing problems sometimes concern the analysis of dichotomous variables, like for example ``buy'' and ``not buy'' and ``respond'' and ``not respond''. It can happen that one outcome strongly outnumbers the other, for example when many households do not respond (to a direct mailing, for example). Standard econometric methods would imply the collection of many data to obtain precise estimates and this can be rather costly. To cut back costs, we propose to implement a non-random sampling scheme and to correct for the subsequent sample selection bias in the econometric model. In this paper we put forward the relevant method, which does not lead to a loss in precision. Our illustration suggests an opportunity to collect 60\\% less data points.Outcome-dependent sampling;binary outcomes;logit model;sample size;survey design

Predicting Customer Lifetime Value in Multi-Service Industries

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a key-metric within CRM. Although, a large number of marketing scientists and practitioners argue in favor of this metric, there are only a few studies that consider the predictive modeling of CLV. In this study we focus on the prediction of CLV in multi-service industries. In these industries customer behavior is rather complex, because customers can purchase more than one service, and these purchases are often not independent from each other. We compare the predictive performance of different models, which vary in complexity and realism. Our results show that for our application simple models assuming constant profits over time have the best predictive performance at the individual customer level. At the customer base level more complicated models have the best performance. At the aggregate level, forecasting errors are rather small, which emphasizes the usability of CLV predictions for customer base valuation purposes. This might especially be interesting for accountants and financial analysts.forecasting;value;customer relationship management;customer lifetime value;customer segmentation;database marketing;interactive marketing