Augmented and virtual reality in managing B2B customer experiences

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are promising approaches that B2B companies consider to be part of their customer experience management. However, this area is largely unexplored academically, resulting in a lack of theory and practical guidance. Based on existing customer experience and AR/ VR literature, we anticipate that these technologies can expand touchpoints in the customer journey, enhancing the experiences of professionals involved in purchasing activities by providing them with empowerment and support. Consequently, we applied exploratory, theory-building research to identify and organize current industry practices into a coherent framework and theorize their role in shaping customer experiences. For example, current marketing use cases include project and product visualization, event-based engagement, remote support, and employee training, and are particularly employed in the early stages of the customer journey. We also identified several benefits related to branding, relationships, transactions, costs, and sustainability. The theoretical contribution of our study extends the current understanding of the role of AR and VR in B2B customer experience management. It provides practical insights for B2B marketing professionals on the strategic deployment of AR and VR technologies to enhance customer experiences based on real-world examples

Norm-based relational behaviours: is there an underlying dimensional structure?

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to analyse what roles different relational norms play in long-term business relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses exploratory factor analysis on a data set of n=297 relationships and identifies two norm dimensions: value-creating norms and value-claiming norms. Findings – This paper demonstrates that extant empirical research on relational norms and related behaviours is fragmentary and that there is considerable overlap between certain norms. Hence, the dimensionality of the norm concept remains unclear. Originality/value – This study contributes to a clearer picture of the norm construct that has been used in a fragmented and selective way in empirical studies in the past

The impact of supplier satisfaction on relationship growth : an exploratory study

Over the past decades there has been a move towards cooperative purchasing practices as companies become more dependent on their suppliers. At the same time, most companies do not assess how satisfied their suppliers are with their business relationship. We develop an instrument to measure supplier satisfaction and apply it to a manufacturer of electronic components and its suppliers. Moreover, we show that supplier satisfaction has a significant impact on relationship growth

Key account management in business markets : an empirical test of common assumptions

International audiencePurpose – The concept of key account management (KAM) has received considerable attention from practitioners and scholars for well over 20 years now. However, numerous articles build on a set of tacit assumptions for which we lack empirical evidence. This paper seeks to propose an empirical test of several of these assumptions. - Design/methodology/approach – The contribution draws on a study conducted among 297 purchasing managers in two industries (packaging goods, market research data). - Findings – The findings indicate that parts of the foundations of KAM are not as solid as they may appear at first sight. - Practical implications – This paper invites managers of KAM programs to carefully consider the objectives they assign to such programs by integrating the idea of value created both for key customers and for suppliers implementing such programs. - Originality/value – The paper extends knowledge of key account management in the business field by providing new – and, in the light of the extant literature, sometimes rather counter-intuitive – insights in this important management phenomenon. It does this by systematically comparing key account relationships and non-key account relationships. // Keywords: Transaction costs, Buyer-seller relationships, Resource management<br/

Passage à l'Euro et psychologie des prix. Fondements théoriques et résultats empiriques

International audienceCet article traite des effets anticipés lors du passage à l'Euro, concernant l'intérêt pour les prix, leur perception ainsi que leur évaluation. Il présente les résultats d'une expérience en laboratoire où trois groupes de consommateurs ont été confrontés à une situation d'achat identique. Seule la présentation des prix (en D-Mark/en Euro/avec double affichage D-Mark et Euro) a été modifiée. Les résultats révèlent une attention accrue pour les prix, d'importantes variations de parts de marché pour certaines marques ainsi que d'intéressants déplacements et déformations de seuils de prix