How does past and present customer experience explain the satisfaction with the supplier? A fuzzy set qualitative comparative approach

This study applies complexity theory to understand the effect of past and present experience on satisfaction. Drawing from the appraisal of interaction theory, social exchange theory and organizational buying behaviour, we developed and empirically measured customer experience on satisfaction across the customers of the professional service providers in b2b. This study investigates the past and current experiences as key elements of customer satisfaction with suppliers. To examine the research propositions, this study employs confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), using a sample of 450 in the first wave and 260 in the second wave. The findings contribute to advancing the current knowledge of the literature by verifying different components of the construct of customer experience and its relative impact on satisfaction

Internal market orientation, the management of NSD multifunctional teams and implications for NSD project success

The study of the new service development (NSD) processes has been, for more than three decades, one of the major priorities in the field of Marketing (cf. De Brentani, 1995, Papastathopoulou and Hultink, 2012). Nonetheless, in spite of the considerable progress made so far, the extant literature has overlooked a number of issues. Little is known regarding the management of the team that is actually involved in the NSD project and how does this affect the outcome of the project. One such gap concerns the organizational conditions that influence the performance of multifunctional NSD teams in NSD projects (Froehle et al., 200; Zomerdijk, and Voss, 2011). The past research is also replete with empirical studies relying on the key-informant approach, a method subject to significant limitations when it comes to understanding the functioning of NSD teams. As a result, the extant literature remains fairly grey in picturing the differences between different stakeholders’ views regarding how multifunctional NSD teams integrate and work seamlessly to manage NSD projects and deliver the expected outcomes (Crevani, Palm and Schilling, 2011; Bertels, Kleinschmidt and Koen, 2011). Addressing such questions requires identifying a relevant marketing theory that will enable academics to produce a rigorous and relevant theoretical framework upon which the Marketing function will be able to rely in managing the NSD process more successfully

Analysing customer contact sequences of private customers during the pre- purchase phase for automobiles in Germany

"Customer contact sequences" (CCS) known as "customer journey" provide insights for consumer behaviour. Limited research is present where every interaction with a brand is analysed within the automobile purchase decision. Thus, the paper aims to analyse CCS, their influential factors and outcomes to develop a theoretical model for automobile purchases in Germany. A qualitative study is conducted with 20 in-depth interviews of recent car buyers. Findings reveal influential factors like "product related", "subjective norm", "purchase frequency" or "psychological influence" and show the existence of CCS especially within the period of targeted information search. The integration of emotional arousal and cognitive evaluation in the CCS model was found to be of high value. However, further studies must evaluate CCS on high sample sizes using a longitudinal research design. Therewith, new theory findings are generated which are likely to affect the traditional models of purchase behaviour

Vesting B2B research with relevance and rigor through appropriate research questions and methods

Research in the business to business context has contracted relative to other fields of Marketing, like for example the studying of the consumer behaviour. This is a worrying trend given the importance of the B2B context for any economy as B2B transactions represent the majority of the exchanges in an economy. Apparently a variety of reasons account for this and Scheer ('Three challenging trends for marketing strategy and B2B Doctoral Education') identifies three very relevant ones: The need to work closely with one or often many more companies to generate the data that are necessary to answer many (if not most) of the questions that are relevant to the context; the need to recruit researchers who have excellent analytical and computational skills, often at the expense of other softer skills or a solid background in marketing; and the need to reconsider and revise our views on the impact the studies on B2B have for the practicing managers. With regards to the latter, improving the overall quality and the rigour of the research efforts in the B2B context is also a major challenge. Ritter's contribution ('Engaging in engaged B2B scholarship: Relevance squared') provides an excellent roadmap to ensure that future research initiatives come with a solid potential to generate not only relevant but also rigorous studies while addressing fascinating questions

Trust and commitment influences on customer retention : insights from business-to-business services

Despite the importance of trust and commitment in relationship marketing, the scholarly inquiry on the issue is rather impeded in several ways. Furthermore, when it comes to the marketing of services and specifically for business-to-business (B2B) markets, the empirical documentation is even slimmer despite the fact that services are increasingly becoming a vital component of the product that the customers buy even when it comes to tangible goods such as computers or cars. In view of this gap, the present empirical study attempts an investigation of two specific antecedents of trust and consequently of commitment: the perceived quality of the service and the customer bonding techniques used by the supplier. In doing so, the causality of the relationships between the various constructs is also examined

Quo Vadis servicescapes research? A critical review and empirical investigation of an integrative conceptualisation

Through a critical literature review, the current study uncovers important contradictions in the theoretical conceptualizations that have been proposed and tested within the servicescapes literature. Drawing from the appraisal of emotion theory and the affect infusion model, we develop and empirically test an integrative conceptualization on the effects of servicescapes on customer behavior across both utilitarian and hedonic service contexts. Results support the suggested conceptualization while also uncovering customers’ familiarity with the servicescape as a critical but neglected moderator that can account for much of the conceptual contradictions in the extant servicescapes literatur

Internal market orientation determinants of employee brand enactment

This study aims to explore how the adoption of internal market orientation (IMO) can enhance front-line employee brand enactment within an interpersonal service setting. Insights from equity theory and the person – environment paradigm are drawn upon to develop a theoretical model describing the impact of IMO on employee – organization fit, employee – supervisor fit and employee – job fit and the consequences of IMO on employee brand knowledge and brand identification. Second, the role of various types of fit and brand knowledge/identification for front-line employee brand enactment is confirmed

A dynamic, relational approach to B2B customer experience: A customer-centric perspective from a longitudinal investigation

Understanding the formation and dynamics of B2B customer experience (CX) is a key priority for marketing academics, with a notable gap necessitating empirical investigation. To address this gap, two studies were conducted. The first utilizes a mixed-method approach to generate and empirically assess a CX measure, with a specific focus on impressions during the service delivery stage from a relational perspective. The second using longitudinal data explored the impact of past impressions and specific supplier offerings on current customer impressions. The authors identified four types of impressions: two cognitive (factual and sagacious) and two affective (emotional and social) and highlighted that certain aspects of past impressions negatively impact the present. The paper further elucidates how the technical and functional components of the supplier's offering shape customer impressions, confirming the functional elements' impact on the affective impressions of the customer’s perceived CX and influencing the perceived relationship quality

A dynamic, relational approach to B2B customer experience : a customer-centric perspective from a longitudinal investigation

Understanding the formation and dynamics of B2B customer experience (CX) is a key priority for marketing academics, with a notable gap necessitating empirical investigation. To address this gap, two studies were conducted. The first utilizes a mixed-method approach to generate and empirically assess a CX measure, with a specific focus on impressions during the service delivery stage from a relational perspective. The second using longitudinal data explored the impact of past impressions and specific supplier offerings on current customer impressions. The authors identified four types of impressions: two cognitive (factual and sagacious) and two affective (emotional and social) and highlighted that certain aspects of past impressions negatively impact the present. The paper further elucidates how the technical and functional components of the supplier's offering shape customer impressions, confirming the functional elements' impact on the affective impressions of the customer’s perceived CX and influencing the perceived relationship quality