Experience as a moderator of involvement and satisfaction on brand loyalty in a business-to-business setting 02-314R

This paper examines the relative influence of two key antecedents of brand loyalty—satisfaction and involvement and the moderating role of experience, using a sample of business buyers. The central argument of this paper is that the strength of the effect of these variables on attitudinal brand loyalty will vary with the level of customer experience with purchasing the service. Building on previous research which examined low-risk, customer product settings [Kim, J., Lim, J.S., & Bhargava, M. (1998). The role of affect in attitude formation: A classical conditioning approach. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 26 (2): pp. 143–152; Shiv, B., & Fedorikhin, A. (1999). Heart and mind in conflict: The interplay of affect and cognition in consumer decision-making. Journal of Consumer Research 26: 278], this study shows that for a high-risk setting, involvement with the service category will be more dominant in its influence on brand loyalty than satisfaction with the preferred brand. Furthermore, it was found that experience moderated the influence of involvement and satisfaction on attitudinal brand loyalty for a high-risk business-to-business service. This study provides new insights into the theory and practice of buyer behavior and business-to-business brands.

Business to employee (B2E) e-business model : service to employees or organisational management?

This paper is a discussion of the B2E e-business model from the perspectives of employee services and organisational management. It includes literature to support B2E as employee services and organisational management with benefits to both. Intranets and portals are technologies supporting the implementation of the B2E e-business model which are also discussed. A case study is included to understand the application of the B2E model in a large organisation. Case study analysis indicates that the B2E e-business model is a service to the employees, however, these services are to support organisational efficiencies.

Business to consumer eCommerce : implications for employee management

This research explored the way service organisations deal with employee management issues when implementing eCommerce technologies. The thesis proposes a framework for understanding the technology-mediated context of the customer-employee interaction in service organisations when implementing eCommerce. The framework assists in achieving a balance between achieving efficiencies and maintaining customer loyalty.

Models of trust in business-to-consumer electronic commerce : a review of multi-disciplinary approaches

The issue of trust in Internet-based business-to-consumer electronic commerce has been explored from a number of difference perspectives. The current body of research is diverse and fragmented. This paper critically reviews recently published models pertaining to trust in business to consumer e-commerce. For analytical purposes we categorize the literature in three main streams: technological, design and sociological/psychological. Based on our analysis and our own empirical observations we raise four main areas of concern that warrant further research attention: an oversimplification of the trust concept, a uni-directional view of trust, discipline centered approaches to modelling trust and a lack of empirical grounding and testing. In the light of these concerns we recommend avenues for further research.

Integrating online communities within business-to-business marketing communications: an exploratory study

© 2015 Taylor & Francis The article provides a conceptual contribution by developing a framework for business-to-business (B2B) marketers seeking to implement online communities (OLCs). Furthermore, the conceptual contribution is augmented by a small-scale exploratory study comprising in-depth interviews with B2B chief marketing officers (CMOs). The findings challenge existing thinking that B2B marketers can follow generic marketing communication frameworks. This is due to the differences in B2B OLCs in terms of multiple stakeholders and two-way information flows and differences in buyer behaviour. For researchers, the contribution is an embryonic model that will facilitate future conceptual development as well as empirical testing through a series of research propositions. A sequential decision-making framework, which identifies key implementation challenges, is provided for B2B managers.

Best practice business to business survey: research recruitment for the MCM

This is a Report on research which investigated methods to encourage business compliance with requests from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to participate in a business survey relating the Management Capabilities.

Strategies for B2B electronic markets : delivering business value to buyers and sellers

This paper discusses the key elements of effective and successful strategies for organisations engaging in Business-to-Business (B2B) Electronic Markets. Existing literature have concentrated on developing schemas for categorising B2B Electronic Markets, and evaluating the innovative business models they employ, with less focus on understanding the business value of B2B Electronic Markets from a multi-stakeholder, business strategy perspective. In the present business climate, business managers and executives are keen to discover strategies to maximise performance improvements associated with ICT adoption. Based on case studies of B2B Electronic Markets, this paper discusses the importance of (i) creating and distributing business value among the various stakeholders, (ii) determining a pragmatic approach for engaging in B2B Electronic Markets, and (iii) managing the transformation of business processes associated with B2B Electronic Markets. The study contributes to practice and research by presenting rich empirical insights into the operations ofB2B Electronic Markets, and providing suggestions for future research in the topic area.

A strategic approach to target marketing-choosing the preferred generic customer : a model of shareholder value performance

In recent years the contribution of the marketing function has changed and interest now centres on its contribution to a firm’s financial performance. The Marketing Science Institute in the USA has stated that it is the number one marketing issue facing corporate America. The Australian Marketing Institute is promoting a set of marketing metrics that will help Australian firms measure the function’s contribution to shareholder value creation. Much of the literature relates notions such as customer satisfaction and other marketing activities with a firm’s profit. A missing link appears to be the choice firms make in terms of which customer groups to target and the resultant impact on shareholder value performance. The generic customer groups comprise: existing customers, former customers and prospects. A review of the literature reveals that marketing costs and benefits vary across these groups. The challenge for management is to determine which group represents the best target and to allocate scarce marketing resources accordingly. The task is made even more challenging because the economic value of members within each group also varies and some product lines may be unprofitable and therefore, may not be worth pursuing. To generate superior shareholder value it may not simply be the case of acquiring the maximum number of new customers from any source but to find the appropriate mix of the generic customer groups and manage the individual customer relationships accordingly. This paper seeks to firstly summarise and review the recent literature on marketing and its relationship to shareholder value and secondly to propose a model for allocating marketing resources across generic customer groups in order to generate improved shareholder value performance. Importantly, the model not only covers increasing business with customers but also shedding customers or shedding the extent of business conducted with customers as means of generating shareholder value.

Reasons why dissatisfied customers exhibit behavioral loyalty

The development of supplier loyalty and its potential application to the business-to-business settings has not been widely explored. Day (1969) cautions that loyalty viewed in terms of purchase decisions may not distinguish between loyalty and spurious loyalty. This study follows the composite loyalty approach providing both behavioral aspects (purchase intentions) and attitudinal loyalty in order to fully explain the concept of supplier loyalty. This framework has not been previously applied in the B2B literature.The objective of this research is to identify reasons why B2B customers do not show consistency between attitudinal and behavioral loyalty and why dissatisfied customers do not switch suppliers. A survey was conducted during 2006 with a sample of executives from 240 SME companies in a large Asian city. A range of measures was obtained including attitudinal loyalty, behavioral loyalty, satisfaction and open ended responses on nature of current problems. Following Dick and Basu (1994), customers are classified into loyalty groups. Customers having high and low attitudinal loyalty are compared on satisfaction, switching attitudes and problems within the relationship. Constraints to switching by the dissatisfied customers are discussed. A profile of the "Spurious Loyal" customer is provided. This study seeks to better understand the nature of dissatisfaction and loyalty within these long term focal relationships.

Corporate social responsibility reporting : a business strategy by Australian banks?

The growth of voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting reflects society's expectations for business to set higher ethical standards and to undertake business in a way that meets the profit imperative (the bottom line). Additionally, the community expects socially and environmentally responsible behaviour practices; the so-called triple bottom line approach. The paper briefly reviews the development of corporate social responsibility reporting from the perspective of two large Australian banks and attempts to understand their motivation for voluntary disclosure. Stakeholder theory and game theory provide a means to analyse why banks undertake CSR reporting. The paper compares Westpac and National Australia Bank's CSR reporting over the period 2004-2005 utilising external rating agencies and CSR reports to determine the extent of disclosure in relation to employees, environment, community and customers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of CSR, the role of regulation and recommendations for future policy direction.