Antonella Carù

Profitability and customer satisfaction in services: An integrated perspective between marketing and cost management analysis

The work suggests a defining approach aimed at understanding the relations between client satisfaction and business profitability, with specific reference to services management. The paper makes use of the analysis of the reasons for the separation of the client satisfaction and cost containment orientations – a separation which is a weak point in the case of service businesses. It then develops a methodological approach for bringing together client satisfaction research and cost optimisation, the application of which is presented by means of a business case concerning a firm which offers a database service. This approach makes it possible to put in relationship the utility perceived by the customer with reference to the different attributes of the offer and the price which the customer is prepared to pay to obtain the utility. At the same time it makes it possible to compare the price thus determined and the effective cost of the activities which determine the services delivered. Research into compatibility between competitive and financial success is therefore allowed by reference to analysis of the service characteristics. These permit a joining together – the external and internal process of the company, or rather the value as perceived by customers (the relationship between utility and price sustained) and the cost sustained by the company in the generation of this value.

Co-creating the collective service experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify which consumption practices lead to the co-creation of collective service experiences and to outline a conceptual framework for their understanding. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a multiple case vignette approach combining examples from leisure industries described as perfect contexts to study collective experiences. Four case vignettes were selected according to community forms and types as defined by consumer culture literature. Findings – The study identifies and delineates the neglected phenomenon of the co-creation of collective service experiences and related practices. It highlights the ambivalence of these practices in terms of the co-creation or co-destruction of the experience and indicates their relative unmanageability. Research limitations/implications – The cases largely rest on symbolic service experiences, which are a small set of the total universe of consumer experiences. Practical implications – Companies should replace ...

The Cost of Customer Satisfaction: A Framework for Strategic Cost Management in Service Industries

Abstract Customer satisfaction has long been considered a milestone in the path towards company profitability. Although it is widely acknowledged that customer satisfaction leads to higher and more stable revenues, the relationship between customer satisfaction levels and the costs that the company incurs in producing and delivering customer services has received far less attention, and the research results vary significantly across sectors. In fact, there seems to be little guidance for linking company costs to the key elements involved in providing customer satisfaction in services, thereby diminishing the ability of a company to manage its activities accordingly. In this paper, we propose and test a framework to analyse and manage the relationship between company costs and customer satisfaction in service industries. Based on a case study from the tourism industry, we show how service components can be used as a key medium to link customer satisfaction to the cost of service production and delivery. In doing so, we provide guidance for identifying specific sources of customer satisfaction and assessing their cost, thereby extending to service industries previous research on strategic cost management.

Combining qualitative methods in practice: A contextualized account of the evolution of consumer studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss within a corporate context the advantages and limitations of combining different qualitative methods (namely consumers’ introspection and observation) to grasp consumer experiences. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reflexively examines the evolution of a research process through which a team of researchers and a company tried to understand how the online consumer experience unfolds. The paper discusses the research process, the problems addressed and the way results were shared and acted upon within the company. Findings – The findings show how the search for and implementation of the combination of observation and introspection is rooted in the kinds of organizational change processes that allow companies to appropriate new methodological approaches and modify the conduct of their service innovation processes. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based on a single research project, analysed only retrospectively and reflexively. As to it...

Vintage autentico o autenticità nel vintage

Vintage is not a new phenomenon, although during the past fewyears, it has became an important trend. It is so important that, corporate,brand, media and new media - e.g. blog, web-site, book, guide,tradeshow and retailer - try to be inspired or to appeal. In spite of thedifficulty to define the «vintage market», it is now evident of the interestand the diffusion of the phenomenon among youths and adults:this appears to be the expression of a society which seems to advancetowards the future but with its head in the past. This attitude, that indulgesin nostalgia and recovery of the past, is the object of this paper.It is based on a quali-quantitative exploratory research, and has the goalto contribute to the definition and comprehension of the Vintage phenomenon,widespread but difficult to profile.

Innovating as an Interaction of Practices: The Case of Customers’ Use of a New Website

While innovation is the final outcome of a company-based process, ‘innovating’ is innovation in action, that is, it takes place within the normal consumer practices surrounding a new product or service. By engaging with a new product, consumers shape innovation. Thus, consumers provide the final, essential stage in a company’s innovation. This chapter will focus on the actual use of new web services by customers. Through a mixed method approach based on observation and introspection, we analysed the practices of Internet users that unfold when facing a website that is new to them and addressed the question of which practices customers adopt in order to allow an innovation to enter their daily practices. We argue that the use of a new service is an interaction between the consumer practices required by the design of the new service (such as pressing buttons, following a detailed sequence of options, etc.) and the regular daily practices of the customers (such as opening a link, putting keywords in a search engine, etc.). The success of this interaction determines the success of the innovation, while its failure requires an adjustment to the innovation design.

Innovating Services Through Experiences: An Investigation of Servicescape’s Pivotal Role

Customer experience has become one of the greatest challenges for companies: this tendency is also present in services, where innovation is often a way to impact customer experiences. After a brief review of the literature on service innovation and on customer experience with regard to studies on the services, this chapter focuses on the servicescape as a platform able to support activities and interactions with customers and analyzes the role that innovative servicescapes can play on customer experience. Based on a three case vignettes analysis, the chapter identifies three main findings. The first is related to the dynamic nature of service experience and consequently to the need for a continuous improvement of servicescapes by understanding the evolving customer needs. The second is linked to the “container” in which the service experience takes place – the servicescape – that is becoming “content” itself. The third concerns the role of technology, with respect both to service providers and service customers.

Two faces of the same coin: how the interplay between organizational and territorial culture builds the concept of service culture

This paper investigates organizational and territorial culture jointly, and recognizes them as the building blocks of service culture. In addition it aims at understanding how the interplay between the two constructs shapes different typologies of service culture. A theory building logic is followed and a grounded theory approach based on qualitative inquiry is adopted, drawing from in-depth interviews and using case vignettes to identify different service culture typologies. Findings show that a firm’s service culture is built through its organizational culture leveraging on the territorial culture of origin (of the company itself) and of destination (where the company is going to provide its services). This interplay can take place in three different ways, which represent different typologies of service culture: a roots-based, an integrative and an adaptive service culture. Results are also relevant for service managers, for better understanding and formalizing their own service culture, and to develop future strategies, for entering new countries or approaching different cultural contexts.

L’autenticità come driver strategico per il brand value. Il caso Salvatore Ferragamo

italianoUn settore particolarmente sensibile al tema dell’autenticita e quello del lusso. Aspetti quali tradizione, heritage, artigianalita, unicita e i valori del brand generano un’aura di autenticita che non solo rafforza le fonti del valore della marca, ma alimenta anche nuove brand association e promuove giudizi di qualita, affidabilita e considerazione che concorrono a rendere unici i brand all’interno del consideration set dei consumatori.#L’articolo analizza il caso Salvatore Ferragamo, un’impresa del lusso che ha saputo far leva sul proprio passato per affermarsi come brand autentico. L’analisi, basata su una ricerca effettuata sui consumatori, dimostra non solo che questi percepiscono i tratti del brand, ma che esiste un potenziale di autenticita che puo offrire ulteriori spazi di differenziazione per rafforzare l’unicita del brand. EnglishThe luxury industry is highly sensitive to the issue of authenticity. Aspects such as tradition, heritage, craftsmanship, uniqueness and brand values contribute to building an aura of authenticity that not only succeeds in strengthening the sources of brand equity, but also nurtures new brand associations and promotes judgments of quality, reliability and consideration which create a unique brand within the customers’ consideration set. The article discusses the Salvatore Ferragamo case, a luxury company that has been able to leverage on its heritage to establish itself as an authentic brand. The analysis, based on consumer research, shows how consumers perceive the traits of brand, but also that there is a potential of authenticity for differentiating and strengthening brand uniqueness.

The Design of Consumer Experiences: Managerial Approaches for Service Companies

The notion of experience is not something new for service research and research management. Indeed, various authors have referred to the customer experience in discussing the particular nature of services compared to goods, suggesting that the absence of a physical good could leave room for processes and activities in which the role and experiences of the players involved need to be considered.