Christos Sarmaniotis

CRM and customer‐centric knowledge management: an empirical research

Current competitive challenges induced by globalization and advances in information technology have forced companies to focus on managing customer relationships, and in particular customer satisfaction, in order to efficiently maximize revenues. This paper reports exploratory research based on a mail survey addressed to the largest 1,000 Greek organizations. The objectives of the research were: to investigate the extent of the usage of customer‐ and market‐related knowledge management (KM) instruments and customer relationship management (CRM) systems by Greek organizations and their relationship with demographic and organizational variables; to investigate whether enterprises systematically carry out customer satisfaction and complaining behavior research; and to examine the impact of the type of the information system used and managers’ attitudes towards customer KM practices. In addition, a conceptual model of CRM development stages is proposed. The findings of the survey show that about half of the organizations of the sample do not adopt any CRM philosophy. The remaining organizations employ instruments to conduct customer satisfaction and other customer‐related research. However, according to the proposed model, they are positioned in the first, the preliminary CRM development stage. The findings also suggest that managers hold positive attitudes towards CRM and that there is no significant relationship between the type of the transactional information system used and the extent to which customer satisfaction research is performed by the organizations. The paper concludes by discussing the survey findings and proposing future research.

Successful implementation of CRM in luxury hotels: determinants and measurements

Purpose – Valid measurement scales for predicting the adoption of hoteliers’ customer‐centric orientation are in short supply. The present research develops and validates a new scale for a specific variable, i.e. Management Attitudes Towards Customer‐Centric Orientation (MATCCO). Furthermore, this research attempts to identify some broad determinants for a successful CRM system implementation and propose a research model depicting possible relationships among MATCCO, broad determinants and profit.Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire has been developed in order to accomplish the research objectives. Data were collected from 86 Greek luxury hotels. Accepted methodology was used to construct the measure, factor analysis to determine the CRM key success factors (KSFs) and Pearson correlation, ANOVA and discriminant analysis to test the proposed model. Additionally, qualitative research was conducted in two Greek luxury hotels.Findings – A reliable and valid measure of MATCCO was constructe...

Investigating customer satisfaction dimensions with service quality of online auctions: an empirical investigation of e-Bay

Over the recent years, C2C (consumer-to-consumer) electronic market has increased rapidly, and has become the most active segment of e-markets today. Despite the growth and popularity of online auctions and especially of e-Bay, which has been considered to be one of the most profitable e-commerce companies, the online auction environment is risky and transactions are complex due to the fact that buyer and seller do not know each other and they are not familiar. Although many studies have examined the impact of e-service quality on customer satisfaction in B2C (business-to-consumer) or B2B (business-to-business) commerce, the literature is insufficient in the case of C2C commerce. However, a number of authors have conducted research in C2C and particularly in e-Bay but in all of the cases, data source from e-Bay’s feedback system was employed in order to investigate service quality issues. Nevertheless, in this study a field research was conducted in order to collect the necessary data and thus reducing possible bias. The purpose of this paper is to examine some determinants of satisfaction with service quality dimensions in the online auction environment. More specifically, this paper is examining the case of e-Bay, in order to have a better understanding of buyers’ satisfaction in this risky environment. The paper’s aim is accomplished through an empirical investigation of a sample of 2,099 buyers of e-Bay, examining buyers’ expectation and perception levels towards service quality of e-Bay. Gap analysis was first employed in order to identify users’ disconfirmation dimensions in the online auction market place. Some research hypotheses are formulated to find out whether these dimensions have a positive disconfirmation. In most of the cases a positive disconfirmation is tracked down. Secondly, factor analysis was utilized to identify broad determinants of e-Bay service quality. The pool of the initial items deduced to four factors. These factors are, to a degree, differentiated in the Greek environment from factors found in other studies. A second round of research hypotheses are formulated again to find out whether those factors are related to the users’ disconfirmation dimensions. Finally, a new theoretical model is proposed based on the above mentioned hypotheses.

Online reviews as a feedback mechanism for hotel CRM systems

This study aims to improve hotel customer relationship management (CRM) by connecting it with a reputation mechanism which will provide integrated customer reviews. We propose a framework that identifies some key modules a hotels CRM should employ. An important contribution of this research is to show how a CRM system can be effectively operated by facilitating the reputation system and hotel customer feedback. The empirical part of our research examines the influence of hotel quality perceptions using data obtained from web-based hotel reviews. These results can be exploited by the proposed integrated hotel CRM system and could be used to extract reviews including predictions on how value for money is going to be formulated when a specific number of complaints is received and how each of the hotel parameters affect the value for money parameter.

Collaborating to Provide Attractive Hotel Guests' Experiences

Abstract Purpose The aim of this chapter is twofold: (i) to explore the issue of experience within the context of the hotel industry and (ii) to analyze the contribution of collaboration between businesses in providing valuable experiences in hotel settings. Methodology/approach Extensive literature reviews have been done on dimensions and outcomes of tourist experiences and on collaboration/business venture’s contribution in providing memorable experiences in the hotel industry. A case study is then used to illustrate how hotel operations are collaborating to provide tourism experience opportunities. Findings (i) Collaboration between hotel operations makes a significant contribution in providing special guest experiences; (ii) Investment in business ventures is a good investment because it constitutes a potential source of competitive advantage; (iii) A collaborative platform wisely designed creates a series of business benefits. Research limitations/implications This study is explorative in nature. Based on a single case study of a business network, the suggestions are indicative rather than conclusive. Thus, more empirical studies and analyses are needed to fully validate the chapter’s suggestions. Practical implications The collaborative approach is a requirement for hotel businesses in providing valuable tourism experiences and in overcoming the issues and challenges arising within the context of experiential tourism. This collaboration offers a way of enriching and deepening guests’ experiences, based on endogenous resources and meeting the tourists’ requirements. Originality/value Offers insights on tourism providers’ collaborations in offering attractive experience opportunities to their customers.

Factors affecting attitudes towards smart phones: user’s profile and proposed research model

The main purpose of this study was to investigate factors that might affect Greek and Armenian students’ attitudes and intentions in adopting smart phones. An empirical investigation was carried out. The sample included 951 students from Greece and Armenia. Users of smart phones were segmented into three clusters and the characteristics of each cluster were depicted. Additionally, gap analysis was employed in order to measure user disconfirmation of perceived smart phone quality. Moreover, we provided a deeper insight into identifying variables that affect the individual’s attitude towards adopting smart phones by employing technology acceptance model (TAM) as the base model. An enhanced TAM was tested in order to find out how willing Greek and Armenian students are in adopting new smart phones. Findings of this study will be helpful for marketers to develop proper strategies for marketing smart phones as well as to enable researchers to further study new dimensions of TAM.

Adoption of mobile self-service retail banking technologies: The role of technology, social, channel and personal factors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the adoption of mobile self-service retail banking technologies, and the degree of influence of each factors leading their usage. Having mobile banking (MB) as the reference service and drawing on previous studies in the field, an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model is proposed and empirically validated to investigate the impact of technology, social, channel and personal factors on potential customers’ usage intentions. Design/methodology/approach On evidence drawn, through a dedicated research instrument, from 513 non-users in Greece, the effects of the extended UTAUT’s drivers on MB adoption intentions are assessed using partial least squares path methodology. Findings The results indicated that technology-related factors, expressing innovation expected performance, and social influence are the leading determinants of MB adoption intentions, followed by the two channel-related factors, expressing perceived risk and trust toward MB usage, and potential users’ inherent innovativeness. Furthermore, the consideration of service experience as a moderating variable has shown that there is a significant difference in the effects of social influence and perceived trust on adoption intention between potential users with high and limited service experience. Research limitations/implications The sample is country specific and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect the temporal changes. Practical implications From a practical point of view, the findings suggest that banks should consider, except of the technology-related factors of MB, the way that potential users perceive the channel-related factors as well as the individual differences in order to improve the MB acceptance level. Originality/value Although there are a few studies that use UTAUT to predict MB adoption, the proposed model is the first that combines four groups of MB adoption driving factors into a causal model in order to explain MB adoption intentions in a country which is facing severe financial crisis for the last eight years, Greece.