Deva Rangarajan

The role of pleasure in web site success

We developed and empirically validated a process model of web site success in an online shopping context by identifying the role of pleasure as a key mediating variable. Web site evaluations (of content, organization, and technology) were posited as affecting the success (involving satisfaction, commitment, and trust) of a multi-dimensional web site. Pleasure was introduced as a key variable, mediating the relationship between web site evaluation and web site success. We found that pleasure partially mediated the evaluations-success relationship and also found significant support for direct relationships between web site evaluations and success. Additionally, satisfaction was found to be instrumental in helping predict user commitment and trust that online shoppers placed on the site owner.

Managing Engagement Behaviors in a Network of Customers and Stakeholders Evidence From the Nursing Home Sector

Firms striving for long-term profitability need to build stronger customer-firm relationships by getting their customers more engaged with the firm. One path to this end is introducing practices to manage different forms of customer engagement behaviors (CEBs). To develop more effective and efficient CEB management practices, this research proposes and empirically tests a theoretical model on managerial and psychological processes to encourage CEBs that are embedded in a broader network of customers and stakeholders. Based on qualitative and quantitative studies in nursing homes, we demonstrate that organizational support and overall service quality toward significant others influence some forms of CEBs—more particularly feedback and positive word of mouth (WOM) behaviors—through customer affect toward the organization. It is interesting to note that customer affect toward the organization encourages WOM behaviors, while it discourages feedback behaviors. Conversely, managerial processes that increase customer role readiness—such as organizational socialization and support from other customers—were found to have a positive impact on all forms of CEBs. This research helps managers of nursing homes and other services with a broad network of customers and stakeholders to improve existing CEB management practices and develop new CEB management practices that are beneficial for the firm and its stakeholders.

How to Govern Business Services Exchanges: Contractual and Relational Issues

With firms concentrating on core competencies, more emphasis has been placed on outsourcing and the dealing with external sourcing agents. This has lead to a stronger academic focus on buyer-seller exchanges and the corresponding mechanisms for governing these exchanges. This paper gives an overview of previous research investigating the exchange governance phenomenon based on transaction cost theory or cooperative interorganizational relationships. The results reveal that few research studies have investigated the overall picture of exchange governance, including both contractual and relational governance and taking into account antecedents as well as performance outcomes of the governance mechanisms involved. Moreover, despite the service-dominant logic shift, limited attention is given to specific service characteristics and their impact on exchange governance. In this paper, we attempt to meld economic and social related antecedents into a model with regard to exchange governance in business services settings. Contractual and relational governance issues and their impact on performance outcomes are also considered. The resulting model indicates that to efficiently govern business services exchanges, more emphasis should be placed on behavioral uncertainty, human and process asset specificity and contractual governance. We conclude the paper by discussing several directions for future research.

The Role of Perceived Relational Support in Entrepreneur–Customer Dyads

Drawing from social exchange theory and the marketing literature, we posit that entrepreneurs’ commitment to and satisfaction with a customer depends on the extent to which they believe the customer is willing to provide strong support to entrepreneurs in their role as suppliers. We tested the hypotheses among 217 entrepreneurs in a Western European country and found that entrepreneurs’ perceptions of relational support relate positively to their commitment to and satisfaction with the customer. In turn, the reliability and quality of the exchanges that took place between entrepreneurs and the customer affected their perceptions of relational support, as well as their attitudes through perceived relational support. We thus identify a key mechanism that explains relationship outcomes in entrepreneur–customer dyads. We discuss the implications and limitations of our findings and provide directions for further research.

Engaged customers as job resources or demands for frontline employees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a theoretical model on how different customer engagement behaviors (CEBs), such as giving feedback and helping other customers, affect the role stress-job strain relationship among frontline employees. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from the job demands-resources model, this paper hypothesizes that some CEBs weaken the role stress-job strain relationship among frontline employees, whereas the opposite holds for other CEBs. To test these hypotheses, the study involved a survey among 279 frontline employees in 20 nursing home teams in Belgium. Findings – The results reveal that the impact of role stress on job strain is stronger when frontline employees notice more helping behaviors among customers and weaker when frontline employees receive more customer feedback or notice that customers spread positive word-of-mouth about the nursing home. Originality/value – This research contributes to the customer engagement and frontline employee litera...

B2B Brand Architecture

This article, based on work with dozens of Business-to-Business firms, extracts general principles of brand architecture design based on specific examples, and then tests these principles by applying them more broadly to a wide sample of brand architectures. B2B brand architecture is a function of two key dimensions: the organizational structure, in particular, the extent to which a firm is centralized or decentralized (in terms of its product range, sales, and marketing); and the extent to which the firms market offerings are standardized versus customized. This framework and the axiom of risk alleviation through the sales process together capture the principal elements of B2B brand architecture design. (Business to business (B2B), Brand management, Case Study)

How Individual Technology Propensities and Organizational Culture Influence B2B Customer’s Behavioral Intention to Use Digital Services at Work?

This study examines how individuals’ technology readiness in conjunction with organizational culture impacts on B2B customers’ behavioral intention toward using digital services in their procurement processes. We test our hypotheses with 755 B2B customers of a large Finnish supplier of furniture and interior solutions. We find that the propensity of individuals towards the use of technology, measured by the technology readiness of the buyers, has a significant effect on the behavioral intention toward using digital services at work. In addition, the customer organization’s strategic emphasis – cost containment and revenue enhancement – have significant effects, while coping resources – task control and organizational support – do not affect the buyers’ behavioral intention to use digital services in their procurement processes.

Personal selling and the purchasing function: where do we go from here?

The business-to-business selling function has changed over the years, with more informed and demanding buyers, prompting firms to move toward a more consultative, solution-selling approach. While these changes have been the focus of extensive research in the personal selling and sales management domain, the customer side of the interaction dyad requires more examination. Even within the context of the customer side, insufficient attention has been paid to the purchasing function in business-to-business (B2B) selling research. Given the increased importance in customer organizations of the purchasing function, this article presents a literature review that highlights the purchasing functions personal selling and sales management needs and argues that, as the purchasing function becomes more important and its needs evolve, personal selling and sales strategies also need to evolve. The article highlights areas for future research in this domain.

To Be Yourself or to Be Your Ideal Self?: Outcomes of Potential Applicants’ Actual and Ideal Self-Congruity Perceptions

Recruitment research on person–organization fit has typically focused on organizations’ fit with potential applicants’ actual self, not considering other possible self-images. Based on image congruity theory, we investigate how actual and ideal self-congruity relate to application intentions and intentions to spread word-of-mouth. In a first study, conducted in Belgium, actual and ideal self-congruity related positively to both outcomes. The relation with application intentions was equally positive for actual and ideal self-congruity. Ideal self-congruity showed a stronger positive relation with word-of-mouth intentions. A second study replicated these findings in the United States and tested for social adjustment concern (need to impress others) as a moderator. As social adjustment concern increased, relations of both outcomes with ideal (actual) self-congruity were stronger (weaker).