Linda D. Hollebeek

Customer Engagement Conceptual Domain, Fundamental Propositions, and Implications for Research

In today’s highly dynamic and interactive business environment, the role of “customer engagement” (CE) in cocreating customer experience and value is receiving increasing attention from business practitioners and academics alike. Despite this interest, systematic scholarly inquiry into the concept and its conceptual distinctiveness from other, associated relational concepts has been limited to date. This article explores the theoretical foundations of CE by drawing on relationship marketing theory and the service-dominant (S-D) logic. The analysis also examines the use of the term “engagement” in the social science, management, and marketing academic literatures, as well as in specific business practice applications. Five fundamental propositions (FPs) derived from this analysis are used to develop a general definition of CE, and distinguish the concept from other relational concepts, including “participation” and “involvement.” The five propositions are used in the development of a framework for future research, the undertaking of which would facilitate the subsequent refinement of the conceptual domain of CE. Overall, CE, based on its relational foundations of interactive experience and the cocreation of value, is shown to represent an important concept for research in marketing and service management.

Demystifying customer brand engagement: Exploring the loyalty nexus

Abstract With its conceptual roots in fields including psychology and organisational behaviour, the engagement concept is emerging in the marketing literature, with preliminary research indicating that engaged consumers might exhibit greater loyalty to focal brands. Despite these advancements, the engagement concept remains underexplored to date. This paper addresses this gap by reviewing literature in other disciplines and marketing, and developing a tripartite customer brand-engagement conceptualisation comprising activation, identification, and absorption dimensions. Further, a conceptual model illustrating the conceptually distinct nature of and relationships between customer brand engagement and other marketing constructs is proposed, followed by a customer engagement/loyalty-based segmentation analysis. Enhanced insights into customer engagement are expected to be valuable for marketing scholars and practitioners seeking to enhance customer relationships, retention, and loyalty. The paper thus concludes with a set of research and practitioner implications, which may be used to guide future developments in this promising area.

Exploring customer brand engagement: definition and themes

Organizations are increasingly seeking customer participation and engagement with their brands. Despite significant practitioner interest, scholarly inquiry into the ‘customer brand engagement’ (CBE) concept has transpired in the literature only relatively recently, resulting in a limited understanding of the concept to-date. This paper addresses this research gap by providing a literature review in this area, and developing a CBE conceptualization based on an integrative deductive (literature-based)/inductive (data-based) approach. Data were sourced from exploratory, qualitative depth-interviews and a focus group employing a total of 14 informants. Extending previous research, CBE is viewed from relationship marketing (RM) and service-dominant (S-D) logic perspectives, whilst an integrative linkage to social exchange theory (SET) is also drawn. Based on the analysis, CBE is defined as ‘the level of a customers cognitive, emotional and behavioral investment in specific brand interactions’. Further, three key CBE themes are identified, including ‘immersion’, ‘passion’ and ‘activation’. The paper concludes with an overview of key research limitations and implications.

Beyond Virtuality: From Engagement Platforms to Engagement Ecosystems

Purpose – Understanding the role and implications of information and communication technology (ICT) in service is the key research priority for service science and the management of service quality. The purpose of this paper is to address this priority by providing insights into the role of “engagement platforms” (EPs), physical or virtual customer touch points where actors exchange resources and co-create value. Despite an emerging body of literature that emphasizes the fit between engagement and technology-enabled service contexts, EPs remain ill-defined. Specifically, little is known about the particular types of EPs, their characteristics, and implications for the performance of service ecosystems and managing service quality. Design/methodology/approach – By drawing on two illustrative case studies, the authors investigate and theorize about the characteristics and dynamics of EPs in virtual/physical contexts, and identify if, how and to what extent configurations of EPs may enhance resource exchange...

Theorizing about resource integration through service-dominant logic

Resource integration, as it relates to value creation, has recently been a key aspect of the discussions about service-dominant (S-D) logic. However, the majority of research pays relatively little explicit attention to the process of theorizing and the epistomological and ontological assumptions upon which the theorizing process is based. This article addresses these issues. The processes that relate to theorizing and developing strong theory are discussed. We then examine how to conceptualize ‘resources’ and ‘resource integration’ following differing ontological and epistemological assumptions that guide the theorizing process. Research recommendations to help navigate through the finer details underlying the theorizing process and to advance a general theory of resource integration are developed.

Capturing value from non-paying consumers’ engagement behaviours: field evidence and development of a theoretical model

The emerging ‘customer engagement behaviour’ (CEB) literature predominantly discusses behaviours displayed by paying customers. However, the rise of free offerings, including free product trials, generates a need for re-examining the relevance of the existing paradigm based on paying customers. We propose the concept of ‘non-paying CEBs’ and outline how these may be leveraged to create value for the firm. We define non-paying CEBs as ‘a non-paying consumer’s motivationally-driven, positive behaviours toward a product, brand or firm, which are predicated on free offerings’. Using mixed methods and two field studies, we develop a model of non-paying CEBs. Our investigations confirm that CEBs from previous studies are also applicable to non-paying consumers, but also identify additional CEBs. We examine the value created by non-paying CEBs for the firm, individuals as well as individual networks and indicate ways in which firms can capture value from non-paying consumers. We make a substantive contribution to the extant theory relating to CEBs and enhance the understanding of managerial practice.

Wine service marketing, value co‐creation and involvement: research issues

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that examines wine channels typified by differing levels of service orientation, and resulting branding implications based on consumer involvement and value co‐creation properties. Examples of channels characterised by relatively low levels of organisational service provision include supermarket retailing, while higher levels of service orientation are found in channels such as restaurants and wine tourism. The model thus provides a framework for analysis of wine branding across distribution channels characterised by differing levels of service orientation.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review addressing service provision in wine marketing, consumer involvement and needs, value co‐creation and branding is proposed in the paper.Findings – An integrative conceptual model and associated research issues are derived from a review of relevant literature.Research implications – The paper provides a research agenda for involvement‐ba...

Strategic drivers, anticipated and unanticipated outcomes of customer engagement

The importance of undertaking further research into customer engagement has been widely recognised by scholars and practitioners alike, as reflected by the Marketing Science Institute’s identificat...

Epilogue to the Special Issue and reflections on the future of engagement research

We are confident this Special Issue will generate scholarly discussion and debate, as well as act as a catalyst in advancing marketing-based engagement research. We thank each of the contributing authors, and in this commentary, synthesise our key reflections regarding the current state of engagement research, and identify key areas for further research in this area, which emanate from this Special Issue.

Virtual brand community engagement practices: a refined typology and model

Purpose Despite Schau et al.’s (2009) pioneering research addressing consumers’ community engagement practices, scholarly understanding of the nature and dynamics characterizing consumers’ engagement practices in virtual (online) brand communities, and their inter-relationships, is limited to date. Building on these authors’ study, this paper aims to develop a refined typology and process model of virtual brand community engagement practices (VBCEPs). Design/methodology/approach Using the netnographic methodology, the authors analyze 20 luxury handbag community members’ entries posted on the brand’s particular section of The Purse Forum. Findings The authors develop an eight-component VBCEP typology that refines Schau et al.’s (2009) four-component model of brand community engagement practices. The model comprises “greeting”, “regulating”, “assisting”, “celebrating”, “appreciating”, “empathizing”, “mingling” and “ranking”. These practices contribute to and maintain the community’s vision and identity, and strengthen shared community consciousness. Research limitations/implications A key limitation of this research lies in its findings being generated from a single, luxury virtual brand community. Future research may thus wish to validate the VBCEP typology and model across different contexts. Practical implications The authors provide strategic managerial recommendations designed to leverage virtual brand community performance, which center predominantly on the social (altruistic) and achievement-based VBCEP sub-processes. Originality/value The eight-component VBCEP typology refines Schau et al.’s four-component model of brand community engagement practices with particular applicability to virtual brand communities.