Mario Rese

Loyalty program types as drivers of customer retention: a comparison of stand-alone programs and multi-vendor loyalty programs through the lens of transaction cost economics

Loyalty programs have enjoyed a steady increase in popularity, particularly in retailing. Past research has explored whether the membership in a loyalty program affects important customer outcomes. However, none of the previous contributions has differentiated between the effects of different loyalty program types on customer retention. This paper intends to fill this research gap by focusing on the question whether different types of loyalty programs, i.e. multi-vendor loyalty programs (MVLP) or stand-alone programs (SAPs) are most effective in retaining customers. Based on a transaction cost theoretic analysis of benefits generated by the two types of programs, two empirical studies are conducted in the retail sector. Our results clearly indicate that a higher level of customer retention cannot be achieved by joining an MVLP, but by setting up an SAP. It is, however, possible to win new customers through joining an MVLP which does not seem feasible through setting up an SAP.

Selling Product-Service Systems Means Selling Change

Traditional manufacturing companies are trying to differentiate from increasing competition by offering customized Product-Service Systems (PSS). While academic literature already focused on organizational changes required on side of the supplier providing PSS, changes induced by the implementation of a PSS within the customer’s organization are neglected so far. However, managing these changes on the customer’s side is a challenge in selling PSS. Thus, the authors (I) describe the customer’s change process induced by different PSS business models, (II) adjust change management strategies to fit PSS and combine these with the PSS life cycle and (III) bring up further research questions.

What Makes a PSS Supplier Successful – An Analysis of the Drivers

Providing Product Service Systems (PSS) calls for companies to react flexibly and individually to their customers’ requirements and to be able to engage with them in the co-creation of value. In order to meet these changing requirements companies need to adjust their business models accordingly. Research on business models for PSS is limited. Therefore this paper analyzes the antecedents and outcomes of PSS conducting an empirical analysis, building on a questionnaire survey among 29 PSS suppliers. Results indicate that the value proposition is the essential part of the PSS business model, from which other characteristics can be derived. Companies providing PSS can generate higher revenues when they react flexibly towards their value propositions, are service-oriented and able to engage in co-design with their customers.

The explanatory foundations of relationship marketing theory: a comment

Purpose – In general, as part of the ongoing discussion about the importance of business partnerships in industrial markets, specifically the paper seeks to comment on the Hunt et al. paper in this issue.Design/methodology/approach – Hunt et al. argue that one reason for the prominence of business relationships and therefore partnerships between OEMs and suppliers is the growing importance of network competition. Using the framework of transaction cost economics, the preconditions for a partnership‐oriented coordination of OEMs and suppliers within a value‐creating network are discussed.Findings – It becomes obvious that not all types of suppliers are suitable for a partnership. Some are, some are not. This highlights that there is a need not only for a description of the potential drivers responsible for the existence and success of business relationships but also for hypotheses as to how the several identified drivers work and interact. Description is the first, but explanation must be the second step f...

HLB als Herausforderung für das Marketing

Dieser Beitrag beschaftigt sich mit den zwei wesentlichen Herausforderungen, welche Hybride Leistungsbundel (HLBs) an das Marketing des HLB-Anbieters stellen. Dieses ist einmal die Frage, wie ein Kunde uber die Potenziale eines HLB uberzeugend informiert werden kann. Hierzu werden die wesentlichen Bestandteile von Informationsstrategie n erlautert. Zudem wird ein Experiment vorgestellt, in welchem die Eignung verschiedener Informationsstrategien fur HLBs getestet wird. Die zweite Frage bezieht sich auf die Messung der Zahlungsbereitschaft fur das HLB. Es wird ein auf der Kapitalwertmethode basierender Ansatz vorgestellt, welcher in der Lage ist, die Besonderheiten von HLBs zu berucksichtigen. Mithilfe von Entscheidungsbaumen ist auch eine Berucksichtigung der Flexibilitat bei der Zahlungsbereitschaftsmessung moglich.

Marktprozesstheoretische Fundierung des Industriegütermarketing

Das Wort Theorie lost bei Unternehmenspraktikern und Studenten der Betriebswirtschaft nicht selten die Vorstellung aus, dass etwas komplexer erklart wird, als man es in der Realitat beobachten kann. Als Glasperlenspiel unter Wissenschaftlern zur Scharfung des Geistes mag Theorie taugen, zur Losung praktischer Probleme tragt sie hingegen nicht bei.

Durchsetzung sozialer Normen in Hochkostensituationen / Norm Enforcement in High-Cost-Situations

Zusammenfassung Hochkosten- und Niedrigkostensituationen wurden in der Literatur vielfach konzeptionell diskutiert und besonders die „Low-Cost-Hypothese” war Gegenstand zahlreicher Studien zu prosozialem Verhalten. In der vorliegenden Studie werden Personen in Indonesien befragt, die bedingt durch ein sehr niedriges Einkommen unter einem sehr starken ökonomischen Druck stehen. Wir bedienen uns eines Ansatzes aus der experimentellen Spieltheorie (des Ultimatumspiels) und finden eindeutige Hinweise für die Existenz von Hochkostensituationen; Situationen also, in denen die Befragten dazu gezwungen sind, sich den Prognosen der klassischen Rational-Choice-Theorie entsprechend zu verhalten. Des Weiteren ermçglicht es unsere experimentelle Methodologie, die Effekte des Einkommens (als Restriktion) und Spielbetrags (als situativen Anreizes) separat zu quantifizieren und auf Nichtlinearitäten zu überprüfen. Abstract High-cost and low-cost situations have been frequently discussed in the literature whereby it is especially the so-called low-cost hypothesis which has been empirically explored in various studies on pro-social and pro-environmental behavior. The study at hand uses a sample of Indonesian respondents who, due to very low income, are subject to tight economic constraints. We make use of the ultimatum game from experimental economics and find clear evidence for the existence of high-cost situations, i. e. situations in which the respondents are forced to act in line with traditional rational choice theory. Moreover, our experimental methodology allows us to estimate separately the effects of low income (a constraint) and size of the stake (an incentive) as different components of situational pressure on the behavior of responders and to test for non-linearities in the effects.

The Individual Level of Servitization: Creating Employees' Service Orientation

Abstract Nowadays traditional manufacturers realize the growing importance of service provision, since a simple offering of stand-alone products makes a differentiation from increasing competition difficult. That is why manufacturing organizations turn out providing product-service systems, running through a specific organizational change process called servitization. While literature focuses on setting up appropriate organizational structures on an organizational level, it neglects recommendations helping organizations to overcome existing product orientation on the individual level of employees. The paper at hand presents a framework including the most important aspects a servitizing organization has to consider in dealing with the individual level of servitization.

Learning About Product Service Systems – Conveying Information to Improve the Benefit Evaluation and Stabilize Preferences

Especially for Industrial Product Service Systems (IPS2) which are very new and can therefore be classified as Really New Products (RNPs) the stability of customer preferences is a crucial success factor. Against this background it is essential to identify forms of knowledge transfer which enable customers to learn about IPS2 and help them stabilize their preferences. In this study, we set up a large scale practitioner experiment to test the effect of combinations of information and learning mechanisms on preference stability. We use an innovative device for remote service provision. Our results indicate the importance of conveying information combinations for learning about IPS2. We therefore conclude, that only by regarding both, information and learning mechanisms, and determining appropriate information strategies can effects on customer preferences really be controlled for in the best possible manner.

Stabilizing Customer Preferences for Really New Products through Internal and External Learning the Role of Different Information Combinations

In many situations in B2C as well as B2B environments customers are confronted with products or services they do not have any prior experience with. For some of these products many unbiased sources of information are available. This is not the case, however, for so-called Really New Products (RNP), which defy straightforward classification in terms of existing product categories and create a new category rather than reallocate shares within existing categories. For RNP no source of reference yet exists. One factor which is crucial for RNP success is the stability of customer preferences. Preference stability describes a situation where there is low variance around the range of subjectively acceptable alternatives. As customers possess only limited knowledge about these products, they face substantial uncertainty when trying to predict the future utility of RNP. When market research is used to evaluate RNP, this uncertainty leads to instability in customers’ revealed priorities among design features. Customers have not yet developed stable preferences. Hence, their frame of reference is still highly volatile. This lack of preference stability poses a major threat for companies. If configured or altered based on instable preferences, RNP might not meet true customer needs, which seriously threatens companies’ interest of establishing long-term customer relations by maximizing the long-term satisfaction of their customers. Against this background it is crucial to identify forms of knowledge transfer, which enable respondents to learn about RNP and help them to stabilize their preferences.