Peter C. Verhoef

Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions

This article develops and discusses the concept of customer engagement behaviors (CEB), which we define as the customers’ behavioral manifestation toward a brand or firm, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers. CEBs include a vast array of behaviors including word-of-mouth (WOM) activity, recommendations, helping other customers, blogging, writing reviews, and even engaging in legal action. The authors develop a conceptual model of the antecedents and consequences—customer, firm, and societal—of CEBs. The authors suggest that firms can manage CEBs by taking a more integrative and comprehensive approach that acknowledges their evolution and impact over time.

THE THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF CUSTOMER ASSET MANAGEMENT: A FRAMEWORK AND PROPOSITIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Most research in customer asset management has focused on specific aspects of the value of the customer to the company. The purpose of this article is to propose an integrated framework, called CUSAMS (customer asset management of services), that enables service organizations (1) to make a comprehensive assessment of the value of their customer assets and (2) to understand the influence of marketing instruments on them. The foundation of the CUSAMS framework is a careful specification of key customer behaviors that reflect the length, depth, and breadth of the customer-service organization relationship: duration, usage, and cross-buying. This framework is the starting point for a set of propositions regarding how marketing instruments influence customer behavior within the relationship, thereby influencing the value of the customer asset. The framework and propositions provide the impetus for a research agenda that identifies critical issues in customer asset management.

The effect of relational constructs on customer referrals and number of services purchased from a multiservice provider: Does age of relationship matter

The authors examine the effect of relational constructs (e.g., satisfaction, trust, and affective and calculative commitment) on customer referrals and the number of services purchased, as well as the moderating effect of age of the relationship on these relationships. The research reported, based on data obtained from a large sample of customers of an insurance company, combines archival and survey data. The results provide evidence that supports the moderating effect of relationship age on the relationship between satisfaction, affective and calculative commitment, and the number of services purchased.

Challenges and Opportunities in Multichannel Customer Management

Multichannel customer management is the design, deployment, coordination, and evaluation of channels through which firms and customers interact, with the goal of enhancing customer value through effective customer acquisition, retention, and development. The authors identify five major challenges practitioners must address to manage the multichannel environment more effectively: (a) data integration, (b) understanding consumer behavior, (c) channel evaluation, (d) allocation of resources across channels, and (e) coordination of channel strategies. The authors also propose a framework that shows the linkages among these challenges and provides a means to conceptualize the field of multichannel customer management. A review of academic research reveals that this field has experienced significant research growth, but the growth has not been distributed evenly across the five major challenges. The authors discuss what has been learned to date and identify emerging generalizations as appropriate. They conclude with a summary of where the research-generated knowledge base stands on several issues pertaining to the five challenges.

Customer Engagement as a New Perspective in Customer Management

Since 2000, customer management (CM) research has evolved and has had a significant impact on the marketing discipline. In an increasingly networked society where customers can interact easily with other customers and firms through social networks and other new media, the authors propose that customer engagement is an important new development in CM. Customer engagement is considered as a behavioral manifestation toward the brand or firm that goes beyond transactions. The authors propose a conceptual model of the antecedents, impediments, and firm consequences of customer engagement and relate this model to seven articles appearing in the special issue on customer engagement.

Understanding the marketing department's influence within the firm

Increasing debate centers on the decreasing influence of the marketing department within firms. This study investigates such influence and assesses its determinants and consequences. The results show that the accountability and innovativeness of the marketing department represent the two major drivers of its influence. However, the results do not indicate that the customer-connecting role of the marketing department increases its influence, though this role is important for shaping the firms market orientation. A marketing departments influence is related positively to market orientation, which in turn is related positively to firm performance. This study also suggests a dual relationship between the marketing departments influence and market orientation. A key implication of this study is that marketers should become more accountable and innovative to gain more influence.

Possible determinants of consumers’ adoption of electronic grocery shopping in the Netherlands

Abstract This study examines (1) the relationship between the (dis) advantages of electronic grocery shopping, in comparison to traditional in-store shopping, and consumers’ perception of the innovation characteristics (i.e., relative advantage, compatibility and complexity) of electronic grocery shopping, and (2) the relationship between consumers’ perception of these characteristics and their intention to adopt electronic grocery shopping. These relationships are examined using a sample of 415 households in the Netherlands. The results indicate that the advantages and disadvantages of physical efforts and time pressure related to traditional in-store shopping positively influence consumers’ perception of the characteristics of electronic grocery shopping. The results further show that consumers’ perception of the relative advantage and compatibility of electronic grocery shopping positively influence their intention to adopt electronic grocery shopping. Consumers’ perception of the complexity of electronic grocery shopping negatively influences their intention to adopt electronic grocery shopping. It is also explored whether income, education and age moderate these relationships.

Linking Customer Assets to Financial Performance

As more firms adopt a customer asset management approach to their business, it has become increasingly important to understand how customer management efforts relate to the financial performance of the firm. Of specific interest to shareholders is the relationship between traditional financial measures and customer-centric measures. The customer-centric measure that has received the most attention is customer lifetime value (CLV). In this article, the authors argue that the basic CLV model represents a useful foundation from which to begin to fill the gap between marketing actions and shareholder value. However, much work remains to be done before appropriate models can be developed that reflect the true value of a customer to the firm. Specifically, this article elaborates on how factors such as risk associated with customer behavior dynamics, social and competitive effects, and the effect of the product life cycle can be incorporated into the basic CLV model.

Predicting customer potential value an application in the insurance industry

For effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM), it is essential to have information on the potential value of customers. Based on the interplay between potential value and realized value, managers can devise customer specific strategies. In this article, we introduce a model for predicting the potential value of a current customer. Furthermore, we discuss and apply different modeling strategies for predicting this potential value.

The impact of satisfaction and payment equity on cross-buying

Abstract In the last decade, marketers have primarily focused on keeping customers. Only recently have they become aware that creating value by cross-selling additional services is also an important aspect of customer relationship management. In this article we investigate how satisfaction and payment equity, defined as the perceived fairness of the price, affect cross-buying at a multiservice provider. We also consider its competitors’ performance on these factors. Our results show that the effect of satisfaction differs between customers with lengthy and short relationships. It also shows that payment equity negatively affects cross-buying for customers with long relationships. However, if the prices of the supplier are perceived as fairer than the prices of the competitor, the customers’ probability of cross-buying increases.