In order for firms to be able to compete on the market, it is of importance for them to create value for their customers. Value is not only the outcome from providing the customer with a product of high quality, since value co-creation can occur when firms interact with their customers and create strong relationships with them. Therefore, relationship quality is of interest for any firm that want to succeed with their sales proposals. However, although firms work with value creation for their customers, there is always a risk for the defection of customers. Firms need to gain knowledge about the reasons why customers decide to switch to another supplier. The aim of this study is to investigate why Swedish firms that operate in the industrial business-to-business (B2B) sector’s customers switch to another supplier, despite the supplying firms’ efforts in working with value creation. This is a qualitative study, where in-depth interviews have been conducted with employees at two different industrial, manufacturing companies. It was found that the aspects that have been stated as valuable for customers in business relationships; product quality, delivery, service, price, communication and distance, are also reasons why customers decide to leave a cooperation. Meaning that these aspects can create value for customers, however, when it is not managed properly there is a high risk that customers will switch suppliers since the value the firm created for the customer is not enough. In addition to this, factors that can be hard for firms to control, such as distance, time differences and language can have a great impact on customer value and retention.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é investigar o impacto da interação entre consumidores no valor da experiência e na satisfação do consumidor, nos ambientes de varejo off-line e on-line, considerando o papel da ansiedade social. Para alcançar este objetivo, três estudos experimentais foram conduzidos. Os resultados indicam que a interação entre consumidores aumenta o valor da experiência e a sua satisfação tanto no ambiente de varejo off-line (estudos 1 e 3) como no on-line (estudos 2 e 3). Entretanto, no ambiente de varejo off-line, o impacto da interação entre consumidores na satisfação é moderado pela ansiedade social (estudos 1 e 3). Assim, quanto maior a ansiedade social do indivíduo, menor é o impacto da interação entre consumidores na satisfação do consumidor. Para a relação entre interação entre consumidores e valor da experiência, não foi encontrada essa moderação. No ambiente de varejo on-line, a ansiedade social não modera nenhuma destas relações, conforme previsto (estudos 2 e 3). Adicionalmente, o estudo 3 busca fornecer uma possível explicação da razão pela qual não há moderação no ambiente on-line, demonstrando que o controle da autoapresentação é maior neste ambiente, mas somente para consumidores com alta ansiedade social. / The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of customer-to-customer interaction on experience value and customer satisfaction, in the off-line and on-line retail environments, considering the role of social anxiety. To achieve this objective, three experimental studies were conducted. The results indicate that the customer-to-customer interaction increases the experience value and satisfaction in both the offline retail environment (studies 1 and 3) and the online (studies 2 and 3). However, in the offline retail environment, the impact of the customer-to-customer interaction on customer satisfaction is moderated by social anxiety (studies 1 and 3). Thus, the higher the social anxiety of the individual, the lower the impact of the customer-to-customer interaction on customer satisfaction. For the relationship between customer-to-customer interaction and experience value, this moderation was not found. In the online retail environment, social anxiety does not moderate any of these relationships, as predicted (studies 2 and 3). Additionally, study 3 seeks to provide a possible explanation of there is not such moderation in the online environment, and demonstrates that the self-presentation control is higher in this environment, but only for consumers with high social anxiety.

The increasingly competitive business environment has influenced contemporary organisations to build mutual beneficial relationships with their customers indicating a paradigm shift from transactional marketing. In order to compete in this intense competitive environment, organisations are creating competitive advantage over their rivals through service quality that will influence customer satisfaction which subsequently leads to customer loyalty. Service quality has been found to be the key strategy of success and survival for most organisations like retail supermarkets who want to win the loyalty of their customers because of its positive effect on customer satisfaction. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the retail supermarket industry. An empirical study was conducted in Grahamstown between two main supermarkets through a survey that determined customers’ perceptions on service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty respectively. The empirical findings of this research study revealed that moderate to strong positive linear relationships exists between the dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy) and customer satisfaction at the 5% level of significance. Furthermore, this study showed that dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction and problem solving) have weak negative linear relationships with price sensitivity dimension of customer loyalty. The study further showed that the dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy) have weak to moderate positive linear relationships with the purchase intentions dimension of customer loyalty. In addition, all the dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy) showed moderate positive linear relationships with word of mouth communication dimension of customer loyalty. A weak negative linear relationship between price sensitivity dimension of customer loyalty and customer satisfaction was revealed in this study. Purchase intentions dimension of customer loyalty was also found to have a moderate positive linear relationship with customer satisfaction. In addition, word of mouth communication dimension of customer loyalty showed a strong positive linear relationship with customer satisfaction. There is sufficient evidence that the customers of the two supermarkets in this study have different perceptions on problem solving dimension of service quality. This study further provides sufficient evidence of the significant difference between gender on the levels of customer satisfaction. In addition, this study showed that customers of various levels of education and occupations differ in price sensitivity dimension of customer loyalty. The average scores for word of mouth communication, purchase intentions and price sensitivity dimensions of customer loyalty were found to be significantly different between the two supermarkets investigated in this study. Therefore, for supermarkets to compete effectively in the intense retail supermarket industry in South Africa they have to manage their service quality dimensions so as to influence customer satisfaction and customer loyalty respectively.

All organisations compete on the basis of service. In today‘s highly competitive world, organisations need to compete to retain their customers and to offer good customer service that will give them a competitive advantage. In the South African pharmaceutical market, the introduction of the Single Exit Price (SEP) and generic substitution have led to the price of equivalent medicines no longer being the differentiating factor in a customer deciding which manufacturer‘s product to purchase. The availability of generic medicines at the pharmacy or hospital has become the differentiating factor. Two types of customers exist in any organisation, namely, external customers and internal customers. Much has been written about the external customer, but less about the internal customer. Many managers do not perceive internal customer service as a priority. Any organisation attempting to deliver quality service to their external customers must begin by serving the needs of their internal customers. Internal service quality is characterised by the attitudes that people have towards one another and in the way that employees serve one another inside the organisation. By improving customer service, the organisation can improve its profitability, sustainability and customer retention. The aim of this study was to determine whether the levels of internal customer service between the three sections of Aspen Pharmacare are optimal. Determining the current performance levels between the staff of the sections will assist in highlighting the areas that require attention. The three sections of Aspen Pharmacare that are internal customers of one another and have been used in the study are: - production; - demand planning; and - distribution. The results of the study show that all three sections rate three service quality dimensions (communication, tangibles and reliability) as important. The results were used to develop an internal customer service model for Aspen Pharmacare.

The banking sector plays an important role in the economy of any country across the world. The recent financial crisis shows how much of the world’s economy is influenced by the banking sector. There are different roles that banks play in contributing to the operation and growth of an economy. Their role spreads from that of intermediary to that of provider of payment clearing services. Banks are an important and integral part of any economy. According to a study by Greenberg & Simbanegavi (2009), the South African banking sector is fertile ground for high levels of competition amongst its players. This competition is important for the proper working of the modern economy. According to Van Leuvensteijn et al. (2008), because banks act as the main vehicle for monetary policy, reduced competition in the banking sector can hinder the efficiency of monetary policy. As a result of the competition in the banking sector, customer retention is a key component of banks’ strategies in today’s market. The main aim of the study was to investigate factors affecting customer retention at Nedbank South Africa. The study focused on the institutional causes of bank customer defection and sought to investigate the effects of three factors (Customer service quality, Satisfaction with product, and Switching costs) on Customer Retention. This study showed the importance of customer retention and more importantly how the mentioned three factors affect customer retention at Nedbank South Africa. One of the highlights that came out of this research was that 50 perscent of the respondents were either considering closing their account or were likely to close their account within the next 12 months. In conclusion, these three factors were found to be important in the customer retention strategy of the bank. Recommendations were presented by the author on how to integrate the factors into a retention framework that can contribute to the profitability of the bank. Areas of future research that can be helpful to the bank were also highlighted by the author.

The objective of this thesis is mapping of the situation about customer competition. Attention is first employed on a marketing communication and then is entertained about sales promotion of a final consumer with specification - customer competition. Authoress devotes to legislative framework, organization, problematic areas of consumer competition. In the next part of this thesis is took over the interview, which has clear up the attitude of questionedes towards customer competition.

Obsahem práce je téma Customer Value Management (CVM) v oblasti telekomunikací. Z důvodu poměrně velké saturace tohoto trhu nabývá na důležitosti navyšování tržeb plynoucí ze stávající zákaznické báze. Za hlavní cíle jsem vytyčil zpracování komplexního teoretického základu CVM a studie zabývající se nastavením efektivního retenčního procesu. V teoretické části čtenáře seznamuji se základními aspekty CVM - hodnota zákazníka (CLV), Campaign Management System, odchozí a příchozí komunikační kampaně a kontaktní strategie. Nedílnou součástí je popis Business Intelligence nástrojů -- prediktivní modely a zákaznická segmentace. Praktická část spočívá ve vypracování zmíněné studie. V reálném prostředí telekomunikační společnosti jsem analyzoval současný stav retenčního procesu a na základě zjištěných informací jsem navrhl nové CVM aktivity, které vedou ke zvýšení hodnoty zákaznické báze. Hlavními přínosy práce jsou poskytnutí teoretického základu o oblasti CVM, který slouží jako dostačující informační zdroj pro potřeby v akademickém i business prostředí a navržená studie CVM aktivit v retenčním procesu vhodná pro použití i ve společnostech mimo telekomunikační odvětví.

Doctoral thesis, which deals with customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in relation to a competitive advantage. Methodology used for purposes of doctoral thesis. The process of consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty research. References to foreign literature. A formulation of objectives and hypotheses. Specifics of customer satisfaction in the field of services with a high proportion of personal folders.

Diploma thesis deals with customers' developing potential of language school. The theoretical section specifies the business and strategy of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic. It describes customer relationship management, its approaches and concepts related to this issue. Additionally it analyzes customer satisfaction and loyalty. It dedicates to customer value and finally adds other possible indicators of customers' developing potential. In the practical part there is analyzed customer base of the language school Tandem. There exist two types of analysis. One of them is based on the internal resources of the company and the other one is developed based on feedback received from the survey of customer satisfaction. The analysis suggests new ideas for better use of potential of existing and future customers.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é investigar o impacto da interação entre consumidores no valor da experiência e na satisfação do consumidor, nos ambientes de varejo off-line e on-line, considerando o papel da ansiedade social. Para alcançar este objetivo, três estudos experimentais foram conduzidos. Os resultados indicam que a interação entre consumidores aumenta o valor da experiência e a sua satisfação tanto no ambiente de varejo off-line (estudos 1 e 3) como no on-line (estudos 2 e 3). Entretanto, no ambiente de varejo off-line, o impacto da interação entre consumidores na satisfação é moderado pela ansiedade social (estudos 1 e 3). Assim, quanto maior a ansiedade social do indivíduo, menor é o impacto da interação entre consumidores na satisfação do consumidor. Para a relação entre interação entre consumidores e valor da experiência, não foi encontrada essa moderação. No ambiente de varejo on-line, a ansiedade social não modera nenhuma destas relações, conforme previsto (estudos 2 e 3). Adicionalmente, o estudo 3 busca fornecer uma possível explicação da razão pela qual não há moderação no ambiente on-line, demonstrando que o controle da autoapresentação é maior neste ambiente, mas somente para consumidores com alta ansiedade social. / The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of customer-to-customer interaction on experience value and customer satisfaction, in the off-line and on-line retail environments, considering the role of social anxiety. To achieve this objective, three experimental studies were conducted. The results indicate that the customer-to-customer interaction increases the experience value and satisfaction in both the offline retail environment (studies 1 and 3) and the online (studies 2 and 3). However, in the offline retail environment, the impact of the customer-to-customer interaction on customer satisfaction is moderated by social anxiety (studies 1 and 3). Thus, the higher the social anxiety of the individual, the lower the impact of the customer-to-customer interaction on customer satisfaction. For the relationship between customer-to-customer interaction and experience value, this moderation was not found. In the online retail environment, social anxiety does not moderate any of these relationships, as predicted (studies 2 and 3). Additionally, study 3 seeks to provide a possible explanation of there is not such moderation in the online environment, and demonstrates that the self-presentation control is higher in this environment, but only for consumers with high social anxiety.