<p><em> “Just as the consumer is becoming more intelligent, the company in parallel should become more intelligent about the customer”</em> (Raisch, 2000, p.4)<em>.</em></p><p>Internet has become a huge marketplace and to stay competitive in this growing marketplace, companies must improve the way they interact with their customers (Rayport & Jaworski, 2005). As the amount of information online is rapidly growing, customers are becoming more intelligent. Intelligence that in turn makes them more powerful as they with high knowledge becomes high involvement purchasers, which is the opposite to what companies desire. Moreover customers are no longer satisfied with rewards like “bonus-points” or “take three pay for two” campaigns (Kalkota & Robinson 1999). Today’s customers want to be treated individual, they want to feel special, want to feel that the company really take care for them (Newell 2000).</p><p>The aim with this thesis is to explain how Interactive Agents (IA) as a concept can help companies to attract and retain customers. To do so, we first need to describe what that concept consists of.</p><p>IA:s can be described as “robots” chatting with the user/customer. They often take graphical form and works with a large knowledgebase that help them deliver the answer a user asks for. The agent is designed to serve customers 24/7 and can, to the opposite of a human, handle more than one case at time. The significant difference between a search-engine and an IA is the technology that allows users to use natural sentences to communicate with the agent instead of only using keywords. </p><p>Our findings, that take ground in a literature study followed by an interview with one of the big developers of AI in Sweden, indicates that IA:s could provide companies with an additional value over money savings, which is the main reason according to developers to invest in IA:s. As we can see, two different types of benefits, technical and commercial, can be generated by implementing an IA in an organization. Technical benefits are generated directly from the technology, i.e. make the access to information less complicated and increased knowledge about customers. Commercial benefits are generated as a result of applying this technology and if experienced to a satisfactory level by its target-group, it can generate some commercial benefits, such as goodwill and brand mediation.</p><p>We would like to conclude our findings to say that IA will be able to generate some value for the system-user and the end-user. However, we believe that to create a value of significance, there are still requirements (see conclusions) that need to be carried out, where the most important part would be interaction with other systems.</p><p> </p>

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iii, 74 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-74).

Abstract Background: Micro-sized family businesses are facing great challenges in nowadays competitive markets. Marketing is one of the most essential fields if a company wants to suc-ceed. Traditional marketing reveal more and more disadvantages, with competition that is constantly rising, technological marketing methods that are breaking down geographical bur-dens and consumer markets that are getting more demanding. One way to step away from the traditional marketing patterns and differentiate is the implementation and usage of relation-ship marketing. As a novel strategic method, the focus shifts from the product to building a loyal customer relationship foundation. Purpose: Consequently the purpose of this thesis is to investigate which factors influence an implementation of relationship marketing in micro-size family businesses. Using a case study, we will investigate how the potential theories can be successfully translated into reality when using relationship marketing in micro family firms. For reaching this goal, we will mainly identify several influences that impact a relationship marketing implementation in micro family businesses. Method: The data used for our case study has been collected through email in-terviews. Using an abductive approach and a qualitative analysis we are investigating and analysing specific factors and their influence on relationship marketing in micro family busi-nesses, in particular Casa Canela. Although one case cannot act as a role model and offer generalisable suggestions on all micro sized family firms, it presents an interesting example of one case and we hope that the outcomes and results can offer a guideline and inspiration to other micro family businesses as well. Conclusion: All in all, this thesis suggests that relationship marketing can benefit micro-sized family businesses. Moreover, factors like the owner-managers, the location, the financial situation and long-term goals influence the implementation of this strategy. With the help of our case firm Casa Canela and the analysed factors, we concluded that relationship marketing can provide a solid foundation for a successful business performance in the long-run.

The hotel industry is highly competitive and the right knowledge about customer values and demands is essential to differentiate from competitors and gain sustainable competitive advantage. Implementing traditional marketing strategies is often no longer enough to achieve this goal. Relationship marketing has increasingly become more important, as this concept suggests more focus on retaining the customer and creating a win- win situation with a long- term perspective. In traditional marketing there is more focus on acquisition. Most importantly a good balance between acquisition and retention directed to the right segments is essential for future success. This thesis is a case- study of a single business in the hospitality industry and the company of interest is the Burke &amp; Wills, a hotel situated in Toowoomba, a regional city in Queensland, Australia. The purpose is to explore how well Burke &amp; Wills markets itself, looking closely at the strategies used and how these are implemented. I also wanted to investigate whether the hotel’s present acquisition- and retention efforts are suitably divided between the various segments. The final objective with this thesis is to identify any opportunities for improvements. The case- study consists of both a qualitative- and a quantitative approach. Two staff interviews were carried out and a survey in the form of a questionnaire was handed out to the customers of the hotel. The intention with this was to explore whether present marketing strategies are effective or not. I found that the management of Burke &amp; Wills has little knowledge about how to best market the hotel both when it comes to acquisition- and retention efforts and to direct these to suitable segments. The company seems inadequate to identify and attract potential customers during quiet periods which results in a big loss of potential revenue. The survey shows that the company’s awareness of what the customer values as quality service is fairly good but might not be enough to prevent future loss of customers. As a result of this these customers may turn to competition for better service in the future. The majority of returning customers also state that they would value a more personalised approach from Burke &amp; Wills. I draw the conclusion that there is a lack of interest in how to improve the marketing of the company. No surveys have been conducted in the last few years to get customers´ opinions. They take their position on the market for granted and even with new competition they chose to stay inactive. Focus on improvement should be a priority but it is not. I believe it is essential to, at this stage, employ a person with marketing experience to make the company stronger and to maximise the possibilities of the hotel.

In the field of marketing, there is anecdotal evidence that “respect” is an important determinant of marketing relationship success (e.g., Berry 1996; Bitran and Hoech 1990; Costley, Friend, and Babis 2005). The current relational paradigm that guides much of marketing research, thinking, and practice implies that marketing involves not only exchange between organizations and customers, but also relationships between people. Given this context, individual-level relationship variables such as respect become important to our understanding of relationship marketing as a whole. Yet, in marketing and in other relevant fields (e.g., social and organizational psychology, ethics, education), there is no agreement as to how respect should be defined, and there is no measure that captures the complexity of this construct. In order to gain a more complete understanding of the reasons why certain marketing relationships succeed or fail, it is important to investigate the role of respect. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of (1) what respect means in the context of business-to-business marketing relationships, and (2) how respect impacts on the outcomes of those relationships. Following an extensive review of literature from a number of fields, the empirical research took place over four studies. In the first study, seventeen elite (in-depth) interviews were conducted with marketing practitioners. The goal of the interviews was to come to a more complete understanding of the importance of respect, its definition and dimensionality, its key features, and its role in the success of marketing relationships. As a result of these seventeen interviews, a preliminary model of respect was developed. In the second study, five additional marketing practitioners were interviewed in order to gain feedback on the proposed model of respect. Study 3 was aimed at developing a measure of respect to be included in later model testing; a key activity in this phase was an expert analysis of respect items. This research culminated in study 4, where the model of respect was tested via an experiment involving 114 business and marketing practitioners. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-30 17:35:08.487

Background: Relationships are really important for companies in order to becompetitive today and in these relationships is it important to feel trust to the other companies. There is therefore necessary to find out how companies work to create trust between themselves and their customers.Purpose: The purpose of this report is to examine and explain how staffing companies work to build trust in their relationships with B2B clients through examination of the conceptual model, creating a theoretical contribution.Research question: How do recruiters at staffing companies work to create trust between themselves and the customer?Methodology: The study adopted a quality research method with a deductive approach where the focus wasg on describing and analyzing. The data was collected primarily through semi-­‐structured interviews.Research findings: Through the study’s interviews and their results is it possible to see that staffing companies in Växjö is working with trust. The conclusion is that staffing companies is working a lot and similar with competencies and contractual. But it differs how they work with benevolence. It seems that the staffing companies does not work a lot with benevolence and it depends on the recruiter if they want to work withbenevolence and goodwill or not and how they will do it.

Vidaus marketingas yra traktuojamas kaip pagrindinis ir lemiamas veiksnys, turintis įtakos išorinio marketingo sėkmei, nes darbuotojų ir vidaus aplinkos dėka įmonės gali labiau atitikti vartotojų ir esamų ar būsimų partnerių lūkesčius. Tokiu atveju, galima kalbėti apie verslo partnerystės vykdymą ir vystymą pasitelkiant vidaus marketingo ir ryšių marketingo susietumą bei sėkmingų ir efektyvių darbuotojų motyvavimo, atrankos, skatinimo diegimu ir planavimu organizacijose. Visų pirma partnerystė reikalauja, ne tik lanksčios, stiprios ir nepertraukiamos komunikacijos, kuri yra vienas svarbiausių veiksnių lemiančių sėkmingą partnerystę, tačiau yra būtina nuolat sieti abiejų partnerių darbuotojų žinias, kompetenciją, sėkmingai motyvuoti bei ieškoti naujų partnerių taip įgyjant konkurencinį pranašumą prieš kitas įmones. Todėl šiame straipsnyje atskiedžiamas inovatyvus požiūris į verslo partnerystės vystymą, pasitelkiant santykių ir vidaus marketingo elementus bei pasiūlomas apibendrinantis daugiakriterinis modelis. Darbo objektas: Verslo partnerystė Darbo tikslas: Išnagrinėjus verslo partnerystės ir vidaus marketingo teorinius aspektus ir atlikus jų sąsajų identifikavimą, sukurti verslo partnerystės vystymo vidaus marketingo pagrindu modelį ir pritaikyti jį paslaugų įmonei Darbo uždaviniai: 1. išanalizuoti partnerystės ir vidaus marketingo konceptualius pagrindus; 2. išsiaiškinti, kokį vaidmenį atlieka ir kokią įtaką partnerystės ryšiams daro vidaus marketingas; 3. parengti verslo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Internal marketing is approached to as the key and critical factor influencing success of the external marketing, because thanks to the employees and internal environment, the companies can better satisfy expectations of the users as well as current and prospective partners. In this case we can think about implementation and development of business partnership by using coherence between marketing and relationship marketing and efficient implementation of motivation, screening and promotion or employees and planning within the organization. Partnership primarily requires not only flexible, strong and continuous relationship, which is a key factor for beneficial cooperation, but also constant linkage of the both partners’ know-how, competence, successful motivation, and search for new partners to obtain competitive advantage against other companies. Therefore, the present article reveals innovative approach to business partnership development by employing elements of the relations and internal marketing. Besides, the article proposes a presumptive multi-criteria model. Subject matter of the paper is business partnership. The aim of the paper is the development of hypothetical business partnership development model based on the internal marketing after analyzing theoretical aspects of business partnership and internal marketing and after carrying out identification of their coherence. Research methods applied in the paper are: analysis of scientific literature; questionnaire... [to full text]

Title: Factors influencing a customer’s loyalty in B2B relationships: A qualitative study of relationship marketing Authors: Klara Karlström &amp; Pia Andersson Advisor: Svante Andersson Level: Master thesis in marketing (15 Swedish credits). Spring 2014. Keywords: Customer loyalty, Behavior, Relationship marketing, B2B Purpose: The purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of which factors that influence a customer’s loyalty in the relationship between a supplier and a customer in B2B and how these factors are achieved? Frame of Reference: In the following chapter we present theory from previous research related to our research questions and purpose. First, a conceptualization of relationship marketing is outlined followed by theory regarding customer loyalty. Second, the selected factors of relationship marketing that can indicate customer loyalty are presented one by one. Methodology: In this chapter all the method choices to fulfill the thesis’ purpose and to answer the research questions are discussed and motivated. The choices for this study are comprehensive approach, qualitative method, a case study with one case company interviewing three informants. Empirical Study: In this chapter we present primary data that is collected for our study. It is collected through personal interviews with three informants at Getinge. Conclusion: Our conclusion is that satisfaction is more important that the other nine factors and that shared value and bonding are less important then the other factors. How they are achieved depend on the situation, the employee at Getinge and the customer in specific and there are no clear guidelines on how the should be achieved. Although there are no guidelines there are directions and the achievement of the factors are based on Getinge’s core values. The employees of Getinge are using the core values together with their individual common sense to reach the best result of customer loyalty.

In the age of rapidly changing and competitive environments, companies are forced to build strong and long-lasting relationships with their customers. Over the last decades, marketing theory and practice developed a plethora of attempts to describe relevant factors, underlying correlations and complex constructs, explaining the relationship between buyer and seller. For several disciplines, which are part of, describe or influence the relationship between buyer and seller such as a) marketing, b) customer purchase behaviour and c) sales management and personal selling, it appears that trust has a strong impact and therefore is an important variable for building long-lasting relationships. Although there is an extensive source of literature available on appropriate response to trust and its influence on buyer seller relationships, few of these writings contain guidance specifically related to financial services. The objectives of this study are I) to determine general differences regarding the impact of trust in a finance and insurance advice setting, ii) to determine difference of the general importance of trust towards three dimensions, iii) to analyse through which antecedents client-trust is build towards these three dimensions and iv) to identify the role of trust in future interactions between a financial service company and its clients. To achieve these objectives, quantitative research was undertaken in Germany by conducting a mail survey to 1.394 existing clients of an independent financial advisory institution. The phases of research cover a broad literature review combined with informal background research to identify variables that build trustlinvoke the trust building process to examine differences and/or additional variables to the descriptions in the literature. Prospective clients seem to generally support variables provided by the literature findings. The main research phase involves a mail survey to 1.394 existing clients with 321 responses. It is aimed at identifying relevant answers to the issues i)-iv) as described above. The results of the mail survey suggest differences between different client segments according to e. g. their educational background as well as their stage on the life cycle of financial services. Additionally, to validate the empirical findings, interviews were performed with 20 independent financial advisors which are aimed at identifying relevant answers to the above mentioned issues ii)-iv) from an advisor's point of view. The results suggest differences within the group of advisors according to e. g. demographic criteria. The results indicate that trust seems to be an important factor for the relationship between client, advisor and financial service provider.N evertheless,d ifferencesc oncerningt he influenceo f trust on the interpersonal relationship between the client and the financial advisor as well as its influence on the organisational relationship between client and financial service organisation can be observed and have to be addressed in the future. Moreover, also the differences related to the relevance of trust for the internal relationship between the financial service advisor and its organisation needs further attention. A framework of three dimensions of relationship marketing activities is introduced which may assist financial service companies to Implement a trust based relationship marketing approach. This should cover 1) an internal relationship marketing dimension, ii) an external relationship marketing dimension and iii) an interactive relationship marketing dimension. As a result, the company should become more trustworthya nd further more be enabledt o build strongerr elationshipsw ith their clients.

Aided by the development of information technology, the balance of power in the market place is rapidly shifting from marketers towards consumers and nowhere is this more obvious than in the online environment (Denegri-Knott, Zwick, & Schroeder, 2006; Moynagh & Worsley, 2002; Newcomer, 2000; Samli, 2001). From the inception and continuous development of the Internet, consumers are becoming more empowered. They can choose what they want to click on the Internet, they can shop and transact payments, watch and download video, chat with others, be it friends or even total strangers. Especially in online communities, like-minded consumers share and exchange information, ideas and opinions. One form of online community is the online brand community, which gathers specific brand lovers. As with any social unit, people form different roles in the community and exert different effects on each other. Their interaction online can greatly influence the brand and marketers. A comprehensive understanding of the operation of this special group form is essential to advancing marketing thought and practice (Kozinets, 1999). While online communities have strongly shifted the balance of power from marketers to consumers, the current marketing literature is sparse on power theory (Merlo, Whitwell, & Lukas, 2004). Some studies have been conducted from an economic point of view (Smith, 1987), however their application to marketing has been limited. Denegri-Knott (2006) explored power based on the struggle between consumers and marketers online and identified consumer power formats such as control over the relationship, information, aggregation and participation. Her study has built a foundation for future power studies in the online environment. This research project bridges the limited marketing literature on power theory with the growing recognition of online communities among marketing academics and practitioners. Specifically, this study extends and redefines consumer power by exploring the concept of power in online brand communities, in order to better understand power structure and distribution in this context. This research investigates the applicability of the factors of consumer power identified by Denegri-Knott (2006) to the online brand community. In addition, by acknowledging the model proposed by McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig (2002), which emphasized that community study should focus on the role of consumers and identifying multiple relationships among the community, this research further explores how member role changes will affect power relationships as well as consumer likings of the brand. As a further extension to the literature, this study also considers cultural differences and their effect on community member roles and power structure. Based on the study of Hofstede (1980), Australia and China were chosen as two distinct samples to represent differences in two cultural dimensions, namely individualism verses collectivism and high power distance verses low power distance. This contribution to the research also helps answer the research gap identified by Muñiz Jr & O'Guinn (2001), who pointed out the lack of cross cultural studies within the online brand community context. This research adopts a case study methodology to investigate the issues identified above. Case study is an appropriate research strategy to answer “how” and “why” questions of a contemporary phenomenon in real-life context (Yin, 2003). The online brand communities of “Haloforum.net” in Australia and “NGA.cn” in China were selected as two cases. In-depth interviews were used as the primary data collection method. As a result of the geographical dispersion and the preference of a certain number of participants, online synchronic interviews via MSN messenger were utilized along with the face-to-face interviews. As a supplementary approach, online observation was carried over two months, covering a two week period prior to the interviews and a six week period following the interviews. Triangulation techniques were used to strengthen the credibility and validity of the research findings (Yin, 2003). The findings of this research study suggest a new definition of power in an online brand community. This research also redefines the consumer power types and broadens the brand community model developed by McAlexander et al. (2002) in an online context by extending the various relationships between brand and members. This presents a more complete picture of how the perceived power relationships are structured in the online brand community. A new member role is discovered in the Australian online brand community in addition to the four member roles identified by Kozinets (1999), in contrast however, all four roles do not exist in the Chinese online brand community. The research proposes a model which links the defined power types and identified member roles. Furthermore, given the results of the cross-cultural comparison between Australia and China showed certain discrepancies, the research suggests that power studies in the online brand community should be country-specific. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on online consumer power, by applying it to the context of an online brand community, as well as considering factors such as cross cultural difference. Importantly, it provides insights for marketing practitioners on how to best leverage consumer power to serve brand objective in online brand communities. This, in turn, should lead to more cost effective and successful communication strategies. Finally, the study proposes future research directions. The research should be extended to communities of different sizes, to different extents of marketer control over the community, to the connection between online and offline activities within the brand community, and (given the cross-cultural findings) to different countries. In addition, a greater amount of research in this area is recommended to determine the generalizability of this study.