The aim of this thesis is to propose a model that explains the relationship between customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty based on service quality attributes. The three elements of satisfaction, retention and loyalty towards products represent ongoing challenges for the corporate financial performance. Customer behaviour analysis (known as business intelligence or customer relationship management or customer experience management) has become a major factor in the corporate decision making and strategic planning processes. Prevailing logic dictates that by improving service attributes one should expect better customer satisfaction levels. Consequently, improved satisfaction levels should increase the probability of customer retention and degree of loyalty. Substantial research work has been dedicated to explain the importance of customer behaviour measurement for industry. However, there is little evidence that there has been an overall integrating empirical research that relates the three elements of satisfaction, retention and loyalty with respect to service quality attributes. Empirical data collected from the UK mobile telecommunication for this research shows that such an objective model that is capable of capturing this three dimensional relationship will contribute towards more robust decision making and better strategic planning. The proposed thesis extracts the data about key service attributes from a combination of literature review, surveys, and interviews from the UK mobile telecommunication industry. Responses were analysed using multiple regression, regression analysis with dummy variables, logistic regression, logistic regression with dummy variables and structural equation modelling (SEM) to test variables and their interrelationships. This study makes a step forward and contributes to the body of knowledge as it: (a) highlights the role of service attribute performance towards customer satisfaction, consequently identifies attributes that affect satisfaction and dissatisfaction of customers, (b) maps the relationship between attribute importance and attribute performance, (c) optimise resource allocation process using importance-performance analysis (IPA), (d) classifies customers with respect to the role and length of relationship they have with the company (switching probability), and (e) describes the interrelationship between customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty. The novelty of the research lies in: (a) establishment of a framework that links service attribute performance to customer satisfaction and then to customer future intentions (customer retention and customer loyalty), and (b) provision of a model that could assist key decision makers in prudent usage of resources for maximum profitability. This dissertation presents a novel approach methodology and modelling construct for customer behaviour analysis. For proof of concept it presents a case study in the mobile telecommunication industry. It is worth noting that in this research work Customer Retention is interpreted as probability of switching between service providers. Customer Loyalty is interpreted as referral (word-of-mouth) activity by existing customers.

The aim of this research is to develop, examine and validate a conceptual framework, which explains factors of the export supply chain relationship focusing on information sharing in export supply chain management field. This research seeks to understand the dyadic exporter-producer relationship in the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables from Jordan to the European Union. Jordan supplies very limited fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the European market and the exporter-producer relationships are still weak, which impedes the emergence of a high performance supply chain within this promising market. There has been a lack of conceptual and empirical research on information sharing, which limits the understanding of the business relationship and there is no theoretical framework analysing export supply chain relationships. Therefore, this research examines the possible association between the following factors: relationship, network and transaction dimensions; information sharing; and export performance. A framework for the influence of information sharing on a dyadic exporter-producer relationship of supply chain management guiding this research is developed initially, based on three perspectives: relationship marketing theory, network theory and transaction cost theory. Qualitative methodology is used to achieve the research aim and objectives in Jordan. The research is comprised of two phases. In phase one, seven interviews with experts are conducted to refine the initial framework for key propositions and propose a framework for supply chain management. In phase two, there are ten multiple-case studies, which contain 40 semi-structured interviews, 40 hours of observations and archival records. These cases are primarily conducted with the selected exporter and producer firms in the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables. Data are collected and analysed, based on key themes and a case study protocol, which individually explore each exporter-producer relationship ―case‖ in order to examine the proposed framework. Finally, the ten cases are cross-analysed to explain the key findings and to match them to the framework in order to validate it as the final conceptual framework for supply chain management. The research findings support the central premise that specific dimensions of relationships, networks and transactions are the key antecedents of information sharing, which in turn influences export performance. The findings confirm that the exporters and the producers are able to support their relationships through the benefits gained from these dimensions at the relationship, network and transaction levels of the export III Information Sharing in an Export Supply Chain Relationship Luai Jraisat supply chain. It is through this alignment that firms create better information sharing between them. Likewise, the findings suggest that firms will be able to gain strategic advantages from supply chain management based on information sharing and its components, namely content, sharing methods, sources and value, thus suggesting that the firms should apply information sharing to improve financial and non-financial export performance. The research makes key contributions to theory and methodology, and has policy and managerial implications. Theoretical contributions are made to the supply chain management literature by providing a holistic framework for supply chain management to understand the exporter-producer relationship. The research expands on the applications of the three perspectives combined and focuses on information sharing as a key factor. Methodological contributions are offered as this research connects the qualitative methodology to the theory, enabling an analytical generalisation of supply chain management relationships by examining both sides of the dyadic relationship to guide their information sharing. This research expands more on the validity and reliability aspects to ensure the strength of this qualitative empirical research. Policy and managerial implications are addressed for managers and policy-makers. The research limitations and guidelines for future research are discussed.

Significant work has taken place in the development of our understanding of business dyadic relationships but much work remains to be done in determining the antecedents, particularly our understanding of cultural contexts. This research aims to add to the debate about what counts in developing a long-term orientation in channel relationships by investigating the role of the concept of market orientation; it explores the possible interface existing between the marketing concept and development of channel relationships. The context is relationships between distributors and suppliers in Taiwan. This study examines the relationship literature from a social exchange theoretical perspective and conducts multiple-case in-depth interviews at the dyadic ends to develop an integrated research model for analysing potential effects of market orientation on the relationship factors influencing long-term oriented relationship building. Quantitative mixed-mode questionnaire surveys were undertaken to test the research model and hypotheses drawn from the model. Data were collected from 158 distributors from four selected business sectors, including both commodity and noncommodity ones. The results confirm the applicability of the marketing concept to an eastern country: Taiwan, and provide empirical evidence that adoption of the marketing concept can be a strategy for stimulating and sustaining long-term oriented channel relationships while mediated by a number of relationship constructs. Communication and shared value are highlighted as the primary mediators while satisfaction signals an inclination to continue a relationship. Market orientation is found to exert significant direct effects on communication and shared value and indirect effects on the other relationship components: trust, cooperation, commitment, conflict and satisfaction, which all contribute to a continuing relationship.

Marketing scholars question the ability of the 4Ps to explain higher order phenomena in modern marketing. Scholars contend that marketing's historical framework, based in product centric economic theory, constrains the 4Ps ability to form a foundation for a general theory of marketing. The focus on value embedded in product fails to explain knowledge-based intangible sources of competitive advantage. In response to this concern a new dominant logic for marketing called service-dominant logic (S-D Logic) has been proposed. However, not all scholars are supportive of S-D Logic. Still nescient, S-D Logic lacks a theoretic model, operationalized constructs, and relationships between those constructs. This study addresses those deficiencies by: (1) generation of a grounded theory of a performance-oriented network; (2) empirical assessment of the S-D Logic literature; and (3) development of an inductively generated theory of S-D Logic to include constructs, relationships, outcomes, and hypothesis. This investigation provides an important set of research findings. The resultant service-oriented network theory suggests a theoretic structure for S-D Logic. Use of grounded theory provides a strong empirical foundation based in a leading edge multi-national market segment composed corporations and programs worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The analysis drew upon 44 field interviews and follow-up exchanges. Multiple member checking sessions generated practitioner confirmation of the research conclusions. The work provides actionable theoretical and practical implications. This investigation provides a link between S-D Logic as a foundation for a general theory of marketing and initial model of suggestive of such theory. For the practitioner the service-oriented network model provides actionable constructs. The antecedents identified are largely influencable by inter-firm leadership and provides them a mechanism to tailor the specific service-oriented strategy to support the desired network value propositions.

Within the competitive marketing environment, companies are faced with many challenges to stay competitive. Companies are consistently trying to establish the longterm relationship with customers by satisfying them as much as possible. Since relationship marketing has highly-discussed concerns building the long-term relationship and improve customer satisfaction, the study aims to describe how different relationship marketing tactics affect customer satisfaction. According to previous scholars, four different major relationship marketing tactics were selected to investigate and described in the study, which are the quality of service, price perception, brand perception and value proposition. The authors developed a theoretical framework by reviewing previous works of literature to see how companies use relationship marketing tactics as a business strategy to develop customer satisfaction. The method of quantitative research was applied to this study and a online questionnaire was used to collect data. In results chapter, the authors tested descriptive analysis, reliability, validity, regression analysis by analyzing the empirical findings. There are three hypotheses accepted and one rejected. In the end of this paper, the authors analyzed and described the data in detail and revealed the effect of each relationship marketing tactics on customer satisfaction. Limitation of this study and further research are also presented.

Title: Management of Key Account Relationships in SMEs: A Resource-Based View Authors: David Gedda & Simon JohanssonLevel: Master thesis, 30 hpKeywords: Relationship Marketing, Key Account, Key Account Management,Customer Relationship Management, SME, High-performing firms Background: Management of firms most valuable customers, the key accounts,are of great importance for firms in general. This is in particulartrue for SMEs which battles with notably constrained resources.The situation of SMEs poses careful consideration in how tomanage these relationships successfully. Research Question: What characterizes high-performing SMEs in terms of how theymanage their key account relationships? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of what characterises high-performing SMEs in terms of how theymanage the relationships with their key accounts. Method: A qualitative study with an abductive approach using a multiplecasestudy design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews wereconducted to collect primary data on eight Swedish SMEs in theB2B-context. Theoretical Framework: Theories about the resource-based view and relational capabilitiesare presented followed by theories about relationship marketingand its subsets KAM and CRM. The last part of the theory consistsof theories on relationship quality. Findings: In general, high-performing SMEs tend to have a more structuredapproach towards their management of their key accountrelationships. This is mainly shown through four characteristics:Clear categorization of key accounts, Senior responsibility for keyaccounts, Deep integration with key accounts and Systematicprocess towards their key accounts.

Frågeställning: Vilka behov behöver tillfredsställas hos de boende och anhöriga för att stärka en relation till äldreboendet? Kan digital marknadsföring användas som metod för att stärka relationer och i så fall hur? Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka hur relationen mellan äldreboende och deras målgrupp kan stärkas. Metod: Ansatsen har varit en deduktiv ansats och en kvalitativ metod har använts där sju semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts. Slutsats: Resultatet visar på fem faktorer som samtliga respondenter identifierat skulle tillfredsställa deras behov. Dessa fem faktorer är identifierade som: smak- och näringsrik kost, närheten till natur och möjlighet att komma ut, trygghet i form av kompetent personal, socialt umgänge, att den boende hamnar i centrum samt mental stimulans. Dessa faktorer kan kopplas till samtliga behovssteg i Maslows behovspyramid. Resultatet visar generellt på en positiv inställning till digital kanaler som en marknadsföringskanal, dock visar resultatet att de boende inte själva har någon direkt nytta för detta för egen skull, men ser positivt på att deras anhöriga skulle ha värde av det. De anhöriga påvisar en mycket stark bild av att de skulle finna digital marknadsföring värdefullt för dem. Genom att påvisa att behoven ovan är tillfredsställda kan relationen stärkas, då anhöriga inte alltid har möjlighet att fysiskt besöka sina anhöriga. På så sätt kan de anhöriga få en inblick i sin närståendes vardag genom digital marknadsföring utan att fysiskt vara på plats, detta ökar deras känsla av trygghet och tillit till att de närstående har det bra. / Research questions: What needs of the elderly and their relatives need to be satisfied to strengthen the relationship with the retirement home? Could digital marketing be employed to strengthen the relationship and in that case how? Purpose: The purpose is to examine how the relationship between retirement homes and their target audience can be strengthened. Method: A deductive approach has been used in this report with a qualitative method and seven semi-structured interviews have been conducted. Conclusion: The study results in five factors that all respondents have identified as factors that would satisfy their needs. These five factors are identified as: a tasteful and nutritious diet; closeness to nature and the ability to be out in the fresh air; safety in form of qualified staff; social interaction; that the elderly is in focus and; mental stimulation. These factors can be linked to every step in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The result show an overall positive attitude towards digital channels as a marketing tool. However, the result also shows that the residents would not benefit directly from digital marketing, but are positive that their relatives would find it valuable. The relatives are showing a strong, positive attitude towards the value of digital marketing channels. The above mentioned needs should be in focus in the digital marketing, so that the relatives who do not have the opportunity to visit their elderly as often as they would like may see that their needs are satisfied. That way, the relatives may get an insight in how their relative’s everyday life looks like without being on set in person, which may increase their feeling of safety, and faith in that their relative is in a good place.

Research question: How can Crowdfunding be used as a marketing tool?Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the anomalies and trends in crowdfunding in order to explain how crowdfunding can be used as a marketing tool.Method: This research is exploratory with an inductive research approach. Primary data was collected with qualitative techniques. Semi-structured interviews was used when interviewing the participants in order to withdraw data.Findings: The empirical data showed that crowdfunding can be used for marketing and creating a buzz or awareness. These findings lead us to create a proposed model for how crowdfunding most effectively can be used as marketing.

Social media continues to serve as vehicles for fostering relationships with customers. One specific way to implement this is to create and operate brand fan communities on social networking sites. Brands can place posts (including videos, messages, quizzes, information, and other material) in these brand communities. By customer’s reposting or commenting on the posts, it subsequently reflects the brand post popularity. In order to investigate the possible drivers for brand post popularity in the Chinese social media context, this thesis selects Tuborg’s Green Fest as the case, its official account on Weibo as the platform, and analyzes the correlation between six driven factors and brand post popularity pairwise.  Results show that interactivity is the most important factor for popularity; a higher level of interactivity would help boost popularity. Followed by entertaining content and vividness are also two factors that positively related to brand post popularity. Moreover, the post theme of Fans interaction is most popular with fans, while the theme of Green Fest information would have negative impact on post popularity. Nevertheless, informational content is not welcome by the fans either, which may have a negative influence on popularity. Managers of brands that operate brand fan communities can be guided by this research with regards to deciding which characteristics or content to place in their brand posts.

Comment les relations consommateurs-marques peuvent-elles être développées en magasin ? Beaucoup de recherches sur les actions au point de vente les ont étudiées dans une perspective transactionnelle tandis que le marketing relationnel a prêté peu d'attention à ce qui se passe en magasin. Cependant le point de vente constitue un point de contact essentiel entre consommateurs et marques. Sur la base de deux études qualitatives et d'une étude expérimentale, cette recherche se concentre sur l'impact des actions en magasin sur les relations consommateurs-marques. Nous différencions les actions relationnelles des actions transactionnelles pour comparer leurs effets. L'application empirique est faite avec des marques de glaces distribuées en grandes et moyennes surfaces. Un questionnaire en ligne est mis en place pour tester des actions fictives que les marques pourraient mettre en œuvre. Nos résultats montrent l'intérêt pour les marques d'utiliser des actions relationnelles au point de vente. Les personnes exposées à des actions relationnelles attribuent plus souvent l'action à la marque. Ils perçoivent des efforts et une orientation relationnelle de la marque plus importants, ils s'identifient plus avec la marque, et déclarent ainsi une plus grande fidélité envers celle-ci. L'originalité de la recherche réside dans la prise en compte des actions en magasin dans une perspective relationnelle. Plus généralement, la conceptualisation et l'étude de l'impact de ce genre d'actions mettent en évidence une façon plus sociale de tenir compte des interactions entre les consommateurs et les marques. / How can be developed and impacted relationships in store ? Many researches have studied in-store actions in a transactional perspective while relationship marketing has paid little attention to what happens in store. However, stores constitute a key point of contact between consumers and brands. Based on two qualitative studies and an experimental study, this research focuses on the impact of in-store actions on consumer-brand relationships. It differentiates relational and transactional actions and compares their effects. The empirical application involves ice cream brands distributed in the super-hypermarket channel. An online questionnaire is implemented to test fictitious actions that brands could implement. Our results show the interest for manufacturers brands to use relational in-store actions. Individuals exposed to relational in-store actions attribute more frequently the effort to the manufacturer. They perceive stronger efforts and brand expression, they identify more with the brand, and declare a higher loyalty to the latter. The originality of the research lies in the consideration of in-store actions in a relational perspective. More generally, the conceptualization and the study of the impact of these kinds of actions highlight a more social way to consider interactions between consumers and brands in the marketplace.