The technological development that we have seen in the last decades has resulted in a more digitized business environment and affected industries from an innovative and competitive perspective. The digital transition is an ongoing process and it creates opportunities and challenges for businesses globally. Digital transitions can have consequences for different aspects within a company, from the top management all the way to their customer relations. This study is concentrated on the latter, namely customer relations in a business-to-business context within the sportswear industry. The purpose of this degree project is to develop a deeper understanding about how perceived usefulness of a new digital tool affects the behavioral intention to use it based on a relationship marketing perspective. The study specifically investigates key account managers in a business-to-business context from the sportswear company Athics. By investigating perceived usefulness of 3D Virtual Prototypes by the key account managers’ behavioral intention to use, we managed to explain whether this technology would be accepted or rejected by the managers. None of the key account managers had previous experience with 3D Virtual Prototypes. The degree project had a qualitative method where we interviewed eight key account managers from the product division Athics Footwear through semi-structured interviews. The study takes a deductive approach. The ontological and epistemological stances are interpretivism and constructionism. After reviewing the literature on relationship marketing and technology acceptance model, we formed a conceptual model to get a deeper understanding of their relation to each other. This model was reconstructed once the empirical findings were analysed due to new findings. The revised model contributes to research on relationship marketing and technology acceptance. The findings show that Athics key account managers have a positive attitude towards using 3D Virtual Prototypes and intend to use it once Athics implements this new technology. They believe that 3D Virtual Prototypes can affect relationship strength directly and perceive it as useful in creating long-lasting relationships with their business-to-business customers. However, the study’s result shows that relationship performance will only be affected by sales performance. Implying that 3D Virtual Prototypes can still be perceived as useful but from a different cause. Moreover, the study’s result shows that by implementing 3D virtual prototypes customers will get more involved in the process of developing a shoe. Therefore, we consider customer involvement as a new finding and an important factor in relationship marketing when implementing a new digital tool. The key account managers perceive the digital tool to be more useful towards larger accounts due to their innovative and collaborative side. Smaller accounts are more challenging since they express a more conservative mindset by being less collaborative and perceive innovations as a higher risk.

This multiple case study focuses on the customer relationship management (CRM) processes and the management of customer data within two international business-to-business (B2B) companies based in the southern parts of Sweden.  This study explores and compares these companies’ approaches to CRM in today’s era of social media and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A qualitative research method in the form of 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted and later analyzed through coding using grounded theory.   The findings of this study show that the companies studied work in both different and similar ways when it comes to CRM, with one having recently implemented a new CRM system while the other relies on their enterprise resource (ERP) system for the same purposes. Neither company are proactively using social media and although both companies have taken action to adapt to the new rules set by the GDPR, neither seem to know exactly how it works. Through its theoretical-, managerial-, as well as social policy implications, this study contributes to the existing research on CRM in a B2B context by providing a contemporary perspective which takes into account the influence of social media and the GDPR.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on viral advertising and study the conditions under which ads become viral, how they are intentionally transmitted by consumers to their social network and their relationship with classical advertising variables, such as attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intention of the consumer. We first analyze studies focusing on different aspects of the viral communication, "electronic word-of-mouth", "word-of-mouse", "viral marketing" and "buzz" in order to clarify the concept of viral advertising. After clarifying the viral advertising concept, the project analyzes the viral process and its main antecedents and influencers, by taking into consideration emotional and ad appeals theories. The results show that ad appeals influence attitude toward the ad and viral intentions, with humor being the most significant appeal in the context of viral advertising. The study also focuses on the social aspects of advertising and consumption , including influential differences related to the source of the message, social influencers analyzed in the socialization literature, such as family and peers, the tie strength element from the social network theory and consumer market maven traits. The findings show the significance of family communication and market maven characteristics in relation to consumers' viral intentions. We then integrate our key variable, viral intentions, in a classical advertising framework based on attitudes theory and their influence on behavioral intentions. The results confirm previously studied relationships between attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intentions. / The findings bring into attention two key new relationships: the significant effect of attitude toward the brand on viral intentions, and the positive relationship between viral intentions and purchase intentions, a very important relationship for marketing research the viral advertising concept, analyzes its key antecedents, and studies the relationship between attitudes and behavioral intentions in a viral advertising context. The paper also establishes a key positive relationship between viral intentions and purchase intentions regarding the advertised product. / by Maria Petrescu. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Influencer marketing is today a well-known marketing strategy used by many companies and the phenomenon is growing day by day. This is mostly a strategy with the spotlight on how the company can reach their consumers through famous people on social medias, not with focus on what relationship is created between all the parties. This study has the purpose to create a better understanding of how influencers use a marketing communication strategy to build a relationship with their target groups. To delimitate the research the focus will be on Instagram as a platform for influencers to work on. To get an answer on the purpose, a qualitative case study consisting of three interviews with influencers, together with three complementary content studies have been executed. The theories used in the study are influencer marketing along with a marketing communication strategy and relationship marketing model. These are the foundation and the theoretical framework for the study and used to investigate the influencer - follower relationship from the perspective of the influencer. The collected data presents a result that shows that influencers are concerned about their relationship to the followers and are dedicated to improve this. They all see a meaningful gain in creating a long-term relationship with respect and trust shown from both parties. The influencers are in some ways conscious about their usage of marketing communication strategies and in some ways not. We can see similarities and differences between all the influencers regarding all theories. The differences can depend on various nationalities among the respondents and inequality in the number of followers. As a conclusion and theoretical contribution from this study we claim that several parts of the marketing communication strategy used can have a direct impact on specific parts of the relationship marketing model used in this research. Influencers and companies who are aware of these factors may have a bigger chance of success.

Este estudo tem como objetivo entender como a dinâmica do relacionamento entre duas empresas é afetada por fatores internos e externos à mesa de negociação. Interdisciplinar, a pesquisa convergiu as contribuições de diversas literaturas, notadamente marketing de relacionamento e negociação, para poder lidar com a complexidade dos dados empíricos coletados. Através de um estudo de caso único, baseado na relação diádica entre um fornecedor e um canal do varejo alimentício brasileiro, foram analisados os fatores que levaram um relacionamento interorganizacional estável por décadas a se deteriorar em apenas dois anos. Os resultados encontrados apontam para o fortalecimento da concorrência e o conflito intradepartamental na empresa fornecedora como os principais motivos da migração para um estado relacional danificado. O histórico positivo do relacionamento se mostrou insuficiente para ajudar na recuperação do relacionamento, assim como a utilização da estratégia de compromisso pelos negociadores. A importância de distinguir em estudos as diferentes formas de conflito é ressaltada pela conclusão da pesquisa. Ao final do trabalho, implicações gerenciais derivadas das conclusões são apresentadas. / The present study aims at understanding how the relationship dynamic between two companies is affected by both internal and external factors to the negotiation table. Interdisciplinary, the research converged the contribution from several literatures, such as relationship marketing and negotiation, in order to deal with the empirical data complexity. Through a case study based on the dyadic relation between a supplier and a channel from Brazilian food retail, the research analyzed the factors that led a solid, long lasting interorganizational relationship to deteriorate into a damaged state in just two years. The results point to a strengthening of the competition and intradepartmental conflict as the main reasons of the migration to a damaged relationship state. The positive relationship history proved to be insufficient to aid in the recovery of the relationship, such as compromising. The importance of distinguishing different types of conflict when studying this phenomenon is highlighted by the study\'s conclusion, and managerial implications to channel management practice are presented.

Este estudo aborda a adequação do Marketing de Relacionamento (MR) ao mercado de bens duráveis que, por definição, apresenta baixa taxa de recompra e interação entre cliente e empresa. O tema é relevante dado que o MR é pouco explorado nesse campo ao contrário dos serviços e negócios entre empresas (business to business), mercados com alto grau de recompra e/ou interações entre empresa e cliente. A proposta do estudo é verificar se e como o MR pode ser aplicado ao mercado de bens duráveis, a partir do entendimento do próprio MR, da cadeia produtiva de um mercado de bem durável e da atuação de uma empresa nesse mercado. Para se atingir os objetivos do estudo foi realizado um estudo de caso no mercado imobiliário residencial. A apresentação do caso está dividida em quatro partes principais: a parte introdutória discute a atuação da empresa em relação a diversos tópicos de marketing; a segunda parte descreve a cadeia produtiva da indústria da construção civil residencial; a terceira parte discute a natureza do produto imobiliário; e a quarta parte sumariza os principais pontos do programa de relacionamento com o cliente da empresa estudada no caso. Como resultados, descobriu-se que o mercado estudado é diferente de outros mercados de bens duráveis, principalmente pelo fato dos imóveis serem intangíveis no momento da venda. Além disso, os processos da cadeia produtiva da indústria da construção civil residencial se mostraram propícios para a aplicação do MR, pois os clientes dessa indústria são obrigados a se relacionar com a empresa durante o período de construção. Soma-se a esse fato o interesse do cliente em manter um relacionamento com a empresa, devido ao alto grau de envolvimento verificado na compra de imóveis. Ademais, a venda de um imóvel na planta apresenta características de serviços, campo em que o MR já é consolidado e, de forma complementar, a complexidade do processo de compra, recebimento e utilização do imóvel cria diversos encontros entre os clientes e as partes envolvidas, oportunidades para as empresas do setor criarem e cultivarem os relacionamentos. / The subject of this study concerns the relationship marketing applied to the durable goods market that presents, by definition, a low rate of repurchase and interaction between industry and clients. It becomes a relevant subject due to the fact that relationship marketing it is not well explored in this field unlike the services and business to business markets, that are well known by their high rate of repurchase and/or interactions. The proposition of this study is to verify if and how the relationship marketing can be applied to the durable goods market, from the understanding of the relationship marketing theory, of the production chain of the durable good market, and the operation of an industry of this segment. To accomplish the goals a case study in the residential real estate market was used. It is shown in four parts: the introductory part demonstrates how the company studied manages marketing, the second part shows how the production chain of the residential real estate market works, the third one discuss the nature of the real estate industries product, and finally, the fourth part summarizes the relationship marketing program of one big player of this market. The conclusions showed that the residential real estate market works differently from others durable goods, mainly due to the intangibility of the real estate under construction at the sales moment. And Also that the processes of the production chain of the residential real estate industry provide an extremely favorable environment for the application of the relationship marketing, because the clients of this industry are obligated to keep a relationship with the company during the construction time and the fact that the purchase of a real estate is a high involvement type turns the clients more interested in a relationship than ever. Other factor that contributed to support the findings were the fact that the selling of a residential real estate presents the services characteristics, field where the relationship market is consolidated and finally the complexity of the purchase, receive and use process creates many encounters between the clients and the other parts involved, opportunities for the companies of the sector to start and cultivate a relationships with the customers.

Este estudo aborda a relação entre o marketing de relacionamento e a competitividade no mercado empresarial. O tema é enfocado a partir de uma revisão teórica, considerando três tópicos: 1 marketing estratégico e competitividade, 2 marketing empresarial e 3 marketing de relacionamento, os quais dão origem às questões investigativas a serem analisadas. A pesquisa de campo, de natureza qualitativa, utiliza o método de estudo de caso único, seguindo o processo de construção proposto por Eisenhardt (1989, p.533). O estudo de caso analisa a subsidiária brasileira da empresa multinacional, em sua unidade produtora de defensivos agrícolas, que possui, desde 1998, o programa de relacionamento com o agricultor. O caso aponta alguns fatores externos e internos relacionados ao uso do marketing de relacionamento no mercado empresarial. Os fatores analisados levam a empresa a adotar uma estratégia de ida ao mercado baseada em uma atitude diferenciada para com os clientes de maior valor, como é o caso dos agricultores participantes do programa. A implantação do marketing de relacionamento para esses clientes se baseia em um atendimento diferenciado e na oferta de benefícios relacionados ao aumento da produtividade do agricultor ao longo do tempo, safra após safra. O trabalho finaliza com uma proposta de sistematização dos fatores, externos e internos, que induzem ao uso do marketing de relacionamento no mercado empresarial. / The subject of this study concerns the relationship between competitive strategies and relationship marketing inside the business-to-business market. The subject is reviewed theoretical considering three topics: 1 strategic marketing and competitive strategy; 2 business-to-business marketing and 3 relationship marketing. These topics were analyzed during the field research. This study is based on a qualitative research, following the process of building theory from case study research proposed by Eisenhardt (1989, p. 533). This case study analyses the crop protection division of a Brazilian subsidiary of a multinational enterprise, which counts with a customer relationship program since 1998. The Case indicated some external and internal factors related to the use of relationship marketing in the business-to-business market. These factors allow the company to define a go to market strategy based on treating different customers in different ways, as the company is developing the Program. In this case, relationship marketing is implemented by offering benefits that helps to increase productivity to the farmer, with an personalized service, internal support, time after time. This study proposes in the end a scheme that point the external factors and internal factors related with the adoption from relationship marketing in business-to-business industry.

O aumento da competição global tem aumentado os custos associados à atração de novos consumidores, impondo às empresas o desafio de mudar sua forma de atuação perante seus exigentes consumidores a fim de mantê-los. Diante desse desafio, este trabalho visa aprofundar o estudo do relacionamento entre a empresa e o cliente, identificando em que consiste o gerenciamento de churn e seu papel para a melhoria de ações de marketing para reter clientes. No intuito de alcançar o objetivo proposto, realizou-se uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre o assunto, seguida de uma pesquisa de campo com abordagem qualitativa do tipo exploratória a partir de estudos de casos múltiplos em organizações de serviços do setor de telecomunicações no Brasil. A pesquisa de campo foi norteada pelo protocolo que abordou, entre outros pontos, os critérios de escolha dos casos, o roteiro de entrevistas e a forma de análise dos dados coletados. A escolha do setor foi motivada tanto por sua representatividade em nível nacional e internacional, quanto pelas mudanças que vem enfrentando na sua estrutura de competição, principalmente após os processos de privatização. Além disso, a indústria de telecomunicações é especialmente rica para este estudo, visto que suas empresas estão especialmente voltadas ao gerenciamento do churn. Os resultados obtidos ajudaram a compreender o processo de gerenciamento de churn, como este está inserido na gestão das empresas e suas aplicações. Nota-se seu papel no auxilio à identificação dos consumidores mais propensos a abandonar a empresa, assim como daqueles que ela deseja atrair e reter para ser capaz de desenvolver práticas eficientes e lucrativas. As limitações deste trabalho são fundamentalmente associadas à metodologia da pesquisa de campo. Além disso, colocam-se como possibilidades para desdobramentos futuros a condução de pesquisas quantitativas que visem testar, mensurar e avaliar os resultados do gerenciamento e pesquisas para compreender o impacto ambiental em suas práticas e resultados. / The rise in global competition has increased costs related to attracting new consumers, bringing companies the challenge of changing their behavior towards their ever more demanding clients in order to keep them. To assist in this challenge, this paper aims to deepen the studies regarding the company and the client, identifying what is considered churn management and its role to improve marketing actions to capture clients. With the aim of achieving the proposed goal, a bibliographic research was conducted as well as a qualitative field research in the exploratory type, which through multiple case studies, in organizations of the telecommunications sector, within Brazilian context. The field research was directed by a protocol and approached the criteria to choose the cases to be studied, the interviewing script and the form of analysis of the information gathered. The choice for this sector was driven for its national and international representation as well as for the changes the sector has been undergoing especially after its privatization. Moreover, the sector is specially recommended for the study as its companies are especially concerned with churn management. The obtained results helped understand the churn management process and how this is input in business administration and its applications. We can note its role in helping to identify consumers who are more likely to abandon the company and to identify the consumers the company wishes to attract and capture to be able to develop the necessary actions. The limitations of this paper are relative to the methodology of the field research. Besides this, conducting quantitative research which aims to test, measure and evaluate the results of management as well as to comprehend the environmental impact, the business model in practice and its results is considered for future studies.

Em um mercado cada vez mais competitivo como o de telefonia celular pós-paga as organizações modernas estão em constante busca por lucratividade e crescimento contínuo. Nesse sentido, a retenção dos clientes atuais e a busca por fidelidade tornam-se pauta de discussões acadêmicas e empresariais. No estudo dessa fidelidade, a academia se divide em duas correntes: a primeira defensora da satisfação como antecessor necessário da lealdade e a segunda, da lealdade como elemento independente da satisfação. O presente trabalho buscou aclarar esses conceitos, com definição dos termos e principais pensamentos. Por meio de pesquisa realizada junto aos consumidores de telefonia celular pós-paga, verificou-se a avaliação desse público quanto à satisfação, vínculo, imagem da operadora, bem como a manutenção ou não desse relacionamento. / In a competitive market as the mobile post paid, the modern companies are in a constant search for profitability and growth. In that sense, the consumer retention and the study of loyalty become topics into the agendas of the academics and the business discussions. Through the study of the consumer´s loyalty the academics are divided in two different ideas: the first one defends the satisfaction as a prior to the loyalty and, for the defenders of the second idea, the loyalty is an independent element from the satisfaction. The current paper tried to dig into these concepts, with the definition of the main terms and thoughts. By researches made with the mobile post paid consumers, the evaluation of topics such as satisfaction, link, image and the capacity to keep the relationship.

The ability to understand the individuals that we deal with on a daily basis can give anyone who focuses on this knowledge a competitive advantage in today's business world. In today's fast paced and globally expanding business world, it is critical to explore innovative approaches that will facilitate the process and time it typically takes to establish business relationships. When it is imperative to quickly create a business relationship between individuals that are unknown to each other, identifying the city or region of the individual with whom a relationship is being formed and understanding that culture will help build a common ground which will facilitate and enhance the newly established working relationship. This paper shows how this can be achieved. / by Walter N. Burton. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2008. Mode of access: World Wide Web.