Ebook Relationship marketing strategy

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Ebook Relationship marketing strategy presents the following content: Marketing Strategies that Build Customer Commitment and Loyalty; Foundations of Relationship Marketing Strategy; Exploratory Study of Consumer Preference Towards Common Relationship Marketing Tactics;...

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Relationship Marketing Strategy By Patricia Sorce, Ph.D. Professor, College of Business Rochester Institute of Technology A Research Monograph of the Printing Industry Center at RIT September 2002 No. PICRM-2002-04 Rochester Institute of Technology College of Imaging Arts and Sciences 55 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY 14623 Phone: (585) 475-2733 Fax: (585) 475-7279 http://print.rit.edu
Digital Color— Where is the Market? By Barbara A. Pellow Gannett Distinguished Professor, School of Print Media Franziska Frey, Ph.D. Professor, School of Print Media Patricia Sorce, Ph.D. Professor, College of Business A Research Monograph of the Printing Industry Center at RIT Rochester Institute of September 2002 Technology No. PICRM-2002-02
Relationship Marketing Strategy By Patricia Sorce, Ph.D. Professor, College of Business Rochester Institute of Technology A Research Monograph of the Printing Industry Center at RIT Rochester, NY September 2002 PICRM-2002-04 © 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT— All rights reserved. i
With Than k s The research agenda of the Printing Industry Center at RIT and the publication of research findings are supported by the following organizations: Rochester Institute of Technology Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Adobe Systems Incorporated Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. Creo Inc. RR Donnelley Heidelberg hp indigo IBM Printing Systems Kodak Polychrome Graphics MAN Roland Inc. MeadWestvaco Corporation NexPress Solutions LLC NPES VIGC Weyerhaeuser Xeikon America Inc. Xerox Corporation ii
Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................. 3 Introduction ....................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Marketing Strategies that Build Customer Commitment and Loyalty........................................ 7 Chapter 2: Foundations of Relationship Marketing Strategy ...................................................... 11 Chapter 3: Exploratory Study of Consumer Preference Towards Common Relationship Marketing Tactics........................................................ 15 Chapter 4: Technology Requirements for Relationship Marketing .............................................................. 21 Works Cited...................................................................................... 25 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 1
2 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
Abst ract The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of relationship marketing strategy on the demand for customized communication through printing. Though many marketing executives report that they are using a relationship marketing strategy, this has not resulted in high demand for variable data printing. Is it a failure of strategy or a failure of implementation? Two exploratory studies are pre- sented to answer this question. First, the foundations of relationship marketing strategy are presented. In particular, the central role of loyalty is discussed as the mediating factor in building relationships with customers. Using the concepts of brand equity, value equity and retention equity as presented in the Customer Equity model designed by Rust, Zeithaml and Lemon, it will be argued that to build retention equity common to most relationship marketing programs, marketers need to understand the relationship from the customer’s point of view. An exploratory study of 160 adults was conducted to determine their preferences for common relationship marketing tactics such as receiving mail from businesses they patronize, getting e-mail notices of sales, joining frequent buyer programs, and use of customer service phone lines. The results indicated that catalogs and direct marketing were viewed very favorably by the respondents. Commercial e-mail messages were viewed somewhat less favorably. There was not a high level of inter- est in frequent buyer programs. A factor analysis revealed that these preferences combined to form four dimensions representing the different forms of media to communicate with customers: printed mail, e-mail, telemarketing, and face-to-face service. Relationship marketing strategies will be successful if customer communication preferences are part of the customer profile database of a firm. The second exploratory study addresses whether there are infrastructure or implementation barriers to capturing and using this customer feedback. Interviews with executives from an advertising agency, a large printing company that produces direct mail, and an executive from a customer relationship management software company were conducted to determine what are the barriers to implementing personalized print campaigns using variable data? The results indicated that many of their business clients were not able to implement these campaigns because: 1. Their internal databases were inadequate. 2. There were a small number of businesses cases where this level of personalization was cost effective. 3. There was an overall lack of awareness of the range of marketing automation possible with today’s digital printing technology. These barriers must be overcome in order for variable data printing to meet its potential. Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 3
4 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
Introduction It is estimated that 60 percent of the volume The first chapter of this monograph will pres- printed by commercial printers is produced ent the marketing strategy trends in the last to support the advertising needs of busi- decade which are intended to build customer ness (Romano 41). The choice of advertising commitment and loyalty. Success of these communication vehicle is driven by the market- programs is dependent on both how loyalty ing strategy of a firm. For printers to flourish in is defined and the business context in which today’s crowded commercial media market, they it is applied. Chapter 2 will present the theo- must understand the marketing strategy goals of retical foundations of relationship marketing their clients and help them use the appropriate and the importance of interdependence and print media tool to achieve these goals. interactive communication between partners in the commercial relationship. Marketing The purpose of this monograph is to examine theory provides a context to correct the criti- one popular strategy: relationship marketing. cisms of relationship marketing practice that Relationship marketing is based on creating a have emerged. The ‘cure’ for poor practice is to mutually beneficial exchange between business understand the customer’s view of the relation- partners. This often requires personal communi- ship. Chapter 3 of the monograph will present cation with the customer. Digital printing, with the results of an exploratory study that attempts its high speed personalizing capabilities, is a logi- to measure the consumer’s view of the market- cal choice for advertisers wishing to pursue this ing tactics used to build relationships. The strategy. If product manufacturers can build and last chapter will look to the requirements for maintain relationships with customers through implementing such a strategy and some of the print communications, then they will buy print barriers that must be overcome. media advertising. This monograph is written for marketing But relationship marketing strategy is not a silver practitioners and is designed to communicate: bullet. There are many examples of the failure of marketing programs designed to build loyalty. • What are the different types of loyalty If done improperly, the relationship marketing and under what conditions does strategy will not achieve the goals of the client building brand loyalty make sense? firm. One strategy is not appropriate for all marketing programs. In what situations should • What are the attributes of business-to- the strategy be used? What applications are most customer relationship interactions? appropriate? If interaction with the customer is a requisite part of the relationship marketing • What data should we capture from program, what information should the client customers to make relationship firm be capturing from its customers and how marketing programs successful? should it be used to shape future communica- tions? In order to help the client firm implement • What technology barriers must be a relationship marketing strategy, the printer overcome to implement a successful should understand these questions within the relationship marketing strategy? context of relationship marketing theory and the buyer behavior research that supports it. Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 5
6 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
Chapter 1: Marketing Strategies that Build Customer Commitment and Loyalty The objective of many marketing strategies in ered through the sales force. With the growth the last 10 years has been building the custom- of marketing databases and the Internet, the er’s commitment to a brand or a dealer. This ability to reach customers individually became has taken three forms: a viable strategy for a wide range of firms including consumer products companies. • Creating customer satisfaction - delivering superior quality products The growth in relationship marketing was and services (Gale and Chapman). fueled by the writings of management consul- tants. In 1993, Don Peppers and Martha • Building brand equity - the sum Rogers published The One-to-One Future. of the intangible assets of a brand. Taking inspiration from mass customization Factors that contribute to this are: manufacturing technologies and applying name awareness, perceived qual- them to marketing communications, Peppers ity, brand loyalty, the associations and Rogers encouraged a one-to-one focus consumers have towards the brand, on “share of customer” rather than the mass- trademarks, packaging, and marketing marketer’s “share of market.” This was based channel presence (Aaker 17). on the marketer’s ability to communicate a unique message to the customers based on • Creating and maintaining relation- the company’s knowledge of their interests. ships (Peppers and Rogers). They claimed that this one-to-one interaction with customers would lead to improved life- Success with any of these strategies will result in time value. high levels of repeat purchase, insulation from price increases and improved responsiveness to Frederick Reichheld further developed the marketing communications by customers. importance of building customer commitment in his 1996 book The Loyalty Effect. He There has been an evolution of marketing focused on the cost of customer defection thought and activity over this last decade. and set the stage for the problem by claim- Initially, the quality movement placed custom- ing “many major corporations now lose and er satisfaction as the ultimate goal of marketing have to replace half their customers in five programs. However, as satisfied customers were years [...]” (Reichheld 1). Using examples shown to defect to other brands or providers at from financial service companies, advertising relatively high rates, strategists looked to creat- agencies, and manufacturing firms, Reichheld ing a greater commitment with the customer. claimed that even small improvements in Two ways to achieve this were to build brand customer retention can as much as double equity (primarily for consumer products) and company profits. This is because: to build relationships (primarily for industrial products.) Brand equity used mass media 1. It costs less to serve long-term advertising, corporate citizenship and public customers. events sponsorship to build a brand image. Relationship marketing sought to build inter- 2. Loyal customers will pay a price dependence between partners and relied on premium. one-to-one communications, historically deliv- Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 7
Chapter 1 3. Loyal customers will generate word- ed that there was little evidence to suggest that of-mouth referrals to other prospec- steady purchasers will generate the most profit. tive customers. However, when Reinartz and Kumar redefined However, given the failure of many informa- loyalty, their results supported the loyalty tion technology investments to achieve the effect. Their original definition specified only expected benefits, concerns about relationship the behavioral dimension of loyalty - that is, marketing strategy are emerging. The section repeat purchase within a specified time frame. that follows addresses the questions of whether However, when they included customer atti- loyal customers are more profitable and under tudes such as whether they felt loyal to the what conditions a loyalty strategy is appropriate. company, whether they were satisfied and whether they had an interest in switching brands or service providers, the loyalty effect emerged. They called this “thought and deed ARE LOYAL CUSTOMERS loyalty.” For example, grocery customers who MORE PROFITABLE? had strong thought and deed loyalty were 120 Recent research has empirically investigated percent more profitable than those that were the premise that loyal customers are actually repeat purchasers. In the corporate services more profitable. Reinartz and Kumar tested company, thought and deed customers were 50 the claims that loyal customers were less costly percent more profitable than customers defined to serve, were usually willing to pay more for by just by purchase frequency or recency. brand choices than non-loyal customers, and acted as word-of-mouth marketers for the The facilitating effect of loyalty on achiev- company (87). In their five-year study of the ing the marketing outcomes of higher market costs of doing business with key customers, share and premium pricing was confirmed in they measured direct product costs, advertising another recent study. Chaudhuri and Holbrook and sales force expenses, and service and orga- measured consumers’ attitudes towards 107 nizational expenses in serving annual cohorts brands in 41 different product categories (86). of customers in four businesses. Loyal custom- They differentiated between a consumer’s ers were defined as those who made regular purchase loyalty (“I will buy this brand again”) purchases for at least 2 years. They found that and attitudinal loyalty (“I am committed to the correlation between profitability and loyalty this brand”). These attitudes were averaged was weak to moderate: over the survey responses to develop brand- level data (that is, the brand was the unit of Correlation observation.) These observations were merged Company with data collected from brand and product Coefficient managers regarding the current market share US mail order firm .20 of the brand, share of voice, relative price German and perceived differentiation among compet- .29 ing brands. The results showed that purchase brokerage firm loyalty was positively related to market share Corporate service .30 but not relative price of brand. That is, brands provider that had higher ratings on statements such as “I will buy this brand again” had higher market French food retailer .45 shares but were not the premium price brand in the market. Conversely, attitudinal loyalty For example, in the corporate service firm, was related to relative price but not market the cost of their loyalty program was about $2 share. That is, brands that had higher ratings million per year but the most loyal customers on statements such as “I am committed to this barely generated a profit in the five-year time brand” were able to charge higher prices than frame of study. Their most profitable customers those brands that received lower ratings on atti- were those that had a short but intense buying tudinal loyalty. This higher consumer commit- experience with the firm. The authors conclud- ment, however, was not related to differences in 8 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
C h a pter 1 market share. The study confirms that higher system that rewards brand patronage. Examples levels of loyalty are correlated with positive include fan clubs, alumni associations, and marketing outcomes but that different defini- lifestyle products such as Harley Davidson tions of loyalty had selected effects on either motorcycles. Achieving consumer loyalty via market share or price premiums. immersed self-identity, though, may prove to be the rarest form of loyalty. Oliver lists the In conclusion, the results confirm that creat- requirements for this state to occur: ing customer commitment can be effective in achieving business goals. Moreover, consumer 1. The product must be perceived as commitment cannot be defined by repurchase superior by a large enough segment behavior alone. Rather, the consumer’s atti- of the firm’s customers in order to be tude toward the brand or firm must be known profitable. in order to understand consumer repurchase behavior. This leads to the second concern that 2. The product must be subject to has been raised in implementing loyalty strate- adoration (or focused commitment). gies: what are the different types of loyalty and in what situations are they likely to occur. 3. The product must have the ability to be embedded in a social network. 4. The firm must be willing to expend WHAT IS LOYALTY AND resources to create the village. WHEN DOES IT OCCUR? Knowing the buying motivations of customers Oliver concludes that, for many consumer has been an important part of understanding product categories, achieving this emotional customer loyalty and brand switching behavior commitment by customer is unattainable. (Jacoby and Chestnut; van Trijp, Hoyer, and There should be different loyalty strategies for Inman 283). Brand loyalty has three compo- different industries. Empirical work to demon- nents: commitment, preference and repeat strate this was presented by two McKinsey purchase (Oliver 35). Oliver describes four researchers, Stephanie Coyles and Tim Gokey. levels of loyalty based on these components: Using data from a two-year study on 1200 households regarding the purchase of 16 types 1. Cognitive – one brand is preferable of products and services, they defined three based on superior brand attributes. loyalty segments: 2. Affective – liking towards brand has • Emotive loyalists were the most loyal. developed over the course of multiple They feel their current alternative is the purchase situations that were satisfying. best for them and rarely reassess their purchases. This group often spends 3. Conative – Affective stage with the more money than those consumers express intention to re-buy. who deliberate over purchases. 4. Action – Conative stage plus the • Inertial loyalists are uninvolved with active desire to overcome situational the product, or experience high switch- influences and marketing efforts ing costs, and this leads to inaction and that may have the potential to cause repeat purchase based on inertia. switching behavior. • Deliberative loyalists maintain their On reaching the action phase, the customer spending levels for brands because possesses a deep commitment to repurchase they feel it is superior. They have but also is active in blocking the influence of selected the brand through a ratio- alternative brands. Oliver claims that action- nal process such as reviewing the level loyalty will be created when consumers price and performance of the various intentionally immerse themselves in a social options. They often reassess their Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 9
Chapter 1 purchases in light of new information • How often purchases are made and alternatives to find the new, better alternative. • The frequency of other kinds of inter- actions such as service calls • (A fourth group of consumer that valued variety was found for indus- • The emotional or financial impor- tries such as fashion and package tance of a purchase goods. Though beyond the scope of this paper, packaging printing appli- • The degree of differentiation among cations may play the primary role in competitors offerings the marketing communication mix of these industries.) • Ease of switching. The deliberative loyalist group is the largest, They concluded that repurchase behavior is representing about 40 percent of the sample determined by a number of factors that are in the McKinsey study. However, the propor- unique to different industries. One loyalty tion of people in each segment varied widely strategy should not fit all situations. by product category. The highest proportion of emotive loyalists was found for soft drinks In conclusion, the loyalty marketing strategy (40%) and laundry soap (30%) products. The recommended should vary by industry. Research highest proportion of deliberative loyalists was from both academic and consulting worlds found for apparel (69%), groceries (56%), conclude that “emotional loyalty,” the pinnacle and auto insurance (53%). For some product of loyalty where the customer resists the influ- categories, such as credit cards and long distance ence of other brand offers, is not a realistic telephone service, there were relatively similar goal for many marketers. Moreover, achieving proportions of consumers in each category. For attribute superiority required for a deliberative example, 34 percent of credit card customers loyalty strategy is difficult to pursue for product were classified deliberative, 21 percent as inertial categories where there is little differentiation and 22 percent as emotive. For long distance, among brands (Dillon, et al. 416). For business- 24 percent were deliberative, 25 percent were es where there is not a ‘village’ or where there inertial and 32 percent were emotive. is little differentiation among brand attributes, creating an environment with high switching Coyles and Gokey concluded that these loyalty costs to create inertial loyalty may be the only patterns are influenced by five structural factors viable strategy to create customer commitment. within an industry: Inertial loyalty plays a major role in relationship marketing strategy. 10 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
Chapter 2: Foundations of R e l a t i o n s h i p Marketing Strategy The current conceptualization of relation- fied by long-term, close, and intense interac- ship marketing migrated from organizational tions between relatively symmetric (in terms behavior and industrial marketing where of power) partners. These relationships have interdependence between firms has been the had the longest history of study by marketers, foundation of successful business-to-business which has resulted in a rich and well-developed alliances. Morgan and Hunt define relationship theory to describe them. In their review of the marketing as all marketing activities directed literature, Iacobucci and Hibbard reinforce towards establishing, developing, and main- the importance of commitment, trust, and taining successful relational exchanges (21). interdependency in understanding business In their definitions of these key constructs, relationships. These factors relate to the quality Morgan and Hunt draw from social and clini- of relationship interactions and their definitions cal psychology, namely, social exchange theory, are presented in Table 1. and the marriage literature. In their model, commitment and trust are the key mediating The second type of relationship examined by variables because they encourage exchange Iacobucci and Hibbard is the interpersonal partners to preserve relationship investments, commercial relationships (ICR): the interac- resist attractive short-term alternatives, and tions between a service firm and the final maintain the belief that partners will not act customer. These include business-to-business opportunistically. relationships (such as those between an adver- tising agency and its clients) and retail transac- Morgan and Hunt describe 10 discrete forms of tions between a sales agent and a customer. The relationships, and almost all (8 out of the 10) service quality literature has studied these latter were typical of the relationships that firms have relationships and built theory around them with their suppliers, strategic partners, employ- (Berry and Parasuraman’s Marketing Services). Services ees, and among functional units within a firm. For the former, such as ICRs between attorneys Only two relationships described by Morgan and their clients or advertising agencies and and Hunt involve customers or clients – the their clients, the interactions occur between relationship between service providers such as two relatively symmetrical partners, are close advertising agencies and their clients and the and long term in nature, and may also include long-term relationships between service firms a social component. The outcomes of the qual- and their ultimate customers. Both of these ity of relationship interactions are satisfaction, assume a certain level of interdependence and profitability, positive evaluations of service history of interaction. Is relationship marketing provider, intentions to generate referrals, and only viable within these contexts? the ability to compromise or bargain fairly. The factors related to the quality of ICR relation- Iacobucci and Hibbard examine that question ship interactions are presented in Table 2. (13). They describe three types of relation- ships: business marketing relationships (BMR); interpersonal commercial relationships (ICR); and business-to-customer relationships (B- to-C). Business marketing relationships are those similar to the ones described by Morgan and Hunt where the relationships are typi- Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 11
Chapter 2 Business Marketing Definition Relationship Factors (Iacobucci and Hibbard pages noted) Implicit or explicit pledge of relational continuity between exchange partners; Commitment adoption of a long term orientation toward the relationship – a willingness to make short-term sacrifices to realize long term benefits (22). One party’s belief that its needs will be fulfilled in the future by the actions Trust undertaken by the other party (22). Contingent on presence of uncertainty. Ability of one party to get another party to undertake an activity that the other Power party would not normally do (23). Outcome of power and results when a party is successful in modifying its Control (part of partner’s behavior (23). power) Balance of Power Balance = symmetric power (part of power) Imbalance = hierarchical; one party has dictatorial abilities over the other (23). Interdependence Mutual state of dependence (24). Communication Formal and informal sharing of meaningful and timely information between firms (24). Similar or complementary coordinated actions taken by firms to achieve mutual Cooperation outcomes (24). Idiosyncratic Sunk costs that would not be recoverable in the event of a termination (24). Investments Functionality of dispute resolution stimulates more creative and effective Conflict Resolution partnerships (22). Table 1: Business Marketing Relationship Factors Interpersonal Definition Commercial (Iacobucci and Hibbard pages noted) Relationship Factors Communication Exchange of information (26). Similarities of Shared Similarities in preferences of apparent personality or demographic factors; Belief Systems similarities in goals and beliefs, social closeness (26). Competence and Capability of front line service providers such as service providers’ friendliness; Personal Factors same gender and physical attractiveness of provider (27). Absence of Conflict Ability to resolve disputes (27). Table 2: Interpersonal Commercial Relationship Factors 12 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
C h apter 2 The third relationship described by Iacobucci is the facilitator, the means to an end, and not and Hibbard is the business-to-customer rela- the end-goal itself for the customer. tionships (B-to-C). These are defined as largely technology-driven interactions between a busi- The notion of a consumer having a relation- ness and an individual customer. Iacobucci ship with a brand (rather than with a person or and Hibbard note that there is very sparse group of people) is the key component in the scientific research on these relationships. They brand equity construct mentioned in the first conclude that what we have learned from the chapter of this monograph. Keller views rela- BMR literature has limited application to the tionship with a brand as part of brand equity B-to-C world because the concepts of trust (14). These brand relationships are based on the and cooperation become meaningful if and degree of personal identification the consumer only if there is interdependence between the has with the brand and involve two dimensions exchange partners. The lack of interdepen- of attitudinal strength and a sense of commu- dence has been the focus of the criticism of nity (similar to Oliver’s notions of immersed relationship marketing practice. self-identity). But equating relationships between a customer RELATIONSHIP and a commercial firm to brand equity moves us far from the foundations of relationship MARKETING IN PRACTICE marketing as described early in this chapter. Fournier, Dobsha and Mick present a critical Moreover, Iacobucci and Hibbard view the perspective on relationship marketing practice. notion of a consumer’s relationship with a They question the actual amount of interactiv- brand as a psuedo-relationship — there is no ity between a customer and a commercial firm possibility of interdependence or interaction. (42). They warn that the premature death of According to a recent theory, the personal iden- customer relationship management (CRM) tification of a consumer with a brand is a sepa- is likely because, in exploiting the ability to rate construct from a customer’s relationship communicate one-to-one with a customer, the with a business. In the book by Rust, Zeithaml, majority of the firm-generated communication and Lemon, Driving Customer Equity, the three with customers is often one-way from the busi- constructs of brand equity, customer satisfac- ness to the customer. With a few notable and tion and customer relationships with firms are well-publicized exceptions such as Amazon.com used to define a new construct of customer and Cisco Systems, there is rarely any evidence equity. Customer equity includes: of interaction. That is, even if a consumer does communicate with the business, this informa- 1. Value equity – the customer’s objec- tion rarely impacts the nature of the future tive assessment of the utility of a communications from that business. brand. This assessment is driven by the product’s quality, price and The solution to reducing this conflict is to convenience. understand the relationship expectations from the customer’s point of view. To achieve this, 2. Brand equity – customer’s subjec- Fournier developed a model of CRM from the tive and intangible assessment of the consumer’s perspective building on the social brand built through image and mean- and marriage models of relationships. She ing. This assessment is influenced by presents six factors that define the relationships brand awareness, consumer’s attitude that customers can hold with brands. These are: toward the brand, and the firm’s intimacy, commitment, partner quality, attach- corporate citizenship. ment, interdependence, and love. She argues that business strategists should recast their 3. Retention equity – the tendency of conceptions of the relationship from a revenue the customer to “stick with” a brand generating and cost saving device (the goals of above and beyond the objective and the firm) into a vehicle to create meaning for subjective assessments. the customer with the brand. The relationship Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 13
Chapter 2 According to Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon, To achieve the goal of understanding the there are five drivers of retention equity (99). customer’s view of the commercial relationship, These are: marketers should understand the customer’s attitudes towards these programs. The next • Loyalty programs chapter presents an exploratory study on the relationship marketing tactics from the • Special recognition programs consumer’s point of view. • Affinity programs • Community programs • Knowledge-building programs. 14 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.
Chapter 3: Exploratory Study of Consumer Preference Towards Common Relationship Marketing Tactics The purpose of this exploratory study is to Respondents were asked to agree or disagree identify consumer preferences towards common with the following ten statements using 5- relationship marketing and communication point scale. tactics of businesses they patronize. If market- ers are going to ask consumers to be partners 1. I like the way some companies follow- in defining the exchange relationship, first we up with a phone call after a service is must know what interactions consumer like and performed. whether there are unique dimensions within these interaction preferences. 2. I like it when telemarketers address me by name, even if I have never done business with them before. METHOD Sample 3. If I don’t get a live person when I The sampled population was from the faculty phone a customer service line, I am and staff of Rochester Institute of Technology. disappointed. RIT faculty and staff were sent an e-mail message inviting them to participate in an 4. I like getting e-mail notices of airfare on-line survey about their relationships with sales for the cities I often travel to. businesses they patronize. Of the approxi- mately 1700 faculty and staff on the mailing 5. I like getting catalogs in the mail from list, 197 visited the site providing 160 usable stores I patronize. responses yielding a response rate of 9 percent. The gender and age demographic profile of 6. I like getting mail about new products the sample was: 55 percent of the respondents being introduced from companies I were women and 45 percent were men; 7 do business with. percent were 29 years of age or younger, 53 percent were age 30-49, and 40 percent were 7. I sign-up for as many ‘frequent buyer’ age 50 or older. memberships as I am offered. Questionnaire Design 8. I don’t want special treatment from The questionnaire was comprised of ten likert- a business I patronize; rather, I just scale items and three demographic questions. want good service. The likert-scale items were constructed based on the content analysis of a pilot study of 9. I prefer getting e-mail messages rather MBA students who were asked to identify the than US postal mail from companies I marketing communication tactics they liked do business with. and disliked from companies they felt they had a relationship with. The most frequently 10. I’d rather have a smile from a sales mentioned tactic they liked was notices of clerk than a frequent buyer member- sales and special offers. The most frequently ship card. mentioned tactic they disliked was too many telemarketing calls. Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved. 15
Chapter 3 Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Statement Neutral Agree Agree Disagree Disagree If I don’t get a live person when I phone a customer service line, I 54% 33% 7% 5% 1% am disappointed. I’d rather have a smile from a sales clerk than a frequent buyer 34 43 16 5 1 membership card. I like the way some companies follow -up with a phone call after 34 40 10 12 4 a service is performed. I like getting catalogs in the mail 30 52 8 6 4 from stores I patronize. I don’t want special treatment from a business I patronize; 28 48 8 15 1 rather, I just want good service. I like getting mail about new products being introduced from 24 42 17 10 6 companies I do business with. I prefer getting e-mail messages rather than US postal mail from 21 28 18 20 14 companies I do business with. I like getting e-mail notices of airfare sales for the cities I often 20 34 25 10 11 travel to. I sign-up for as many ‘frequent buyer’ memberships as I am 4 18 22 27 29 offered. I like it when telemarketers address me by name, even if I 2 6 11 16 65 have never done business with them before. Table 3: Percentage of Responses to Statements (n=160) 16 Copyright 2002 Printing Industry Center at RIT - All rights reserved.