B2B Setting Research Articles

The Coronavirus crisis in B2B settings: Crisis uniqueness and managerial implications based on social exchange theory

The current Coronavirus crisis is having disastrous effects for most B2B firms around the world. The decline in sales provokes intra-organizational and inter-organizational tension, requiring a new approach for managing firms' business operations. Particularly, the direct threat to human beings places the attention of managers on the individual. This study investigates the main differences between prior “traditional” financial-based crises and the practices that managers can adopt to navigate and survive the Coronavirus crisis from a social exchange theory (SET) view. The authors identify eight crisis-comparative dimensions to consider to successfully prevail: (1) formation, (2) focus, (3) temporality, (4) government jurisdiction, (5) preparedness, (6) normality, (7) business, and (8) operational deployment. In addition, the study results propose four intertwined areas to classify the managerial practices: (1) digital transformation, (2) decision-making processes, (3) leadership, and (4) emotions and stress.

Can firm innovativeness affect performance? The role of external involvement

This research attempts to complement ongoing discussions on the effects of firm innovativeness on performance and explain the role of external involvement in the relationship between firm innovativeness and performance in B2B settings. More importantly, we investigate the effect of supplier involvement, customer involvement, and the interaction of both in the process of innovativeness, and explain how customer involvement and supplier involvement take effects in B2B settings. Using the perspective of organizational information processing theory, we apply the hierarchical regression to examine the moderation effects of external involvement on the relationship between firm innovativeness and performance. Findings show that in B2B settings customer involvement strengthens the positive effects of firm innovativeness on performance, whereas supplier involvement weakens the positive effects of firm innovativeness on performance. We also find that the interaction of customer involvement and supplier involvement weakens the positive effects of firm innovativeness on performance in B2B settings. These conclusions contribute to the knowledge of external involvement and firm innovativeness in B2B settings, and provide theoretical contributions and managerial insights for both academics and practitioners.

Intention to Continue Relationship in B to B Setting – Case of Guinness Ghana Breweries – Some Preliminary Findings

ABSTRACT Relationship marketing serves the purpose of building a long-term relationship with business partners in order to minimize switching behavior and increase intention to continue business. This study assessed the relationships between relationship marketing practices of trust, commitment, relative dependence, customer satisfaction and perceived value as drivers to intention to continue business relationships under a B2B setting of GGCL. Hypotheses based on the literature were formulated. The study was a descriptive survey, and using convenience sampling techniques, data was collected from 248 businesses who were distributors of GGCL using questionnaire. The study findings demonstrated that a positive and significant relationship exists between commitment and intention to continue business, relative dependence and intention to continue business, customer satisfaction and intention to continue business, and distributor perceived value and intention to continue business. However, trust was found not to be significantly related intention to continue business uniquely, unless it was joined to other variables. Based on the findings, relative dependence was identified as an important antecedent of intention to continue business. Key relationship marketing strategies used by GGCL were identified to include customer engagement, interactivity, online trust, customer loyalty, advocacy, affective commitment and personalization. Customer engagement was the most agreed strategy according to the respondents, which makes it possible for the company to provide helpful information on Guinness’s social media link. The study recommends that GGCL should seek to increase distributors’ dependence by improving communications and making some relationship-specific investments.

Joining hands for the greater good: Examining social innovation launch strategies in B2B settings

The practice of forming brand alliances is common among companies in business-to-business (B2B) settings that seek to launch social innovations. Research evidence on the efficacy of such practice is, however, scarce. Based on the perspective of organizational buyers, we examine how social innovations should be launched by companies in B2B settings, whether through alliances with nonprofits or for-profits, or via independent ventures, across two experimental studies. Underpinned by the stereotype content model, we find that alliance launch strategies with nonprofits or for-profits result in greater purchase intentions, along with perceptions of warmth and competence, when compared to independent ventures. Further, we demonstrate that communicating societal benefits accruing from a social innovation favors an alliance launch strategy over an independent venture. Alliance strategies show comparable advantage to independent ventures when both societal and company-focused benefits are communicated. Our research advances knowledge on organizational buyers' evaluations of alliances and social innovations, the psychological mechanism underlying organizational buyers' evaluations of social innovations launch strategies, and in communication management. Our findings provide insights for companies seeking to launch social innovations, and guidelines on partner selection.

Market Share Contracts in B2B Procurement Settings with Heterogeneous User Preferences

Market share contracts, a form of loyalty discounts, where the discount is contingent on the buyer meeting or exceeding a target share of total procurement, are common in many B2B settings. We study the impact of such contracts on demand allocation, prices, and welfare in a setting where a single central B2B buyer procures multiple units of a product on behalf of a set of users with heterogeneous preferences. We find that regular (linear) pricing creates a demand distortion, which goes away with the use of market share contracts. These contracts serve as strategic tools for vendors with preferred products to shift the locus of competition and extract away rents from weaker rivals, and sometimes from buyers. The impact of such contracts on the welfare of the buyers is therefore ambiguous, but when these contracts are used, the overall surplus goes up as disutility from demand distortion is avoided. While similar in many respects, quantity threshold contracts cannot guarantee the avoidance of demand distortion when buyer demand is uncertain.

How to anticipate and manage customer satisfaction and brand loyalty by investigating emotional aspects in the B2B setting

How to anticipate and manage customer satisfaction and brand loyalty by investigating emotional aspects in the B2B setting

The impacts of customer involvement on the relationship between relationship quality and performance

PurposeThis paper aims to determine whether relationship quality should be measured as a disaggregated or as a composite construct, and investigate the causal relationship between relationship quality and customer involvement. The authors also explore the role of customer involvement in relationship quality-performance linkage in B2B settings.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on 214 Chinese manufacturers and uses the structural equation model to examine this conceptual model and hypotheses.FindingsAs a reflective second-order construct, relationship quality not only has positive effects on performance but also positively affects customer involvement. More importantly, customer involvement partially mediates the relationship between relationship quality and performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study only focuses on customer relationship, but neglects the supplier relationship.Practical implicationsWhen assessing the relationship quality with customers, suppliers must consider trust, commitment and investment dimensions simultaneously. In addition, to increase performance, suppliers must involve customers who are trusted and invested in training and logistics facility and then cooperate with them in new product design.Originality/valueThese findings contribute to this understanding on the relationship quality in B2B settings and provide theoretical contributions and managerial insights for both academics and practitioners.

Dynamic marketing capability – refining the concept and applying it to company innovations

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce dynamic marketing capability (DMC) as a construct relevant for business research and business practice, and to test its validity in relation to company product innovations and company agility.Design/methodology/approachThis study tests a hypothesized model using partial least squares structural equation modeling on data from a survey conducted with 155 companies based in Poland.FindingsThis study provides evidence that DMC facilitates company innovations in terms of their speed and market success. Thus, DMC complements other organizational capabilities that were previously found effective for new product development (NPD) with regard to intra- and inter-organizational processes. However, the influence of DMC on company innovation success is stronger in the case of companies that operate without the pressure to customize. Thus, this approach is more relevant for companies that provide standardized offerings and which target various customer segments, rather than companies that operate in customer niches or when their NPD processes are strongly orchestrated by their customers, e.g. in B2B sales within hierarchical supply chains.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited by the cross-sectional empirical setting in that one country is used to test the research hypotheses. Further studies may focus on the combined effects of DMC and other important organizational capabilities, for example, flexible manufacturing, and may provide a detailed picture of DMC development by applying a longitudinal approach and case studies.Practical implicationsGenerally, managers can use this research to rethink their corporate strategies. The study proposes a specific strategic approach to corporate innovativeness: companies may acquire meaningful market benefits through systematic reconfiguration of their marketing assets, combined with the introduction of new products. However, managers should analyze their business model and industrial setting to verify to what extent their companies operate in a context relevant for reconfiguring marketing resources. If the pressure for strong customization is high in the existing customer base, investing in DMC may not be relevant, as new offerings are rather customer tailored, i.e. designed by “big fish” buyers. On the other hand, many companies may leverage their innovations with DMC in both B2B and B2C settings, as long as they can provide standard solutions as their market offerings.Originality/valueThe study contributes to marketing theory in three ways. Firstly, the study conceptualizes DMC as a distinct dynamic capability aligned with dynamic capabilities view (from which DMC logically originates), and proposes how DMC is linked nomologically with company innovativeness and agility. Secondly, a measurement instrument for DMC and an empirical test for the model are both provided. Thirdly, the paper presents evidence that the link between DMC and product innovations becomes restricted in the presence of certain contingencies, specifically with regard to the so-called customization norm.

Cause-related marketing

PurposeCause-related marketing (CRM) focuses on the use of marketing tools to publicize a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Drawing on legitimacy theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of CRM-led CSR in international business-to-business (B2B) markets. In particular, the authors examine the relationship between supplier CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation and foreign customer business engagement in an international B2B setting. The authors also test how the foreign customer’s host-country sustainable development level moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect and analyze dyadic data from multiple sources including: dyadic data from a supplier and its 90 foreign customers; the supplier’s internal company records; and publically available data.FindingsThe authors find that supplier CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation positively affects foreign customer business engagement. Furthermore, the authors find that this positive relationship is stronger when host-country environments are characterized by achieving higher level of environmental well-being development. In contrast, this positive relationship is weaker when the foreign customer host-country environment is characterized by achieving higher level of economic well-being development.Originality/valueThe authors examine that impacts of CRM-led CSR in international B2B markets and differentiate the contingent roles of foreign customer host-country sustainable development in moderating such impacts.

Establishing thought leadership through social media in B2B settings: effects on customer relationship performance

PurposeEstablishing thought leadership by disseminating relevant digital content through social media has become one of the main priorities for marketers in business-to-business (B2B) settings. However, academic research has only recently started to address this phenomenon. In particular, researchers have not yet examined whether and how thought leadership positively influences a firm’s relationship with its customers. This paper aims to propose and test a model to explain how a firm’s thought leadership improves its customer relationship performance.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional research design was applied using covariance-based structural equation modeling to estimate the suggested model. Data were collected from a sample of 160 firms in different industries that create and share content on social media.FindingsThought leadership on social media positively influences brand performance and, in turn, customer relationship performance in B2B settings. Moreover, establishing thought leadership on social media results from specific thought leadership capabilities and is supported by social media capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThis study advances knowledge on social media thought leadership in B2B settings by proposing and testing a model that combines available insights from three distinct but interrelated B2B streams of studies: branding, social media marketing and thought leadership. Moreover, this study conceptualizes the effects of thought leadership, which is consistent with the relational nature of B2B settings. In fact, it explores thought leadership as a means to maintain and strengthen business relationships. However, further studies are needed to explore detailed strategies that affect the effectiveness of thought leadership.Practical implicationsThe results provide managers with evidence on the effectiveness of a thought leadership strategy. Establishing thought leadership on social media can help to nurture customer relationships over time. By sharing valuable content, suppliers can continuously demonstrate their cutting-edge competences and expertise, thus keeping their brand relevant to customers.Originality/valueThis is the first study to provide evidence of the benefits of social media thought leadership on customer relationships in B2B settings.

Co-creation: a B2C and B2B comparative analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to qualitatively analyze and compare people’s objectives when participating in two sets of co-creation initiatives – business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) – to what the theory in the field states about that participation.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach has been adopted; it uses laddering, a qualitative technique, in a novel manner through the analysis of an abstract product: the co-creation process.FindingsResults in B2C point to a disconnection between the motivation of participants and what the theory suggests that should be expected from a co-creation agenda. In the B2B setting, the disconnections are much smaller.Research limitations/implicationsThe research used small and narrow samples. Additionally, the research considers only the consumers’ perspective.Practical implicationsConsidering the context in which they compete (industrial or consumer market), companies must come up with better selection criteria for co-creators and must be more specific in setting and pursuing the goals of the co-creation projects. By doing so, organizations can achieve more fruitful results in those innovation initiatives.Originality/valueThe present study is innovative in the use of laddering to understand not a product nor a service, but a process: co-creation. The study reveals that, despite the buzz about co-creation, practical examples suggest that this process may not be as fruitful or satisfying as the theories suggest.

A Preliminary Study of Fintech Industry: A Two-Stage Clustering Analysis for Customer Segmentation in the B2B Setting

ABSTRACTThis practitioner note proposes a new approach considering two-stage clustering and LRFMP model (Length, Recency, Frequency, Monetary and Periodicity) simultaneously for customer segmentation and behavior analysis and applies it among the Iranian Fintech companies. In this practitioner note, the K-means clustering algorithm and LRFMP model are combined in the customer segmentation process. After initial clustering, for a better understanding of valuable customers, additional clustering is implemented in segments that needed further investigation. This approach contributes to a better interpretation of different customer segments. Customer segments, consisting of 23524 business customers are analysed based on their characteristics and appropriate strategies are recommended accordingly. The first stage clustering result shows that customers are best segmented into four groups. The first and fourth segments are clustered again and the final 11 groups of customers are determined. This note provides a systematic and practical approach for researchers and practitioners for segmentation, interpretation, and targeting of customers especially in the B2B setting and the Fintech industry and helps managers to make effective marketing strategies and enhance customer relationship and marketing intelligence.

Marketing role in B2B settings: evidence from advanced, emerging and developing markets

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine predicted business-to-business (B2B) marketing capabilities for the next three to five years by companies in advanced, emerging and developing economies. Findings The authors identify the prevalent marketing capabilities in industrial companies operating in an advanced economy (USA), two emerging economies (Chile and Peru) and one developing economy (Bolivia), consolidating the themes in firms’ orientations. The study offers a taxonomy of the marketing role in different stages as per country development. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative approach based on grounded theory. Originality/value This manuscript contributes to the understanding of B2B marketing across different levels of market development. The authors offer theoretical and practical implications regarding the paradigms reigning the role of marketing. The coding scheme emerging from the data illustrates how companies and markets evolve in a two-way interaction.

Openness and front end of innovation: does customer type matter?

PurposeThis paper aims to study the moderating effect of customer type (business customers versus private customers) on the link between two forms of openness (cross-industry networks and customer integration) and two front-end innovation outcomes (a creative idea and a product definition), in the context of radical innovations.Design/methodology/approachAn agreement was established with the Statistical Office of the Basque Government. This agreement enabled us to access a reliable list of innovative companies in the region that constituted our sample frame. Questionnaires were collected by phone. The response rate was 41.6%, which led to a sample size of 189 firms. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe study reveals that idea creativity is explained by different external drivers in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) settings. In B2B settings, customer integration is found to have no effect on idea creativity. For product definition, however, both the external drivers, namely, cross-industry networks and customer integration, matter, although the latter is more salient.Practical implicationsIn the search for creative ideas, managers of firms that serve business customers should focus on cross-industry networks, while those that serve private customers should concentrate on customer integration.Originality/valueMost previous quantitative studies on the front end have focused on internal drivers, and some of them use a mix of B2B and B2C data, which could lead to misleading conclusions.

Buyer and Seller Differences in Business‐to‐Business Negotiations

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to examine the differences between buyers' and sellers' use of negotiation tactics in face‐to‐face business‐to‐business (B2B) negotiations and second, to explore how negotiators' professed negotiation styles influence buyers' and sellers' use of tactics. The methodology is a multiple case study analysis of eighteen negotiators representing twelve companies in six real‐life buyer–seller negotiations in B2B settings analyzed using qualitative research methods, including both comparative analysis and frequency analysis. We found some difference between buyers' and sellers' use of negotiation tactics, which suggests this question deserves further empirical study. Buyers' and sellers' use of specific tactics differs according to which overall strategy the negotiators chose, and sellers generally use a greater number of negotiation tactics than buyers. The findings challenge previous findings that suggest that B2B negotiations are collaborative and that negotiators communicate in a collaborative manner. The findings also increase our understanding of buyers' and sellers' variable use of tactics in the course of everyday practice as well as the interplay between negotiation tactics and strategies.

Service quality versus service experience: An empirical examination of the consequential effects in B2B services

The present study investigates the role of service experience in B2B services vis-a-vis service quality. In particular, the study addresses the question: how do the relative effects of service quality versus service experience in a B2B setting influence the immediate (satisfaction and perceived value) and subsequent customer outcomes (loyalty and word of mouth)? To this end, three surveys were conducted (with a combined sample size of 626) of customers of financial consultancy services. The collected data is subjected to factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the study hypotheses. Major findings indicate a stronger influence of service experience on satisfaction and perceived value as compared to service quality. Results also show a stronger indirect effect of service experience on loyalty and word of mouth (via satisfaction) compared to service quality. In addition, service experience was found to influence both perceived utilitarian and hedonic value derived from service while service quality was found to influence only utilitarian value. The findings underline the importance of service experience in a B2B setup.

Simple Rules for a Network Efficiency Business Model: The Case of Vizio

Business models that unlock efficiency across entire networks are becoming increasingly common in the so-called sharing economy. However, the principles underlying these models can also be used in B2B settings. This article proposes some simple rules that managers can use in a systematic process to build similar disruptive business models. It illustrates these rules by deconstructing the go-to-market strategy that resulted in Vizio becoming the dominant flat panel TV vendor in the United States.

You have not been archiving emails for no reason! Using big data analytics to cluster B2B interest in products and services and link clusters to financial performance

The potential of big data analytics when it comes to gaining business insights, such as market trends and consumer preferences, has captured the interest of both scholars and business practitioners. However, the extant literature has so far provided limited empirical evidence to demonstrate how big data analytics can create business value. To address this research gap, this paper followed a novel big data analytical approach that involved analysing email archives about product/services demand clusters in a B2B setting. We analysed 621 k emails exchanged between 2009 and 2018. We identified a number of discussion clusters that were considered proxies for the interest buyers expressed in the products/services on offer. These clusters and associated discussion trends were linked to the company's revenues and financial performance, showing good predictive power. In doing this, we have demonstrated how widely available data, such as emails, which all companies have, can be used to underpin new methods for the early identification and monitoring of product demand trends, informing marketing strategies.

SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY IN B2B RELATIONSHIPS IN THE FREIGHT FORWARDING INDUSTRY: ADDING PERCEIVED VALUE AND SERVICE QUALITY INTO EQUATION

This paper focuses on analysing the determinants of satisfaction (service quality, perceived value), as well as its possible influence on customer loyalty of freight forwarders to freight transport service providers (by road/maritime/air) in Spain. To this end, we propose a causal model tested using information from 205 freight forwarders collected through personal interviews. The model was estimated using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. Moreover, the existence of differences in the perceptions on the analysed variables between transport modes is tested through ANOVA. Results show that service quality has an influence on customer satisfaction, both directly, as well as through perceived value. In turn, it is confirmed the relationship between satisfaction with the transportation company and customer loyalty. Furthermore, there are significant differences in quality dimensions and satisfaction between transport modes. This study confirms the importance of service quality and perceived value to promote the link between chain actors: freight forwarder and transport service provider. The main aim of this research is to go deeper into the study of satisfaction and loyalty of freight forwarders to freight transport service providers. Findings provide evidence about differences in the dimensionality of service quality between B2C and B2B settings and, even in the latter, differences between freight forwarding services and other industries are observed. The present paper is one of the few studies that obtains relevant information about several transport modes simultaneously and the findings reinforce the notion that perceptive processes in each of them are different.

Investigating the Impact of Salespersons’ Use of Technology and Social Media on Their Customer Relationship Performance in B2B Settings

Purpose – Salespeople have had a long affair with technology in serving customers. Some research studies, however, indicate that too much technology may have a negative impact on salespeople’s social skills. This paper aims to analyze what impact technology – specifically, social media, in terms of attitudes and use – has on selling performance. Design/Methodology/Approach – In a sample of salespeople from different business-to-business (B2B) industries, respondents were surveyed in the form of face-to-face interviews that were conducted at their place of work. The study analyzed how the intensity of technology use, attitudes towards and the use of social media affect customer relationship performance. Variance-based structural equation modeling, especially PLS-SEM, was applied for the analysis. Findings and implications – According to the results of this study, the effects of intensive technology use on social media attitude and use, as well as on customer relationship performance, are verified. The objective of this research, namely, to understand the influence of technology use and social media attitude and use on selling performance, has been partly achieved: the presumed positive theoretical connection between social media and performance is not trivial, although company managers should be aware the risks involved with the application of technology in sales. Limitations – These results highlight that, if the focus is solely on social media, the effects of social media attitude and social media use on customer relationship performance are limited, and their explanatory power is relatively low. Therefore, a business model that focuses solely on customer retention mostly through the increased use of social media seems to have serious limitations. This study suffers from further limitations, such as small sample size and the exploratory nature of the research. Moreover, the findings are derived from perceived constructs and not from actual behavior. Originality – The analysis of technology and social media is new in the current context. With the large scale of social media use being a relatively new phenomenon, this study can presumably provide a new understanding of social media in the selling environment.