Customer Empowerment Research Articles

The Impact Of Customer Empowerment On Reducing Marketing Deception: A Field Study For Several Iraqi Contracting Companies

Purpose: This paper attempts to analyze and discuss the impact of Customer Empowerment (CE) in reducing marketing deceptive practices carried out by companies. Theoretical framework: The literature related to the research topic did not describe of the application of CE in the workplace, as it is a recent variable and is still in the development stage. The scale (Abdel-Bari & Ashry, 2023) was adopted to measure the CE questionnaire, in addition to the scale (Gaber et al., 2018) to measure Marketing Deception (MD). Methodology: Field research was used to understand the practice of CE and identify scams. Six companies specialized in the field of contracting were selected. The research sample consisted of (152) employees. A questionnaire was used to collect data, and hypotheses were tested using the statistical program (SPSS). Results: There is a positive impact of empowering customers in reducing deceptive marketing practices. Research, practical and social implications: Provide a detailed description of the means that can achieve CE and reduce MD. Also, we Provides a practical approach to researching CE and suggests that future research should include business cases as a means of achieving this and provide justification for the importance of implementing CE practices. Originality/value: This paper is among the few to address CE with MD and emphasizes that CE must be an organization-wide goal and requires a long-term commitment to eliminate MD.

Succeeding in an Era of Volatility: Leadership Strategies for an Uncertain Future

The business landscape has undergone immense changes in recent decades due to factors like globalization, technological disruption, shifting workforce and customer demographics, and economic turbulence, creating a profoundly uncertain and volatile environment that requires constant adaptation for companies to avoid obsolescence. However, by drawing from research on complex adaptive systems and uncertainty management, the article provides strategies for cultivating agile, resilient cultures focused on embracing uncertainty and continuous adaptation to thrive amid unpredictability. Leaders must foster agility through empowering experimentation, risk-taking, and iterative learning from failures to build resilience emphasizing adaptability, interdependence, diversity, communication, and flexibility, while embracing ambiguity recognizes leaders cannot predict the future and respond to new opportunities. Continuous learning and adaptation are also critical using flexible structures, short feedback loops, and scenario planning to identify weaknesses. The article then outlines an adaptive leadership framework to assess an organization's agility, resilience, and change readiness, proposing specific actions to decentralize decision-making, accelerate innovation, strengthen networks, communicate purpose, and conduct regular assessments/reviews, demonstrated through a banking example of innovative digital platforms, startup culture, customer empowerment, and experimentation enabling thriving amid turbulence. By developing cultures focused on continuous transformation over control and adaptability, companies gain strategic flexibility to reconfigure successfully amid unpredictability.

Enhancing new service development effectiveness: the role of customer participation and the moderating effects of empowerment and satisfaction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Customer Participation (CP) in the effectiveness of New Service Development (NSD) by examining the moderating roles of Customer Empowerment (CE) and Customer Satisfaction (CS). The research reduces the risk of failure of the NSD process and/or improves the NSD processes used by companies through the consideration of the results in the practical dimension.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigates the effects of CP at different stages of NSD using a quantitative approach. Data were collected through an online survey questionnaire. Smart PLS was used to analyse the data collected from 509 newsreaders and users of the news agency’s application.FindingsThe model confirmed that CE has an impact on the effectiveness of NSD in the idea generation and commercialization stages, but not in the development stage. Empowerment and customer satisfaction did not influence the three stages of NSD indirectly but directly. The results show that CP, CS and CE do not always have a direct or indirect effect on the development of new services. Therefore, in order to design new service development projects, media news companies need to determine the level of user cooperation.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of objective data, especially on company performance, forces researchers to use questionnaires to analyse NSD effectiveness. Another limitation is that newspaper users answered the questionnaires, which creates “common method variance.”Practical implicationsResearchers on NSD effectiveness must use questionnaires due to a lack of objective data, especially on company performance. Another limitation is “common method variance” from newspaper users answering questionnaires.Originality/valueThis paper is a response to a perceived need for an examination of how new service development can be successful and effective.

Understanding the dynamics of social interaction in SIoT: Human-machine engagement

The Social Internet of Things (SIoT) amalgamates social networks with the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable intelligent devices to form social connections analogous to human networks. This research is grounded in psychological contract theory, which examines the reciprocal mechanisms arising from diverse customer interactions to encourage user engagement and provide recommendations on social media platforms. This study in particular identifies the factors that drive customer engagement on social media. It is unique in its exploration of customer interactions within the framework of psychological contracts across multiple levels of customer engagement (through customer empowerment). The findings reveal that psychological ownership among customers is influenced by empowering interactions on social media, which ultimately drive engagement behaviors.

AdaptUI: A Framework for the development of Adaptive User Interfaces in Smart Product-Service Systems

Smart Product–Service Systems (S-PSS) represent an innovative business model that integrates intelligent products with advanced digital capabilities and corresponding e-services. The user experience (UX) within an S-PSS is heavily influenced by the customization of services and customer empowerment. However, conventional UX analysis primarily focuses on the design stage and may not adequately respond to the evolving user needs during the usage stage and how to exploit the data surrounding the use of S-PSS. To overcome these limitations, this article introduces a practical framework for developing Adaptive User Interfaces within S-PSS. This framework integrates ontologies and Context-aware recommendation systems, with user interactions serving as the primary data source, facilitating the development of adaptive user interfaces. One of the main contributions of this work lies on the integration of various components to achieve the creation of Adaptive User Interfaces for digital services. A case study of a smart device app is presented, to demonstrate the practical implementation of the framework, with a hands-on development approach, considering technological aspects and utilizing appropriate tools. The results of the evaluation of the recommendation engine show that using a context-aware approach improves the precision of recommendations. Furthermore, pragmatic aspects of UX, such as usefulness and system efficiency, are evaluated with participants with an overall positive impact on the use of the smart device.

Examining the mediating role of customer empowerment: the impact of chatbot usability on customer satisfaction in Jordanian commercial banks

Examining the mediating role of customer empowerment: the impact of chatbot usability on customer satisfaction in Jordanian commercial banks

Hotel’s customer empowerment, environmental corporate social responsibility, and online customer value co-creation to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Purpose The hotel customers are conscious of the deteriorating environmental conditions and demand for online immersions. Hotels lack an exciting shift in customer behavior for augmented customer re-patronage intention (CRPI) especially in developing countries. This study aims to apply customer-dominant service logic (CDSL) to comprehend customers’ life-sphere contributing to some of the vital United Nations sustainable development goals (UN SDGs). In this essence, CDSL grasps the impact of customer empowerment (CE) and environmental corporate social responsibility (Env CSR) on customer re-patronage intention (C-RPI) with the mediating and moderating effects in Pakistan’s four- and five-star hotels. Design/methodology/approach A deductive approach is followed in which an online survey of 400 hotel customers was conducted using purposive and snowball sampling techniques to understand the practice of C-RPI and UN SDGs. Findings This study reveals that executing the UN SDGs in the hotel industry eventually boosts CE and Env CSR, further enhancing online customer value cocreation (O-CVCC) resulting in C-RPI. Both CE and Env CSR gain a complimentary/partial mediation by O-CVCC on C-RPI is also reported. Moreover, sensation seeking moderates the relationship between CE and O-CVCC. Yet, customer commitment does not moderate the relationship between O-CVCC and C-RPI. Originality/value This study highlights that C-RPI (i.e. SDG 11) enhances when Env CSR is taken care of (i.e. SDG 13), customers are empowered (i.e. SDG 5 and SDG 17) and cocreated online (i.e. SDG 9). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to empirically test the approaches in the hotel industry contributing to SDG 5, 9, 11, 13 and 17.

The role of omnichannel integration and digital value in building brand trust: a customer psychological perception perspective

PurposeIn the dynamic landscape of the digital economy, companies are increasingly adopting omnichannel integration strategies to enhance customer experiences. However, the interplay between this strategy and digitalisation in fostering brand trust remains uncharted. Drawing on the social exchange and psychological reactance theories, this study ventures into unexplored territory by examining the impact of omnichannel integration and digital value on brand trust building. It also delves into the boundary roles of customers’ psychological perceptions, both positive (customer empowerment) and negative (privacy concerns and perceived deception), in this process.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted an online survey of 595 omnichannel users in China and validated the model using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThis study’s results have significant implications for businesses. They show that customer perception of omnichannel integration and perceived digital value are critical drivers of omnichannel brand trust, with customer empowerment playing a mediating role. Notably, the study also reveals that customers’ negative psychological perceptions can have different moderating effects, highlighting the need for businesses to address these concerns in their omnichannel strategies.Originality/valueThis study breaks new ground in marketing research by highlighting the benefits of omnichannel integration and incorporating digital perspectives. It demonstrates the positive impact of blending customer perception of omnichannel integration and perceived digital value on brand trust formation. Furthermore, it explores the boundary roles of customers’ psychological perceptions in this process, offering a unique and comprehensive perspective.

Responsible brand leadership in services: fostering love, ethics, and empowerment

ABSTRACT Recognizing the absence of clear guidance from marketing literature on the most effective leadership approach for brands, this study explores how brands, akin to human leaders, can strategically adopt responsible leadership. Thus, current research conceptualizes and examines responsible brand leadership's direct and indirect effects on brand-related variables, including brand love, positive ethical judgment, and customer empowerment. Moreover, it examines the influence of ethical judgment and customer empowerment on brand love. The proposed framework was tested in restaurant contexts due to its dynamic nature. Data from 358 diners were collected via a structured questionnaire, and hypotheses were tested using MPlus 8.3. This study establishes responsible brand leadership as a viable construct and offers compelling evidence that it leads to positive outcomes. Multigroup analysis further validates the effectiveness of responsible leadership across gender and restaurant type. Brand managers can adopt responsible brand leadership for enhanced brand reputation and positive customer relationships.

Diffusion of innovation in direct-to-avatar (D2A): A study of immersive communication and branding in the metaverse

Direct-to-Avatar (D2A) is the new phenomenon in the online retail segment. Brands are moving towards immersive commerce in which the central focus is on immersive communication for better customer experience in the metaverse. Diffusion of innovation theory acted as a theoretical framework to understand the premiums that the brands can enjoy from the customers by moving towards immersive commerce. 948 tweets on metaverse were analysed and five in-depth interviews with the experts on metaverse were conducted. For the quantitative study, the data were collected from a select metaverse Facebook group. The findings of PLS-SEM revealed that four factors - customer engagement, customer experience, value co-creation and customer empowerment - have statistically positive impact on customer citizenship behavior which ultimately affects customer satisfaction and loyalty towards the brands. The study extends the applications of diffusion of innovation theory in the content of immersive communication. It enriches the literature on technological advancements in immersive commerce. This is one of the first studies that focus on lifestyle brands in the metaverse. Also, this study depicts how socializing the digital brand communication with experience economy can be a key factor for lifestyle brands.

It takes two to empower: Customer responses to empowerment recovery in the context of robot service failure

Service robots have been gradually adopted by various providers. However, despite their significant potential in various service scenarios, robots can make mistakes during service interactions. Drawing on the concept of customer empowerment (CE), this study contributes to the existing literature by comparing the difference in the empowerment perceptions of younger and older customers toward robots and human employees. This study further examined empowerment strategies among two adult age groups in the context of robot service recovery and provided empirical evidence regarding the role of CE in service remediation. The results of the first experimental study revealed that older customers felt less empowered when encountering robot service failures than human service failures. The results from the follow-up two experiments indicate that the “wooden barrel effect” exists for effective recovery strategies to achieve empowerment perception and then, post-recovery customer satisfaction; that is, empowerment recovery strategies might succeed only when both information-sharing and compensation options are provided. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for policymakers and service providers in executing robot service recovery.

The New Service Realities

Companies require superior services to succeed in the competition. They realize and understand the new service realities in the 21st century. The objective of the study is to analyze the various aspects of the reality. The methodology adopted is a conceptual analysis of the realities and the strategies and initiatives adopted by companies. The new service realities relate to increasing roles of technology, customer empowerment, customer co-production, and the need to satisfy both customers and employees. Enlightened companies adopt several strategies and initiatives to deal with the realities. Academicians should analyze the realities and suggest effective ways of dealing with the realities. Practicing managers focus on adopting strategies and initiatives which are effective in dealing with the new realities, developing effective customer relationships, and in achieving business excellence in the long run.

The psychological and behavioral consequences of customer empowerment in new product development: Situational framework, review, and research agenda

AbstractIn search of innovation and market success, firms have started to empower their customers in many ways, from customizing and self‐producing their own products (products made for one) to selecting and designing products for the broader marketplace products made for many. This power shift has important behavioral and psychological consequences for customers and, hence, has attracted considerable interest from academics and practitioners alike. However, the literature is scattered, provides inconsistent findings, and lacks both a comprehensive conceptualization and empirical overview. Specifically, extant literature neglects the situational nature of customer empowerment, equalizing inherently different customer empowerment activities while failing to consider the divergent effects on participating versus observing customers (i.e., customers who do not participate in the new product development process themselves). This limits advancement of the field, and impedes integration with the related fields of innovation, marketing, and consumer research. To facilitate a better understanding of the psychological and behavioral consequences of customer empowerment, we systematically review literature in the field and develop a conceptual framework that integrates different customer empowerment situations and their respective psychological (e.g., firm perceptions and feelings of empowerment) and behavioral (e.g., product preferences and willingness‐to‐pay) consequences. Using this framework, we structure previous research, highlight similarities and differences across customer empowerment situations, and set the stage for future research. By taking a customer perspective, this research advances our understanding of why some customer empowerment strategies are more successful than others (and under which circumstances). On a broader level, we show that adopting a behavioral and psychological perspective may be a promising way to study innovation.

##Empowerment of BTPN Syariah ## Empowerment of BTPN Syariah customers in the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Bogor Regency during the Industry 4.0 era

This research aims to develop the business of BTPN Syariah customers in Bogor district, West Java and to take part in the operation of Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the industrial era 4.0. through a theoretical study approach. This study elaborates several findings from previous researchers as a reference and explores the grounded theory of BTPN Syariah customer development. A qualitative research method with a literature study is carried out to obtain a research reference model in explaining the factors that influence the performance of BTPN Syariah customers in developing their business, capital and strategy. This study also provides suggestions for the development of factors in performance measurement, and variables that affect the performance of MSME entrepreneurs. The results of the study provide recommendations that work skills, digital literacy and economic literacy as a reference in developing MSMEs in the Industrial 4.0 era. MSME training by Bestee friends from BTPN Syariah is a mandatory and routine program to improve customer welfare because it is a successful work program and an indicator of economic growth. But there are very few performance evaluation programs and ongoing development.

Moderating role of customer empowerment on the relationship between CRM approaches and customer loyalty in banking industry of Kuwait

Moderating role of customer empowerment on the relationship between CRM approaches and customer loyalty in banking industry of Kuwait

Moderating Role of Customer Empowerment on the Relationship between CRM Approaches and Customer Loyalty in Banking Industry

Moderating Role of Customer Empowerment on the Relationship between CRM Approaches and Customer Loyalty in Banking Industry

The Role and Constraints of Group Sharia Financing in the Economic Empowerment of Women Customers

The purpose of this research is to analyse the role and constraints of group sharia financing in women's economic empowerment for BTPN Syariah Bondowoso customers. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. The location of the object of this research is BTPN Syariah Bondowoso group sharia financing customers in Sumbermalang Village, Wringin District, Bondowoso Regency. Researchers used primary data obtained through interviews. The selection of informants was carried out using purposive sampling technique. The results showed that the group sharia financing product at BTPN Syariah Bondowoso has participated in the economic empowerment of underprivileged women customers. The empowerment includes providing financial assistance as business capital, providing training that is useful for increasing customer literacy and abilities, and assistance in managing customer businesses carried out by BTPN Syariah Community Officers (CO). The results also show that the obstacles experienced in the implementation of group sharia financing as an effort to empower the economy are the bad instalment payments among customers. These obstacles are caused by business failure and misuse of funds for consumptive activities.

Exploring the effects of value co-creation strategies in event services on attendees’ citizenship behaviors: The roles of customer empowerment and psychological ownership

Event attendees' citizenship behaviors play a vital role in shaping their experiences. This research explored the effects of value co-creation strategies in events on attendees' citizenship behaviors by examining the mediating roles of attendees' senses of empowerment and psychological ownership. The results indicated that events' value co-creation strategies positively influence attendees’ sense of empowerment, which, in turn, predicts their citizenship behaviors through their psychological ownership of the event. Additionally, the study confirmed that the effects of value co-creation strategies varied between first-time and repeat attendees. These findings can help businesses optimize their events to foster positive attendee experiences and behaviors.

The Effect of Customer Empowerment on Corporate Reputation Perception

Corporate reputation perception is an effective variable in shaping customer behaviors. A positive perception of reputation leads to positive outcomes such as loyalty, positive word-of-mouth marketing, low perceived risk, and commitment. In the marketing literature, it has been observed that the factors affecting the perception of corporate reputation have not been sufficiently analyzed and certain factors such as satisfaction, trust, corporate social responsibility, and financial strength have been focused on. In this study, unlike the factors in the literature, the effect of customer empowerment on the perception of corporate reputation is examined. Customer empowerment is considered an important tool in the competitive race in marketing. Within the scope of this research, data were collected from 343 consumers by questionnaire technique. Consumers were asked to indicate their degree of agreement with the statements in the questionnaire by thinking about the clothing store they visit most frequently. SPSS 18 and AMOS 18 package programs were used in the analysis of the data obtained. In the reliability analyses, customer empowerment and corporate reputation scales were found to be reliable. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis of the scales, it was seen that the fit index values of the scales met the reference values. It was determined that the AVE values of the scales also met the reference values. Normality test was also performed for the data in the study. Since the skewness and kurtosis values of the variables were within the reference values, it was observed that the data met the normality assumption. Then, the relationship between variables was analyzed. Partial correlation analysis was preferred for the determination of this relationship. In this direction, correlation analysis was carried out by controlling gender, age, education, and income status variables. As a result of the correlation analysis, it was observed that there is a positive relationship between customer empowerment and corporate reputation. After the determination of the relationship between the variables, path analysis was performed with the AMOS program to test the research hypothesis. In the analysis, it was seen that the fit indices of the research model provided the reference values. In addition, it was determined that customer empowerment positively and significantly effects the perception of corporate reputation.

Drivers of Customers Advocacy in Support of Subscription-based Digital Entertainment Services (NETFLIX)

Subscription business models are increasingly gaining attention in recent year, especially entertainment services such as music subscription, streaming TV/movies and video games. One of the service platform that comes to mind is Netflix, a subscription-based video streaming service. Video on demand streaming service currently competing each other quite aggresively where these provider competing by providing different series that exclusively only available on their services or with different versatile pricing package in hope to attract new subscribers while retaining it’s existing subscribers. This call for new strategy for Netflix to maintain it’s position in competition. This research examines the relationship between customer empowerment values and customer advocacy in relation to a digital platform subscription-based consumption. A quantitative approach was employed by conducting a survey of 110 user of Netflix in Indonesia. Data collected was subsequently analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in order to test the formulated hypothesis. The research resulted in an understanding that value-for-choice, value-for-knowledge and value-for-involvement are significant predictors of customer advocacy of the platform. The findings suggest that Customer advocacy is primarily influenced by the level of product choice and convenience also reliable information and privacy security also constitute important elements for providers to deliver in order to promote advocacy behavior from customers using the platform.