Verma (2014) – does relationship marketing matter in online retailing? A meta analytic approach Flashcards
What was “Does relationship marketing matter in online retailing?
A meta-analytic approach” about?
Extends relationship marketing framework to the domain of online retailing to
identify what strategies help build relationships with online customers
o Identify key antecedents and consequences of relationship marketing in online
retailing
Examines relationship between four mediators: trust, commitment, relationship
quality, and relationship satisfaction
o Additionally, the antecedents and consequences of relationship marketing
Study tries to
o Conduct a thorough review of the empirical studies pertaining to relationship
marketing in the domain of online retailing
o Identify what strategies help build customer relationships in the online domain
o Identify the consequences of relationship marketing in online retailing
o Identify the potential gaps that would motivate hypotheses for future research.
What are the four mediators in Verma et al?
commitment, trust, relationship satisfaction, and relationship quality (just like in Palmatier et al)
What are the three types of antecedents in Verma et al?
customer focused, seller focused, dyadic
What is an example of a customer antecedent in Verma et al?
relationship benefits; dependence on seller
What is an example of a seller antecedent in Verma et al?
relationship investment; seller expertise
What is an example of a dyadic antecedent in Verma et al?
communication, similarity
What consequences of online relationships in Verma et al?
WOM, customer loyalty, expectation of continuity
Which antecedents had the most impact on the relational mediators in Verma et al?
Similarity and seller expertise were found to have the strongest impact on relational mediators
What was the most critical outcome of RM efforts in Verma et al?
word of mouth was the most critical outcome of relationship marketing efforts
What are “relationship benefits”, as defined by Verma et al?
the various functional or social benefits received from the exchange partner. These include convenience, time-saving, and reduced prices; lead to commitment, trust, relationship quality, and relationship satisfaction
What variables were classified under the “relationship benefits” construct by Verma et al?
convenience motivation, information quality, price consciousness, website design
What is an example of convenience motivation, under “relationship benefits”, by Verma et al?
flexibility in shopping time, reduction in shopping time, saving the effort of visiting the physical store, saving aggravation, and the option to buy on impulse or in response to an advertisement
What is an example of information motivation, under “relationship benefits”, by Verma et al?
Information about product attributes, reviews, order and delivery information, frequently asked questions, and promotions. relevancy, sufficiency, recency, consistency, understandability, and playfulness are the six components of information quality.
What is price consciousness, under “relationship benefits”, by Verma et al?
Internet lowers the cost of acquiring information about the product, especially for price-conscious customers. Many online retailers offer price deals or low-price guarantees and allow consumers to
compare prices across products and sellers
What is the website design variable, under “relationship benefits”, by Verma et al?
the web page should be representative and distinctive of the image that the e-tailer is seeking to portray. Some of the commonly faced problems are poor design of the primary interface, lack of good security features, complex navigation, long download times, poor
customer service, confusing return policies, and incorrect
shipping information
What is the dependence on seller construct, in Verma et al?
the customer’s evaluation of the value of seller-provided resources for which few alternatives are available from other sellers; makes it difficult for the customer to switch to a different seller as such an action is costly to the customer; related to commitment & relationship satisfaction
What is the seller investment construct, in Verma et al?
the investments made by the seller in terms of time, effort, and resources employed for the purpose of building a relationship with the customer; ex/ gifts, loyalty programs; affect trust, relationship quality, and relationship satisfaction
What is the communication construct, in Verma et al?
the information exchange occurring among the relationship partners.
It is the amount, frequency, and quality of information shared between the exchange partner. ex/ CRM, mailing lists, chat, electronic bulletin board. linked to trust & relationship quality.
What is the similarity construct, in Verma et al?
the commonality in status, appearance or lifestyle or similar cultures, shared values, and compatibility between buying and selling organizations; strong link to trust & commitment
What is the expectation of continuity consequence, in Verma et al?
Expectation of continuity is the customer’s intention to maintain the relationship in the future and captures the likelihood of continued purchases from the seller; shopping or purchase intention
What is the customer loyalty consequence, in Verma et al?
Customer loyalty is a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having potential to cause switching behaviour
What is the WOM consequence, in Verma et al?
the likelihood of a customer positively referring the seller to another potential customer; satisfaction, quality, commitment, trust, and perceived value as the antecedents for word of mouth
Comparison of Verma et al & Palmatier et al 2006
- the relative effectiveness of the different antecedents varies across mediators
- as in traditional retail, the influence of RM strategies on
outcomes is mediated by four relational mediators (commitment, trust, relationship satisfaction, relationship quality) - similar framework, different number of constructs/variables
Key takeaways from Verma et al
- Due to the fact that this article was only able to identify 6 of the 9 antecedents of Palmatier, it might be a possibility that the order of importance of the various antecedents are different for online retailing.
- Model synthesizes and empirically measures how antecedents, mediators and consequences impact one another
- Model provides some non-intuitive findings specific to online retailing
o Trust is more important in maintaining relationships in online retailing
o Relationships benefits matters more than dependence on seller, and
relationship investment matters more than seller expertise
o Since relationship satisfaction matters most in building customer loyalty, it is
interesting to note that the best investment by a company to enhance customer
loyalty is relationship investment and not seller expertise or communication
Managerial implications of Verma et al
- The model helps managers to identify the key drivers of relationship marketing, in an online setting
- The three antecedents with the greatest impact—similarity, seller expertise, and relationship investment—are factors that marketers can control directly in order to build strong relationships
- WOM has been identified as the most important way for managers to identify loyalty and commitment among customers
- WOM can’t be directly controlled by marketer as consumers can unrestrictedly share experiences across various platforms o WOM has been directly linked to online retail sales
critical for online retailers to develop successful RM strategies
