Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Adding Social Element-concept Of Business Loyalty

Posted by sj008 on 1/22/2013 at 9:42 AM ET 125 Points
Currently looking at links between satisfaction, loaylty & profitability. Would like to know if a fourth dimension into the concept of business loyalty makes any sense and if i could perhaps get some guidence on what journals that may help, im currently lookingat eWOW, e-tribes and social media. Does this even fit into the model? Posted a small sample to get an idea of my thinking.

evolution of Reichhelds (1996) concept of business loyalty has three dimensions and the addition of a fourth and possibly the strongest the social dimension:

Investor - Employee - customer - social

Reichheld thought of loyalty as an asset and not something that can be just delegated to marketing. Operating principles, core strategies and fundamental changes in practices are needed to create loyalty. Since the theory was created society has changed is there now a fourth dimension? Are Social aspects now a main detriment of loyalty? The social dimension is the influence online communities have on;

1. The adaption of innovation,
2. The changes in brand perceptions,
3. Business loyalty (positive and negative)

The social dimension will be a strong influence on loyalty in the future and may be one of the most potent tools marketers for relationship marketing techniques. Aspects of the theory are backed by experts in the field so it has credibility. The theories on consumer innovation pre date the technological collaborations seen in today’s society. Social networking plays a big role in this and collective innovations have changed marketing and society. Kozinets et al. (2008) categorised the types of online consumer creative communities as the following:
Crowds– Mobs – Hives – Swarms
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on 1/22/2013 at 10:44 AM Accepted
    If I might offer a few thoughts here. Firstly, society hasn't changed that much, what has changed are the ideas academics have about society.

    I want to put all this on its head. What is a loyal customer? It is someone who comes back time and time again. The reasons for this are not easy to isolate, and that is why academics struggle. My father is an academic and taught at Cambridge, so I should know.

    The reasons you have loyal customers who want something entirely different from the loyal customers of your hottest opposition is for reasons that are subjective, not objective.

    Your customers want something that you can provide. Your opposition provides their customers with something that (a) you don't and (b) they do. That these are very different and in the same niche is a problem for someone wishing to have a global, catch-all view of customer behavior.

    If this is speaking to you at all, let me know and I can go into it at a deeper level.





  • Posted by telemoxie on 1/22/2013 at 1:47 PM Accepted
    I disagree that these are new concepts. I disagree that the world has fundamentally changed.

    The technology has changed, and the pace of change has changed, but human behavior has been consistent.

    from the book of Proverbs, written thousands of years ago, you can find the following:
    "a good name is more desirable than gold or rubies; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1 (New International Version)

    The players have changed, but the game remains the same. Word-of-mouth advertising has always been and will continue to be the best and the most dangerous. It seems to me that as some responsibilities have shifted from sales and marketing, marketing is "discovering new truths" which have been written about were sometimes dozens of years, sometimes 100 years, sometimes thousands of years.

    Good luck on your study. If I can be of any service, I would love to try. For example, if you think you have discovered a reference to some new thing in the area of interpersonal relationships, I would be more than happy to attempt to search prior sales literature and other sources to see if these concepts are truly new.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 1/22/2013 at 6:07 PM Accepted
    Yes, there's a fourth dimension. Along with at least four others.
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