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The purpose of this paper is to examine why retailers' perceptions of the value of a novel technology‐intensive mobile advertising service differ.

The research design follows an abductive approach. The empirical data were gathered through a field experiment by interviewing retailers who used a mobile advertising service for the first time.

This study suggests a categorisation of customer‐perceived value sub‐elements in a novel technology‐intensive business‐to‐business (b‐to‐b) service consisting of two outcome‐level benefits, three process‐level benefits, and two types of sacrifices, i.e. monetary and non‐monetary. Furthermore, the study suggests that the value elements are not of equal importance. Different retailers value different threshold benefits that influence their willingness to use the service. Moreover, the retailers' participation in value co‐creation with a service provider influences the value perceived from the service.

This experimental empirical setting involves two limitations. The trial period was relatively short and, due to the development stage of the service, the use of the service was offered free of charge. Therefore, future research should be conducted with commercialised novel technology services.

Retailers differ according to their willingness and ability to use novel technology‐intensive services, which also reflects how they perceive value and what kind of value they perceive. Thus, mobile service providers need to consider offering different service packages to different types of customers. Service providers also need to ensure that retailers are aware of all the commercial and non‐commercial benefits of the novel service. Retailers should realise that the commercial potential of mobile advertising is different from the traditional means of advertising.

For a research audience, the study extends the existing research on value creation by focusing on retailers' different value perceptions of a novel technology‐intensive b‐to‐b service. For developers of an innovative technology‐intensive service, the study shows the different customer types and how they influence buying decisions.

The purpose of this study is to introduce concepts for understanding and managing short- and long-term development of customer satisfaction related to service quality.

This study is based on empirical qualitative research in professional business-to-business services. The data were collected from in-depth interviews of highly experienced consultants and analyzed in terms of the content of the qualitative data.

This study empirically identifies situations where the level of customer satisfaction with a single service rendered changes over time and is different in short and long term. It finds different short- and long-term quality levels both during a service process and in the post-purchase evaluation period. It finds that sometimes long-term quality can be provided only at the expense of short-term quality and vice versa.

The concepts of short- and long-term quality provide a simple and effective conceptual tool for understanding potential short- and long-term differences in customer satisfaction as well as the reasons for it.

The study highlights the importance of considering quality dynamics at the level of a service rendered, both during the service process and in the post-purchase period. It helps in developing effective ways to understand and manage changes in customer satisfaction in the short and long term. It helps in developing strategies for communicating the overall value of a service to customers in “no pain, no gain” cases.

This study provides concepts for analyzing wicked problems.

Dynamics of quality and satisfaction in services have received very little attention in research studies although the existence and relevance of the phenomenon was recognized long ago. This study introduces new concepts for understanding this phenomenon further by focusing on the short- and long-term effects of the service quality.

Customer and value‐oriented business strategies are increasingly important in the context of business to business services. However, little is known about the construction of customer value of B to B services. Also the influences of specific dimensions of service quality on customer value are open to debate. This study aims to explore the construction of customer value of B to B services, and to examine how specific dimensions of service quality contribute to customer value.

The research data consists of 90 questionnaires which were collected through the structured interview method among Finnish business organizations. Hypothesis testing was conducted through linear multiple‐regression analysis.

The results suggest that customer value of B to B services is composed of attribute and consequence level elements. Reliability, responsiveness, and assurance were found as the key contributors of consequence level customer value. Attribute level customer value is affected by empathy, responsiveness and assurance dimensions of service quality. Thus, by focusing on right dimensions of service quality organizations are most effectively able to cultivate customer value.

The study identifies the dimensional structure of customer value and suggests a detailed method to investigate the relationship between service quality and customer value.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the way in which B-to-B relationships are built, based on commitment and trust affecting value co-creation (VcC) and resulting in greater or lesser economic and social satisfaction and the manager’s perception of the delivered value (business customer value) moderating these effects.

Through a means-end approach, a causal model is estimated with PLS using a sample of 268 hotel managers who rate their relationship with their main partner (travel agency or booking center) in Spain.

VcC is a) dynamic because it is episodic, where VcC is a mediator between the trust–commitment relationship and two types of satisfaction (economic and social) and b) synergetic, because when the hotel delivers higher levels of business customer value, the effects in the linkages of VcC–satisfaction(s) are intensified. These effects are not significantly different on economic versus social satisfaction.

The empirical paper collects the perception of a single partner (hotel managers) in a single setting (hotels in Spain). The moderating role of business customer value on the VcC–satisfaction(s) relationship should be further analyzed. The paper contributes to the growing literature on B-to-B VcC by translating empirically the theoretical richness of the VcC concept as being dynamic and synergetic.

This paper adds quantitative evidence to theoretical assumptions on VcC as dynamic and synergetic. The quantitative modelling proves VcC as a true mediator, in a chain of variables in a B-to-B setting.

The aim of this paper is to focus on the determinants that impact the growth of SMEs in B-to-B markets in emerging economies. The objective is to apply the classic model of organizational ecology to examine the characteristics of growth patterns in the B-to-B environment for SMEs in emerging markets, specifically India and China. Application of the model can guide SMEs owners/managers in their effort to successfully expand internationally in turbulent markets characterized by competitive and technological intensity.

An overview of the basics of the organizational ecology model is presented, followed by the description of various economic drivers of B-to-B markets in India and China. The integration of the organizational ecology model and the strategic development of methods to deal with specific challenges of entering international markets are discussed. The paper concludes with managerial implications and suggestions for future research.

Businesses operating in emerging markets face many of the same roadblocks concerning efficiencies, increasing competition, and the need for capital, that are experienced by businesses throughout the world, however, they also face challenges unique to the developmental nature of the country environment. Ecological models can be used to understand the dynamics between resource utilization and growth.

The ecology-based view evaluates the utilization of resources with a focus on how changes in resource availability impact the international growth strategy of the B-to-B firm in India and China. These two economies represent a large business environment, generally underdeveloped with regards to taking advantage of potential resource availability.

While the significant economic contribution of SMEs is well understood, their business practices in emerging economies have not been extensively studied, especially in the B-to-B arena. The goal here is to stimulate the development of new insights for managing the complex relationships between the B-to-B SMEs, organizational ecology, and the international environment in emerging markets. This study extends the literature concerning factors that impact business success in important emerging markets such as India and China.

This paper aims to investigate the moderating role of co-creation in the implementation of servitization strategies in the pharmaceutical industry in a business-to-business (B-to-B) context. More specifically, this investigation explores the impact of different levels of services (base, intermediate and advanced) on servitization and on performance by using co-creation as a moderating factor.

A research framework was developed and empirically tested in the pharmaceutical sector. Data collection was conducted through the online distribution of questionnaires. The final sample included 219 pharmacy stores, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

Main findings suggest that when the level of co-creation of the design of services is high, there are significant effects of servitization on firm performance. The moderating effect of co-creation is illustrated in regard to intermediate and advanced services, but results referring to the impact of intermediate services on servitization appear non-significant with a low degree of co-creation. No significant effects could be found for the impact of base services on performance and servitization for both high and low degrees of co-creation. Findings show an impact of advanced services on performance through the mediating effect of servitization when the degree of co-creation is high.

Most research concerning servitization has been done from the perspective of manufacturers and service providers. This study adds value to the literature because it was designed from a customer’s perspective. Moreover, it contributes towards the conceptualization of the servitization research strategy and business models in a B2B context. This is accomplished through the investigation of the moderating effect of co-creation on the impact of the different levels of services on servitization and on performance.

This chapter provides novel theory that explicates how positive emotions of four actors (supervisors, employees, peers, and customers) in the service profit chain can foster the creation of positively deviant service businesses. It is suggested to incorporate studies and theories of positive organizational scholarship and particularly studies on positive emotions to the services marketing literature. This chapter elucidates how positively deviant behaviors, such as expressions of appreciation, helping others, gratitude, trustworthiness, and unselfishness, can foster the creation of such positively deviant performances that may generate supreme customer experience. These four positively deviant performances are trust in self and others, feeling of oneness, creativity, and seeing the bigger picture. The suggestion is that these positively deviant performances create climate for positivity in the supplier–customer interaction and foster the co-creation of mutual value in service businesses.

The knowledge of inhibitors of internal customer knowledge transfer in b‐to‐b professional service organizations is still in its infancy. Previous literature on professional service organizations has focused on knowledge processes on a general level without paying closer attention to inhibitors of internal knowledge transfer. This study aims to contribute by increasing the knowledge of various inhibitors of customer‐related knowledge transfer and their influence on customer‐related knowledge utilization in collaborative customer relationships.

The present empirical article is based on a case study of two professional service organizations in the field of business‐to‐business education and consultancy services. An in‐depth analysis of organizations developing collaborative relationships was conducted.

This paper shows that internal fragmentation seems to be inherent in this type of organization, and may cause many problems in customer‐related knowledge transfer among individuals, collegial groups and hierarchical levels in a professional service organization. All these problems in collective knowledge utilization influence both the service offering creation and general relationship coordination in the collaborative relationship.

This paper provides managerial suggestions for how to deal with the inhibitors of customer knowledge transfer. This includes developing unified goals, strengthening cultural cohesion and cooperation in the organization, building forums of dialogue between individuals and subgroups, and structuring relationship coordination systems (i.e. key account management systems), keeping customer‐related knowledge transfer in mind.

This is a critical discourse on marketing management textbooks and their presentations of general marketing theory. These books claim to be general, complete and up‐to‐date, although the base of “textbook theory” is consumer goods mass marketing, a minority of all marketing if compared to services and B‐to‐B marketing. Seminal developments over the past decades in services marketing, quality management, relationship marketing and CRM are treated as special cases although they intervene in all types of marketing. The article claims that marketing management has become stereotyped on a derelict foundation in commodity‐like textbooks. It ends with guidelines on how research in marketing could reinvent itself to the benefit of both academics and practitioners.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of interaction in supporting value co-creation during pre-purchase customer journey stages when selling professional B-to-B services. First, value co-creation in professional service firms (PSFs) is reviewed, and, second, the role of interaction in the different stages of a customer’s pre-purchase journey is explored, specifically in the context of B-to-B human resource management services.

Qualitative, semi-structured interview data was collected from potential B2B customers of a PSF in question, providing a broad coverage of prospective clients in architecture, engineering and IT sector.

In general, the findings of this study indicate that interaction plays a crucial role in pre-purchasing stages of a customer journey. In particular, these findings form understanding of how various interaction channels and content support PSF’s ability to co-create value with its prospects.

The existing research tends to concentrate on how value is created for existing customers, and far less attention has been paid to the perspective of prospects. This study contributes theoretically by providing novel insights into the current literature on value co-creation in PSFs by providing an understanding of how interactions in pre-purchase phases affect the co-creation of value from the perspective of prospects, which is a less researched viewpoint. Empirically, this study offers managers much-needed, context-specific knowledge of PSFs by comparing differences and pulling together similarities from each customer journey stage of PSF prospects.