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The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the benefits of data‐driven services marketing and provide a conceptual framework for how to link traditional and new sources of customer data and their metrics. Linking data and metrics to strategic and tactical business insights and integrating a variety of metrics into a forward‐looking dashboard to measure marketing ROI and guide future marketing spend is explored.

A detailed synthesis of the literature is conducted and contemporary sources of marketing data are categorized into traditional, digital and neurophysiological. The benefits and drawbacks of each data type are described and advantages of integrating different sources of data are proposed.

The findings point to the importance and untapped potential of data in its ability to inform tactical and strategic marketing decisions. Future challenges, including top management support, ethical considerations and developing data and analytic capabilities, are discussed.

The results demonstrate the need for executive service marketing dashboards that include key metrics that are service‐relevant, complementary and forward‐looking, with proven linkages to business outcomes.

This paper provides a synthesis of data‐driven services marketing and the value of traditional and contemporary metrics. Since the true potential of data‐driven service management in a connected world is still largely unexplored, this paper also delineates fruitful avenues for future research.

This chapter integrates research that highlights and demonstrates the importance of the marketing mix and customer attitudinal metrics in influencing the customer’s path to purchase. A key objective of this chapter is the provision of an integrative conceptual framework that links marketing actions to customer mindset metrics along the consumer’s path to purchase and the identification of the mechanisms by which customer mindset metrics contribute to consumer purchase journey. Specifically, it delineates two routes for the effects to manifest on sales: the “mindset route” where marketing actions influence customer mindset metrics, which in turn influence brand performance, or the “transactions route” where marketing actions influence market performance directly without influencing the intermediate mindset metrics. A second objective is to identify empirical patterns on incorporating marketing mix and mindset metrics along the path to purchase by reviewing key papers in this domain. Finally, the chapter concludes with the formulation of a rich, forward-looking research agenda on the customer mindset metrics – path to purchase link.

How can customer service be so bad in an era when companies collect endless data on customer interactions? The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the important challenge of elevating customer service delivery by providing guidelines for when and how to select optimal measures of customer service measurement using a new decision framework.

The paper uses a comprehensive, multi-dimensional review of extant literature related to customer service, journey mapping and performance measurement and applied a qualitative, taxonomic approach for model development.

A process model and customer journey mapping framework can facilitate the selection and application of appropriate and relevant customer service experience metrics to enhance customer service experience strategies, creation and delivery.

The taxonomy of customer service metrics is limited to current publicly and commercially available metrics. The dynamic nature of the customer service environment necessitates continuous updates of the model and framework.

Selection of customer service performance measures should match relevant stages of the customer journey; use perception-based, operational and outcome-based metrics that track employee and customer behaviours; improve omni-channel measurement; and integrate data-sharing and benchmark measurement initiatives through collaboration with customer service communities.

A reimagined perspective is offered to the complex challenge of measuring and improving customer service, providing a new decision-making framework for customer service experience measurement and guidance for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison between the traditional methods for the calculation of customer relationship performance and the modern metrics suggested by the current literature in business-to-business (B2B) markets using the Greek maritime shipping industry as an example.

The primary research was conducted in two phases: quantitative analysis of actual measurements and qualitative evaluation of the results. More specifically, in the first phase, the measures used were a collection of traditional and modern customer relationship management (CRM) metrics applied to actual historical data along with statistical data for actual customers of a company supplying services for maritime transportation of containers in the Greek international trade market. For the qualitative evaluation of these results, a semi-structured interview was carried out with seven “specialists/experts” in this business sector, who provided an assessment of the relative worth of each set of CRM measures.

The use of modern customer-centred metrics (Share and Size of Wallet, recency, frequency, monetary value) in the shipping sector of Greek industrial activity is the most profitable and efficient means of decision-making. The qualitative research showed that the customer-centred metrics were judged to be more effective and useful, as they provided a multi-dimensional and multi-layered picture of the current and future situation for the company and its customer base.

To ensure confidentiality of personal information, the research did not use, examine or evaluate the individualized data to preserve the anonymity of the survey sponsor and their specific customers.

This is the first study that examines the effectiveness of different types of CRM metrics in the B2B market, which has, until now, suffered a dearth of empirical studies in the field, especially in the context of national economies that face intense international trading problems and significant reductions in activity in their maritime shipping industry due to the economic recession.

Although the importance of establishing sound metrics is often noted in the logistics literature, few research efforts have examined appropriate metrics for reverse logistics (RL) processes. Through the lens of goal-setting theory, the paper identifies and align salient RL goals and metrics, and uncover some of the most common challenges to RL professionals. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper used open-ended questions to gather qualitative data from 84 RL professionals from the defense industry. A content analysis method was employed to extract and categorize the goals, challenges, and metrics for RL processes.

The paper identifies specific categories of goals, challenges and metrics. Several themes emerged from the study, to include customer service, disposition, costs, and process efficiencies. Using these themes, the paper matched goals to metrics and found a lack of uniformity and noted that metrics and goals often were not matched or were misaligned.

This research is limited by the defense industry sample and the research method. Caution should be used when generalizing the results, and further research is required to empirically test the validity of the findings. Nonetheless, in the context of goal-setting theory, the study contributes to the performance metrics literature by aligning RL metrics with goals and addressing challenges faced by RL practitioners. By investigating the topic from multiple perspectives, the study provides more detailed findings and demonstrates the differences between the inbound and outbound RL processes.

This study provides insight into the metrics used to monitor and control RL processes. The findings may help firms to identify shortcomings and choose metrics that they can employ to align RL processes with firm goals.

The study contributes to the performance metrics literature by aligning RL metrics with goals and addressing challenges faced by RL practitioners. By investigating the topic from both an inbound and outbound perspective, the study provides more detailed findings and demonstrates the differences between the inbound and outbound RL processes.

Brand metrics are more than just a vehicle to gauge success. They are a vehicle to guide success.

This paper aims to focus on the use of qualitative research methods to gain a better understanding of the performance management system (PMS) of one of the largest retailers in North America. The motivation for the research was to assess whether the PMS at one of the world’s largest retail companies was congruent with the most recent thinking and research in the management accounting literature.

Using open-ended interviews, the paper seeks to develop relevant hypotheses emerging from the dimensions of the Strauss and Corbin’s qualitative research methodology (1998). A qualitative methodology was used because it provides a structured approach and analytical techniques that can build upon existing theory and literature.

The qualitative evidence collected during the course of the research indicates that financial measures were predominantly used by the company in its PMS, and that this reliance on financial measures may be an artifact of the industry in which the company operates. The retail industry is highly competitive, and it is very sensitive to changes in customer tastes and behavior, as well as shareholder and financial market pressures. In addition to financial measures, it was found that operational management developed certain non-financial performance measures and that this development may have been a response by operational managers to wider stakeholder pressures and external influences. However, these performance measures appear to be not fully integrated in the PMS and are therefore de-coupled and relatively unimportant in, or entirely absent from, top-level decision-making.

The conclusions of the paper provide support for the concepts of isomorphism and de-coupling as found in the literature of new institutional theory.

The case study approach has enabled to explore and gain further understanding of management accounting practices, particularly performance measurement and management, in their natural setting. Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) grounded theory methodology was adopted because it provides a structured set of analytical steps and systematic analytical techniques for handling and interpreting data and theory building.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges for service firms communicating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts to customers. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between ESG metrics and reporting and customer perceptions of social innovativeness.

The empirical material comprises three years of data (2018–2020) covering more than 100 firms from three sources: (1) Social Innovation Index (Sii), which is collected as part of the American Innovation Index (Aii), (2) Bloomberg Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) ESG and (3) Datamaran.

ESG metrics and reporting do not suffice to explain customer perceptions of social innovativeness. Rather, a firm's industry plays the prominent role in affecting these perceptions where service firms are at a disadvantage as customers perceive services as less socially innovative compared to goods.

While ESG metrics and reporting provide important information for investors and regulators, they are not reflected in customers' perceptions of firms' social innovativeness, and services are at a disadvantage relative to goods. Therefore, services researchers and managers must advance their knowledge regarding how to better link ESG metrics and report to customers' perceptions.

The paper offers a first large-scale, cross-industry investigation of how ESG metrics and reporting impact customer perceptions of social innovativeness, leading to a research agenda on communication of ESG.

The purpose of this study is to revisit brand performance metrics (BPMs) (brand affinity, brand content and knowledge, brand image, brand ethics and brand value) and evaluate the moderated mediation effect of relationship quality (mediator) and relationship duration (moderator) in brand performance and customer loyalty relationship in an Indian banking context.

The research model was tested in the Indian banking sector. The primary data was collected from the 1,000 account holders of five Indian public and private banks. The data was analysed and validated using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling and the Hayes process were used for testing the hypotheses.

The study results established BPMs as a four-dimensional structure comprising brand affinity, brand content and knowledge, brand image, brand ethics and brand value. The BPMs significantly positively impact relational quality (RQ) and customer loyalty. Further results also prove the existence of moderated mediation effect on BPMs and customer loyalty link and portray that the impact of BPMs on customer loyalty is mediated by the RQ and influenced by relationship duration.

The study is confined to the Indian banking sector. It did not examine the dimension-wise impact of brand performance indicators on RQ and customer loyalty. Future research is required to explore their influence in banking and other sectors.

The study findings suggest that to enhance brand performance, banks need to follow excellence in every conduct, take immediate actions against inappropriate behaviour, consistently update their relevant and valuable contents (news, videos, white papers, e-books, case studies, FAQ’s, photos, etc.) on their websites and also introduce loyalty schemes to reimburse customers’ interests with some substantial benefits such as rebates, discounts, annual gifts and extraordinary or additional services. These strategies can pave the way for enhancing long-term quality relationships between customers and their service providers and increasing customer loyalty.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is a maiden attempt to assess the effect of BPMs on customer loyalty in the presence of RQ and at the value of relationship duration/length. Besides, the study results also prove the existence of moderated mediation effect and portray that the impact of customer equity and relational benefits on customer loyalty is influenced by relationship duration and mediated by RQ.