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After pioneering, but insular, work on the conceptualization and measurement of customer value in business markets undertaken in the 80s and 90s, interest in this topic is substantial since the beginning of this decade. Despite this recent interest, marketing scholars concur that value in business markets is still an under-researched subject. This contribution to the debate is threefold. The paper first proposes an own model of customer value conceptualization in business markets; based on several rounds of testing this theoretically grounded model in managerial practice indications exist to conclude that this model may offer benefits over current models.

Secondly, the paper provides a comprehensive survey of pricing approaches in industrial markets. The paper integrates this literature overview with own empirical findings. Concurrently the paper summarizes extant research on the link between pricing approach and profitability in industrial markets. The paper thirdly proposes a framework for value delivery and value-based pricing strategies in industrial markets. Proposing such a framework is both useful as well as necessary. Useful, since this framework guides new product development and pricing decisions and assists in the implementation of price-repositioning strategies for existing products; necessary, since the theoretical and practical adoption of value-based delivery and pricing strategies may have suffered from the lack of a unifying conceptual framework. Two case studies, one involving the pricing decision for a major product launch at a global chemical company, the other involving value delivery at an industrial equipment manufacturer, illustrate the practical applicability of the proposed framework.

To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how installed base information could help servitizing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) forecast and support their industrial service sales, and thus increase OEMs’ understanding regarding the dynamics of their customers lifetime values (CLVs).

This work constitutes a constructive research aiming to arrive at a practically relevant, yet scientific model. It involves a case study that employs statistical methods to analyze real-life quantitative data about sales and the global installed base.

The study introduces a forecasting model for industrial service sales, which considers the characteristics of the installed base and predicts the number of active customers and their yearly volume. The forecasting model performs well compared to other approaches (Croston’s method) suitable for similar data. However, reliable results require comprehensive, up-to-date information about the installed base.

The study contributes to the servitization literature by introducing a new method for utilizing installed base information and, thus, a novel approach for improving business profitability.

OEMs can use the forecasting model to predict the demand for – and measure the performance of – their industrial services. To-the-point predictions can help OEMs organize field services and service production effectively and identify potential customers, thus managing their CLV accordingly. At the same time, the findings imply new requirements for managing the installed base information among the OEMs, to understand and realize the industrial service business potential. However, the results have their limitations concerning the design and use of the statistical model in comparison with alternative approaches.

The study presents a unique method for employing installed base information to manage the CLV and supplement the servitization literature.

The research aims to qualitatively explore e-marketplace service quality (EMSQ) from the perspective of an industrial buyer as a sole decision-maker. It further intends to quantitatively examine its impact on the industrial buyer's perceived value (PV), overall satisfaction (SAT), and e-loyalty (ELOY) in the context of business-to-government (B2G) e-commerce.

The research used an exploratory sequential mixed-method design. A qualitative exploratory study of EMSQ was conducted using a Straussian grounded theory (GT) technique, followed by an explanatory quantitative study using PLS-SEM to evaluate causal links between various research variables.

In the area of e-services, the investigation found that the hierarchical structure of EMSQ encompasses six broadly applicable dimensions and one B2G context-specific dimension of the e-governance process quality. The study also reinforced previous research findings in the B2C and B2B e-commerce domains, highlighting that e-service quality positively impacts online buyer's PV, SAT and ELOY.

This research contributed to the area of e-service operations by developing and validating the EMSQ model in the B2G e-commerce settings. Further, it has opened up new research avenues in B2G e-commerce.

The findings from this research highlighted that e-service operations managers should focus on usability, technological concerns, product/vendor quality concerns, customer support reliability, along with effective e-governance, ordering and logistics processes for e-business success. It also provides policymakers with guidelines for making B2G e-marketplaces sustainable.

To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study employing the GT and PLS-SEM techniques to explore EMSQ from the viewpoint of industrial buyers in B2G e-commerce. The study contributed to prior literature by proposing and validating the hierarchical EMSQ model.

The purpose of this research is to investigate industrial marketing communications tools and the role of digital channels. The research draws from the literature on industrial marketing communications to examine its goals and intended utilization in industrial firms.

An empirical multiple case study conducted among six industrial firms examines the current state of digital marketing communications (DMC).

The study gleans three research insights. First, although DMC is one of the most important industrial marketing communication tools, firms have not yet used it to its full potential. Second, firms use DMC to enhance customer relationship communications, support sales and create awareness. Third, firms have not used social media tools as a part of DMC as widely as traditional digital tools.

Although the findings mirror those in DMC literature in general and industrial marketing communications in particular, they put more emphasis on the role of DMC in customer relationship communications and sales support.

DMC provides an opportunity to deliver various marketing objectives, such as creating brand awareness, increasing and supporting sales and improving communication with existing customers. Different DMC tools are required for each of these objectives.

This study is among the first ones examining the rapidly changing communications landscape and the spread of digital channels in industrial marketing communication.

This study aims to recognize industry 4.0 opportunities and challenges associated with the co-creation of value in industrial services and to propose a theoretical framework for smart industrial services systems.

The authors carried out a systematic literature review based on the systematic search flow method; thereafter, the authors used the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2011) to analyze the resulting portfolio.

The authors identified a total of five industry 4.0 opportunities and five challenges for co-creating value in industrial services. Drawing upon these findings, this paper builds a theoretical framework for the smart industrial services system, in which the industry 4.0 opportunities arise from the digitally mediated inter-firm interactions and the challenges related to the resources of this system.

This study may not have enabled a complete coverage of all existing peer-reviewed articles in the field of value co-creation in industrial services associated with the industry 4.0 technologies. Also, the framework is constrained by being theoretical rather than empirically grounded.

The findings give managers support to devise strategies for overcoming the barriers that impede them from taking advantage of the opportunities offered by industry 4.0 for co-creating value in industrial services.

This paper’s uniqueness is to identify the industry 4.0 opportunities and challenges for value co-creation in the context of industrial services and to propose a framework for the smart industrial services system.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the sales-, rental- and sharing-focused business models for industrial markets by analysing interactions and environmental sustainability efforts within them.

Case studies are conducted at two world-leading manufacturing firms of complex industrial products. The analysis compares how interaction takes place in sales-, rental- and sharing-focused business models in industrial markets for high-technology products in connection with environmental sustainability outcomes.

The findings show the need for different interaction patterns in sales-, rental- and sharing-focused business models at firm, relationship and network levels. The implementation of sharing-focussed business models requires new interactions with actors within firms, between firms and key collaborators and in networks. The firms in our study have made a wide range of efforts to improve the environmental sustainability of their products. Sharing-focused business models have the potential to be environmentally sustainable if products can be shared among customers. However, under-usage of products and the increased need to transport them may reduce environmental sustainability.

This study reveals that although manufacturing firms and customers are willing to implement sharing-focused business models, there are obstacles to achieving the expected environmental sustainability associated with this business model. These are due to the high-technology nature and level of customisation of the associated firms’ products and services, which make it difficult to share resources across firms without advanced adaptations to products such as re-programming. This study contributes to the sharing-focused business model literature for the business-to-business context, by pointing to the pivotal role partnerships with new actors and closer collaboration with existing actors in supply chains can play in enabling sharing-focused business models in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to “open up” the concept of customer satisfaction in industrial markets through arguing for a broader, contextually sensitive perspective to the phenomenon in its real‐life settings. The conceptual argumentation put forward in this paper is based on an action‐oriented research project on customer satisfaction in industrial markets conducted in two globally operating case organizations, the first one in paper machine manufacturing and the second one in production of high quality steel for industry. On the basis of the three steps highlighted in this paper – the inner context of a business relationship, the connected network of the customer‐supplier relationship, and the outer context of the connected network – it is argued that one can gain a more complete understanding of the context within which customer satisfaction actually emerges in industrial markets. The main function of the three steps proposed in this paper is to structure the inherent complexity and multiple facets of different contexts affecting customer satisfaction as a managerial phenomenon.

This chapter describes the main issues in scientific literature related to industrial branding. First, we set the background focusing on industrial branding, followed by brand equity and measurement, and brand orientation in business markets. The second section relies on controversies and problems inherent in the gaps in theory and implementation of branding. The third section proposes several solutions and recommendations for academics and practitioners, followed by proposals for future research directions and conclusions. We also present a case study and several case questions arising.

The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.