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1 – 10 of over 28000
Article
Publication date: 17 March 2021

Yongqiang Sun, Cailian Zhao and Xiao-Liang Shen

Customers' continuous value creation (e.g. voice) is an important research issue for the success of brand virtual community (BVC) and new product development, while it is rarely…

Abstract

Purpose

Customers' continuous value creation (e.g. voice) is an important research issue for the success of brand virtual community (BVC) and new product development, while it is rarely studied from a firm perspective. The purpose of the present study is to investigate how firm attributes exert influences on continuous voice intention in brand virtual communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected through a survey in mobile brand virtual communities in China, and 291 valid responses for data analysis were included to test the research model by using partial least squares (PLSs).

Findings

The results show that intrinsic motivation to voice is positively associated with continuous voice intention. Furthermore, the impact of brand identification on intrinsic motivation is found to be fully mediated by community identification. Customer orientation has a positive effect on perceived openness, and both customer orientation and perceived openness positively affect customers' brand identification and community identification.

Originality/value

Although prior studies have examined some variables relevant to voice behavior, few studies have recognized the influence of firm attributes toward the BVC on sustained voice intention. To fill this research gap, the authors propose a research model to shed light on the role of firm attributes by classifying them into brand- vs community-based firm attributes, which affect intrinsic motivation through two types of social identification, namely brand identification and community identification.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 121 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 April 2012

Russell Lacey

The author aims to examine how customer voice contributes to service provider relationships as a relationship driver by assessing its linkages to distinct relationship outcomes.

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Abstract

Purpose

The author aims to examine how customer voice contributes to service provider relationships as a relationship driver by assessing its linkages to distinct relationship outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling is used to test the study's hypotheses with US customer survey data from two independent samples: a luxury specialty retailer (n=2,586) and a casual dining restaurant (n=634). Both participating service firms use loyalty programs whose members are included in this study.

Findings

Customer voice is shown to positively and directly relate to customers' willingness to increase the volume and share of their purchases, impart positive word of mouth, and participate in a variety of marketing research initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

The multi‐contextually supported results are based on distinct customer groups with varying ties to the service provider.

Practical implications

As service providers are able to favorably influence customer voice, they also stand to improve their marketing performance.

Originality/value

This study provides a theoretically richer and broader view of customer voice as a driver of strengthened service provider relationships. The findings demonstrate how customer voice does more than protect against customer defection by also contributing to customer relationship building.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2000

Arjan Burgers, Ko de Ruyter, Cherie Keen and Sandra Streukens

Listening to the voice of the customer has been embraced in marketing theory and practice for a long time. However, the wide scale implementation of call centers has only recently…

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Abstract

Listening to the voice of the customer has been embraced in marketing theory and practice for a long time. However, the wide scale implementation of call centers has only recently enabled managers to take this adage to the next level. At the same time, it is acknowledged that the evaluation of service delivery often depends on the so‐called “service encounter”, or the time of interaction between the service firm and customer. Extensive research has been conducted in the field of traditional face‐to‐face encounters, but no attempt has yet been made to categorize customer expectations with regard to employee behavior during voice‐to‐voice encounters. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a measurement instrument that identifies key customer expectation dimensions with regard to call center representative (CCR) behavior. Based on the services marketing literature, 13 potential attributes were empirically tested on an effective sample of 206 respondents. This resulted in a model consisting of four different sub‐scales that were labeled “adaptiveness”, “assurance”, “empathy”, and “authority”. The results of the validity‐ and reliability‐testing confirm the solidity of the measurement instrument.

Details

International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-4233

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 June 2021

Bingcheng Yang, Hongyan Yu, Yu Yu and Miaoling Liu

Based on the online brand community, this study focuses on how online brand community experience affects customer voice and discusses the relationship between community engagement…

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the online brand community, this study focuses on how online brand community experience affects customer voice and discusses the relationship between community engagement and community commitment. Specifically, we examine the mediation effect of community engagement between community experience and customer voice and also the moderation role of community commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey data is collected through the online survey of people who participate in the online mobile phone brand community. In total, 369 members of online community users (Huawei and Apple communities) were collected as the research samples. Then the structural equation model analysis was tested through the SPSS 25 and Mplus 7 in a two-stage analysis program.

Findings

The results show that (1) customer online brand community experience has a positive impact on customer voice; (2) community engagement mediates the positive relationship between online brand community experience and customer voice; and (3) community commitment plays a moderating role between customer experience and customer voice. Compared with low level customer's community commitment, when customer's community commitment is high, the level of community engagement has a greater mediation effect on the positive relationship between community experience and customer voice.

Research limitations/implications

On the one hand, the model of customer community experience to customer voice built in this paper has not been fully validated. Whether the model can get more robust results needs to be extended to more different community scenarios. On the other hand, this paper is actually cross-sectional data, which cannot strictly reveal the causal relationship. The authors recommend that future research may use other research methods to further reveal its internal mechanism.

Practical implications

This paper shows that customer's community experience has an important impact on customer voice behavior. Among them, information experience and sociability remain as the important factor affecting customer voice behavior, which is quiet important for maintaining brand community and product or service improvement. Brand community managers need to consistently create multiple forms of information presentation and interaction channels to enhance the information and social experience of community members.

Originality/value

First, this paper puts forward a new perspective on customer comments or feedback-customer voice, which provides a solid foundation and reference value for future scholars to explore such important phenomena. Second, the relationship between community experience and customer voice behavior was examined, which enriched the research on community experience and also discovered another positive significance of community experience in community construction. Finally, the authors examine the mediation effect of community engagement on customer voice behavior. Community engagement is one of the important indicators that reflexing community performance, which is of great significance to the brand community.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 39 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 April 2022

Deepak Saxena, Mairead Brady, Markus Lamest and Martin Fellenz

This study aims to provide more insight into how customer voice is captured and used in managerial decision-making at the marketing-finance interface. This study’s focus is on…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to provide more insight into how customer voice is captured and used in managerial decision-making at the marketing-finance interface. This study’s focus is on understanding how the customer voice, often communicated through online and social media platforms, is used in high-performing hotels.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on a case study of four high-performing Irish hotels. For each case, multiple informants, including marketing managers, general managers and finance managers, were interviewed and shadowed. Twenty seven decisions across the four cases were analysed to assess the use of customer voice in managerial decision-making.

Findings

Social media provides a stage that has empowered the customer voice because of the public nature of the interaction and the network effect. Customer voice is incorporated in managerial decision-making in three distinct ways – symbolically as part of an early warning system, for action-oriented operational decisions and to some extent in the knowledge-enhancing role for tactical decisions. While there is a greater appreciation among senior managers and the finance and accounting managers of the importance of customer voice, this study finds clear limits in its utilisation and more reliance on traditional finance and accounting data, especially in strategic decision-making.

Research limitations/implications

The cases belong to a highly visible open environment of hotels in an industry where customer voice has immediate and strong effects. The findings may not directly apply to industries characterised by a relatively more closed context such as banking or insurance. Moreover, the findings reflect the practices of high-performing hotels and do not necessarily capture the practices used in less successfully operating hotels.

Practical implications

While marketers need to enhance their ability to create a narrative that links the customer voice to revenue generation, finance managers also need to develop a skillset and adopt a mindset that appropriately reflects the influential role for customer voice in managerial decision-making.

Originality/value

Despite the linkage of marketing performance to business performance, there is limited research on the impact of customer information on managerial decision-making. This research provides insight into how customer voice is considered at the critical marketing-finance interface.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 May 2021

Ashita Aggarwal

Customer experience management is the managing of customer interactions, feelings and emotions at every touchpoint. These interactions and feelings define the customer's future…

Abstract

Customer experience management is the managing of customer interactions, feelings and emotions at every touchpoint. These interactions and feelings define the customer's future behaviour and perceptions about the offering. Companies can use these touchpoint interactions as a source of competitive advantage. Companies can embark on a journey of experience management by understanding needs and insights about customer's behaviour. These are gathered through interactions, observations and structured surveys. Such feedback from customers is called Voice of Customer (VoC). Another source of understanding customers is employees who are involved in these interactions and also product and service delivery. Understanding employees is equally important. Companies need to even collate their feedback regarding problems in delivery and servicing, customers' expectations versus perceptions. Organisations committed to creating superior customer experience invest in tools like surveys, employee interactions both in formal and informal context to gather voice of the employee (VoE). Finally, both VoC and VoE have to be evaluated in a business context to define processes and measure the effectiveness of these processes. The voice of the process or VoP helps to understand the difference between customer perceptions and process performance. It gives an estimate of error and suggests methods for improving process efficiency.

This chapter explains the three essential ingredients that go into experience management, the tools used to collect information and how can these be used to design a superior and fulfilling experience for customers.

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2020

Jim Macnamara

Comparatively, while the voice of customers, employees, and other stakeholders have been identified as key components of corporate and marketing communication, little attention…

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Abstract

Purpose

Comparatively, while the voice of customers, employees, and other stakeholders have been identified as key components of corporate and marketing communication, little attention has been paid to how organizations listen to, make sense of, and use the information provided. The research reported in this article examined how a multinational corporation and its subsidiaries listen to their customers, employees, and other stakeholders and explored how corporate listening can be improved for mutual benefits.

Design/methodology/approach

This article reports participatory action research within a multinational corporation operating in Europe, Canada and Australia, which set out to become a “listening organization” to improve its relationships and performance. The research was informed by interviews, observation, content analysis of relevant documents, and critical reflection.

Findings

This analysis illustrates the need for and benefits of looking beyond statistical data to analyze textual, aural and visual data available from call centers, open-end survey comments, complaints, correspondence, social media and other sources, and it identifies methods, tools and technologies for ethical insightful corporate listening.

Research limitations/implications

This article advocates a “turn” from a focus on voice to focus on listening, noting that expression of the voice of customers, employees and other stakeholders has no value to them or organizations without active listening.

Originality/value

This paper reports an in-depth study of corporate listening to multiple stakeholders and identifies opportunities for increased insights and understanding that can lead to tangible benefits for both organizations and their stakeholders.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1998

K.C. Tan, M. Xie and E. Chia

Presently, there is much focus on measuring and improving the quality of industrial systems with little attention paid to the quality of information technology (IT) related…

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Abstract

Presently, there is much focus on measuring and improving the quality of industrial systems with little attention paid to the quality of information technology (IT) related systems. In this paper, we present a study using the technique quality function deployment (QFD) to design and improve IT systems. QFD is a useful technique and has been applied successfully in traditional hardware product design. We show that it is equally useful for the design of IT‐related systems. In particular, we used QFD to study the human/user interface aspects of several World WideWeb home pages. On‐line surveys were used to obtain rankings of customer voices that are important in QFD. The results show that it is a useful technique that should be more commonly used for IT‐related systems.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 15 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Robert Teehan and Walter Tucker

This paper tested a model to collect the voice of the customer to improve service delivery in call centers using the concept of failure demand. Customer responses are quantified…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper tested a model to collect the voice of the customer to improve service delivery in call centers using the concept of failure demand. Customer responses are quantified for improvement in service delivery. There are many academic studies reporting effective and validated research methodologies to measure service quality. However, these methods are complex and unwieldy. The purpose of this paper is to adapt the lean service concept of working from the customer's viewpoint – to measure, then improve customer satisfaction, and thereby reduce costs.

Design/methodology/approach

A checklist of best practices for call centers was developed from the literature and multiple iterations used to develop a three part call evaluation system to include value demand, failure demand, not able to determine, and value demand as stated by the customer.

Findings

The findings indicated that the value/failure demand measurement system was useful and many failure demand occurrences occurred.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to service providers in call centers and their managers. Call center operators logged customer perceptions so it has the potential to lack objectivity.

Practical implications

Service providers need simple tools to assess operations, improve quality, and efficiency. This paper will assist in the development of an easy‐to‐use and generic tool for the continuous improvement of services.

Originality/value

The paper is one of very few studies that use the actual customer voice to measure failure demand and call centers can apply this process.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2024

Thien Le, Thanh Ho, Van-Ho Nguyen and Hoanh-Su Le

This study aims to use the voice of the customer (VoC) strategy to collect user-generated content (UGC) compare customer expectations with reality, make the necessary improvements…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to use the voice of the customer (VoC) strategy to collect user-generated content (UGC) compare customer expectations with reality, make the necessary improvements for the business and create personalized strategies for each customer to maximize revenue, focus on hospitality industry in Vietnam market.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a synthesis of techniques for a deep understanding of the VoC based on online reviews in the hospitality industry. First, 409,054 comments were collected from websites in the hospitality sector. Second, the data will be organized, stored, cleaned, analyzed and evaluated. Next, research using business intelligence (BI) solutions integrating three models, including net promoter score (NPS), graph model and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), based on natural language processing (NLP) technique, experiment on Vietnamese and English data to explore the multidimensional voice of customer’s row. Finally, a dashboard system will be implemented to visualize analysis results and recommendations on marketing strategies to improve product and service quality.

Findings

Experimental results allow analysts and managers to “listen to the customer’s voice” accurately and effectively, identify relationships between entities, topics of discussion in favor of positive and negative trends.

Originality/value

The novelty in this study is the integration of three models, including NPS, graph model and LDA. These models are combined based on the BI solution and NLP technique. The study also conducted experiments on both Vietnamese and English languages, which ensures more effective practical application.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

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