The Comparison Between Traditional vs. Advanced Means of Marketing Communications

The selection of an effective advertising campaign is remarkably essential for organizations to get consumers' attention where diverse conventional mediums were already operational over the past decades (i.e., outdoor media advertising). However, the trend has been transformed toward revolutionary means of marketing communications owing to widespread penetration of the technology. Therefore, electronic marketing is a challenging and growing trend to attain consumers' attention using internet in the present era. The core aim of this chapter is to investigate the significance of e-marketing (eM) and outdoor media advertising on consumer buying behavior within the electronic products of Pakistan. It is empirically revealed that e-marketing and outdoor advertising are factors of exploratory consumer buying behavior. In comparison, electronic marketing may have a higher positive influence than outdoor media advertising in the current digital age to reach a particular market. This chapter proposes several managerial implications and future studies for academics and practitioners.

When Multiple Actors' Online Interactions Lead to Value Co-Destruction

This chapter explores the value co-destruction and deviant behavior during multiple actors' online interactions. While several studies have highlighted its benefits, researchers have often failed to consider the negative consequences of these interactions. Previous studies focused on offline dyadic interactions and have not completely explained the causes of these problematic interactions in an online context. To this end, by using JetStar Airways, this chapter explores VCD by investigating the online context of the tourism industry, as characterized by the often complex relations among multiple actors. This study contributes from a theoretical standpoint by extending VCC literature considering the negative consequences of deviant behaviors in an online context and by identifying five deviant behaviors related to multiple actors' interaction: performing illegal actions, supporting illegal actions, making insults, lacking transparency, and providing false information. This chapter provides guidance to practitioners on how to handle an interactive crisis caused by deviant behaviors.

Public Relation Professionalism

This chapter draws from extensive research conducted in various public relations firms in the United Arab Emirates and describes contemporary research practices on which these firms are building. Their inclination is toward incorporation of permanent research in their organizational framework and in-depth analyses regarding how public relations firms evolve and meet clients' future expectations. In-depth analyses were conducted in national, international, small, average, and high-scale public relations firms to determine how research is helping, at various levels, to excel and impress clients. Mixed research methods were used; 350 questionnaires were distributed and 17 face-to-face interviews were conducted over 7 months. Results suggest that the economic, social, and institutional characteristics of public relations firms in the United Arab Emirates are dissimilar to other countries, so extensive research is required to determine the significance of research concerning improving public relations practices in the country.

From Customer Relationship Management to Influencer Relationship Management

In today's digitally fragmented and social-media-dominated world, traditional forms of advertising—driving awareness through push advertising—are becoming less effective, and more and more consumer brands are turning to influencers as important network intermediaries to leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Influencers are individual consumers who maintain large numbers of followers that seek to interact with the influencers' unique content on a regular basis. To enable companies to systematically manage the relationships between brands and influencers, the concept of customer relationship management is being transferred to fit the new challenges. The four stages of the influencer life cycle are explained and possible KPIs listed in this chapter.

Social CRM

This chapter is based on an empirical research study that attempts to gain an understanding of the social customers' behavior by identifying the factors that influence their decision to participate in social customer relationship management (CRM) programs. A social behavioral model (SBM) was developed in this study. The construction of the SBM was partly based on two popular models: technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior. The data (n=305) were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and path analysis. Attitude, usefulness, and perceived risk are the most influential factors in SBM. Other variables—social identity, perceived ease of use, perceived behavioral control, perceived enjoyment, and satisfaction—affected intention indirectly. Subjective norm and image did not affect intention directly or indirectly; therefore, these two variables were dropped from the SBM. The resultant conceptual framework provides a stronger theoretical basis for understanding the behavioral aspect of social CRM implementation.

The Fundamentals of Customer Relationship Management

This chapter presents the overview of customer relationship management (CRM), CRM and customer retention, CRM and customer engagement, CRM and technological utilization, and the importance of CRM in modern business. With the support of advanced technologies, CRM is the advanced approach that can enhance companies to achieve the positive relationships with customers, and can increase both customer retention and customer engagement in their products and services. The application of CRM can promote the capability of interacting with customers conformed to their customer requirements, and can help increase both sales and business growth in the competitive business environments. The chapter argues that utilizing CRM has the potential to enhance business performance and gain sustainable competitive advantage in the digital age.

Predicting Brand Loyalty by Measuring the Strength of Consumer Habit

This chapter builds on existing loyalty literature and theories, includes impact of habit on continuous intention and loyalty, and makes recommendations to practitioners based on the findings. This research identifies the factors that will increase brand loyalty by consumers and examines the strength and effect of habit in predicting brand loyalty. Five regression models revealed that habit was the strongest factor among all constructs in predicting continuance intention and consumer loyalty to mobile wallet brands. Support was found for all of the hypothesized relationships for consumers using mobile apps. Although the direct effects of consumer attitudes were more or less constant, satisfaction became insignificant when habit is introduced in the model. As an independent variable with both consumer attitudes and satisfaction, habit significantly increases the explanatory power of continuance intention and loyalty. This chapter provides new insights into factors that influence loyalty in the context of mobile wallet applications.

Maximizing Social Presence to Improve Website Loyalty

Technology plays a crucial role in the development of customer brand loyalty. However, technological user interface often falls short on major important aspects of business interaction, such as context-based exchange of information and opinions. Adding social networking features to the corporate website is an attempt to mitigate this weakness. This chapter investigates the driving forces of website loyalty, an issue of interest to the businesses deploying social networks as a new technological tool for business promotion. Using Facebook as the target of observation, this study evaluates the effects of social presence and social capital on website loyalty. The analysis reveals a positive influence of social presence on all three (structural, relational, and cognitive) dimensions of social capital. Further, both the relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital show positive influence on the website loyalty. These findings have practical implications for company seeking to cultivate brand loyalty via website design and management.

The Six Dimensions of Adoption of a CRM Strategy

This chapter covers aspects to be taken into account in the adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) in terms of a strategic perspective. It is based on an analysis of 32 models developed between 1999 and 2015. This analysis allowed the authors to detect elements internal to the organization that are arranged in six dimensions: CRM strategy formulation, relational marketing philosophy, the application of best practices, organizational and human resources, CRM processes, and CRM technology. It also presents a definition of CRM that encompasses these dimensions and takes into account the three functional areas of operation of CRM: marketing, sales, and service. Bearing in mind the definition and a perspective of connection dimensions developed along the characterization of each of the dimensions, the authors presented the conceptual model for the adoption of CRM.

Improving Customer Relationship Management Through Social Listening

In the dynamic world of social media strategy, developing an effective approach to customer relationship management (CRM) online is challenging. With best practices for CRM on social media still being uncovered, the value of social listening is becoming recognizable in contemporary social CRM. This chapter presents a case study that shares the actions, insights, and experiences of using social media for CRM at the academic library at a mid-size American university located in northeast Florida. Using specific examples of how social media is used to engage in social listening and to enhance CRM, the social listening practices and social media strategy of this library are highlighted in relation to how they influence and potentially improve CRM. By examining the practices of this individual institution's library, a better understanding of how academic libraries engage with customers using social media as a CRM platform comes to light. In addition, ideas for future research on the intersection of social listening, CRM, and social media strategy are discussed.