Loving and Hating Brands

Consumers develop relationships with diverse brands regarding brands as partners. Brands are viewed by customers as symbolic meanings and social and cultural value, which is beyond the utilitarian benefits. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to explore the research on Consumer-Brand Relationship (CBR) and present a theoretical model of consumer-brand relationship process, giving insights for good and bad relationships. The chapter begins with the origin and evolution of CBR. Then, an overview of main theories and the seminal models are shown. Finally, a model of consumer-brand relationship process through good and bad relationships is proposed, and insights for further research are provided.

Human-Computer Interaction in Consumer Behaviour

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) studies play an important role in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a new generation of graphical user interfaces designed to support consumer behaviours and information needs. In recent years, the spread of new virtual environments and innovative tools have revolutionized the field of e-commerce. Although new digital environments can enable or facilitate certain user activities, the quality of the user interface will remain a continuing challenge. The chapter aims to underline the relationships between HCI studies and consumer behaviour, focusing attention on virtual environments for electronic and Internet e-commerce (online retail) services. The potential of multi-modal interfaces and virtual environments for business and marketing are examined by: (1) providing an overview of the relationships between HCI and consumer behaviour, (2) showing how different interaction modalities can enhance the communication process between user and consumer system, (3) showing how digital and interactive technologies can offer to the consumer many advantages and unique opportunities in exploring information and products, and (4) new directions for possible future research.

Market Orientation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Implementation Intensity, and CRM Performance

The Web hosting industry is characterized by the rapid growth of information technology trends as well as constantly growing competition. Market orientation and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are thought of as key solutions to this predicament. Thus, the purpose of this study was to test the effect of market orientation on CRM implementation intensity and subsequently the effect of CRM implementation intensity on CRM performance. Data was collected via online questionnaires from 81 online Web hosting companies around the world and analyzed using Partial Least Squares structural equation modeling technique. The results indicated that market orientation had a significant positive impact on CRM implementation intensity and CRM implementation intensity had a direct positive influence on CRM performance. A test of mediation also confirmed that CRM implementation intensity mediated the relationship between market orientation and CRM performance. Implications of these findings are further explored.

Customer Relationship Management as an Imperative for Academic Libraries

This chapter proposes a conceptual model, the 121 e-Agent Framework, for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in academic libraries. Linked data and Semantic Web are the core components of this model. The implementation of the Framework will enable the participating U.S. academic libraries to reach out to their user communities through systematic customer group identification, differentiation, and interaction. The main contributions of the chapter are 1) applying Semantic Web technologies for CRM in academic libraries using the 121 e-Agent Framework, 2) defining the relevance challenges of CRM for academic libraries, 3) adding trust management to the linked data layer with a touch of tagging, categorizing, query log analysis, and social ranking as part of the underlying structure for distributed customer data filtering on the Web in CRM applications, and 4) making the approach extensible to address the challenges of CRM in other fields.

Automated Technology Integrations for Customer Satisfaction Assessment

This chapter presents the automated technology integrations for organizations to assess their customer satisfaction. The technology utilizations of most of the organizations to communicate with customers are summarized. This chapter also compares the common resources that are used to measure customer satisfaction. The main part of this chapter describes the related concerns and challenges faced by the business regarding customer satisfaction. This chapter introduces the integrations of automated technology components, such as Automated Emotion Recognition System and Automated Text Content Analysis Tool. These components can be integrated into communication tools to solve the existing problems efficiently and improve the assessment of customer satisfaction.

Consumer Information Systems as Services

Consumer Information Systems (CIS) are a new type of Information System that provides services to consumers, such as Internet-based television, instead of addressing users in traditional organizational settings. Services typically involve a trade-off between achieving high service productivity and quality. The use of service mass customization to successfully address these issues of both productivity and quality in a service context is proposed. The authors suggest that the development of Consumer Information Systems as Services (CISaS) may achieve such service mass customization. This chapter presents a conceptual framework and investigates how it applies to an emerging field of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)/Internet TV systems.

Customer Knowledge Management (CKM)

SMEs operating in high-tech sectors are typically reliant on specialist knowledge to help them build the right product with the objective of meeting customer needs. The nature of niche software markets means that products must be closely informed by customer requirements for the software product to be a success. The importance of understanding how smaller organisations manage knowledge has become vital to their success; however, there remains a dearth of empirical research in SMEs in the area of IS research. Using a qualitative analysis approach in five Irish software SMEs, this chapter identifies how this type of organisation leverages their customers as external knowledge resources, with particular emphasis on knowledge acquisition, a Knowledge Activity (KA) in which customers play a significant part. Through the establishment of KAs a firm can develop an approach to Customer Knowledge Management (CKM) to build value-creating relationships with a reliable customer base.

Knowledge Management as a Tool for Influencing Customers

This chapter revisits an earlier published model of the Cost-Benefit Analysis method focused on KM projects. Although it continues to centre on the customer and the general market environment as knowledge sources used to evaluate the appropriateness of a Knowledge Management (KM) project, it expands the discussion to incorporate the latest research on this topic. In addition, the tangible and intangible benefits of a successful KM deployment continue to be stressed; it highlights the various barriers and sets recommendations that may be pursued. Given the on-going nature of this condition in the Czech Republic, the authors continue to pursue an active research protocol.

Can Zakat Institutions Adopt Consumer-Centric Knowledge Management Successfully to Alleviate Poverty?

Drawing upon Consumer-Centric Knowledge Management (CCKM) approach and poverty alleviation efforts, this chapter elaborates the adoption of these approaches in Zakat Institutions (ZI) in their search to alleviate poverty. It assesses the interrelationships of the two approaches in ZI considering the poor and needy as the main envisioned stakeholders. The investigation deliberates the landscape of poverty alleviation by key agents of knowledge change, reviewing their contributions to establish communities of practices in creating and sharing knowledge on poverty alleviation. Similarly, it relates major strategic focus of poverty alleviation to CCKM processes. It explores knowledge management gaps that could affect ZI outreach highlighting the main internal and external challenges. The substances of outreach stipulate the importance of poverty intelligence portfolio that utilizes key elements of CCKM, namely poor and needy intelligence, demand intelligence, situational intelligence, and networking intelligence. As a result, the effective engagement of ZI in the two approaches is valued with respect to knowledge on poverty alleviation.

Managing Service Consumer Behavior and Relationship Dynamics in Asia

Organizations, especially those in Asia, are increasingly appreciating the value of establishing closer and lasting relationship with customers. With greater access to information from research findings, industry practitioners are implementing different strategies for achieving this goal. This chapter evaluates dual strategies firms in Asia have been using in trying to build lasting relationship with customers, namely respect and rapport. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the concepts of respect and rapport and the effects on the quality of firm-customer relationship and customer loyalty. The chapter draws from existing literature and surveys customers of two service sectors in Asia. The research propositions connecting the two dimensions of interpersonal relationship (i.e. respect and rapport) with relationship quality and customer loyalty are tested and confirmed using standard data analysis procedure. The findings lead to research and managerial implications that conclude the chapter.