Latest paper on online switching barriers and loyalty

Really delighted that our paper titled 'Constructing Online Switching Barriers: Examining the Effects of Switching Costs and Alternative Attractiveness on E-Store Loyalty in Online Pure-Play Retailers' (Yes, it is a really long title), has been published in 'Electronic Markets: - The International Journal on Networked Business'.

I co-wrote this paper with Ghazali, E., Nguyen, B. and Mohd Any, A. A.

It has been published online and should be is now out in print as well. Here is the abstract of the paper.

Abstract

Developing switching barriers to retain customers has become a critical marketing strategy for online retailers. However, research on the role of switching barriers in e-retailing is still limited. Recent trends show that when competitors are just one click away, it is questionable if customer loyalty can be achieved at all in online environments. This leads to the research question on whether switching barriers have any impact on e-loyalty in pure-play retailers. The paper examines the influence of switching barriers on customer retention (i.e., e-store loyalty) and further investigates the moderating effects of switching costs and alternative attractiveness. Data were gathered via a survey of 590 shoppers of online pure-play retailers in the UK. Findings show that customer satisfaction and the two dimensions of switching barriers (perceived switching costs and perceived attractiveness of alternatives) significantly influence customer loyalty. Contrary to findings in earlier studies, it was found that switching costs did not moderate the relationships between satisfaction and loyalty nor between perceived attractiveness of alternatives and loyalty. The paper makes imperative recommendations to develop switching barriers and to foster loyalty along with suggestions for future research.

Please let me know if you would like a soft copy of the paper: dilip.mutum@nottingham.edu.my

To cite:

Ghazali, E., Nguyen, B., Mutum, D. S. and Mohd Any, A. A. (2016). Constructing Online Switching Barriers: Examining the Effects of Switching Costs and Alternative Attractiveness on E-Store Loyalty in Online Pure-Play Retailers, Electronic Markets: - The International Journal on Networked Business. 26(2), 157-171.
DOI: 10.1007/s12525-016-0218-1

Redefining Marketing

Ana Isabel Canhoto, Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes, has written an interesting post on her blog, discussing ‘This thing called marketing'.

A few years ago, I had posted something related on my old Warwick blog on "Selling is not marketing". Anyway, Ana mentions that the definition she usually refers to is the one given by the Chartered Institute of Marketing which describes marketing as:

‘The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’ 

This definition is my favourite as well. However, I feel that there is a need to update this definition.

As I commented on Ana's post,  the growing importance of Social marketing has presented some unique issues, where positive social change is the main objective and not fiscal targets. This may mean that the term "profitably" in the CIM definition may not be applicable all the time.

Furthermore, I would add 'and maintaining' just after 'satisfying'. From personal experience and what I have heard from other people, it seems that a lot of companies here in the UK  are totally ignorant or choose to ignore the concept "LOYALTY".