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Understanding the Effect of Customer Relationship Management Efforts on Customer

Retention and Customer Share Development


Author(s): Peter C. Verhoef
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67, No. 4 (Oct., 2003), pp. 30-45
Published by: American Marketing Association
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PeterC. Verhoef

the
Understanding Effect of
Customer Relationship
Managemen
Efforts on Customer Retention and
CustomerShare Development
Scholars have questioned the effectiveness of several customer relationshipmanagement strategies. The author
investigates the differentialeffects of customer relationshipperceptionsand relationshipmarketinginstrumentson
customer retentionand customer share developmentover time. Customerrelationshipperceptionsare considered
evaluations of relationshipstrength and a supplier'sofferings,and customer share development is the change in
customer share between two periods. The results show that affective commitmentand loyaltyprogramsthat pro-
vide economic incentives positively affect both customer retentionand customer share development, whereas
directmailingsinfluencecustomer share development. However,the effect of these variables is rathersmall. The
results also indicatethat firmscan use the same strategies to affect both customer retentionand customer share
development.

relationships have been increasingly studied tics can succeed in developing customer share in consumer
in the academic marketing literature(Berry 1995; markets(Dowling 2002; Dowling and Uncles 1997).
Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987; Morgan and Hunt
Customer Several studies have considered the impact of CRP on
1994; Sheth and Parvatiyar1995). An intense interestin cus- either customerretentionor customershare,but not on both
tomer relationships is also apparentin marketingpractice (e.g., Anderson and Sullivan 1993; Bolton 1998; Bowman
and is most evident in firms' significant investmentsin cus- and Narayandas2001; De Wulf, Odekerken-Schrider,and
tomer relationshipmanagement(CRM) systems (Kerstetter Iacobucci2001). A few studies have consideredthe effect of
2001; Reinartz and Kumar 2002; Winer 2001). Customer RMIs on customer retention (e.g., Bolton, Kannan, and
retentionrates and customer share are importantmetrics in Bramlett2000). In contrast,the effect of RMIs on customer
CRM (Hoekstra, Leeflang, and Wittink 1999; Reichheld sharehas been overlooked.Furthermore,most studies focus
1996). Customershare is defined as the ratioof a customer's on customer share in a particularproduct category (e.g.,
purchases of a particularcategory of products or services Bowman and Narayandas2001). Higher sales of more of the
from supplierX to the customer'stotal purchasesof thatcat- same product or brand can increase this share; however,
egory of productsor services from all suppliers(Peppersand firms that sell multiple products or services achieve share
Rogers 1999). increases by cross-selling other products. Moreover, no
To maximize these metrics, firms use relationshipmar- study has consideredthe effect of CRPs and RMIs on both
keting instruments(RMIs), such as loyalty programs and customer retentionand customer share. It is often assumed
direct mailings (Hartet al. 1999; Robertsand Berger 1999). in the literaturethatthe same strategiesused for maximizing
Firmsalso aim to build close relationshipswith customersto customer share can be used to retain customers; however,
enhance customers' relationship perceptions (CRPs). recent studies indicate that increasingcustomershare might
Although the impact of these tactics on customer retention require different strategies than retaining customers (Blat-
has been reported(e.g., Bolton 1998; Bolton, Kannan,and tberg,Getz, and Thomas 2001; Bolton, Lemon, and Verhoef
Bramlett2000), there is skepticism about whethersuch tac- 2002; Reinartzand Kumar2003).
Prior studies have used self-reported, cross-sectional
data that describe both CRPs and customer share (e.g., De
PeterC.Verhoefis Assistant
Professorof Marketing,
Department of Mar- Wulf, Odekerken-Schrider,and Iacobucci2001). The use of
ketingandOrganization,RotterdamSchoolof Economics, Erasmus Uni-
Rotterdam.Theauthor thefinancialand such data may have led to overestimationof the considered
versity, acknowledges
gratefully
datasupportof a Dutchfinancialservicescompany. Theauthor thanks associations because of methodological problems such as
BasDonkers, FredLangerak, PeterLeeflang,LorenLemon, PeeterVer- carryoverand backfireeffects and common methodvariance
legh,DickWittink,
andthefouranonymous JM reviewersfortheirhelpful (Bickart 1993). Such datacannotestablish a causal relation-
Theauthoralsoacknowledges
suggestions. the comments of research ship; indeed, the argument could be made that causality
seminar of Groningen,
at theUniversity
participants YaleSchoolof Man- works the other way (i.e., I am loyal, therefore I like the
agement,Tilburg andthe University
University, of Maryland. he
Finally,
company) (Ehrenberg1997). Longitudinaldata ratherthan
acknowledges his twodissertationadvisers,PhilipHansFransesand cross-sectional data should be used to establish the causal
JannyHoekstra,fortheirenduring
support.
relationshipbetween customershare and its antecedents.

Journal of Marketing
30/ Journal
of Marketing,
October
2003 Vol. 67 (October 2003), 30-45

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I have the following researchobjectives: First, I aim to tomer relationship largely depends on the applied RMIs
understandthe effect of CRPs and RMIs on customerreten- (Bhattacharyaand Bolton 2000; Christy, Oliver, and Penn
tion and customer share development over time. Second, I 1996; De Wulf, Odekerken-Schridder, and Iacobucci 2001).
examine whetherthe effect of CRPs and RMIs on customer Moreover, because of the increasing popularity of CRM
retentionand customer share development is different.My among businesses, an increasing numberof firms are using
study analyzes questionnairedataon CRPs, operationaldata RMIs.
on the applied RMIs, and longitudinal data on customer In the model, I also include customers'past behaviorin
retention and customer share of a (multiservice) financial the relationship as control variables, which might capture
service provider. inertiaeffects that are consideredimportantdeterminantsof
customerloyalty in business-to-consumermarkets(Dowling
LiteratureReview and Uncles 1997; Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon 2000). Past
customer behavioral variables (e.g., relationshipage, prior
CRPsand CustomerBehavior customer share) can also be indicators of past behavioral
Table 1 providesan overview of studies thatreportthe effect loyalty, which often translates into future loyalty. Prior
of CRPs on customerbehavior,and it describes the depen- research suggests that the type of productpurchasedin the
dent variables,the design and context of the study,the CRPs past is an indicator of future cross-selling potential (e.g.,
studied, and the effect of CRPs on behavioralcustomerloy- Kamakura,Ramaswami,and Srivastava1991).
alty measures(which can be self-reportedor actualobserved
loyalty measures).Table 1 shows that the results of studies Hypotheses
that relate CRPs to actual customerbehaviorare mixed.
CRPs
RMIs and Customer Behavior Relationship marketingtheory and customer equity theory
Table 2 provides an overview of the limited numberof aca- posit that customers' perceptionsof the intrinsic quality of
demic studies thatconsiderthe effect of RMIs. The majority the relationship(i.e., strengthof the relationship)and cus-
of the studies have focused on loyalty or preferentialtreat- tomers' evaluations of a supplier's offerings shape cus-
ment programs,and the results show mixed effects of these tomers'behaviorin the relationship(Garbarinoand Johnson
programson customer loyalty. Despite the intensive use of 1999; Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon 2000; Woodruff 1997).
direct mailings in practice, their effect on customer loyalty The most prominentperceptionrepresentingthe strengthof
has almost been ignored.More important,the effect of RMIs the relationshipis (affective) commitment(Moorman,Zalt-
on customer share development over time has not been man, and Desphandd 1992; Morgan and Hunt 1994).
investigated. Because satisfactionand paymentequity are importantcon-
structswith respectto the evaluationof a supplier'sofferings
ConceptualModel (Bolton and Lemon 1999), I included these three constructs
in the model. The two categories of constructs differ in
Figure 1 shows the conceptualmodel. In this model, I con- terms of both content and time orientation:Affective com-
sider customer retention and customer share development
mitment is forwardlooking, whereas satisfaction and pay-
between two periods (T1 andTo) as the dependentvariables,
which are affected by CRPs and RMIs. Because I consider ment equity are retrospectiveevaluations.
customerretentionand customer share developmentas two In the customerequity and relationshipmarketingliter-
ature, other CRPs that are not included in my model are
separate processes, relationshipmaintenance and relation-
often studied. Trust and brand perceptions are the most
ship development, the underlyinghypotheses of the model
explicitly predictthat differentconstructsof CRPs, and dif- prominentof these variables(Morganand Hunt 1994; Rust,
ferent RMIs influence customer retention and customer Zeithaml,and Lemon 2000). I did not include brandpercep-
share development.The rationalefor this distinction is that tions because the focus is on currentcustomers. My con-
a customer's decision to stay in a relationshipwith a firm tentionis thatthe brandis especially significantin attracting
may be differentfrom his or her incrementaldecision to add new customers.During the relationship,the brandprobably
or drop existing products.Consistentwith this notion, Blat- influences affective commitment(Bolton, Lemon, and Ver-
tberg, Getz, and Thomas (2001) argue that customerreten- hoef 2002). I did not include trust, because trust should be
tion is not the same as customer share, because two firms considered merely an antecedent of satisfaction and com-
could retainthe same customer.Reinartzand Kumar(2003) mitment (Geyskens, Steenkamp, and Kumar 1998). No
suggest thatrelationshipdurationand customershareshould direct effect on customerbehaviorshould be expected.
be considered as two separatedimensions of the customer
Affective Commitment
relationship. Bolton, Lemon, and Verhoef (2002) propose
thatthe antecedentsof customerretentionmight be different Commitmentis usually defined as the extent to which an
from the antecedentsof cross-buying behavior.I explicitly exchange partnerdesires to continue a valued relationship
addressthese differences in the hypotheses. (Moorman,Zaltman, and Desphand6 1992). I focus on the
The inclusion of CRPs as antecedentsof retention and affective componentof commitment,that is, the psycholog-
customer share development is based on relationshipmar- ical attachment, based on loyalty and affiliation, of one
keting theory, which suggests that CRPs affect behavioral exchange partner to the other (Bhattacharya,Rao, and
customerloyalty. I includedRMIs because a successful cus- Glynn 1995; Gundlach,Achrol, and Mentzer 1995).

CustomerRelationshipManagementEfforts/ 31

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by
with with
and
age
enhanced service
mediated
relationship satisfaction positively age
customer important
consumer important
onof of enhanced
by
aresatisfaction
differences are
differences
usagesatisfaction
equity
of expected satisfaction
Additional effect of equity
relationship
satisfaction satisfaction
firms characteristics firms
depends of by of relationship
Results/Comments Effect future affects
orientation othermoderated Effect
other
by Payment
Effect Quadratic EffectPerformanceEffect payment
Performance

(+) (+) (+) (0)


(+) (+) (+),(-) (+) (+) (+) (0) (+) (+), (+) (0) (+) (+), (0),
(+), (+)
quality equity equityequity
Perceptions
(Effect) quality
Benefits Relationship
Satisfaction Satisfaction
Satisfaction
commitment commitment
Commitment Satisfaction Satisfaction
Commitment Satisfaction
Satisfaction Satisfaction
Satisfaction
Satisfaction
Satisfaction
Service payment payment
payment
Loyalty
Included

Behavioral
visitors brands card card services
on Contextindustries industries market market
Channels Retailing
Retailing
Car associationCredit
Professional Car Credit
1 CRPs Study Theater Grocery Entertainment
entertainment
Various Various Financial
of Telecommunications Telecommunications,

TABLE
Effect
on
Design

StudiesStudy Experiment Longitudinal Longitudinal


Longitudinal
Longitudinal Longitudinal
LongitudinalLongitudinal
Longitudinal
Cross-sectional
Cross-sectional
Cross-sectional Cross-sectional Cross-sectional
Cross-sectional
Cross-sectional
of

and and and


Overview (1994)and and and and
Studies Sullivan (1996)
Johnson and and(2001) (2001)
(1997) (2001) (2000) Lemon (2000)
of Hunt Berry, (1999) (2000)(1998) Kamakura(2002) Franses,
and and Kumar, Odekerken- White, and Kannan,
(1993) (1999) Summers, Kannan, (2001) (1999)
and and
Tsiros Wulf, Bowman AcitoBolton Bramlett Winer Hoekstra
Schri6der,
Macintosch
Lockshin Bramlett
Mittal, lacobucci Bolton Verhoef,
ExamplesAnderson Zeithaml,
Parasuraman De Narayandas
Gruen, Mittal Lemon,
Bolton, Bolton, and
Morgan Garbarino

Loyalty intentions share retention


relationship usage

and/or
duration
Purchase Customer Customer Service Cross-buying
Behavioral
Measurement
Self-Reported Observed

32/ Journalof Marketing,


October2003

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Effect on customer retention.Given the previous defini- from a particularsupplier (Oliver and Winer 1987). This
tion of affective commitment,it might be expected that this depends on, among otherthings, the customer'ssatisfaction
type of commitmentaffects customerretentionpositively.In level. As a consequence, customers who are more satisfied
line with this, researcherswho relate commitment to self- are more likely to remaincustomers.Thus:
reportedbehavior,such as purchaseintentions,usually find
H3:Satisfaction
positivelyaffectscustomerretention.
that commitment positively affects customer loyalty (e.g.,
Garbarinoand Johnson 1999; Morgan and Hunt 1994). Effecton customershare development.Although a posi-
However,the appearanceof such an effect has recentlybeen tive relationship between satisfaction and customer share
questioned (Gruen,Summers,and Acito 2000; MacKenzie, has been demonstratedin a single product category (Bow-
Podsakoff, and Ahearne 1998). Despite this, I hypothesize man and Narayandas2001), this does not necessarily imply
the following: that satisfactionalso positively affects customersharedevel-
H1:Affective commitment positively affects customer opment for a multiservice provider.A theoretical explana-
retention. tion for the absence of such an effect could be that positive
evaluations of currentlyconsumed products or services do
Effect on customer share development. Relationship not necessarilytransferto otheroffered productsor services.
marketingtheory posits that because affectively committed In otherwords, satisfiedcustomersare not necessarily more
customers believe they are connected to the firm, they dis- likely to purchaseadditionalproductsor services (Verhoef,
play positive behavior toward the firm. As a consequence, Franses, and Hoekstra 2001). Another explanation is that
affectively committedcustomersare less likely to patronize thoughcustomerretentionrelatesto the focal supplieralone,
other firms (Dick and Basu 1994; Morgan and Hunt 1994; customer share development also involves competing sup-
Sheth and Parvatiyar1995). In other words, committedcus- pliers. As a result, developmentof a customer'sshare might
tomersare more (less) likely to increase(decrease)theircus- be affected more by the actions of competing suppliersthan
tomer share for the focal supplierover a period of time. by the focal firm's priorperformance.Thus, I do not expect
H2:Affectivecommitmentpositivelyaffectscustomershare satisfaction to have a positive effect on customer share
developmentovertime. development.
Satisfaction PaymentEquity
I define satisfaction in this study as the emotional state that Paymentequityis defined as a customer'sperceivedfairness
occurs as a result of a customer'sinteractionswith the firm of the price paid for the firm's productsor services (Bolton
over time (Anderson,Fornell, and Lehmann 1994; Crosby, and Lemon 1999, p. 173) and is closely related to the cus-
Evans, and Cowles 1990). Szymanski and Henard's(2001) tomer'sprice perceptions.Paymentequity is mainly affected
meta-analysis shows that satisfactionhas a positive impact by the firm's pricing policy. As a result of its groundingin
on self-reportedcustomerloyalty. fairness, a firm's payment equity also depends on competi-
Despite such positive results in the literature,the link tors' pricing policies and the relative quality of the offered
between satisfaction and actual customer loyalty has been services or products.
questioned (e.g., Jones and Sasser 1995). Researchershave Effect on customer retention. Higher payment equity
searchedfor a betterunderstandingof this link andhave pro-
(i.e., price perceptions)leads to greaterperceived utility of
posed a nonlinearrelationshipbetween satisfactionand cus- the purchased products or services (Bolton and Lemon
tomer behavior (e.g., Anderson and Mittal 2000; Bowman
1999). As a resultof this greaterperceivedutility,customers
and Narayandas2001). Other studies have shown that rela- should be more likely to remain with the firm. Conse-
tionship age, product usage, variety seeking, switching
quently, payment equity should have a positive effect on
costs, consumer knowledge, and sociodemographics(e.g., customerretention.This is consistentwith empiricalstudies
age, income, gender)moderatethe link between satisfaction that show that payment equity positively affects customer
and customerloyalty (Bolton 1998; Bowman and Narayan- retention (Bolton, Kannan,and Bramlett 2000; Varukiand
das 2001; Capraro, Broniarczyck, and Srivastava 2003;
Colgate 2001). Thus:
Homburg and Giering 2001; Jones, Mothersbaugh, and
Beatty 2001; Mittaland Kamakura2001). Finally,dynamics H4:Paymentequitypositivelyaffectscustomerretention.
duringthe relationshipmay also affect this link. Customers
Effect on customer share development. Although I
update their satisfaction levels using informationgathered
expect paymentequity to have a positive effect on customer
during new interactionexperiences with the firm, and this
retention,I do not necessarily expect this to be true for cus-
new informationmay diminish the effect of prior satisfac-
tomer share development. There are two reasons payment
tion levels (Mazurskyand Geva 1989; Mittal, Kumar,and
Tsiros 1999). equity may have no effect on customer share development.
First, literatureon price perceptionssuggests that customers
Effect on customer retention. Despite the apparent with higher price perceptionsare more likely to search for
absence of an empiricallink between satisfactionandbehav- betterprices (Lichtenstein,Ridgway, and Netemeyer 1993).
ioral customerloyalty, several studies show that satisfaction Intuitively,the suggestion that such customersare less loyal
affects customer retention (Bolton 1998; Bolton, Kannan, makes sense. For example, customers of discounters (with
and Bramlett 2000). The underlying rationale is that cus- high scores on price perceptions) are known to visit the
tomers aim to maximize the subjective utility they obtain greatestnumberof stores in their searchfor the best bargain.

Customer
Relationship
Management / 33
Efforts

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of
effect
rates retention
effect usage
effect on
positiveeffect programs effect
Results No effect No
service
purchase
on loyalty Positive
convincing
and
Short-term No
Positive

card
Study brands
Grocery
Context Retailing Airlines
Retailing Credit Retailing

data on on
use
direct
survey, survey survey
onuse panel treatment
design
Design
Loyalty program
mail perceptions perceptions
programs
StudyPanel Longitudinal
loyalty
data,
perceptions Aggregated Cross-sectional data,
preferential
Cross-sectional Cross-sectional

Behavioral
2 on

share, service
RMIs
TABLE data
of share
purchase share
Measure penetration,
purchase intentions
buyers
shares customer usage
retention,
Effect empirical sole
on Loyalty CustomerNo average Purchase Customer
Aggregated
Aggregated
frequency, Customer
Studies

(1987) (1997)
(1997) Lemon Bramlett
(2001) (2001)
and and
Uncles
Sharp
StudyShoemaker (2000) (2000)
and and
Odekerken-Schrider,
lacobucci lacobucci
Odekerken-Schrider,
and Zeithaml,Kannan,
and and
Wulf, Sharp Wulf,
Bawa De Dowling Rust,
Bolton,De

programs
mail

RMIDirect Loyalty

34/ Journal
of Marketing,
October
2003

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FIGURE1
Conceptual Model

CRPs RMIs

Satisfaction H3
H6a
CustomerretentionT, To Loyaltyprogram
Ha H6b
Paymentequity H1
/H2 A CustomershareT, TO IH5 Directmailings

Affectivecommitment

ControlVariables
CustomershareTo
age To
Relationship
Typeof servicepurchased
TO

Accordingto this reasoning,customerswith betterprice per- Direct Mailings


ceptions are more likely to decrease customer share over Direct mailings have some unique characteristics:enable-
time. Second, as is satisfaction,a customer'spaymentequity ment of personalized offers, no direct competition for the
is based on the customer's awareness of the prices of ser- attentionof the customer from other advertisements,and a
vices or productspurchasedfrom the focal firm in the past capacity to involve the respondent (Roberts and Berger
(Bolton, Lemon, and Verhoef2002). However,the prices of 1999). Because direct mailings focus on creatingadditional
additionalservices or productsfrom the focal suppliermight sales, I do not expect them to influence customerretention.
be different from the currentlypurchasedservices or prod- Moreover,the datado not enable me to relatedirectmailings
ucts. Therefore,a high payment equity score may not indi- to customerretention.
cate that the customer will purchase other products or
Effect on customershare development.There are several
services from the same supplier.As a consequence, I do
theoretical reasons direct mailings should positively influ-
not expect payment equity to affect customer share ence customersharedevelopment.First, direct mailings can
development. create interestin a (new) service and therebylead to a final
RMIs purchase(Robertsand Berger 1999). Second, the personal-
ization affordedby direct mailings may increase perceived
Bhattacharyaand Bolton (2000) suggest that RMIs are a relationshipquality,because customersare approachedwith
subset of other marketinginstrumentsthat are specifically individualizedcommunicationsthat appeal to their specific
aimed at facilitating the relationship,and they distinguish needs and desired manner of fulfilling them (De Wulf,
between loyalty or reward programs and tailored promo- Odekerken-Schriider, and Iacobucci 2001; Hoekstra,
tions. In addition, RMIs can be classified according to Leeflang, and Wittink 1999). Third, according to the sales
Berry's (1995) first two levels of relationshipmarketing.At promotionsliterature,the short-termrewards(i.e., price dis-
the first level (Type I), firms use economic incentives, such counts) offered by direct mailings may motivate customers
as rewards and pricing discounts, to develop the relation- to purchaseadditionalservices and thus increase customer
ship. At the second level (TypeII), instrumentsinclude more share.In supportof this claim, Bawa and Shoemaker(1987)
social attributes.By using Type II instruments,firms attempt report short-termgains in redemptionrates of direct mail
to give the customerrelationshipa personaltouch. coupons. I hypothesize the following:
In this study,I focus on two specific Type I RMIs:direct
Hs:Directmailingspositivelyaffectcustomersharedevelop-
mailings and loyalty programs.Direct mailings usually are mentovertime.
personallycustomizedoffers on productsor services thatthe
customer currentlydoes not purchase.In most cases, price Loyalty Programs
discounts or other sales promotions(e.g., gadgets) are used Effect on customer retentionand customer share devel-
to entice the customerto buy. I focus on direct mailings that opment. There are several theoretical reasons the reward-
are a "call to action"ratherthan only a reinforcingmecha- based loyalty programbeing studiedshouldpositively affect
nism for the relationship(e.g., thank-youletters). The loy- both customer retention and customer share development.
alty programI include in the study is a rewardprogramthat First, psychological investigationsshow that rewardscan be
providesprice discountsbased on the numberof productsor highly motivating(Lathamand Locke 1991). Researchalso
services purchasedand the length of the relationship. shows that people possess a strong drive to behave in what-

CustomerRelationshipManagementEfforts135

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ever mannernecessary to achieve future rewards(Nicholls products, and customer characteristics.In the second (T1)
1989). According to Roehm, Pullins, and Roehm (2002, p. survey, I collected data on customer ownership of various
203), it is reasonableto assume that duringparticipationin insuranceproducts.
a loyalty program,a customer might be motivatedby pro- Although the company whose data I used offers other
gram incentives to purchase the program sponsor's brand products,such as loans, I limited the studyto the categoryof
repeatedly. insuranceproducts.The rationalefor this limitation is that
Second, because the program'srewardstructureusually customersusually buy each type of insuranceproductfrom
depends on prior customer behavior, loyalty programscan a single insurancecarrier(i.e., insurancetype X [life insur-
providebarriersto customers'switching to anothersupplier. ance] from insurance carrier Y [i.e., Allianz Life Com-
For example, when the reward structuredepends on the pany]), but this does not necessarily hold for otherfinancial
length of the relationship,customersare less likely to switch products or services. For example, it is well known that
(because of a time lag before the same level of rewardscan many customers have savings accounts at several financial
be received from another supplier). It is well known that institutions. Moreover, the insurance market is the most
switching costs are an important antecedent of customer importantmarketfor this company in terms of the number
loyalty (Dick and Basu 1994; Klemperer1995). of customers and customer turnover(approximately90%).
Despite the theoreticalargumentsin favorof the positive As a result of this choice, the sample is restrictedto those
effect of loyalty programson customer retention and cus- customers who purchaseinsuranceproductsonly from the
tomer share development, several researchershave ques- company.This resultedin a usable sample size of 1677 cus-
tioned this effect (e.g., Dowling and Uncles 1997; Sharpand tomersfor the firstmeasurement(To)and 918 for the second
Sharp 1997). In contrast, Bolton, Kannan, and Bramlett measurement(T1).
(2000) and Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon (2000) show that
loyalty programshave a significant, positive effect on cus- Contentsof the CompanyCustomerDatabase
tomerretentionand/orservice usage. In this study,I build on The company'scustomerdatabaseprovideddata on the past
the theoreticalargumentin favor of the positive effect that behavior of individual customers and the company RMIs
loyalty programshave on customer retentionand customer directed at individualcustomers. The past customerbehav-
share development. ior data cover two periods. The first period starts at the
H6:Loyaltyprogrammembershippositivelyaffects(a) cus- beginning of a relationshipbetween the company and the
tomerretentionand(b) customersharedevelopment. customer and ends at To (this period differs among cus-
tomers). The data on past customerbehavior included vari-
ables such as numberof insurancepolicies purchased,type
ResearchMethodology of insurance policies purchased, and relationship length.
The second period covers the interval between To and T1.
Research Design For this period,the databaseprovideddata aboutwhich cus-
I combined survey data from customersof a Dutch financial tomers left the company and the numberof company insur-
services company with data from that company's customer ance policies a customerowned at T1.
database.I used a panel design, displayedin Figure2, to col- The company's customer databasecontains the follow-
lect the data. I collected the survey data at two points in ing informationon RMIs: loyalty programmembershipat
time: To andT1. I used the first (To)surveyto measureCRPs To and the numberof direct mailings sent between To and
of the company, customer ownership of various insurance T1. Every customer who purchases one or more financial
FIGURE 2
Panel Design

DatafromCustomerDatabase

Startof T0
0 T1
Relationship
(Survey1Among (Survey2 Among
Customers) CustomersInterviewed
in Survey1)

361Journal
of Marketing,
October
2003

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services from the company can become a member of the Validationof CRPs
loyalty program (an opt-in program).At the end of each The final measuresare reportedin the Appendix.The scales
year, the programgives customersa monetaryrewardbased for commitmentand satisfactionhave reasonablecoefficient
on the numberof services purchasedand the age of the rela-
alphas.For paymentequity,I reporta correlationcoefficient
tionship. Because the companyuses regression-typemodels of .49, which is not considerablyhigh.2 However,note that
to select the customers with the highest probability of the reportedcomposite reliabilities of all scales are suffi-
respondingto direct mailings, the numberof directmailings cient (Bagozzi and Yi 1988). I applied confirmatoryfactor
sent differs among customers.
analysis in Lisrel 83 to furtherassess the quality of the mea-
CustomerSurvey DataCollection sures (Jdreskogand Sorbom 1993), and I achieved the fol-
lowing model fit: X2= 217.4 (degrees of freedom [d.f.]) =
At To, customer survey data were collected by telephone
51,p <.01), X2/d.f.= 4.26 (d.f. = 1,p < .05), goodness-of-fit
from a randomsample of 6525 customersof the company.A index = .98, adjustedgoodness-of-fit index = .97, compara-
quotasamplingapproachwas used to obtaina representative tive fit index = .98, and root mean squareerrorof approxi-
sample. I received datafrom 2300 customers(35% response mation = .04. These fit indexes satisfy the criteriafor a good
rate). After those responses with too many missing values model fit (Bagozzi andYi 1988; Baumgartnerand Homburg
were deleted, a sample size of 1986 customersremained.At
1996). A series of X2difference tests on the respective fac-
T1, I again collected data from those customers, except for tor correlationsprovided furtherevidence for discriminant
those who left the company between To and T1. In the sec-
validity (Andersonand Gerbing 1988). On the basis of these
ond data collection effort, 1128 customers were willing to results, I summed the scores on the items of each construct.
cooperate (65% response rate). To assess nonresponsebias The means, standarddeviations, and correlationmatrix are
at T1, I tested whetherrespondentsand nonrespondentsdif- shown in Table 3.
fered significantlywith respect to customershare at To.A t-
test does not reveal a significantdifference (p = .36). Thus, Measurementof DependentVariable
I conclude that there is no nonresponsebias.
An often-used method of measuringcustomer share is ask-
Measurementof CRPs ing customersto reportthe numberof purchasesof the focal
For the measurementof CRPs (i.e., affective commitment, brandthey normallymake (Bowman and Narayandas2001;
satisfaction, and payment equity), I adaptedexisting scales De Wulf, Odekerken-Schrider,and Iacobucci 2001). In this
to fit the context of financialservices. For the affective com- study, I sought a more objective measure. In line with the
mitmentscale, I adapteditems from the studies of Anderson conceptualizationof customershare,I define customershare
and Weitz (1992), Garbarino and Johnson (1999), and of customeri for supplierj in category k at time t as
Kumar,Scheer,and Steenkamp(1995). To measuresatisfac-
tion, I adapted Singh's (1990) scale and added four new
items. Finally, I based the payment equity scale on items
adapted from Bolton and Lemon's (1999) and Singh's
(1990) studies. 21 reportcorrelationcoefficientratherthan Cronbach'salpha
To assess construct validity and clarify wording, the becauseI usedonlytwoitems.Cronbach's alphais designedto test
original scales were tested by a group of 12 marketingaca- theinteritemreliabilityof a scaleby comparing
everycombination
demics and 3 marketingpractitionersfamiliarwith customer of eachitemwithall otheritemsin the scaleas a group.Because
thereis no groupwithwhicheachitemcanbe comparedin a two-
relationships.Subsequently,the scales were tested by a ran- item scale (onlythe otheritem),Cronbach's alphais meaningless
dom sample of 200 customersof the company.On the basis for two-itemscales.It mightalsobe arguedthatone of the single
of interitem correlations,item-to-total correlations,coeffi- itemswouldbe bettersuitedfor measuringthe constructfroma
cient alpha, and exploratoryand confirmatoryfactor analy- content validity perspective. To check this, I also estimated the
sis, I reducedthe set of items in each scale.1 models(see Tables4 and5) with a singleitem as an antecedent.
Forbothitems,theeffectof paymentequityremainedinsignificant
11follow SteenkampandvanTrijp's(1991) proposedmethod, in the two models. Because in general multiple-itemmeasurement
using exploratoryfactoranalysisand then confirmatory
factor is preferred over single-item measurement, I report the model
analysisto validatemarketing
constructs. results of the summatedtwo-item scores.

TABLE 3
Means (Standard Deviation) and Correlation Matrix Independent Variables
Mean X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6

X1 Commitment 2.96 (.77) 1.00


X2 Satisfaction 3.75 (.44) .37** 1.00
X3 Paymentequity 3.41 (.56) .14** .21** 1.00
X4 Directmail 3.51 (2.12) .01 .02 .01 1.00
X5 Loyaltyprogram .30 (.46) .09** .14** .03 .56** 1.00
X6 Log customer share To -.152 (.66) .12** .09** .06* .48** .53** 1.00
*p < .05.
**p< .01.

CustomerRelationship Efforts/37
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Numberof services covariates (past behavior)as independentvariablesand the
purchased in categoryk mean-centeredcomposites of the items in the relationship
at supplierj at timet perception scales (perceptions;e.g., affective commitment,
(1) Customersharei~j~k,t=
Numberof services satisfaction, payment equity). Finally, I include RMIs. For
purchased in categoryk the loyalty program,I constructed a dummy variable that
fromall suppliersattimet indicatedwhetherthe customerwas a memberof the loyalty
Data for the numeratorwere available from the company programat To. I dealt with the number of direct mailings
customerdatabase;however, data for the denominatorwere sent to a customer as follows: Because the company stops
generally not stored in the company customer database. direct mailing customers when they defect, the numberof
Therefore,I asked customers in the survey which insurance directmailings was not includedin the probitmodel for cus-
products(of both the company and competitors)they owned tomer retention.Because customersleave duringthe period
at To and at T1. covered in the study, the numberof mailings could be cor-
related with defection. However, this correlationis not due
Analysis to the positive effect of direct mailings on customer reten-
tion; rather,it is the result of the company's mailing policy.
The theoreticaldistinction between customer retentionand
The foregoing results in the following two equations:
customersharedevelopmenthas implicationsfor my analy-
sis. As a result of this distinction, I use a dual approach.I (2) P(retention= 1) = + alpast behavioro+ a2perceptionso
o0
firstestimatea probitmodel to explain customerretentionor + a3RMIso 1, and
defection for the remainingsample afterTo (N = 1677). Sec- -
ond, I use a regression model to explain customer share (3) Log(CS1)- log(CSo) = 1o + 1lpast behavioro
developmentover time for the customers who remain with
the company.A serious issue with this type of approachis + f2perceptionso+ 33RMIso 1 + P4Heckmancorrection.
-
that the explanatoryvariablesexplaining customerretention In Equations2 and 3, I providethe formulationof the model
also explain customer share development. As a conse- in the form of matricesin which each a or Pmay comprise
quence, the regression parametersmay be biased (Franses several separateparameters.For example, in the case of [2,
and Paap 2001). I apply the Heckman (1976) two-step pro- there are three different parametersfor the effect of com-
cedure to correct for this bias. Using this procedure, I mitment,satisfaction,and paymentequity.
include the so-called Heckman correction term (or inverse
Mills ratio) in the regression model for customer share
development.This correctionterm is calculatedby means of HypothesisTesting
outcomes of the probit model for customer retention.This
CustomerRetention
modeling approach is also known as the Tobit2 model
(Fransesand Paap 2001). Because the inclusion of this cor- Approximately6.4% of the 1677 customers in the sample
rection term may cause heteroskedasticity,I apply White's defected duringthe period of the study.3I reportthe estima-
(1980) method to adjust for heteroskedasticity.Another tion results of Equation3 in Table4. The first model (which
issue with the approachis that restrictingthe sample in the only includes controlvariableswith respect to past customer
customersharedevelopmentregressionmodel to remaining behavior)explains approximately17%of the varianceand is
customersmight restrictthe potentialvariancein the depen- significant(p < .01). The coefficients of the includedcontrol
dent variable,thus affecting the estimationresults.To assess variables intuitively have the expected signs. Customers
whetherthis is true, I calculatedthe standarddeviationsfor with high prior customer shares and lengthy relationships
the restricted and unrestricted sample. The differences are less likely to defect. Furthermore,the ownership of a
between standarddeviationsin customersharedevelopment coinsurance, damage insurance, car insurance, and/or life
are small: .10 for the unrestrictedsample, including defec- insuranceproducthas a positive effect (p < .05). In the sec-
tors, and .09 for the restrictedsample. In the empiricalmod- ond model, including CRPs, McFadden R2 increases by
eling, I furtherassess this issue by estimatingthe customer approximately1%(p = .06). Only affectivecommitmenthas
share development model for the unrestrictedsample and a significant,positive effect (p < .01) on customerretention,
comparingthe results with those of the restrictedsample. in supportof H1. I found no effect for either satisfactionor
Because I am interestedin the changes in customershare paymentequity.These results do not supportH3 or H4. Fol-
over time, I use a difference model to test the hypotheses lowing Bolton (1998), I also explored whetherrelationship
(Bowman and Narayandas2001). In line with the literature age moderates the effect of satisfaction. The estimation
on marketshare models, the difference between the logs of resultsindicatethatthe interactiontermbetween satisfaction
customer share at T1 and To (CSo, CS1) is the dependent
variablein the regressionmodel. This variablecan be inter-
preted as the percentagechange in customer share over the
measuredperiod. 3Thesampleof 1677for the analysisof the antecedents
of cus-
tomerretentionis muchlargerthanthe sampleused in the cus-
In both the probit model for customer retentionand the tomersharedevelopmentmodel,becausebehavioraldataabout
regression model for customer share development of the customers'past purchasebehaviorwere unnecessaryin the cus-
customers who remain with the company,I use a hierarchi- tomerretentionanalysis.Consequently, customerswho did not
cal modeling approach.I include the past customerbehavior respondin the secondsurveycanbe includedin thisanalysis.

38 / Journalof Marketing,October2003

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TABLE4
Probit Model Results for Customer Retention (N = 1677)
Hypothesis Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Variable (Sign) (z-Value) (z-Value) (z-Value)
Constant 1.66 (5.10)** 1.68 (5.03)** 1.58 (4.58)**
Log customer share To .34 (2.23)* .33 (2.13)** .30 (1.89)
Log relationshipage .11 (2.32)* .11 (2.14)* .09 (1.79)
Coinsurance .12 (1.21) .12 (1.22) .11 (1.04)
Damage insurance .78 (4.13)** .78 (4.06)** .74 (3.92)**
Car insurance .36 (2.97)** .33 (2.70)** .33 (2.72)**
Lifeinsurance 1.02 (4.00)** 1.01 (3.99)** 1.00 (3.95)**

Perceptions
Commitment H1(+) .21 (2.66)** .20 (2.58)**
Satisfaction H3(+) -.21 (1.52) -.22 (1.63)
Paymentequity H4(+) -.03 (.26) -.03 (.30)
RMIs
Loyaltyprogram H6a(+) .38 (2.02)*
McFaddenR2 .168 .178 .184
AdjustedMcFaddenR2 .165 .173 .179
Likelihoodratiostatistic 127.64** 135.20** 139.68**
(d.f.) (6) (9) (10)
Akaikeinformationcriterion .384 .383 .382
*p< .05.
**p<.01.

and relationshipage is significant(c = .28; p = .01), in sup- FIGURE3


port of the idea that relationshipage enhances the effect of Customer Share Development (N = 918)
satisfaction. In the third model, with the loyalty program
included,McFaddenR2 increasesby approximately1%(p < 500
.05). I found the loyalty programto have a significant,pos-
itive effect (p < .05), in supportof H6a.
400
Customer Share Development for Remaining
Customers
300
Figure 3 shows the changes in customer share for the cus-
tomers who did not defect. Although on averagechanges in
customer share are almost zero, I observed changes in cus- 200
tomer share for approximately68% of the customersin the
sample (N = 918). The distributionin Figure 3 is symmetri-
cal. For 34% of customers in the sample, I observed nega- 100
tive changes, and for approximately34%, their customer
shares increased.As a logical consequence, the average for
changes in customer share is zero (i.e., the mean values for 0
customer share at To and T1 have approximatelythe same -.25 .00 .25 .50 .75
value of .285).
The regression results of Equation 3 are reported in
Table 5. The first model (including past customerbehavior)
explains approximately 10% of the variance in customer
share changes. The log of customer share at To has a nega- nificant,positive effect on customersharedevelopment(p <
tive effect on changes in customershare(p < .01). Thus, cus- .05). Thus, I find supportfor H2. However, I found no sig-
tomers with large (small) customersharesare more likely to nificant effect for either satisfaction or payment equity.
decrease (increase) their customer share in the next period. These results are in line with my expectations that such
Customers who own damage insurance, car insurance, or CRPs do not directly affect customershare development.In
coinsuranceare more likely to increase their customershare the thirdmodel (which includes RMIs), the loyalty program
(p < .01). The estimationresults of the second model (which has a significant,positive effect on customershare develop-
includes CRPs) show that affective commitmenthas a sig- ment (p < .05). Direct mailings also positively affect cus-

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TABLE5
Regression Model Results of Changes in Customer Share (N = 918)
Hypothesis Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Variable (Sign) (t-Value) (t-Value) (t-Value)
Constant -.44 (6.84)** -.46 (7.09)** -.52 (7.80)**
Heckmancorrection .06 (.90) .07 (1.27) .10 (1.48)
Log customershare To -.17 (9.97)** -.19 (10.3)** -.20(11.0)**
Coinsurance .02 (3.83)** .02 (3.92)** .02 (3.26)**
Damage insurance .14 (6.35)** .15 (6.52)** .14 (6.09)**
Car insurance .04 (2.69)** .01 (2.29)* .04 (2.52)**
Legal insurance .03 (1.15) .03 (1.16) .03 (1.16)

Perceptions
Commitment H2(+) .03 (2.55)* .03 (2.58)**
Satisfaction H3(+) .00 (.01) -.00 (.21)
Paymentequity H4(+) -.01 (.85) -.01 (.66)

RMIs
Loyaltyprogram H5(+) .04 (2.22)*
Directmailing H6(+) .01 (2.31)*
R2 .10 .11 .13
AdjustedR2 .10 .10 .12
F-value 16.95** 12.21** 11.72**
*p < .05.
**p< .01.

tomer share development(p < .05).4 Thus, both H5 and H6b First, I cannot include direct mailings as an explanatory
are supported. variablebecause, as I noted previously,no mailings are sent
The Heckman (1976) correctionterm is not significant, to defectors.Second, because the log of 0 does not exist, the
which implies that selecting only the remainingcustomers differencesin logs of customersharebetween T1 and To for
does not affect the estimation results (Franses and Paap defectors cannotbe calculated.A solution to this problemis
2001). It might be arguedthat leaving out defectors would to impute a share value that is close to 0 (e.g., .001). I used
reducevariancein the customersharedevelopmentmeasure, this approachand imputedseveral differentvalues to assess
which in turn might affect the estimation results. To assess the stabilityof the results, and the results remainedthe same
this issue further,I also estimateda model that included the for the different imputations.The estimation results for an
defectors.5However,thereare two problemswith the model. imputedvalue for customershareat T1 for defectorsof .001
show that the coefficients of affective commitmentand the
4Anissue in estimatingthe effectof directmailingsis thatthe loyalty programremain significant,but there is no effect of
companywhosedataareuseddoesnotrandomlyselectcustomers satisfactionor paymentequity. The R2 of the model is .09,
to receive such mailings; the company uses models to target the which is lower than the R2 of .12 of the model that includes
most receptivecustomers.These models are not known. The com-
pany's use of such models might lead to an endogeneity problem, only the remaining customers reported in Table 5. Given
which could result in (upwardly biased) inconsistent parameter these results, I conclude that restricting the sample to
estimates for direct mailings. To test for possible endogeneity, I remaining customers does not affect the hypotheses-testing
used the Hausmantest that Davidson and MacKinnon(1989) pro- results.
pose. This test does not reveal any evidence for endogeneity (p =
.88).
5Notwithstandingthis result, I also used two approachesto cor- AdditionalAnalysis
rect for possible endogeneity. The first approachapplied instru-
mental variablesusing two-stage least squaresin the estimationof MediatingEffectof CommitmentS
a system of two equations (Pindyck and Rubinfeld 1998). I used
two sociodemographicvariablesas instrumentalvariables:income In the relationship marketing literature, there has been a
and age. I selected these variablesbecause they are often included debate about the mediating role of commitment (Garbarino
in CRM models (Verhoefet al. 2003). The estimationof this model and Johnson 1999; Morgan and Hunt 1994). In this study,
results in the same parameterestimate for direct mailings (.04); commitment may mediate the effect of payment equity and
however, this parameteris only marginally significant (p = .10). satisfaction on customer share development, which in turn
The second approachestimateda system of equationsin which two
separateequations are estimated:one with customer share devel-
may explain the nonsignificanteffects of both satisfaction
opment as a dependentvariable and the other with the numberof and paymentequity.To test for this mediatingeffect, I used
direct mailings as a dependent variable. With this approach,the Baron and Kenny's(1986) proposedmediationtest. I reesti-
effect of direct mailings remained significant (p < .05); however, mated Model 2 (Column 3, Tables 4 and 5) in both the cus-
the parameterestimate decreasedfrom .04 to .013. On the basis of tomer retentionand the customer share developmentappli-
these analyses, I conclude thatendogeneity of directmailings does
not affect the hypothesis testing. 6Areviewersuggestedthisanalysis.

40/ Journalof Marketing,


October2003

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cations, but I left out commitment.The parameterestimates Effectof CRPsand RMIson CustomerRetention
for satisfaction and payment equity remain insignificantin and CustomerShare Development
both models (customerretention:a = -.10, p > .10; a = .03,
The first notable finding of this research is that affective
p > .10; customer share development:[ = .01, p > .10; P = commitmentis an antecedentof both customerretentionand
-.01, p > .10). In addition,I reestimatedboth models, leav- customer share development.This result is not in line with
ing out satisfactionand paymentequity.The parameteresti- recent findings that commitment does not influence cus-
mates for commitmentwere significantin both models (cus- tomer retention (e.g., Gruen, Summers, and Acito 2000).
tomer retention: a = .17, p < .05; customer share
However, it confirms previous claims in the relationship
development:[ = .02, p < .01). Finally,I estimateda regres- marketingliteraturethat commitment is a significant vari-
sion model in which I related satisfaction and payment able in customer relationships (Morgan and Hunt 1994;
equity to commitment.The parametersof both satisfaction Sheth and Parvatiyar1995); more precisely, it affects both
and payment equity were positive and significant (y = .61,
relationshipmaintenanceand relationshipdevelopment.At
p < .01; y = .09, p <.05). These results show that satisfaction the same time, the absence of an effect of satisfaction and
and payment equity should be considered antecedents of
payment equity raises some notable issues. This result con-
affective commitment;however,affective commitmentdoes
tradictspreviousfindings in the literature(e.g., Bowman and
not function as a mediatingvariable.
Narayandas2001; Szymanski and Henard 2001); several
reasons may explain this. First, priorresearchhas typically
Conclusions relied on surveymeasuresfor which self-reporteddependent
variables are correlatedas a result of common method of
Summaryof Findings measures.This study uses behavioraldata based (partially)
In this article, I contributedto the marketingliteratureby on internalcompany data. Second, unlike prior studies on
studying the effect of CRPs and RMIs on both customer customer share (e.g., Bowman and Narayandas2001; De
retentionand customersharedevelopmentin a single study. Wulf, Odekerken-Schrider,and Iacobucci 2000) in which
The objectives of this article were twofold. First, I aimed to causalityis problematic,this study focuses on the change in
understandthe effect of CRPs and RMIs on customerreten- customer share.An understandingof customer share devel-
tion and customer share development. Second, I examined opment may require a deeper understandingof the role of
whether different variables of CRPs and RMIs influence CRPs and RMIs. Third, prior studies focus on customer
customer retentionand customer share development.Using share of a single brandin a single productcategory (Bow-
a longitudinalresearchdesign, I relatedCRPs and RMIs to man and Narayandas2001), but this study focuses on cus-
actual customerretentionand customer share development. tomer share across multiple differentservices.
An overview of the hypotheses, those that were supported Customer share changes occur over time when cus-
and those that were not supported,is provided in Table 6. tomers add (or drop) new (current)productsor services to
For the remainderof this discussion, I focus on the notable (from) their portfolio of purchasedproducts or services at
findings. the focal supplieror at competing suppliers.In this underly-

TABLE 6
Summary of Hypothesis-Testing Results
Customer Retention Customer Share Development

Hypothesis Hypothesis
Antecedents (Sign) Effect Support (Sign) Effect Support
Affective H1(+) + Yes H2(+) + Yes
commitment

Satisfaction H3(+) 0; positively No No effect 0 Yes


moderatedby
relationshipage
Payment H4 (+) 0 No No effect 0 Yes
equity
Direct No effect N.A. N.A. H5(+) + Yes
mailings
Loyalty H6a(+) + Yes H6b(+) + Yes
program
Notes:N.A.= notavailable;
thiseffectcouldnotbe estimatedbecauseof datalimitations.

CustomerRelationshipManagementEfforts/ 41

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ing decision process, satisfaction and payment equity play increased relationshipage, increased customer shares, and
only a marginalrole for several reasons. First, satisfaction purchasesof certainadditionalproductsor services (e.g., car
and payment equity are based on one's currentexperiences insurance,life insurance).Some of these variablespositively
with the focal supplier.These experiences do not necessar- affect customer retention and customer share development
ily transferto other products or services of that supplier: in later stages of the customerrelationship.
New events may occur during the relationshipthat could
change these perceptions (e.g., Mazursky and Geva 1989; DifferencesBetween the Antecedents of
Mittal, Kumar, and Tsiros 1999), thereby limiting the CustomerRetentionand CustomerShare
explanatorypower currentperceptions. Second, in a com- Development
petitive environment,firms attempt to maximize customer Another research objective was to examine whether the
share. Although customers may be satisfied with the focal antecedentsof customerretentionand customersharedevel-
firm's offering, they may be equally satisfied with compet- opment are different.Theoretically,there is a clear distinc-
ing offerings from other suppliers. This again limits the tion between relationship maintenance and relationship
explanatorypower of satisfaction and payment equity. In development;however, this has not been empiricallyinves-
contrast,affectivecommitmentseems less vulnerableto new tigated.Unfortunately,a statisticalcomparisonof the coeffi-
experiences in the relationship;it is also unlikely that cus- cients in the customer retentionmodel and customer share
tomers will considerthemselves committedto multiple sup- developmentmodel is not possible (Fransesand Paap2001,
pliers. Instead of satisfaction and payment equity being Ch. 4). Thus, the only possible comparison is whether the
considereddirectantecedentsof customerretentionandcus-
significantpredictorsare different.The results show thatthe
tomer share development, they should be considered vari-
significant variables(see Table6) are remarkablyconsistent
ables that shapecommitment(e.g., Morganand Hunt 1994). across the two models (i.e., affective commitmentand loy-
A second notablefinding is thatRMIs can influence cus-
alty programs are significant predictors of both customer
tomer retention and customer share development. Direct retentionand customersharedevelopment).The only excep-
mailings with a "call to action"are suitableto enhance cus- tion is the interactioneffect between satisfaction and rela-
tomer share over time. Loyalty programsthat provide eco-
tionship age.
nomic rewards are useful both to lengthen customer rela-
However, with consideration of the effect of the past
tionships and to enhance customer share. Bolton, Kannan, customer behavior control variables, there are some differ-
and Bramlett(2000) reportthat loyalty programsfor credit
ences. For example, whereas high priorcustomer sharehas
card customers have a strong, positive effect on customer
a positive effect on customer retention, it has a negative
retention;however,no studies have yet consideredthe effect
effect on customer share development. Likewise, relation-
of loyalty programsand direct mailings on customer share
ship age has a positive effect on customer retentionbut no
development.The repeatedlyreportedpositive effect of the
effect on customer share development. The latter results
loyalty program counters the contention of Dowling and
confirm that different variables affect customer retention
Uncles (1997, p. 75) that "it is difficult to increase brand
and customer share development. However, from a CRM
loyalty above the market norms with an easy-to-replicate
'add on' customerloyalty program." this difference is not as importantas it seems,
.perspective,
because the same CRM variablesaffect both customerreten-
The third relevant finding pertains to the explanatory
tion and customersharedevelopment.
power of both CRPs and RMIs. For both customerretention
and customer share development, past customer behavior Management Implications
explains the largestpartof the variance(CRPs and RMIs are
responsible only for approximately 10% of the total This research provides implications for effective manage-
explained variancesin both the customer retentionand the ment of customer relationships.First, if managersstrive to
customersharedevelopmentmodels). This finding seems to affect customer retention, they should focus on creating
supportthe claims of skepticsof CRM thatthereis not much committed customers. In addition, a loyalty programwith
a firm can do to affect customerloyalty in consumermarkets economic incentives leads to greater customer retention.
(Dowling 2002). Duringreflection on the results of the cus- These results contrast with recent recommendationsthat
tomer share developmentmodel, it might also be perceived creating close ties with customers is a better strategy for
thatEhrenberg's(1997, p. 19) remarkson the antecedentsof enhancing customer loyalty than using economically ori-
marketsharealso hold for the antecedentsof customershare ented programs(Braum 2002); firms should do both. Both
development;in particular,his claim "thatmost marketsare affective commitmentand economically orientedRMI pro-
near stationaryand that everybody has to run hard to stand grams (direct mailings and loyalty programs)enhance cus-
still" might also be applicable to customer share develop- tomer retention and customer share development. Enhanc-
ment. In the shortrun,my resultspoint to the effect of RMIs ing satisfactionand using attractivepricingpolicies can also
as only marginal.For example, stopping direct mailings for increaseaffective commitment.OtherType II RMIs, such as
one year may not necessarily severely harmcustomershare affinity programsand other socially orientedprograms,may
development in that year. In a long-term perspective, the help as well (Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon 2000). If firms
effects might be different. The effect of both CRPs and strive for immediate results, economically based loyalty
RMIs on customer purchase behavior could result in programsand direct mailings are preferable.

42/ Journal
of Marketing,
October
2003

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Second, if firms strive to maximize customershare,cre- The last researchlimitationpertainsto the measurement
ating affectively committed customers using a loyalty pro- of payment equity. In this research, I used only two items
gram and sending direct mailings that provide economic (see the Appendix), which could have underminedthe relia-
incentives are recommended.However,the short-termposi- bility of the measurement.Furtherresearch could develop
tive effects of such approachesare rathersmall. This might more extensive scales.
supportthe claim of expertsof CRM thattryingto maximize
customerretentionand customersharedevelopmentis diffi- FurtherResearch
cult. However,this does not mean that firms should not use Furtherresearchshould focus on the following issues: First,
such strategies.In the long run, the positive effects of such the results show that the effect of CRPs and RMIs on cus-
strategies may be larger. The short-term small positive tomer retention and customer share is not large. Perhaps
effects of these strategies on customer retention and cus- other variables, such as service calls or sales visits, are
tomer share development could result in larger positive important antecedents. In addition, competing marketing
effects in the long run as a result of the positive effects of variables, such as competitive loyalty programsand direct
past customerbehavioralvariables,such as relationshipage mailings, have not been included here. Further research
and priorcustomershare. could investigate the effect of these variables. A second
Third, my analysis suggests that, in general, firms can avenue for furtherresearchis the effect of RMIs on CRPs
use the same strategiesto affect customerretentionand cus- and in turn on customerbehavior.A simultaneousequation
tomer share development.Fourth,a principle of CRM is to approach, with an appropriatetest for mediating effects,
focus efforts on the most loyal customers.However,improv- would be necessary to addressthis issue. In this respect, the
ing share for loyal customers is much more difficult, interactionsbetween CRPs and RMIs could also be investi-
because they have a greatertendency to reduce their shares gated. Finally, furtherresearchcould develop decision sup-
in the future. porttype models (using dataavailablein customerdatabases
and data from questionnaires)that would demonstratethe
Research Limitations
impact of variousCRM strategies.
This study has the following limitations: First, it is con-
ducted for one company in the financial services market.I
chose the financial services marketbecause it is an impor- Appendix
tant segment of the economy and because thereis a long tra- Descriptionof Scales for
dition of customerdata storagein this market,which makes Perceptions
it relativelyeasy to collect behavioralcustomerloyalty data.
However, the financial services market has some unique Commitment (Cronbach's Alpha [CA]= .77;
characteristics. Customers purchase insurance products Composite Reliability [CR] = .78)
infrequently,and as a result changes in customer share are I am a loyal customerof XYZ.
not observedas frequentlyas in otherindustries.Because of Because I feel a strong attachmentto XYZ, I remain a cus-
relatively high switching costs, switching behavior is not tomer of XYZ.
common. These characteristicsmay have limited the vari- Because I feel a strongsense of belonging with XYZ, I want
ance in the customer share development measure. These to remaina customerof XYZ.
characteristicsmay also explain some of the results and
may, to some extent, threaten the generalizability of the Satisfaction (CA = .83; CR = .83)
results. Thus, there is a need to extend this study to other How satisfied (1 = "very dissatisfied"and 5 = "very satis-
markets, especially markets in which more switching is fied") are you about
observed. *thepersonalattentionof XYZ.
Second, although the study applied a longitudinal *thewillingnessof XYZto explainprocedures.
research design, the causality question remains difficult. *theservicequalityof XYZ.
Because of the dynamic nature of customer relationships, *theresponding by XYZto claims.
multiple measurementsin time (includingchanges in CRPs) *theexpertiseof thepersonnelof XYZ.
are needed in the model. *yourrelationshipwithXYZ.
Third, modeling the effect of RMIs is ratherdifficult, *thealertnessof XYZ.
particularlyif the RMIs are self-selected or based on cus-
tomers' purchasebehavior.In the loyalty programI studied, Payment Equity (r = .49; CR = .88)
customerscan choose whetherto become a member.It could How satisfied (1 = "very dissatisfied"and 5 = "very satis-
be arguedthat customers who expect to purchasenew ser- fied") are you about the insurancepremium?
vices are more inclined to join. I chose not to correctfor this Do you think the insurancepremium of your insurance is
in the analysis at this time. Furtherresearchcould develop too high, high, normal,low, or too low?
models to correctfor possible endogeneity of the RMIs.

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