The importance of information service

offerings of collaborative CRMs on

decision-making in B2B marketing
José Ramon Saura
Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
Pedro Palos-Sanchez
International University of La Rioja, Logroño, Spain, and
Alicia Blanco-González
Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain

Abstract
Purpose – The importance of information service offerings is directly linked to decision-making processes for buying and selling in business-to-
business (B2B) companies. B2B companies intend to offer information that helps other companies choose a product or service. This paper aims to
identify the relationship between the types of information offered by a B2B company in its B2B marketing strategy and the decision-making of the
companies which buy products and services.
Design/methodology/approach – For this purpose, a data set has been consulted that contains 439 observations that are the result of transactions
using customer relationship managements (CRMs) of B2B-type companies. A total of 9 different products were consulted from 20 B2B vendors that
manage their transactions with CRM software for B2B operations. A total of 439 different transactions were recorded by these vendors during 2018
(n = 439) with their information service offerings strategies. The results were analyzed with the partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings – The results showed that the significance of the relationship between internal control factors and external control factors (H4) is the
strongest one when using information services offerings strategies in a B2B environment. The results of this research can help B2B companies to
improve their decision-making strategies and to define the structure of the information offered in their B2B marketing plans.
Originality/value – This research makes a contribution to an existing gap, which is to identify what the most important information is for
purchasing companies in B2B environments and the relationship with this information, so that B2B purchasers can make good decisions thanks to
the information service offerings strategy of the selling companies using CRMs.
Keywords Information service offerings, B2B, Business, Marketing, CRM
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction marketing environments that are increasingly influenced by

In the last decade of the 21st century, the structure of
organizations and their business models have undergone
numerous changes and adaptations to align with the new digital
era (Saura et al., 2019). These changes were preceded by the
emergence of new technologies and, above all, by internet in
the business ecosystem (Turban et al., 2002; Palos-Sanchez
et al., 2018).
Increasing amounts of information are generated around the
world every day, and companies should adapt their monitoring
and information analysis methods to make decisions in a
changing, flexible and global environment (Ramsey et al., 2003;
Ruiz-Alba, 2013). As in other sectors of different industries, the
business-to-business (B2B) sector has evolved to adapt to new
times that are characterized by masses of information in
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social changes and the development of multidisciplinary and
sustainable global strategies (Saura et al., 2018).
The decision to contract B2B services is increasingly
attracting the interest of researchers (Mustak, 2014; Kindström
and Kowalkowski, 2014).
Research such as that by Thong and Yap (1995) has already
shown the interest of academics in discovering what factors
companies consider when making purchasing decisions to
contract B2B services. B2B marketing is understood as the sale of
one company’s product or service to another company (Nunan
et al., 2018), using marketing at a company level. One of the main
components of marketing in the B2B sector is information
(Michaelidou et al., 2011). It is interesting to note that the
importance of information services offerings is directly linked to
decision-making processes in B2B ecosystems. These services
aim to offer information or adapt information to help other
companies to choose to purchase a B2B product or service
(Agnihotri et al., 2016). This information is shared by B2B

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Received 30 December 2018
35/3 (2020) 470–482 Revised 5 June 2019
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 0885-8624] 19 July 2019
[DOI 10.1108/JBIM-12-2018-0412] Accepted 22 July 2019

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 Information service offerings
José Ramon Saura, Pedro Palos-Sanchez and Alicia Blanco-González
companies using collaborative customer relationship
managements (CRMs) in which the information is public for all
those who have access to the software (Pérez, 2001; Firth, 2001).
A collaborative CRM is a software that allows real-time access to
information about a company, its suppliers, its development and
any other information offered to the third parties interested in
contracting products or services from that company (Pérez,
2001; Lano, 2015; Iršič, 2017; Inyang et al., 2018).
Information services offerings by B2B companies are
understood to be the efforts made to inform other companies
about the ecosystem surrounding the product or service being
offered (Lano, 2015). This fact is very important for B2B
companies, as they generally seek to create and maintain a long-
term business relationship with the organization from which
they acquired the product or services (Leighton and Schaper,
2003). In addition, thanks to the application of information
offerings services, B2B companies control internal information
and help to identify possible crisis issues that arise from
disinformation. B2B companies are allowed access to updated
company information about the processes and results to be able
to make immediate decisions (Dans Perez, 2001) after seeing if
any situation relating to ideology, external situations or
economic results will affect the possible agreements made
between one B2B company and another. This information also
means that marketing strategies are supported and justified by
public information and can be internally consulted by the
companies that are part of conglomerates or business groups
that buy and sell products and services from each other
(Lipiäinen, 2015; Pandey and Mookerjee, 2018).
Decision-making and the control of information in B2B
environments have been studied by authors such as Brown et al.
(2011), Lano (2015) and Pandey and Mookerjee (2018) who
show the importance of the information offered by B2B
marketing strategies for decision-making by buyers in B2B
ecosystems. Variables such as the external factors (EF) that
surround the company, the beliefs of the company and
competitors in the sector, the contextualization present in
society or the behavior and attitude of B2B companies when
selling certain products or services could be important factors
for making decisions when purchasing B2B services (Lano,
2015; Iršič, 2017; Inyang et al., 2018).
The aim of this research was therefore chosen to be the
identification of the relationships between the types of
information offered by the information services offerings
strategy of a B2B company using its CRMs and the decision-
making of B2B environment buyers (the companies). This
research provides a contribution to an existing gap, which is the
lack of knowledge about the most important information for
buyers in B2B environments, and the relationships between
this information. We are interested in knowing what
information and relationships improve decision-making by
B2B buyers because of the information services offerings
strategy of the companies that sell their products using CRMs
(Ascarza et al., 2018). This research gap was identified because
although other researches in the B2B sector (Gebauer, 2008;
Fischer et al., 2010; Homburg et al., 2003; Lano, 2015) work
with the concept of information services offerings, they do not
use collaborative CRMs as the main support channel for
communicating this information to companies. The use of
collaborative CRMs for decision-making using the information
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Volume 35 · Number 3 · 2020 · 470–482
services offerings of companies is precisely what B2B
companies use to make decisions when purchasing products or
services in the industrial sector (Rodriguez and Honeycutt,
2011; Zeng et al., 2003; Lipiäinen, 2015). The use of CRMs in
information services offerings strategies in B2B is the gap
covered by this original research in this field. Filling this gap is
important because B2B companies make decisions based on
the information that other companies in the sector offer about
their results (e.g. business development, sales and performance
or information about prices) (Lipiäinen, 2015).
It is therefore interesting to study the influence of this type of
information services offerings to other B2B companies by using
collaborative CRMs that groups of companies can access
internally to consult information to make the best decisions when
acquiring the products or services of the supplier companies
(Fischer et al., 2010; Homburg et al., 2003; Lano, 2015).
For this purpose, a data set of 439 observations was
consulted. These are the results of transactions using
collaborative CRMs in B2B type companies. A total of 9
different products were consulted from 20 B2B vendors that
manage their transactions with the same CRM software for
B2B operations. A total of 439 different transactions were
recorded by these vendors during 2018 (n = 439) with their
information services offerings strategies. This paper is
structured as follows. Section 2 contains a literature review of
research into B2B and similar. Section 3 presents the
conceptual framework and hypotheses development. Section 4
presents the methodology, and the data and results analysis are
presented in Section 5. Section 6 presents the discussions, and
Section 7 presents conclusions, which give the theoretical and
practical implications of this research for the B2B industry.
2. Literature review
Research into B2B companies and the industrial sector has
aroused the interest of researchers over the past decade
reinforcing the business models and strategies that this type of
companies use when introducing new models of
communication, management and information control based
on technological developments (Thatcher et al., 2006; Nunan
et al., 2018). It must be stated that information services
offerings have been studied from different perspectives in the
past decade. Zeng et al. (2003) considered the influence of the
CRM on B2B by analyzing the information shared with
command centers and e-commerce dashboards, while Wilson
et al. (2002) combined CRM concepts and their typologies with
databases to complement and improve B2B purchasing
decisions using information services offerings.
Likewise, Rodriguez and Honeycutt (2011) presented how
the improvement of information services offerings can improve
professional collaboration between B2B companies and their
sales performance, showing the importance of these activities
and the communication between professionals in the industrial
sector.
Ahearne et al. (2012) studied the importance of the
information shared using CRMs for decision-making in B2B
but did not study this as such. Instead, they studied the process
and importance of the implementation of CRMs in B2B
companies and their influence on the market from a business
and exponential perspective.
 Information service offerings
José Ramon Saura, Pedro Palos-Sanchez and Alicia Blanco-González
Ahearne et al. (2012) based part of their development on
Thatcher et al. (2006) and measured the importance of the
decisions taken using e-commerce CRMs for the interaction of
organizational, industrial, governmental and cultural factors.
Davies (2004) indicated that industrial services are services
that are customized to incorporate the demands of consumers
to products and services that are usually produced in mass.
These B2B-type businesses can, on occasions, offer high profit
margins that can maintain the life cycle of the product in the
long-term. B2B businesses also contribute to the economies of
scale and the balance and stability of small suppliers, as there
are businesses in this industry that select exclusive products in
relatively small markets and then sell them on at the same level.
The characteristics of the industrial sector and B2B
businesses mean that the study of variables that affect this type
of company has been exhaustively studied by the academics.
Research by Gebauer et al. (2005) and Oliva and Kallenberg
(2003) have already shown the importance of studying the
external and internal factors of B2B companies and how these
influence other companies when buying their services. Antioco
et al. (2008) have also shown that cognitive belief variables and
behavioral factors of companies with the intention of buying
B2B products significantly affect how companies choose their
strategies.
Salonen (2011) shows that it is especially interesting to study
how B2B companies contribute technology to the industry
while seeking excellence in their strategies using variables, such
as company internal organization, or the contextual factors
(CF) of the company and its marketing environment. Also,
Homburg et al. (2003) showed how internal factors of the
company influenced decision-making. The behavior of
the sales services in B2B companies was also shown to affect the
critical mass and strategic agreements in the correct
development of B2B marketing plans, by referring to the
importance of information services offerings of B2B marketing.
Although the authors have tried to identify an existing theory
that can be applied to collaborative CRMs in B2B for the
improvement of decision-making, it has not been possible.
Although it is true that research has been found that uses
theories based on models, such as technology adoption model
(David, 1989), in which the technological acceptance of the
software and its influence on the main factors affecting the
company in B2B is measured or also the unified theory of
acceptance and use of technology to see how the use of
collaborative CRMs for decision-making in B2B can affect the
privacy or confidence of managers, it has not been possible to
identify a theory or model that fits the proposed gap. Therefore,
the authors decided to justify the construction of the model
proposed in Section 3 from similar research on the proposed
objective (Palos-Sanchez et al., 2018; Palos-Sanchez et al.,
2019).
It can be seen that a large number of studies exist about how
the factors for companies in B2B environments can affect
decision-making in their marketing plans. Table I shows a
summary of the framework under study and a description of
key factors for the analysis of a B2B strategy. In this research,
decision-making made from the type of information services
offerings given by B2B companies in order that other
companies buy their services is studied.
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3. Conceptual framework and hypotheses
development
As can be seen in Table I, the key factors analyzed have been
identified as constructs that have been previously used in other
research to measure the influence of information services
offerings on B2B decision-making are EF and market
orientation, strategy development and CF, cognitive beliefs
(CB), behavioral response (BR), external control factors
(ECF), internal control and human resources culture and
intention and value offering (IVO). While the contribution
made by this research is to measure the influence of the
communication made with collaborative CRM, these
constructs have been used to build a model from previous
research that has taken into account B2B CRMs for decision-
making.
Thus, using the research of Oliva and Kallenberg (2003),
Gebauer et al. (2005), Neu and Brown (2005), Auguste et al.
(2006), Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007), Matthyssens and
Vandenbempt (2008), Fischer et al. (2010), Ulaga and
Reinartz (2011), Pandey and Mookerjee (2018), van Zeeland-
van der Holst and Henseler (2018) and Inyang et al. (2018), we
have adapted their models to formulate the following
hypotheses.
Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007) investigated the relationship
of the EF variable in small companies with the CB or response
to the products and services of these companies. In addition,
Gebauer et al. (2005) indicated that B2B decision-making
using exchange adoption trading can be decisive in B2B
environments when contracting products and services.
Gebauer et al. (2005) considered this fact important, because
purchasing decisions using beliefs about other B2B companies
are sometimes made without consulting information about the
companies’ performance and EF that influence them. Bearing
in mind that a collaborative CRM can provide additional
information on these issues when making B2B purchase
decisions (Reinhold and Alt, 2009), the following research
hypothesis was proposed:
H1. External factors affect cognitive beliefs for B2B
purchasing companies.
Cognitive beliefs show the importance of the awareness of other
companies about this B2B-type company given by the B2B
marketing strategy as well as others communication strategies
that use online or offline channels. As shown by van Zeeland-
van der Holst and Henseler (2018) and Quaddus and
Hofmeyer (2007), the influence of CB on the CF that surround
companies can be decisive in decision-making in B2B
marketing environments. This fact may allow B2B companies
to make the right decisions to avoid possible economic crisis in
countries where companies operate or political situations that
may affect the purchase of B2B-type products or services. The
communication services of companies play a crucial role for
decision-making and correct bi-directional communication
between companies that collaborate with the same
communication technologies in conglomerates of companies or
groups of companies that carry out their activities in the same
B2B-type business sector (Matthyssens and Vandenbempt,
2008). The following hypothesis was proposed after
considering these ideas:
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Table I Key factors for the analysis of B2B companies

Study area
External factors and
market orientation
Strategy development
and contextual factors
Cognitive beliefs
Behavioral response
External control factors
Internal control and
human resources
culture
Intention and value
offering
Description Authors
It takes into consideration the factors related to competition and competitors, Gebauer et al. (2005)
the relationship with governments and public entities as well as relationships Neu and Brown (2005)
with partners and strategic agreements Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007)
Factors related to the decisions made by the managers and CEOs of Auguste et al. (2006)
companies when proposing strategic agreements at the organizational and Inyang et al. (2018)
human resources levels, among others Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007)
It highlights the importance of the awareness of other B2B-type companies to Ulaga and Reinartz (2011)
the B2B marketing strategy, as well as the coercion held about the company van Zeeland-van der Holst and Henseler (2018)
It summarizes the behavior and attitude of the companies and buyers of B2B Ulaga and Reinartz (2011)
services toward the products and services offered by the B2B companies Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007)
This study area highlights the strategic value of the company’s plans, as well Matthyssens and Vandenbempt (2008)
as the critical mass generated around the company’s products and services. Fischer et al. (2010)
The type of service provided with the marketing and sales plan of the B2B-
type company is also considered
It describes the factors related to the size of the company, the possibilities of Oliva and Kallenberg (2003)
development in the future and the international expansion because of the Pandey and Mookerjee (2018)
investment of internal capital and internal control
It shows the interest in adopting the purchase of industrial products and Matthyssens and Vandenbempt (2008)
services by other companies that need the products and services adopted by Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007)
the B2B-type company

H2. Cognitive beliefs affect contextual factors for B2B H4. Internal control factors affect external control factors for
purchasing companies. B2B purchasing companies.

Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007) demonstrated the influence of
CB on ECF for B2B Marketing. These factors are composed of
sales-based tactics and the critical mass of the audiences that
receive communications from B2B companies (Fischer et al.,
2010) can have a significant relationship on the information
communication strategies used by B2B companies marketing
teams. These information services offerings can affect the
purchasing decision of B2B companies (Matthyssens and
Vandenbempt, 2008) and therefore limit their capacity for
growth and expansion. The correct application of these policies
can help companies to improve their communication capacity
to avoid erroneous beliefs and to control communication or
reputation issues that may affect contracting their products or
services (Gebauer et al., 2005). Using this research, the
following hypothesis was proposed:
H3. Cognitive beliefs affect external control factors for B2B
purchasing companies.
The internal control factors (ICF) of B2B companies have a
direct influence on control factors of B2B companies that want
to make purchases in industrial environments. According to
Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007), the information offered in this
type of strategy modifies the decision-making in B2B
environments, because factors such as the decisions made by
the CEOs of the companies or the characteristics of the
organization can determine their actions (Nunan et al., 2018).
Therefore, providing information about the company’s
activities by using collaborative CRMs can be an effective way
for B2B companies to optimize the decisions made by their
managers about the control of internal information and EF
affecting these activities (Zeng et al., 2003). The following
hypothesis was therefore proposed:
In B2B environments, the influence of ICF can be positive for the
purchase intention of other B2B companies because this
information can offer important ideas about the future of the
company in the long-term (Nunan et al., 2018). The use of good
practice in offering collaborative information services can therefore
improve companies’ medium- and long-term strategies (Fischer
et al., 2010) Sharing company information and controlling each
step of the development stages of products and services with
collaborative CRMs can increase the intention of other companies
in the B2B environment to purchase these products or services
(Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003). The following hypothesis was
proposed after considering the previous statements:
H5. Internal control factors affect intention and value
offering for B2B purchasing companies.
The capacity for self-development of B2B-type companies,
according to Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007), can influence the
intention to purchase of other companies, and therefore, the
BR. This is because of the information that the selling company
offers about its results, accounts, economic reports or
investments in stock markets (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003).
Quaddus and Hofmeyer (2007) and Matthyssens and
Vandenbempt (2008) analyze the influence of BR on the
intention of companies that make decisions in B2B and
therefore their capacity to improve the internal development,
thanks to the implementation of information services offerings.
Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed:
H6. Behavioral response affects intention and value offering
of B2B purchasing companies.
Decision-making using the information offered by the B2B
company at management levels influences aspects of the

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 Information service offerings
José Ramon Saura, Pedro Palos-Sanchez and Alicia Blanco-González
company, such as culture, purchasing decisions and attitude of
the employees (Inyang et al., 2018). Thanks to the use of
information services offerings strategies, the decision-making
processes made with the information offered to the markets can
determine the intention of companies that have to purchase, or
also, identify suppliers that could increase the supply chain or
increase the company’s development potential in the B2B
industry (Auguste et al., 2006). Because of this, the following
research hypothesis was proposed:
H7. Contextual factors affect intention and value offering of
B2B purchasing companies.
The proposed model is shown in Figure 1.
4. Methodology and research data
B2B companies usually track their sales efforts with CRM
software (Ahearne et al., 2012). This software combines a set of
methodologies, such as internet or the telephone with a
customer-centered vision, and tries to maximize revenue and
profit per client for the company, as well as satisfaction for the
customer (Dans Perez, 2001). This research aims to improve
the attention and sensitivity of a company to the wishes and
needs of the customer so that they become better, more loyal
clients. These customers should feel positive about the
company and products to buy more and give greater profits.
This can be achieved with the information services offering
strategy using the CRM (Firth, 2001). Consequently, the
information is shared using CRMs for information services
offerings strategies of B2B companies in their marketing plans
to increase profit margins.
An analysis of the historical data of a B2B company allows
companies to take advantage of decrease in errors in the sales
forecast. Consequently, better decisions can be made after
analyzing the information that is available to other companies.
This fact is especially relevant for small businesses, where
negative results could have serious consequences because of the
large amount of resources that are invested in sales
management.
Figure 1 Proposed research model
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To address the existing gap in the availability of data sets for
B2B sales and information services offerings strategies, a data
set published by a company that creates CRM software was
used. This data set was anonymously offered by a European
company to support this research. This company sells software
solutions and services internationally. The data set contained
439 observations that are the result of the transactions of 20
B2B vendors that manage their transactions with collaborative
CRM software for B2B operations. These transactions are
described with 20 attributes. To obtain the data, 9 different
products were consulted from a total of 20 B2B vendors who
manage their transactions with the same CRM software, and
who make purchasing decisions based on the information
offered about the companies by a CRM. In total, 439 different
transactions recorded by these vendors were obtained during
2018 (n = 439). The data set is anonymous, by request of the
CRM software provider, who has automated the sales force.
Each transaction was composed of 20 attributes, of which 18
have been used. Of these, 5 attributes are of a classifying nature,
namely, product, vendor, authority, association and cross sale.
The rest (13) were used as reflective items for the different
constructs proposed in this research. The EF construct
included competitors, government and partners. The items
used dichotomous scales – yes or no. The CB construct was
reflected in three items related to coercion and awareness and
also used dichotomous scales – yes or no.
The CF construct used the managers characteristics item for
decision-making (few questions or many questions) and
organizational characteristics (large, medium or small). The
BR construct was shown with attitude using a nominal scale
(yes, no or neutral). The ICF construct used the organizational
readiness and capacity to increase production items. These
items were measured with ordinal scales – high, medium or
low. Likewise, the IVO construct was the main dependent
construct and was the most important for the proposed
research model. This was found in intention to adopt item that
used the dichotomous scale (lost or gained) for the final result
of the sales transaction.
The other dependent construct was ECF that used the
critical mass and vendor support items. Both items used
dichotomous scales – yes or no (Table II).
In the research design, the structural equation modeling
(SEM) technique was chosen to statistically examine the
interrelated dependence relationships between the latent
variables, which are based on the theory and have indicator
variables that directly measure the observable variables
(Sarstedt et al., 2016).
Likewise, the partial least squares technique (PLS) was
chosen because it can manage the factor and composite models
for the measurement of constructs as well as estimate structural
models and perform adjustment tests for the model (Henseler
et al., 2017).
In the results analysis, the predictive capacity of the model
was analyzed, for which several authors recommend using PLS-
SEM (Chin et al., 2010).
The study of B2B transactions in a collaborative CRM
information system is relatively new and the theory is not
consolidated, if we look at decision-making when contracting
B2B services using the information services offerings strategies
 Information service offerings Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
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Table II Characteristics of the data set indicate that the items are redundant, and thereby reducing the
construct validity. However, in this case, only constructs with
Classifications Variable Frequency (%)
only 1 item have the CR value equal to 1. Researchers
Client authority Low 17 3.8 sometimes choose to use a single item, because this item has
Medium 399 89.1 practical advantages such as ease of application (Fuchs and
High 32 7.1 Diamantopoulos, 2009; Sarstedt and Wilczynski, 2009; Hair
Group No 395 88.2 et al., 2016).
Yes 53 11.8 To find the convergent validity in PLS-SEM, the AVE or
Client size Small 48 10.7 average variance extracted (Fornell and Larcker, 1981)
Medium 136 30.4 measurement was evaluated, in which a value of 50 per cent or
Big 264 58.9 higher means that, on average, the construction explains more
Type of client Past 4 0.9 than half of the variance of its own indicators (Hair et al., 2013;
Actual 286 63.8 and Fornell and Larcker, 1981). This indicator implies that a
New 158 35.3 set of indicators represents a single underlying construct, and
Cross selling No 400 89.3 this can be demonstrated by means of its uni-dimensionality
Yes 48 10.7 (Henseler et al., 2009). The right part of Table III shows that
Type of sale Consulting 6 1.3 the diagonal elements are significantly larger than the
Maintenance 31 6.9 multiform elements in the corresponding rows and columns.
Project 279 62.3 The right part of Table III shows the results of the HTMT
Solution 132 29.5 analysis (Henseler et al., 2015). This ratio represents the
average of the correlations between the indicators of two
different constructs. If this value is larger than that of the
(Hair et al., 2011). This research methodology was chosen for
indicators of the construct, then there is a problem of
this reason.
discriminant validity (in this case, HTMT > 1). This is
unusual, and usually the averages of the correlations between
5. Data and results analysis the indicators of the factors are higher. The important point is
A two-stage approach was taken for the statistical analysis of the how similar the values are to those associated with different
results (Chin, 2010; Hair et al., 2013; Roldan and Sanchez- factors. The criterion used in this study was proposed by Gold
Franco, 2012). The first stage required the evaluation of the et al. (2001) who suggested that the HTMT ratio < 0.90 for
measurement model and the second stage evaluated the each pair of factors, otherwise a problem of discriminant
structural model to analyze the consistency of the proposed validity could be encountered. As can be seen in Table III, this
relationships. condition is fulfilled, and it is therefore possible to affirm that
the discriminant validity exists.
5.1 First stage: measurement model
The individual reliability was analyzed for the items that 5.2 Second stage: structural model
include the charges (l ). Carmines and Zeller (1979) explain In the second stage, the predictive capabilities of the model and
that the minimum acceptance level as part of the construct is the relationships between the constructs were analyzed, as well
l > = 0.707, which indicates that each measure represents at as their explanatory capacity. A bootstrapping technique was
least 50 per cent of the variance of the underlying construct used to find these results. The results were compared with the
(Henseler et al., 2009). The indicators that did not reach that t-statistics obtained, and the statistical significance of the path
minimum were refined (Barclay et al., 1995). Table III shows coefficients was evaluated.
the analysis of internal consistency or measures of construct The structural model was evaluated with an evaluation of
reliability and convergent validity. collinearity; the algebraic sign, the magnitude and significance
The reliability of the construct verifies that the indicators of the path coefficients ( b ); the values of R2 (variance
really measure the constructs, as their composite reliability is > explained); and the Q2 test (validated cross-redundancy) for
0.7. This is considered “satisfactory to good” if the value is predictive relevance (Roldan and Sanchez-Franco, 2012).
between 0.70 and 0.95 (Sarstedt et al., 2014). Hair et al. (2019) As can be seen in Table IV, the hypotheses test concluded
report that values of 0.95 and higher are problematic, as they that all hypotheses are significant, except the relationship of

Table III Measurement items, correlations for the constructs (Fornell and Larcker, 1981) and HTMT
Constructs CR AVE BR CB CF ECF EF IVO ICF BR CB CF ECF EF IVO ICF
BR 1 1 1.000
CB 0.791 0.655 0.186 0.779 0.251
CF 1 1 0.218 0.185 0.832 0.281 0.310
ECF 0.818 0.692 0.271 0.113 0.029 0.881 0.310 0.234 0.074
EF 0.874 0.777 0.117 0.246 0.022 0.148 0.833 0.155 0.342 0.141 0.267
IVO 0.820 0.695 0.193 0.072 0.054 0.298 0.374 1.000 0.193 0.095 0.148 0.339 0.494
ICF 0.821 0.606 0.155 0.097 0.086 0.497 0.393 0.453 0.809 0.228 0.193 0.201 0.842 0.703 0.621

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Table IV Hypothesis test

No. Hypothesis Path coefficient ( b ) Statistics t ( b /STDEV) p-value Support
1 External factors ! cognitive beliefs 0.246 4.919 0.000 Yes
2 Cognitive beliefs ! contextual factors 0.185 2.521 0.012 Yes
3 Cognitive beliefs ! external control factors 0.163 3.006 0.003 Yes
4 Internal control factors ! external control factors 0.513 16.393 0.000 Yes
5 Internal control factors ! intention and value offering 0.428 9.588 0.000 Yes 
6 Behavioral response ! intention and value offering 0.137 3.103 0.002 Yes
7 Contextual factors ! intention and value offering 0.047 0.795 0.426 No
Notes: For n = 5000 subsamples, based on distribution t (499) of Student in single queue:  p < 0.05 (t(0.05;499) = 1.64791345);  p < 0.01 (t(0.01;499) =
2.333843952);  p < 0.001 (t(0.001;499) = 3.106644601)

contextual factors ! intention and value offering, which is not
supported, as can be seen in Figure 2 ( b = 0.047; t = 0.795).
Therefore, these results support the hypotheses that obtained
the highest level of confidence (99.9 per cent), which are H4,
H5 and H1. The strongest relationship was shown to be H4,
internal control factors ! external control factors ( b = 0.513;
t = 16.393), followed by H5 internal control factors ! intention
and value offering ( b = 0.428; t = 9.588) and H1 external
factors ! cognitive beliefs ( b = 0.246; t = 4.919). Followed by
H3, cognitive beliefs ! external control factors ( b = 0.163;
t = 3.006). The least strong ratio for the 95 per cent confidence
level was H2 ( b = 0.185; t = 2.521).
To verify the collinearity problems, the variance inflation
factor (VIF) values of all predictor constructs were evaluated
(Table V). All VIF values are below the conventional threshold
of 5. Therefore, co-linearity between the constructs is not a
critical problem in the structural model, and the results are
considered to be valid. The values of VIF are often used to
show the amount of collinearity of the indicators. Values of 5 or
above indicate critical collinearity problems between the
indicators of the formative constructs. Problems with
collinearity can also be seen with VIF values which are lower
than 3 (Mason and Perreault, 1991; Becker et al., 2015). The
Figure 2 Final research model
Table V Collinearity statistics (inner VIF values)
Construct BR CB CF ECF EF IVO ICF
BR 1.084
CB 1.000 1.010
CF 1.066
ECF
EF 1.000
IVO
ICF 1.010 1.040
value of VIF should ideally be close to 3 or lower. This study
does not have any formative constructs.
Structural model coefficients for the relationships between
the constructs are found by evaluating a series of regression
equations. Once the collinearity of the indicators has been
analyzed, to ensure that the regression results are not biased, the
structural relationships can be analyzed in a similar way to
formative measurement models. In this case, however, the
scores of the latent variables of the predictor constructs are used
to calculate the values of VIF in a partial regression. VIF values
above 5 show that there are probably collinearity issues with the
construct predictors. However, collinearity problems are also
possible when the values of VIF are between 3 and 5 (Mason
and Perreault, 1991; Becker et al., 2015). The value of VIF
should ideally be close to 3 or lower. When collinearity
problems are detected, higher-order models that can be justified
by existing theory are usually created (Hair et al., 2016).
Figure 2 shows the results obtained for the codetermination
coefficient R2. Table V shows that the tests carried out for the
main dependent constructs R2 intention and value
offering = 22.2 per cent of the variance and R2 external control
factors = 27.3 per cent per cent of the variance, while the rest of
the endogenous constructs show very low values with very low
explanatory capacity for contextual factors (R2 = 3.4 per cent)
and cognitive beliefs (R2 = 6.1 per cent).
Authors such as Hair et al. (2011), Hair et al. (2013) and
Henseler et al. (2009) give the cut-off points of 0.75, 0.50 and
0.25 for the three strength levels (relevant, moderate and weak).
In our case, both dependent constructs show a weak explanatory
capacity. Therefore, the evidence shows that this model is weakly
applicable for the factors that influence the IVO and ECF.
However, as indicated, R2 should always be interpreted for
each different study, using the R2 values of related studies and
models of similar complexity (Hair et al., 2019). Because of

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José Ramon Saura, Pedro Palos-Sanchez and Alicia Blanco-González
this, the authors consulted works of a similar nature. Now, we
must say that we have not found works that study the
significance of the relationship of ICF, ECF and IVO by B2B
products and services using collaborative CRMs.
Very few works study the transactions recorded with CRM
information services. The works we found were about the
adoption of CRM technologies and software. In these, the
model explains 56 per cent of the variance (R2) of intention to
adopt (n = 147) (Quaddus and Hofmeyer, 2007). In research
into the factors influencing the adoption of B2B trading in
small businesses (Nguyen and Waring, 2013), the overall value
of the determinant coefficient (R2) of the model does not
change very much (from 0.419 to 0.410). Therefore, it can be
assumed that, in this sample, gender, age and education about
management in SMEs have little influence on attitude toward
CRM technology adoption (n = 126). Other works that
addressed the influence on sales process effectiveness
(Rodriguez and Honeycutt, 2011) found an R2 = 47.7 per cent
with n = 70. All these studies have higher R2, but significantly
lower sample sizes.
Likewise, Chin (2010) suggested using the redundancy index
with cross validation (Q2) (Geisser, 1974) for endogenous
variables, to examine the predictive relevance of a theoretical/
structural model. Values of Q2 greater than zero imply that the
model has predictive relevance. The results obtained for
intention and value offering (Q2 = 0.207) confirm that the
structural model has a satisfactory predictive relevance. In
addition, this result is confirmed for the rest of the endogenous
constructs: contextual factors (Q2 = 0.019), external control
factors (Q2 = 0.196) and cognitive beliefs (Q2 = 0.026).
Therefore, we can say that the model has predictive capacity.
6. Discussion
As can be seen in Table IV and Figure 2, all the hypotheses
were significant, except the relationship between CF and IVO
(H7), which was not supported. These results coincided with
those presented by Lano (2015). This means that there is no
relationship between the factors that surround the B2B
company that offers the services, and the IVO of companies
that need to purchase products and services from suppliers
(O’cass and Ngo, 2012). Therefore, the decisions to contract
new products and services at an industrial level in B2B are not
made using the information about the company and that shared
on collaborative CRMs, as this relationship is negative and does
not improve the decision-making process of executives as
explained by De Groot et al. (2010).
The results for H1 results that link EF and CB showed the
importance of competition, the competitor’s and the relationship
with governments and public institutions, which are all important
for the reputation of B2B companies, as indicated by Beverland
et al. (2007). This relationship is important because B2B
companies offer information about their development and annual
results to public institutions to obtain subsidies and grants. These
initiatives are relevant as indicated by Dixit et al.(2005) provided
that the work of B2B companies can contribute directly or
indirectly to suppliers or public institutions.
The results for H2 showed that the influence of CB on CF
that show that the beliefs of B2B companies when making
decisions about purchasing and contracting to establish long-
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Volume 35 · Number 3 · 2020 · 470–482
term and consolidated strategic agreements are linked to the
factors that surround the contracting company (Oliva and
Kallenberg, 2003), meaning that having this information in
time allows companies to keep control of the information that
other companies have about them (Gebauer et al., 2005; Brown
et al., 2011). This is an important discovery if we take into
account information services are accessed with a collaborative
CRM and that the information on these technology systems is
updated quickly and sometimes in real time. The importance of
the immediacy of information to make decisions has already
been demonstrated by Glazer and Weiss (1993) and Ahituv
et al. (1998). We can now add the means or channel for the
transfer of information and knowledge for decision-making
with collaborative CRMs.
As shown in H3 results, the relationship of CB and ECF
demonstrates the positive link that exists between the
importance of other companies’ awareness of strategic value
and the critical mass that this company generates in the B2B
industry as a result of its marketing strategy. As stated by
Gebauer et al. (2005), this is an important point because
purchasing decisions using beliefs about other B2B companies
is sometimes made without detailed consulting information,
but after being influenced by EF. The value strategy of B2B
companies must be transmitted correctly in the areas of
marketing, communication and differentiation so that factors
which are external to the company or beliefs about it do not
create information that gives a false image of the company
(O’cass and Ngo, 2012).
The strongest relationship found was ICF with ECF (H4)
demonstrating the influence of the decisions made by the
executives and CEOs of B2B companies when sharing
information with their collaborative CRMs on the external results
obtained by the company. Other authors have found similar
relationships for B2B companies, but without taking into account
the channel on which the company information is communicated
to employees, contractors, suppliers and to policy makers, public
agents and stakeholders (Hellman, 2005; Brown et al., 2011).
This discovery adds value and importance to the information
services offerings strategies as well as to the marketing strategies
of B2B-type companies (Wuyts et al., 2009).
Relationship H5 showed that ICF influence IVO, which
shows the relationship between the size of the company and its
possibility to develop and expand as stated by Bebbington et al.
(2008). These factors also influence the company’s own capital
with the interest that other companies show in the purchase of
products that the B2B companies offer, thanks to the
information available provided by the information service
offerings strategy (Fischer et al., 2010). This relationship allows
us to link the marketing and development strategy of B2B
companies with information services offerings strategies
(Wuyts et al., 2009), which is not always taken into account as
an important factor when establishing consolidated
relationships with new companies or suppliers (Morgan and
Slotegraaf, 2012).
Finally, the relation between BR and IVO (H6) showed that
the behavior and attitude of companies and buyers of B2B
services toward the products and services offered by the
companies with collaborative CRMs and information services
offerings influences the purchase of a product or service (Dale,
2006). This relationship shows the importance of offering
 Information service offerings
José Ramon Saura, Pedro Palos-Sanchez and Alicia Blanco-González
detailed information about the products and services offered
with CRMs, because the more information there is, the more
possibilities exist to get other companies in the B2B ecosystem
to make purchases and make collaboration agreements
(Antioco et al., 2008). Providing transparent and detailed
information to get quality suppliers is important for the B2B
ecosystem as already indicated Kandampully (2003).
7. Conclusions
This research identified the relationship between the types of
information offered by a B2B companies in their information
services offerings strategies and decision-making by purchasing
companies in B2B environments using collaborative CRMs.
This research has made a contribution in an area of study that
was non-existent by focusing on how the information that B2B
companies offer as part of their marketing can influence
decision-making.
This research analyzed the information that companies make
available to other B2B purchasing companies about themselves
with collaborative CRMs to determine how this affects
purchasing decisions in these environments. EF and
orientation to the market, the development strategy and other
factors that define the company as well as the beliefs and
attitudes of other companies were all evaluated.
Also evaluated were the willingness of the purchasing
companies and the decision-making of the CEOs of these
companies, in terms of internal factors such as human resources,
expansion or self-financing. B2B companies can use this research
to identify which strategies should be used when creating B2B
marketing strategies to offer the best information services offering
with CRMs to B2B customers. Although this research has not
dealt exclusively with the case of SMEs in the B2B sector, findings
can be applied to SMEs as long as they incorporate strategies
supported by collaborative CRMs to provide internal information
to other companies or are affected by the management of large
volumes of data relating to the companies’ performance and
strategies in the B2B sector. In addition, the results of the
proposed model can be used by a wide group of stakeholders in
the B2B ecosystem, such as policy makers, decision makers,
researchers, academic managers or professionals.
7.1 Theoretical implications
The theoretical implications of this research are for the gap
present in the B2B literature, in terms of the information that is
needed when making purchasing decisions in businesses using
B2B marketing that gives information about companies to
other B2B companies using collaborative CRMs. This research
explains a model that helps to understand how companies
should offer information to attract and gain new clients in B2B
environments, and how the decisions about information
services offerings can affect decision-making in B2Bs when
buying products or services. Researchers can use the results of
the proposed model to give theories about the external variables
that affect B2B companies when sharing information with their
CRMs. In addition, new models can be constructed to measure
the influence of CB on B2B companies in the public sector,
with the number of subsidies or grants received from public
institutions.
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Volume 35 · Number 3 · 2020 · 470–482
Future research should also investigate the influence and the
effectiveness of B2B marketing strategies with CRMs,
comparing companies or SMEs that have an information
services offerings strategy using a collaborative CRM with
others that do not use one. In this way, a better understanding
can be gained about the role and importance of collaborative
CRMs in the B2B industry.
Also, this research increases the number of studies that
addresses this research topic and contributes to the literature
review to provide new references and theoretical approaches for
the topic of information services offerings on decision-making
in a B2B marketing environments as long as these companies
use collaborative CRMs for their communication strategy with
other companies. The presented results can help researchers to
study and propose theories and models for the effectiveness and
efficiency of the use of CRMs in B2B as has been done for the
theoretical frameworks presented in this area of research
(Gebauer, 2008; Gebauer et al., 2010; Homburg et al., 2003;
Lano, 2015), but focusing exclusively on the differences that a
collaborative CRM with an information services offerings
strategy aimed at making decisions can provide. Also, the area
that was researched had not been studied with a specific
theoretical framework but rather by studying the relationships
of variables and their significant influence or not. Finally, this
research can be also used by academics to increase the
references and the theoretical framework in this area of research
thus increasing the academic literature on B2B marketing using
CRMs, in addition to offering a theoretical framework for this
area of research focusing on collaborative B2B information
services offerings.
7.2 Practical and managerial implications
The results of this research can be used by executives of B2B
companies to make better decisions about their B2B marketing
plans and the information that is published about them with
collaborative CRMs in the professional sector. Executives can
use the results of this research to propose the improvement and
development of marketing strategies using information
offerings services by considering the issues that have been
presented in the model. For example, executives should focus
their attention on the beliefs that both society and the
professional sector might have of their performance and
activities. Consequently, they must make decisions regarding
the type of information they want to share to avoid possible
crisis situations. The information that should be offered should
include quality information related to EF of the organization,
value and market orientation and new lines of exploitation or
development.
Also, analyzing the results presented, the executives can
improve their decision-making by considering the BR obtained
by contracting companies or suppliers after improving their
information service offerings strategies to be able to verify that
there is a relationship between both variables. In this way, they
can improve their marketing strategies and the long-term
relationships with suppliers and customers.
The results of this research can be also used by executives to
make decisions about the information they provide to other
companies that are interested in buying their B2B services and
compare these results with variables such as control over the
external information of the company or the intention to
 Information service offerings
José Ramon Saura, Pedro Palos-Sanchez and Alicia Blanco-González
purchase of new suppliers or contracting companies. Such
information may include decisions about the internal structure
of the organization, the information offered to the different
audiences of the company, as well as the strategies for creating
value and confidence in the company with B2B marketing. In
this way, executives and managers can focus their attention on
the positive factors when attracting potential customers in B2B
environments and bringing value to the market by using
collaborative CRMs for decision-making. Even at the level of
internal control and human resources, executives should see
the importance of information service offerings strategies so
that their employees feel informed of the processes carried out
by their company.
Additionally, another implication is that executives can
create their B2B marketing plans with the information that is
most needed in the decision-making process and increase
customers’ confidence in the company using collaborative
CRMs and technology that allows controlled diffusion of the
information about the B2B company.
Future research could expand the proposed model by
studying new sectors and research other areas about this type of
company, and thus increasing the theoretical framework and
the research carried out in this field.
The limitations of this research are number of related studies
which were consulted, the sample size of the companies studied
and the amount of data analyzed, as well as the method used for
collecting information from collaborative CRMs.
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Corresponding author
Pedro Palos-Sanchez can be contacted at: pedro.palos@
unir.net
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