Drivers of contract renewal over time: a framework of analysis in B2B services
Drivers of contract renewal over time: a framework of analysis in B2B services
Despite the wealth of research into Business-to-Business customer relationships, there are a number of gaps in the literature, where most studies have used cross-sectional research designs. In this study, we explored customer relationships over a three-year period, using data from a large Fortune 100 industrial services provider. Our longitudinal research design compared the drivers of customer satisfaction and contract renewal decisions over time, and provides a holistic framework for viewing customer relationship drivers and their effects at an aggregate level. While some drivers were quite stable, others changed significantly between quarters. The main implications of this study are that firms should closely manage their supplier–customer relationships by tracking the drivers over time to enable service responsiveness to changing customer needs. From a theoretical perspective, the data also indicate that researchers should be cautious in drawing concrete conclusions from cross-sectional studies, as many drivers are dynamic over time. Future researchers are encouraged to develop more longitudinal research designs.
B2B services, Stability, customer attitudes, longitudinal
Williams, Paul
ae414ef5-40ec-4cd6-a79e-97c72343d781
Ashill, Nicholas J.
9c7f261c-c660-4ac4-9735-efc71c82bd41
Naumann, Earl
b1f2b3b7-8715-451f-821a-c76a55acda47
4 October 2023
Williams, Paul
ae414ef5-40ec-4cd6-a79e-97c72343d781
Ashill, Nicholas J.
9c7f261c-c660-4ac4-9735-efc71c82bd41
Naumann, Earl
b1f2b3b7-8715-451f-821a-c76a55acda47
Williams, Paul, Ashill, Nicholas J. and Naumann, Earl
(2023)
Drivers of contract renewal over time: a framework of analysis in B2B services.
Journal of Strategic Marketing.
(doi:10.1080/0965254X.2023.2257704).
Abstract
Despite the wealth of research into Business-to-Business customer relationships, there are a number of gaps in the literature, where most studies have used cross-sectional research designs. In this study, we explored customer relationships over a three-year period, using data from a large Fortune 100 industrial services provider. Our longitudinal research design compared the drivers of customer satisfaction and contract renewal decisions over time, and provides a holistic framework for viewing customer relationship drivers and their effects at an aggregate level. While some drivers were quite stable, others changed significantly between quarters. The main implications of this study are that firms should closely manage their supplier–customer relationships by tracking the drivers over time to enable service responsiveness to changing customer needs. From a theoretical perspective, the data also indicate that researchers should be cautious in drawing concrete conclusions from cross-sectional studies, as many drivers are dynamic over time. Future researchers are encouraged to develop more longitudinal research designs.
Text
Drivers of contract renewal over time a framework of analysis in B2B services
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Accepted/In Press date: 6 September 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 October 2023
Published date: 4 October 2023
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Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
B2B services, Stability, customer attitudes, longitudinal
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 483035
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483035
ISSN: 0965-254X
PURE UUID: d52636be-6b63-4dc5-ad71-161760cb7d28
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Date deposited: 19 Oct 2023 17:07
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:57
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Author:
Nicholas J. Ashill
Author:
Earl Naumann
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