IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joinma/v36y2016icp77-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Channel Experiences and Direct Marketing on Customer Retention in Multichannel Settings

Author

Listed:
  • Chang, Chun-Wei
  • Zhang, Jonathan Z.

Abstract

In customer relationship management (CRM), it is critical for managers to understand how and when customers terminate their relationships with the company in order to make more accurate predictions for CLV. However, in many non-contractual settings, customer churn is not easily observed, which presents difficulty for estimating customer retention. In this research, we present a framework for estimating multichannel customer relationship dynamics in a non-contractual setting that flexibly allows for relationship revival and investigates the effects of different channel experiences and marketing communication on retention and profitability. We use a multi-segment, multivariate hidden Markov modeling framework to model three managerially relevant customer behaviors: purchase amount, purchase incidence, and channel choice. Using data from a multichannel clothing retailer, we uncover two latent relationship states that customers migrate to and from — an active state and an inactive state characterized by different levels of purchase frequency, responsiveness to marketing, and profitability. We find that an offline (retail-store) channel can be used to migrate customers from an inactive state to an active state, effectively serving the purpose of “education” or “revival,” whereas an online channel is most effective in keeping the existing active customers active, thus serving the purpose of “retention”. Using counterfactual analysis, we highlight an opportunity for the multichannel firm to optimize marketing strategies to dynamically manage and increase the retention and hence also the value of its customer base.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Chun-Wei & Zhang, Jonathan Z., 2016. "The Effects of Channel Experiences and Direct Marketing on Customer Retention in Multichannel Settings," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 77-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:36:y:2016:i:c:p:77-90
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intmar.2016.05.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1094996816300287
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intmar.2016.05.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Z. Zhang & Oded Netzer & Asim Ansari, 2014. "Dynamic Targeted Pricing in B2B Relationships," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 317-337, May.
    2. Oded Netzer & James M. Lattin & V. Srinivasan, 2008. "A Hidden Markov Model of Customer Relationship Dynamics," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 185-204, 03-04.
    3. Pradeep K. Chintagunta & Junhong Chu & Javier Cebollada, 2012. "Quantifying Transaction Costs in Online/Off-line Grocery Channel Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 96-114, January.
    4. Ricardo Montoya & Oded Netzer & Kamel Jedidi, 2010. "Dynamic Allocation of Pharmaceutical Detailing and Sampling for Long-Term Profitability," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 909-924, 09-10.
    5. David A. Schweidel & Eric T. Bradlow & Peter S. Fader, 2011. "Portfolio Dynamics for Customers of a Multiservice Provider," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 471-486, March.
    6. Peter S. Fader & Bruce G. S. Hardie & Ka Lok Lee, 2005. "“Counting Your Customers” the Easy Way: An Alternative to the Pareto/NBD Model," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 275-284, August.
    7. Boehm, Martin, 2008. "Determining the impact of internet channel use on a customer's lifetime," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 2-22.
    8. Dennis Campbell & Frances Frei, 2010. "Cost Structure, Customer Profitability, and Retention Implications of Self-Service Distribution Channels: Evidence from Customer Behavior in an Online Banking Channel," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(1), pages 4-24, January.
    9. David A. Schweidel & Peter S. Fader & Eric T. Bradlow, 2008. "A Bivariate Timing Model of Customer Acquisition and Retention," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 829-843, 09-10.
    10. Rajiv Lal & Miklos Sarvary, 1999. "When and How Is the Internet Likely to Decrease Price Competition?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 485-503.
    11. Raghunathan, Rajagopal & Irwin, Julie R, 2001. "Walking the Hedonic Product Treadmill: Default Contrast and Mood-Based Assimilation in Judgments of Predicted Happiness with a Target Product," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 355-368, December.
    12. Peter S. Fader & Bruce G. S. Hardie, 2010. "Customer-Base Valuation in a Contractual Setting: The Perils of Ignoring Heterogeneity," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 85-93, 01-02.
    13. Elisa Montaguti & Scott A. Neslin & Sara Valentini, 2016. "Can Marketing Campaigns Induce Multichannel Buying and More Profitable Customers? A Field Experiment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 201-217, March.
    14. David C. Schmittlein & Donald G. Morrison & Richard Colombo, 1987. "Counting Your Customers: Who-Are They and What Will They Do Next?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 1-24, January.
    15. Li, Quan & Reuveny, Rafael, 2003. "Economic Globalization and Democracy: An Empirical Analysis," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 29-54, January.
    16. Lorin M. Hitt & Frances X. Frei, 2002. "Do Better Customers Utilize Electronic Distribution Channels? The Case of PC Banking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 732-748, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qamar Farooq & Peihua Fu & Yunhong Hao & Tchamy Jonathan & Yanni Zhang, 2019. "A Review of Management and Importance of E-Commerce Implementation in Service Delivery of Private Express Enterprises of China," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440188, January.
    2. Vakeel, Khadija Ali & Fudurić, Morana & Malthouse, Edward C., 2021. "Extending variety seeking to multi-sided platforms: Impact of new retailer listing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    3. Li, Xi & Dahana, Wirawan Dony & Li, Tongmao & Yuan, Jingbo, 2021. "Behavioral changes of multichannel customers: Their persistence and influencing factors," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Wang, Qian & Chen, Hang, 2022. "Better or Worse? Effects of online promotion habits on customer value: An empirical study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    5. Jonathan Z. Zhang & Chun-Wei Chang, 2021. "Consumer dynamics: theories, methods, and emerging directions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 166-196, January.
    6. Mahsa Samsami & Ralf Wagner, 2021. "Investment Decisions with Endogeneity: A Dirichlet Tree Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, July.
    7. Thomas, Jacquelyn S. & Jap, Sandy D. & Dillon, William R. & Briesch, Richard A., 2021. "Investigating the Role of Product Assortment in Technology-Enabled Sales Platforms," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 31-51.
    8. Ștefan Catană & Sorin-George Toma & Cătălin Grădinaru & Adrian Iordache, 2020. "The reflection of retail marketing strategies in advertising catalogues," Manager Journal, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 31(1), pages 16-23, December.
    9. Kondo, Fumiyo N. & Okubo, Taishi, 2022. "Understanding multi-channel consumer behavior: A comparison between segmentations of multi-channel purchases by product category and overall products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. Vaishnav, Bharat & Ray, Sourav, 2023. "A thematic exploration of the evolution of research in multichannel marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    11. Zhang, Hongchao & Yu, Yu & Qin, Yinggao, 2023. "The effects of constrained mobile coupons in the mobile channel," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Peng Vincent Zhang & Seoyoung Kim & Anindita Chakravarty, 2023. "Influence of pull marketing actions on marketing action effectiveness of multichannel firms: A meta-analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 310-333, March.
    13. Lamrhari, Soumaya & Ghazi, Hamid El & Oubrich, Mourad & Faker, Abdellatif El, 2022. "A social CRM analytic framework for improving customer retention, acquisition, and conversion," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    14. Mark, Tanya & Bulla, Jan & Niraj, Rakesh & Bulla, Ingo & Schwarzwäller, Wolfgang, 2019. "Catalogue as a tool for reinforcing habits: Empirical evidence from a multichannel retailer," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 528-541.
    15. Gauri, Dinesh K. & Jindal, Rupinder P. & Ratchford, Brian & Fox, Edward & Bhatnagar, Amit & Pandey, Aashish & Navallo, Jonathan R. & Fogarty, John & Carr, Stephen & Howerton, Eric, 2021. "Evolution of retail formats: Past, present, and future," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 42-61.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jonathan Z. Zhang & Chun-Wei Chang, 2021. "Consumer dynamics: theories, methods, and emerging directions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 166-196, January.
    2. Eva Ascarza & Scott A. Neslin & Oded Netzer & Zachery Anderson & Peter S. Fader & Sunil Gupta & Bruce G. S. Hardie & Aurélie Lemmens & Barak Libai & David Neal & Foster Provost & Rom Schrift, 2018. "In Pursuit of Enhanced Customer Retention Management: Review, Key Issues, and Future Directions," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 5(1), pages 65-81, March.
    3. David A. Schweidel & Eric T. Bradlow & Peter S. Fader, 2011. "Portfolio Dynamics for Customers of a Multiservice Provider," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 471-486, March.
    4. Kappe, Eelco & Stadler Blank, Ashley & DeSarbo, Wayne S., 2018. "A random coefficients mixture hidden Markov model for marketing research," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 415-431.
    5. Valendin, Jan & Reutterer, Thomas & Platzer, Michael & Kalcher, Klaudius, 2022. "Customer base analysis with recurrent neural networks," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 988-1018.
    6. Romero, Jaime & van der Lans, Ralf & Wierenga, Berend, 2013. "A Partially Hidden Markov Model of Customer Dynamics for CLV Measurement," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 185-208.
    7. Vaishnav, Bharat & Ray, Sourav, 2023. "A thematic exploration of the evolution of research in multichannel marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Glady, Nicolas & Lemmens, Aurélie & Croux, Christophe, 2015. "Unveiling the relationship between the transaction timing, spending and dropout behavior of customers," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 78-93.
    9. David A. Schweidel & George Knox, 2013. "Incorporating Direct Marketing Activity into Latent Attrition Models," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 471-487, May.
    10. Eva Ascarza & Oded Netzer & Bruce G. S. Hardie, 2018. "Some Customers Would Rather Leave Without Saying Goodbye," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 54-77, January.
    11. Mark, Tanya & Lemon, Katherine N. & Vandenbosch, Mark & Bulla, Jan & Maruotti, Antonello, 2013. "Capturing the Evolution of Customer–Firm Relationships: How Customers Become More (or Less) Valuable Over Time," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 231-245.
    12. repec:tiu:tiutis:52e91e47-4a2d-4e7b-bb23-3926b842ae30 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Eric M. Schwartz & Eric T. Bradlow & Peter S. Fader, 2014. "Model Selection Using Database Characteristics: Developing a Classification Tree for Longitudinal Incidence Data," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 188-205, March.
    14. Salmani, Yasamin & Partovi, Fariborz Y., 2021. "Channel-level resource allocation decision in multichannel retailing: A U.S. multichannel company application," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    15. Arun Gopalakrishnan & Zhenling Jiang & Yulia Nevskaya & Raphael Thomadsen, 2021. "Can Non-tiered Customer Loyalty Programs Be Profitable?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 508-526, May.
    16. Eva Ascarza & Bruce G. S. Hardie, 2013. "A Joint Model of Usage and Churn in Contractual Settings," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(4), pages 570-590, July.
    17. Park, Chang Hee & Park, Young-Hoon & Schweidel, David A., 2014. "A multi-category customer base analysis," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 266-279.
    18. Antonello Maruotti & Jan Bulla & Tanya Mark, 2019. "Assessing the influence of marketing activities on customer behaviors: a dynamic clustering approach," METRON, Springer;Sapienza Università di Roma, vol. 77(1), pages 19-42, April.
    19. Johannes Habel & Sascha Alavi & Nicolas Heinitz, 2023. "A theory of predictive sales analytics adoption," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 13(1), pages 34-54, June.
    20. Mark, Tanya & Bulla, Jan & Niraj, Rakesh & Bulla, Ingo & Schwarzwäller, Wolfgang, 2019. "Catalogue as a tool for reinforcing habits: Empirical evidence from a multichannel retailer," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 528-541.
    21. Park, Chang Hee & Park, Young-Hoon & Schweidel, David A., 2018. "The effects of mobile promotions on customer purchase dynamics," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 453-470.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:36:y:2016:i:c:p:77-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-interactive-marketing/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.