ارزیابی ارزش مشتری برای ارائه دهندگان خدمات اکسپرس: یک مطالعه تجربی از دیدگاه حمل و نقل در تایوان   Assessing customer value for express service providers: An empirical study from shippers’ perspective in  Taiwan

1. Introduction In the past, it usually took weeks to send a letter or cargo to an overseas destination. If an accident occurred during the delivery process, the letter would fail to reach its designated recipient. Nowadays, however, the development of modern transportation technologies has shortened delivery time and reduced the risk of cargo loss. International trade has also increased due to the use of advanced transportation methods. The recent growth in international trade has also spurred increased globalization on a worldwide basis. In the wake of globalization, better efficiency and faster and less costly worldwide shipment have become the common goals of the international transportation industry. Express services originated from letter delivery services. When customers pursuing faster speed, lower cost, better service, and higher quality found that traditional postal services failed to their expectations, express service providers e such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL e found a new market niche in international delivery services (Chao et al., 2013; Ding et al., 2005). To provide services beyond cargo transportation and to increase revenue and service volume, express service companies have enhanced their logistics systems and built warehouses near international airports for fast delivery service. These new actions have helped speed up cargo handling and consolidation processes and added value to air cargo transportation services, while also spurring the international express industry to design new solutions involving integrated logistics platforms and cargo distribution services. After third-party logistics providers (3PLs) reached full maturity, integrated fourth party logistics providers (4PLs) began shaping new forms of services. The fact that the global economy has been swinging unpredictably between booms and recessions has caused air cargo transportation to face enormous financial risks and resulted in fierce competition. As a result, how to provide better service quality is perceived as a strategic issue as well as a tactical issue (Gronroos, € 2000). Shippers are the main customers in the international express service system. From a marketing perspective, the service quality provided by an international express service company is the main factor in maintaining customers’ loyalty (Chang, 2012), and providing the best service and quality, and reducing transportation time and cost, has therefore become the best competitive strategy. Apart from the core benefits provided by their services, a growing number of express enterprises have also begun putting more emphasis upon the re-purchase intention of their customers. These companies recognize that only by fully understanding customers’ needs, they can provide precisely-tailored services offering customers optimal benefit. Better customer service increases value for customers (Johansson et al., 1993), and better services also attract more new customers, and thus increase profit and revenue (Ramsey and Sohi, 1997). Kotler (2013) believed that customer value is the central concept of marketing theory, and the customer value concept has been applied in many service-related fields in order to provide a competitive advantage. One conclusion based on this concept is that companies should discover and provide satisfactory value for their customers.