بازاریابی با مرجع مشتری، مفهوم ‌سازی، سنجش و ارتباط با عملکرد فروش Customer reference marketing: Conceptualization, measurement and link to selling performance

۱٫ Introduction Many firms, particularly in business-to-business (B2B) markets, use existing customer relationships as references to encourage the adoption of new customers and to facilitate sales and marketing. Customer references lend credibility to companies’ value propositions and are important in reducing the perceived risk of target customers (Kumar, Petersen, & Leone, 2013; Salminen & Möller, 2006). Although numerous studies in various areas of marketing, including customer relationship management (Payne & Frow, 2005; Reinartz, Krafft, & Hoyer, 2004), customer value management and selling (Anderson, Narus, & Van Rossum, 2006; Terho, Haas, Eggert, & Ulaga, 2012), and marketing communications (Ballantyne, Frow, Varey, & Payne, 2011), have noted the importance of customer references, only a few studies have specifically focused on firms’ use of customer references in the firms’ marketing efforts. Consequently, the conceptual foundations of this central business marketing phenomenon remain fragmented and embryonic. Recent studies highlight the need to study the use of customer references in marketing and the performance effects more systematically (Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Kumar et al., 2013). The present study addresses this important but underdeveloped topic by 1) conceptualizing customer reference marketing (CRFM), 2) developing a measure for the construct and 3) demonstrating its nomological validity and managerial relevance by studying the relation of CRFM to firms’ selling performance. As the current knowledge about the topic is scarce, we used a discovery-oriented, theories-in-use approach for the conceptualization (e.g., Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Tuli, Kohli, & Bharadwaj, 2007; Zaltman, LeMasters, & Heffring, 1982). In other words, we build on initial insights from a review of key customer reference literature and complement this perspective with insights from firm practices based on 38 in-depth interviews with managers. The conceptualization is followed by a measure development study based on survey data from business managers responsible for work tasks focused on customer reference marketing. Finally, based on a third study, we demonstrate the predictive validity of the CRFM construct by linking it to firms’ sales performance based on additional data from business firms. The present study contributes to business marketing theory by establishing the conceptual foundations for customer reference marketing. We extend the contemporary knowledge on how business firms can deploy customer references in business markets in three central ways. First, our findings highlight that CRFM is a broader phenomenon than most marketing studies to date have indicated (see Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Godes, 2012; Kumar et al., 2013). The present findings show that CRFM consists of the active leveraging of customer references, not only externally for marketing and sales purposes as most studies have highlighted to date but also internally for internal  development purposes, such as customer learning, business opportunity identification, or building of best practices. Second, the present study develops operative measures for CRFM, thus enabling future explanatory theory-testing research in the area. Third, the study provides initial empirical evidence that CRFM has a positive relation with firms’ selling performance and that this link is contingent on the context of the CRFM application. Overall, the conceptualization and measures offer fruitful avenues for a broad range of business marketing research and have concrete implications for managers who want to advance the effective use of customer references in their organizations. ۲٫ Conceptualization of customer reference marketing ۲٫۱٫ Previous research on customer references Customers that are already using a firm’s products or services and are willing to share their experiences often play a key role in the purchase process of organizational buyers (Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Kumar et al., 2013). Selling firms in business markets apply reference marketing through various activities designed to leverage the value of existing customers to facilitate sales and build reputation (Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Helm & Salminen, 2010; Reuber & Fischer, 2005; Salminen & Möller, 2006). Although customers’ referral and word-ofmouth behavior have been studied extensively (e.g., Helm, 2003; Kumar, Petersen, & Leone, 2007; Ryu & Feick, 2007), selling firms’ activities related to using customer references in marketing have received less attention (Jalkala & Salminen, 2010). Previous research suggests a phased approach, in which firms carefully establish and maintain relations with initial key customers and then signal references to prospective customers (Salminen & Möller, 2006). The ability to use references effectively has been noted to be particularly important for firms that sell higher-value offerings and in contexts of high uncertainty (Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Hada, Grewal, & Lilien, 2014), as well as being contingent upon several factors, such as customers’ willingness to act as references or the level of reference management in the firm (Jalkala & Salminen, 2010). Although not empirically tested in the literature, efforts to systematically employ references in sales and marketing should have a positive influence on firm performance in B2B markets according to numerous business marketing studies (see Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Godes, 2012; Hada et al., 2014). The research on customer references has several unresolved research issues. From a conceptual perspective, we know little about how firms effectively use customer references to facilitate the firms’ marketing and sales, and therefore, a comprehensive understanding of what constitutes CRFM is lacking. Extant research is missing sound conceptualization and measures for the customer reference marketing, and although there is some evidence that the use of references is an effective marketing approach particularly in risk-intensive settings (Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Kumar et al., 2013), the effects on firm performance remain largely unstudied. Many recent studies have understood customer references narrowly as using existing customer relationships simply to attract new customers (Huntley, 2006; Kumar et al., 2013). Some recent studies suggested that references also have much wider-ranging functions, such as building reputation or acting as value evidence, implying that references should be understood more broadly than as just straightforward customer acquisition tools (Anderson & Wynstra, 2010; Jalkala & Salminen, 2010). Building on the extant literature on customer references, we adopt a broad theory-based definition for the basis for our conceptualization work and define customer reference marketing initially as a firm’s efforts to use existing or previous customer relationships and related value-creation activities in the firm’s marketing activities targeted at potential customers and other stakeholders. Thus, what distinguishes customer references from the overall portfolio of customer relationships and delivered products or services is the active deployment of customer references in the supplier’s marketing activities to influence potential customers and stakeholders.