Contributions published at Marketing and Market Research (René Algesheimer)

In this article, we empirically validate a version of the input-mediator-output-input (IMOI) model (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005), adapting it to investigate virtual team performance in a highly competitive environment. Our hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling across time periods with data obtained from 606 professional online gaming teams belonging to the European Electronic Sports League. The findings validate the hypothesized IMOI model, and demonstrate the effects of anticipated emotions on shared motivation of team members. The results contribute to theory and have significant implications for the management of geographically distributed work groups.

Many firms increasingly offer community venues to their customers to facilitate social interactions amongst them. Prior studies have shown that community participants have high engagement and loyalty toward the firm, and provide useful feedback and referrals. However, it is not clear whether community participants are the firm’s fans to begin with and self-select themselves into the community, or whether community participation leads to increased relational customer behaviors. In the current research, we employ data from a field experiment to help answer this question. The data comes from a year-long study, conducted by eBay Germany, and reveals that a simple email invitation significantly increased customer participation in the firm’s community. Results also showed that community participation had mixed effects on customers’ likelihoods of participating in buying and selling behaviors. Community participation did not translate into increased behaviors as would be commonly expected. While there is no impact of participation on the number of bids placed or the revenue earned, there is a negative impact of participation on the number of listings and the amount spent. Together, these results suggest that the community participants become more selective and efficient sellers and also become more conservative in their spending on the items they bid for. The results also show that customer community marketing programs may be targeted to a broader set of the firm’s customers than just the fans.

1. Relevanz von Communities für das Management von Kundenbeziehungen 2. Zum Wesen von Communities 3. Charakterisierung von Brand Communities 4. Typisierung von Brand Communities 5. Erkenntnisse über die Bearbeitung von Brand Communities 6. Implikationen für das Management von Kundenbeziehungen

Brand communities offer the promise of a marketing program that is synergistic with the intrinsic motivations, interests, and empowerment of contemporary consumers. Widely applicable and increasingly used by mainstream consumers across a range of product and service categories, they represent avenues for marketers to generate a range of positive outcomes for the firm in cost-effective ways. For consumer researchers, brand communities are venues to study a host of psychological and social issues. In this article, we elaborate on this concept by providing a definition of brand community, introduce and elaborate on different types of brand communities, and examine the consequences of consumer participation in them.

Firm-hosted virtual peer-to-peer problem solving (P3) communities offer a low-cost, credible, and effective means of delivering education and ongoing assistance services to customers of complex, frequently evolving products. Building upon the social constructivist view on learning and drawing from literature on the firm-customer relationship in services marketing, we distinguish between functional and social benefits received by P3 community participants and study the central role of learning in influencing these benefit perceptions. The proposed model is tested on data gathered from 2,299 active members of a P3 community hosted by a global online auction firm, and the framework’s generalizability is demonstrated using a sample of 204 members of a global B2B software firm’s P3 community. Based on the results, specific recommendations are provided to marketers interested in implementing service support programs via customer communities, and future research opportunities are explored.

Purpose – In community research, there is a large gap between theoretical developments and empirical proves. Especially, in micro-macro contexts, where the interaction between micro- (the community member) and macro-(the community) level variables have significant effects, no comprehensive theoretical approach that explicitly frames micro-macro phenomena has been considered in empirical methodology. This study attempts to present a multilevel theoretical framework which explains the complex interrelationship of various elements that shape consumption experience and market institutions. Design/methodology/approach – Based on practical questions related to community research, where individuals act in communal contexts, shape the community and are influenced by the community, the importance of studying micro-macro phenomena are discussed. These preliminaries form assumptions that are integrated into theoretical and methodological developments. It is shown how structuration approaches meet the assumptions on communal consumption research and how multilevel analyses fit into the assumptions that are raised by the structuration approach. Findings – The paper develops and presents a multilevel model, which represents the interplay among various cultural levels that influence consumption experience and the evolution of consumption trends. This model proposes a theoretical framework which explains structuration in consumer research contexts. Originality/value – Academics can use this study to understand the link between communal consumption theory to methodology. They have access to a research framework that integrates micro-macro effects and receive some ideas on possible structures and variables they can analyze. Practitioners learn that within communal research consumption patterns do not only influence individuals, but they also determine the community’s structure that in turn shapes the behaviour of its members. Keywords - Consumer behaviour, Community behaviour, Social processes, Influence Paper type - Conceptual paper

Mithilfe der weltweiten Vernetzung durch einfache und billige Technik können komplexe Aufgaben gemeinsam sehr effizient gelöst werden. Zahlreiche Beispiele zeigen, wie Unternehmen das Web 2.0 und virtuelle Welten einsetzen können und wo deren Grenzen liegen.

Interaktionen in Brand Communities beeinflussen die Markenwahl und weitere Größen wie die Treue zu einer Marke oder die Bereitschaft, die Marke zu empfehlen. In Anbetracht dieses Befundes wurde die Wirkung von Brand Communities auf diese Variablen analysiert mit dem Ziel, Brand Communities im Sinne des Unternehmens zu gestalten. Die theoretische Basis bildeten Thibaut und Kelleys klassischen Austauschtheorien sowie Festingers Theory of Informal Social Communication. Hieraus wurden Hypothesen abgeleitet und ein Modell zur Erfassung der Wirkung ausgewählter Determinanten auf unternehmerische Zielgrößen entwickelt. Eine empirische Untersuchung im Markt für Automobil-Communities auf Basis der Kausalanalyse diente dazu, die formulierten Hypothesen zu überprüfen. Aus den Ergebnissen ergeben sich Anregungen für die Konzeptualisierung und Operationalisierung der Erscheinung Brand Community. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich die Wirkung bestimmter Facetten einer Brand Community auf die Loyalität der Kunden zur Marke, was die Diskussion um Markenloyalität ergänzt.

Quality function deployment (QFD) has had considerable success in terms of its implementation in companies. It has also been the subject of many studies in recent years. It seems, however, that there are some shortcomings in the research on this subject and in particular the lack of an adequate conceptual framework suitable for empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. This study proposes and elaborates a model which examines QFD in relation to three dimensions of performance: improvement of product quality, reduction in costs for R&D, shorter R&D time. The model is empirically tested on data gathered on a stratified random sample of manufacturing plants through the application of valid and reliable measures. The model is tested using structural equation modeling.The results show three distinct paths of direct influence which lead, respectively, to superior economic performance. The empirical study has shown that the success of a QFD project is mainly influenced by motivated employees in the QFD project team. A comprehensive technical support for the QFD project is also a crucial key success factor. The strict organization of the QFD project is of minor, however still remarkable importance for the success.

Quality function deployment (QFD) has had considerable success in terms of its implementation in companies. It has also been the subject of many studies in recent years. It seems, however, that there are some shortcomings in the research on this subject and in particular the lack of an adequate conceptual framework suitable for empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. This study proposes and elaborates a model which examines QFD in relation to three dimensions of performance: improvement of product quality, reduction in costs for R&D, shorter R&D time. The model is empirically tested on data gathered on a stratified random sample of manufacturing plants through the application of valid and reliable measures. The model is tested using structural equation modeling. The results show three distinct paths of direct influence which lead, respectively, to superior economic performance. The empirical study has shown that the success of a QFD project is mainly influenced by motivated employees in the QFD project team. A comprehensive technical support for the QFD project is also a crucial key success factor. The strict organization of the QFD project is of minor, however still remarkable importance for the success.

The customer equity concept has attracted substantial interest from academics and practitioners during the last years. While direct drivers of customer equity such as customer transactions, cross- and up-buying behavior have been well understood and researched, indirect effects, and in particular social network effects have been ignored, although it is well known that brand community influence, word of mouth communication and other social effects are powerful influencers of buying behavior and should thus not be ignored in customer management. Thus, we propose that the customer equity perspective should evolve into a customer network equity perspective. In the following, we develop and present a theoretical framework for extending current thinking on customer equity towards the network perspective. In particular, we derive, based on the social network literature, characteristics that are likely to be powerful predictors of a customer's network value. We make propositions for future research and highlight practical implications.