Proactive Postsales Service: When and Why Does It Pay Off?

被引:72
作者
Challagalla, Goutam [1 ]
Venkatesh, R. [2 ]
Kohli, Ajay K. [1 ]
机构
[1] Georgia Inst Technol, Coll Management, Atlanta, GA 30332 USA
[2] Univ Pittsburgh, Joseph M Katz Grad Sch Business, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA
关键词
proactive service; proactive feedback seeking; proactive prevention; proactive education; postsales service; FEEDBACK-SEEKING; NETWORK EXTERNALITIES; IMPRESSION-MANAGEMENT; CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS; EMPIRICAL-ANALYSIS; EMOTIONAL LABOR; MARKET MAVENS; RECOVERY; OPENNESS; SATISFACTION;
D O I
10.1509/jmkg.73.2.70
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
Proactive postsales service (PPS) refers to a supplier taking the initiative to contact a customer to provide service after a sale is complete. It is argued that PIPS leads to faster delivery of service to a broader cross-section of customers than customer-initiated postsales service, or reactive postsales service. The authors argue that mental frames of customers and suppliers engaged in PIPS are more positive and open than mental frames of those engaged in customer-initiated service. On the basis of nine focus groups with 94 managers in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer settings, the authors propose three main dimensions of PIPS: (1) proactive prevention, (2) proactive education, and (3) proactive feedback seeking. They argue that PIPS leads not only to favorable customer-level outcomes (e.g., customer satisfaction) but also to favorable supplier-level outcomes (e.g., greater innovativeness, new product success rate). The authors propose that the value of PIPS varies depending on the product's life-cycle stage, its transaction extensiveness, and network externality. In addition, the value of PIPS varies depending on a customer's usage intensity, openness to experience, and market mavenism. Some key challenges with PPS pertain to implementation issues, such as privacy intrusion, expectation escalation, user identification, and contact routinization. If neglected, these can result in PIPS leading to negative rather than positive outcomes. The authors develop guidelines for addressing these challenges and implementing PPS effectively in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer contexts.
引用
收藏
页码:70 / 87
页数:18
相关论文
共 93 条
[81]   The spherical marketing concept A revitalization of the marketing concept [J].
Svensson, Goran .
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING, 2005, 39 (1-2) :5-15
[82]  
Tax SS, 2006, MIT SLOAN MANAGE REV, V47, P30
[83]   Customer evaluations of service complaint experiences: Implications for relationship marketing [J].
Tax, SS ;
Brown, SW ;
Chandrashekaran, M .
JOURNAL OF MARKETING, 1998, 62 (02) :60-76
[84]  
Teece D., 2001, Managing Industrial Knowledge, P125
[85]   The big five personality traits and individual job performance growth trajectories in maintenance and transitional job stages [J].
Thoresen, CJ ;
Bradley, JC ;
Bliese, PD ;
Thoresen, JD .
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, 2004, 89 (05) :835-853
[86]   Rethinking customer solutions: From product bundles to relational processes [J].
Tuli, Kapil R. ;
Kohli, Ajay K. ;
Bharadwaj, Sundar G. .
JOURNAL OF MARKETING, 2007, 71 (03) :1-17
[87]   Customer evaluations of after-sales service contact modes: An empirical analysis of national culture's consequences [J].
van Birgelen, M ;
de Ruyter, K ;
de Jong, A ;
Wetzels, M .
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN MARKETING, 2002, 19 (01) :43-64
[88]   LEAD USERS - A SOURCE OF NOVEL PRODUCT CONCEPTS [J].
VONHIPPEL, E .
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 1986, 32 (07) :791-805
[89]   Predictors and outcomes of proactivity in the socialization process [J].
Wanberg, CR ;
Kammeyer-Mueller, JD .
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, 2000, 85 (03) :373-385
[90]   Interactive effects of proactive and reactive service recovery strategies: The case of rapport and compensation [J].
Worsfold, Kate ;
Worsfold, Jennifer ;
Bradley, Graham .
JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2007, 37 (11) :2496-2517