Doctoral thesis: Companies’ possibilities to manage their customer relationships are more limited than previously thought

According to the current theories the customer relationship is seen as an interaction between the customer and the company. This study suggests that it should be viewed as a perceptual process taking place in the customer’s mind, independent of the company.

According to the study, consumers perceive that the customer relationship may exist and continue irrespective of what the company does – or does not do.

In her doctoral dissertation Making Sense of Customer Relationships: a Consumer Perspective, Lotta Vuoristo discusses consumers’ views on customer relationships. Until now, there has been no significant research on consumers’ perceptions of customer relationships.

“My study shows that consumers’ views of customer relationships differ from the current notions and practices in many respects”, Vuoristo says. “Reciprocity, for example, is not a prerequisite for the existence of a customer relationship according to consumers’ thinking. It is enough that the consumer feels that the customer relationship is meaningful and significant”, Vuoristo continues.

On the other hand, if the consumer feels that the customer relationship is not satisfactory, it will not grow or develop, no matter what actions the company takes. Therefore, companies’ possibilities to manage their customer relationships are far more limited than previously thought.

In her study, Vuoristo has developed a detailed method for discovering these boundaries.

“This knowledge will allow more efficient investments in customer relationship marketing, as well as more meaningful marketing messages from the consumer’s point of view”, Vuoristo says. “Although the study concentrated on the views of consumers, the positive side effect is that a company can profit by accepting and understanding their own role in that process”, Vuoristo concludes.

Lotta Vuoristo is defending her dissertation on the subject starting at 12:00 noon on Friday 27 October 2017. Her doctoral dissertation is positioned in the field of relationship marketing.
 

Time: 27.10.2017 at 12.00 noon
Venue: Assembly hall, Hanken, Arkadiankatu 22, Helsinki
Opponent: Professor Per Kristensson, Karlstads University
Supervisor: Professor Tore Strandvik, Hanken

Contact details:
Lotta Vuoristo
Telephone: +358 45 6744 376
lotta.vuoristo@hanken.fi

Photo: Kim Ekman