Abstract
Purpose – To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, ... more Abstract Purpose – To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of customer engagement research in the existing literature, derive a comprehensive definition of customer engagement and summarize few important and basic issues that future research should address. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review was carried out on customer engagement spread over 38 journals identified from online academic databases of Scopus, Emerald, EBSCOS and Science Direct. A total of 66 conceptual and empirical articles on customer engagement research spanning from 2005 to 2015 were analyzed based on different classification schemes. Findings – Customer engagement is becoming a key concept in marketing. Customer engagement is a multi-dimensional concept comprising of cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social dimensions. The theoretical foundations of this concept predominantly lie with relationship marketing and servicedominant logic. Research on customer engagement has gained a significant pace in the last six years (2010-2015) but most of the articles on customer engagement have come from developed countries. Research limitations/implications – By providing the distribution schema of customer engagement articles based on different criteria and by highlighting the future research avenues, this study is believed to serve as a valuable tool for researchers to understand the current scenario of customer engagement research in the marketing discipline and take this research area forward. This study acknowledges limitations with respect to its exclusive search criteria, which might affect its generalizability. Practical implications – This study exhibits the favorable outcomes organizations can derive by building and managing an engaged customer base. The more an organization knows about how to engage its customers, the better adept it will be to enact so. Therefore, understanding customer engagement is imperative in that regard; this review will help organizations comprehend that better. Originality/value – This is the first systematic review of customer engagement that provides a detailed understanding of the current state of customer engagement research on a single platform and also draws a comprehensive customer engagement conceptualization. Keywords Customer engagement, Literature review, Consumer engagement, Consumer brand engagement, Customer brand engagement Paper type Literature review
Organizations are making huge investments to embrace customer engagement. Customer engagement has... more Organizations are making huge investments to embrace customer engagement. Customer engagement has become a central concept in customer–brand relationships. The empirical investigation of customer engagement is covered in previous literature, yet none of the studies so far have empirically examined the relationships between brand image and brand love simultaneously with regard to customer engagement in the fashion apparel context. This study is the first to investigate customer engagement in the context of fashion apparel. It examines the effects of brand image and brand love on customer engagement. Customer loyalty as an outcome of customer engagement is also studied. To collect data, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 430 students, of whom 403 students returned the completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 software was used to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that brand image and brand love significantly influence customer engagement. Brand love was also found to act as a mediator between brand image and customer engagement. The results also reveal that customer engagement influences customer loyalty. The results can prove helpful to practitioners in engaging customers while branding and marketing their fashion apparel brands so as to build a loyal customer base. The development of the research model can also provide a stage for scholars to undertake future research.
Given the rise of social networking sites particularly Facebook, companies have started engaging ... more Given the rise of social networking sites particularly Facebook, companies have started engaging with customers in this newly emerged digital space. This study explores the role of customer engagement in enhancing trust and word of mouth on brand communities over Facebook. The effect of customer involvement on customer engagement is also checked. This study also investigates the direct relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth. A pen and paper questionnaire survey of 450 Facebook account holder students was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that a higher level of involvement with the brand community leads to a higher level of customer engagement. Customer engagement leads to customer trust and word of mouth activities. The results further suggest a direct positive relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth but the mediation of customer engagement strengthens the mentioned effect.
Business organizations after facing the blames of exploiting environment and community, have star... more Business organizations after facing the blames of exploiting environment and community, have started 'Taking Community initiatives' as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, where in programs are designed and actions are being taken to create a positive impact on various stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, community, and environment at large. This approach has helped organizations to improve their profitability as well as gain social acceptance to a greater extent. But hand in hand, it has made organizations face immense criticism on the grounds of their approach behind such initiatives. This paper through a secondary data exploration is an attempt to draw upon some community initiatives taken up by some selected companies in India, to describe the paradox by highlighting the marketing benefits companies can gain through community initiatives and the criticism that the companies face for such initiatives.
Marketing in rural India has gained a huge attention in the last decade. There has been a paradig... more Marketing in rural India has gained a huge attention in the last decade. There has been a paradigm transition from what rural India used to be to what it has emerged today. The consumption pattern of rural India is gradually moving towards and resembling the urban patterns. From mud pots and bullock carts, they now have motor vehicles, cell phones, media, health care, personal products, electronic gadgets and what not. Due to this shift, the rural India provides a huge investment opportunity for business players as they step in to Indian rural markets. Endeavours of stepping in to such markets have given mixed results to the business organizations with a blend of opportunities and challenges. In response to this, companies are adhering to new ways to conduct their business operations and establish a profitable and a credible presence in rural India. This paper through the exploration of secondary data is an attempt to look into the new approach used by some selected brands to address the rural markets of India, the opportunities available to them and the challenges faced therein. The study identifies that companies are approaching rural markets of India with a different orientation in almost all fronts from different distribution approach to different targeting and different promotional orientation so as to create effective ties with channel partners and customers. This paper may prove to be of help to the marketers in reshaping their approach while stepping in to the rural markets of India.
behavior shown by customers while purchasing laptops. The study is based on a primary data collec... more behavior shown by customers while purchasing laptops. The study is based on a primary data collected from 250 students from different courses in Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India. The data is analyzed using various statistical tools and methods. The study has examined various factors affecting purchase intention and behavior of students towards laptops such as Brand Image, Price, Actual Attributes, Past Experience, Brand Switching, and Word-of-Mouth. The results of the study reveal that while purchasing laptops, students make decisions giving the highest priority to actual attributes and brand image, followed by price, past experience and Word-of-Mouth.
This study specifically investigates the occupational stress and work-life balance among female f... more This study specifically investigates the occupational stress and work-life balance among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The study also determines the relationship between occupational stress and work-life balance among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The study is based on primary data collected from 120 female faculties from two central universities in Delhi, India. The data is analyzed using various statistical tools and methods. The results of the study reveal that there exists a moderate-level of occupational stress and moderate-level of work-life balance among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The results of the study further reveal that there is a strong negative relationship between Occupational Stress and Work-Life Balance.
The study aims to investigate the level of Job Satisfaction among female faculties of central uni... more The study aims to investigate the level of Job Satisfaction among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The study also investigates the effect of Occupational Stress and Work-Life Balance on Job satisfaction. A self-structured questionnaire is adopted to accomplish the research objectives through the responses from 120 female faculty members of two central universities of Delhi, India. Various statistical tools and methods such as descriptive statistics and regression analysis etc. have been used to analyze the data. The results of the study reveal that a significantly high level of job satisfaction exists among female faculty members of two central universities of Delhi. The results also reveal the existence of significantly low negative effect of Occupational stress and low positive effect of Work-Life Balance on the degree of job satisfaction of female faculty members of two central universities of Delhi. This study makes a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the relationship between Occupational stress, Work-Life Balance, and Job Satisfaction. This information may prove to be of great help to the policy makers and practitioners of the educational set-ups.
This study investigates the preference given by consumers to Word-of-Mouth in availing healthcare... more This study investigates the preference given by consumers to Word-of-Mouth in availing healthcare facilities. It also investigates the major perceived risk considerations of the consumers for availing medical facility at a specific healthcare institute. The study is based on primary data collected from 4 hospitals (120 attendants) in Delhi, India. The data is analyzed using various statistical tools and methods. The results reveal that socio-economic factors such as income and hospital type have a direct relationship with various perceived risk considerations such as financial risk, functional risk, time risk, and service quality, whereas social risk is of least consideration while choosing a healthcare institute. The results of this study also reveal that consumers give high preference to Word-of-Mouth and tend to rely heavily on it in choosing the healthcare institute. Thus, the healthcare practitioners should focus on expertise of doctors, service quality, and cost to take advantage of positive Word-of-Mouth and enhance their position in the market.
of-Mouth. It also investigates the effect of Negative Word-of-Mouth on consumer decisionmaking. T... more of-Mouth. It also investigates the effect of Negative Word-of-Mouth on consumer decisionmaking. The study further investigates how actively people share their healthcare instituterelated experiences with others. The study is based on primary data collected from 120 attendants from 4 hospitals (2 private hospitals and 2 government hospitals) in Delhi, India. The data is analysed using various statistical tools and methods. The results reveal that recommendations from medical practitioners and people who have availed the service are considered to be the most credible where as an individual's own opinion takes the back seat while choosing a healthcare facility. The results of the study also reveal that people share their healthcare institute-related experiences very actively with others so as to express a sense of care and humanity. The results also reveal that Negative Word-of-Mouth plays a significant role in consumer decision-making about choosing a healthcare facility. Thus healthcare practitioners should focus on positive as well as negative Word-of-Mouth, and should come up with different strategies for different sources of Word-of-Mouth, in accordance to the importance given to those sources by consumers, so as to enhance their position in the market.
Abstract
Purpose – To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, ... more Abstract Purpose – To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of customer engagement research in the existing literature, derive a comprehensive definition of customer engagement and summarize few important and basic issues that future research should address. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review was carried out on customer engagement spread over 38 journals identified from online academic databases of Scopus, Emerald, EBSCOS and Science Direct. A total of 66 conceptual and empirical articles on customer engagement research spanning from 2005 to 2015 were analyzed based on different classification schemes. Findings – Customer engagement is becoming a key concept in marketing. Customer engagement is a multi-dimensional concept comprising of cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social dimensions. The theoretical foundations of this concept predominantly lie with relationship marketing and servicedominant logic. Research on customer engagement has gained a significant pace in the last six years (2010-2015) but most of the articles on customer engagement have come from developed countries. Research limitations/implications – By providing the distribution schema of customer engagement articles based on different criteria and by highlighting the future research avenues, this study is believed to serve as a valuable tool for researchers to understand the current scenario of customer engagement research in the marketing discipline and take this research area forward. This study acknowledges limitations with respect to its exclusive search criteria, which might affect its generalizability. Practical implications – This study exhibits the favorable outcomes organizations can derive by building and managing an engaged customer base. The more an organization knows about how to engage its customers, the better adept it will be to enact so. Therefore, understanding customer engagement is imperative in that regard; this review will help organizations comprehend that better. Originality/value – This is the first systematic review of customer engagement that provides a detailed understanding of the current state of customer engagement research on a single platform and also draws a comprehensive customer engagement conceptualization. Keywords Customer engagement, Literature review, Consumer engagement, Consumer brand engagement, Customer brand engagement Paper type Literature review
Organizations are making huge investments to embrace customer engagement. Customer engagement has... more Organizations are making huge investments to embrace customer engagement. Customer engagement has become a central concept in customer–brand relationships. The empirical investigation of customer engagement is covered in previous literature, yet none of the studies so far have empirically examined the relationships between brand image and brand love simultaneously with regard to customer engagement in the fashion apparel context. This study is the first to investigate customer engagement in the context of fashion apparel. It examines the effects of brand image and brand love on customer engagement. Customer loyalty as an outcome of customer engagement is also studied. To collect data, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 430 students, of whom 403 students returned the completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 software was used to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that brand image and brand love significantly influence customer engagement. Brand love was also found to act as a mediator between brand image and customer engagement. The results also reveal that customer engagement influences customer loyalty. The results can prove helpful to practitioners in engaging customers while branding and marketing their fashion apparel brands so as to build a loyal customer base. The development of the research model can also provide a stage for scholars to undertake future research.
Given the rise of social networking sites particularly Facebook, companies have started engaging ... more Given the rise of social networking sites particularly Facebook, companies have started engaging with customers in this newly emerged digital space. This study explores the role of customer engagement in enhancing trust and word of mouth on brand communities over Facebook. The effect of customer involvement on customer engagement is also checked. This study also investigates the direct relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth. A pen and paper questionnaire survey of 450 Facebook account holder students was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that a higher level of involvement with the brand community leads to a higher level of customer engagement. Customer engagement leads to customer trust and word of mouth activities. The results further suggest a direct positive relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth but the mediation of customer engagement strengthens the mentioned effect.
Business organizations after facing the blames of exploiting environment and community, have star... more Business organizations after facing the blames of exploiting environment and community, have started 'Taking Community initiatives' as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, where in programs are designed and actions are being taken to create a positive impact on various stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, community, and environment at large. This approach has helped organizations to improve their profitability as well as gain social acceptance to a greater extent. But hand in hand, it has made organizations face immense criticism on the grounds of their approach behind such initiatives. This paper through a secondary data exploration is an attempt to draw upon some community initiatives taken up by some selected companies in India, to describe the paradox by highlighting the marketing benefits companies can gain through community initiatives and the criticism that the companies face for such initiatives.
Marketing in rural India has gained a huge attention in the last decade. There has been a paradig... more Marketing in rural India has gained a huge attention in the last decade. There has been a paradigm transition from what rural India used to be to what it has emerged today. The consumption pattern of rural India is gradually moving towards and resembling the urban patterns. From mud pots and bullock carts, they now have motor vehicles, cell phones, media, health care, personal products, electronic gadgets and what not. Due to this shift, the rural India provides a huge investment opportunity for business players as they step in to Indian rural markets. Endeavours of stepping in to such markets have given mixed results to the business organizations with a blend of opportunities and challenges. In response to this, companies are adhering to new ways to conduct their business operations and establish a profitable and a credible presence in rural India. This paper through the exploration of secondary data is an attempt to look into the new approach used by some selected brands to address the rural markets of India, the opportunities available to them and the challenges faced therein. The study identifies that companies are approaching rural markets of India with a different orientation in almost all fronts from different distribution approach to different targeting and different promotional orientation so as to create effective ties with channel partners and customers. This paper may prove to be of help to the marketers in reshaping their approach while stepping in to the rural markets of India.
behavior shown by customers while purchasing laptops. The study is based on a primary data collec... more behavior shown by customers while purchasing laptops. The study is based on a primary data collected from 250 students from different courses in Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India. The data is analyzed using various statistical tools and methods. The study has examined various factors affecting purchase intention and behavior of students towards laptops such as Brand Image, Price, Actual Attributes, Past Experience, Brand Switching, and Word-of-Mouth. The results of the study reveal that while purchasing laptops, students make decisions giving the highest priority to actual attributes and brand image, followed by price, past experience and Word-of-Mouth.
This study specifically investigates the occupational stress and work-life balance among female f... more This study specifically investigates the occupational stress and work-life balance among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The study also determines the relationship between occupational stress and work-life balance among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The study is based on primary data collected from 120 female faculties from two central universities in Delhi, India. The data is analyzed using various statistical tools and methods. The results of the study reveal that there exists a moderate-level of occupational stress and moderate-level of work-life balance among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The results of the study further reveal that there is a strong negative relationship between Occupational Stress and Work-Life Balance.
The study aims to investigate the level of Job Satisfaction among female faculties of central uni... more The study aims to investigate the level of Job Satisfaction among female faculties of central universities of Delhi, India. The study also investigates the effect of Occupational Stress and Work-Life Balance on Job satisfaction. A self-structured questionnaire is adopted to accomplish the research objectives through the responses from 120 female faculty members of two central universities of Delhi, India. Various statistical tools and methods such as descriptive statistics and regression analysis etc. have been used to analyze the data. The results of the study reveal that a significantly high level of job satisfaction exists among female faculty members of two central universities of Delhi. The results also reveal the existence of significantly low negative effect of Occupational stress and low positive effect of Work-Life Balance on the degree of job satisfaction of female faculty members of two central universities of Delhi. This study makes a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the relationship between Occupational stress, Work-Life Balance, and Job Satisfaction. This information may prove to be of great help to the policy makers and practitioners of the educational set-ups.
This study investigates the preference given by consumers to Word-of-Mouth in availing healthcare... more This study investigates the preference given by consumers to Word-of-Mouth in availing healthcare facilities. It also investigates the major perceived risk considerations of the consumers for availing medical facility at a specific healthcare institute. The study is based on primary data collected from 4 hospitals (120 attendants) in Delhi, India. The data is analyzed using various statistical tools and methods. The results reveal that socio-economic factors such as income and hospital type have a direct relationship with various perceived risk considerations such as financial risk, functional risk, time risk, and service quality, whereas social risk is of least consideration while choosing a healthcare institute. The results of this study also reveal that consumers give high preference to Word-of-Mouth and tend to rely heavily on it in choosing the healthcare institute. Thus, the healthcare practitioners should focus on expertise of doctors, service quality, and cost to take advantage of positive Word-of-Mouth and enhance their position in the market.
of-Mouth. It also investigates the effect of Negative Word-of-Mouth on consumer decisionmaking. T... more of-Mouth. It also investigates the effect of Negative Word-of-Mouth on consumer decisionmaking. The study further investigates how actively people share their healthcare instituterelated experiences with others. The study is based on primary data collected from 120 attendants from 4 hospitals (2 private hospitals and 2 government hospitals) in Delhi, India. The data is analysed using various statistical tools and methods. The results reveal that recommendations from medical practitioners and people who have availed the service are considered to be the most credible where as an individual's own opinion takes the back seat while choosing a healthcare facility. The results of the study also reveal that people share their healthcare institute-related experiences very actively with others so as to express a sense of care and humanity. The results also reveal that Negative Word-of-Mouth plays a significant role in consumer decision-making about choosing a healthcare facility. Thus healthcare practitioners should focus on positive as well as negative Word-of-Mouth, and should come up with different strategies for different sources of Word-of-Mouth, in accordance to the importance given to those sources by consumers, so as to enhance their position in the market.
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Papers by JAMID UL ISLAM
Purpose – To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, the
purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of customer engagement research in the
existing literature, derive a comprehensive definition of customer engagement and summarize few
important and basic issues that future research should address.
Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review was carried out on customer
engagement spread over 38 journals identified from online academic databases of Scopus, Emerald,
EBSCOS and Science Direct. A total of 66 conceptual and empirical articles on customer engagement
research spanning from 2005 to 2015 were analyzed based on different classification schemes.
Findings – Customer engagement is becoming a key concept in marketing. Customer engagement is a
multi-dimensional concept comprising of cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social dimensions.
The theoretical foundations of this concept predominantly lie with relationship marketing and servicedominant
logic. Research on customer engagement has gained a significant pace in the last six years
(2010-2015) but most of the articles on customer engagement have come from developed countries.
Research limitations/implications – By providing the distribution schema of customer
engagement articles based on different criteria and by highlighting the future research avenues,
this study is believed to serve as a valuable tool for researchers to understand the current scenario
of customer engagement research in the marketing discipline and take this research area forward.
This study acknowledges limitations with respect to its exclusive search criteria, which might affect
its generalizability.
Practical implications – This study exhibits the favorable outcomes organizations can derive by
building and managing an engaged customer base. The more an organization knows about how to engage
its customers, the better adept it will be to enact so. Therefore, understanding customer engagement is
imperative in that regard; this review will help organizations comprehend that better.
Originality/value – This is the first systematic review of customer engagement that provides a
detailed understanding of the current state of customer engagement research on a single platform and
also draws a comprehensive customer engagement conceptualization.
Keywords Customer engagement, Literature review, Consumer engagement,
Consumer brand engagement, Customer brand engagement
Paper type Literature review
customer engagement. Customer loyalty as an outcome of customer engagement is also studied. To collect data, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 430 students, of whom 403 students returned the completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 software was used to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that brand image and brand love significantly influence customer engagement. Brand love was also found to act as a mediator
between brand image and customer engagement. The results also reveal that customer engagement influences customer loyalty. The results can prove helpful to practitioners in engaging customers while branding and marketing their fashion apparel brands so as to build a loyal customer base. The development of the research model can also provide a stage for scholars to undertake future research.
communities over Facebook. The effect of customer involvement on customer engagement is also checked. This study also investigates the direct relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth. A pen and paper questionnaire survey of 450 Facebook account holder students was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that a higher level of involvement with the brand community leads to a higher level of customer engagement. Customer engagement leads to customer trust and word of mouth activities. The results further suggest a direct positive relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth but the mediation of customer engagement strengthens the mentioned effect.
Purpose – To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, the
purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of customer engagement research in the
existing literature, derive a comprehensive definition of customer engagement and summarize few
important and basic issues that future research should address.
Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review was carried out on customer
engagement spread over 38 journals identified from online academic databases of Scopus, Emerald,
EBSCOS and Science Direct. A total of 66 conceptual and empirical articles on customer engagement
research spanning from 2005 to 2015 were analyzed based on different classification schemes.
Findings – Customer engagement is becoming a key concept in marketing. Customer engagement is a
multi-dimensional concept comprising of cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social dimensions.
The theoretical foundations of this concept predominantly lie with relationship marketing and servicedominant
logic. Research on customer engagement has gained a significant pace in the last six years
(2010-2015) but most of the articles on customer engagement have come from developed countries.
Research limitations/implications – By providing the distribution schema of customer
engagement articles based on different criteria and by highlighting the future research avenues,
this study is believed to serve as a valuable tool for researchers to understand the current scenario
of customer engagement research in the marketing discipline and take this research area forward.
This study acknowledges limitations with respect to its exclusive search criteria, which might affect
its generalizability.
Practical implications – This study exhibits the favorable outcomes organizations can derive by
building and managing an engaged customer base. The more an organization knows about how to engage
its customers, the better adept it will be to enact so. Therefore, understanding customer engagement is
imperative in that regard; this review will help organizations comprehend that better.
Originality/value – This is the first systematic review of customer engagement that provides a
detailed understanding of the current state of customer engagement research on a single platform and
also draws a comprehensive customer engagement conceptualization.
Keywords Customer engagement, Literature review, Consumer engagement,
Consumer brand engagement, Customer brand engagement
Paper type Literature review
customer engagement. Customer loyalty as an outcome of customer engagement is also studied. To collect data, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 430 students, of whom 403 students returned the completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 software was used to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that brand image and brand love significantly influence customer engagement. Brand love was also found to act as a mediator
between brand image and customer engagement. The results also reveal that customer engagement influences customer loyalty. The results can prove helpful to practitioners in engaging customers while branding and marketing their fashion apparel brands so as to build a loyal customer base. The development of the research model can also provide a stage for scholars to undertake future research.
communities over Facebook. The effect of customer involvement on customer engagement is also checked. This study also investigates the direct relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth. A pen and paper questionnaire survey of 450 Facebook account holder students was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that a higher level of involvement with the brand community leads to a higher level of customer engagement. Customer engagement leads to customer trust and word of mouth activities. The results further suggest a direct positive relationship of customer involvement with trust and word of mouth but the mediation of customer engagement strengthens the mentioned effect.