Abstract
The Internet is an indispensable platform for the provision of products and services of a company and for the communication with customers. A significant increase in the number of e-commerce interfaces in the Business-to-Business (B2B) environment has already been noticed for several years. One of the biggest challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry is the complex issue of retaining customers in B2B-relationships. Especially in an internet-based, constantly changing context, this is an uncertain and ambitious challenge. In our study, we investigate the antecedents of customer loyalty of B2B-customers using the internet. Based on the findings of Janita et al., we developed a conceptual model containing the constructs potentially influencing loyalty of B2B-customers in the internet. Conducting an online survey with the B2B-customers of WERU, a German industrial component manufacturer in the building sector, our final data set contains 187 observations. Results show a direct, highly significant effect of customer satisfaction and trust and a highly significant total effect of image via customer satisfaction on customer loyalty.
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Heinold, A., Kuhn, M., Grimme, M. (2022). “Point-and-Click” – B2B-Customer Loyalty in the Internet: An Empirical Study on Potential Antecedents Exemplified at German Company “WERU”. In: Allen, J., Jochims, B., Wu, S. (eds) Celebrating the Past and Future of Marketing and Discovery with Social Impact. AMSAC-WC 2021. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95346-1_6
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