Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions

Abstract

This article develops and discusses the concept of customer engagement behaviors (CEB), which we define as the customers' behavioral manifestation toward a brand or firm, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers. CEBs include a vast array of behaviors including word-of-mouth (WOM) activity, recommendations, helping other customers, blogging, writing reviews, and even engaging in legal action. The authors develop a conceptual model of the antecedents and consequences-customer, firm, and societal-of CEBs. The authors suggest that firms can manage CEBs by taking a more integrative and comprehensive approach that acknowledges their evolution and impact over time.

Customer Engagement and Loyalty: A Comparative Study Between Service Contexts

“…Nevertheless, over 40% of the de nitions in the literature express engagement as a unidimensional concept, with the behavioral dimension appearing as dominant (Brodie et al, 2011). However, the most important factors a ecting engagement are attitudinal antecedents (Van Doorn et al, 2010). Engaging in a relationship is not signaled only by behavior, but more by the attitudes and reasons why the behavior occurs (Venetis & Ghauri, 2004).…”

“…To authors such as Jakkola and Alexander (2014), Van Doorn et al (2010), and Pham and Avnet (2009), engagement is de ned primarily with reference to speci c customer activity types or patterns. For these authors, the concept of CE aggregates the multiple ways customer behaviors beyond transactions may in uence the rm (Jakkola & Alexander, 2014).…”

“…For these authors, the concept of CE aggregates the multiple ways customer behaviors beyond transactions may in uence the rm (Jakkola & Alexander, 2014). Customers engage in a number of behaviors that strengthen their relationship with the product, company, or brand that go beyond mere purchasing behavior (Gummerus et al, 2012), including also word-of-mouth (WOM), recommendations, cross-buying, and active voice/complaints (Van Doorn et al, 2010). Furthermore, engaged customers are expected to show a stronger preference for premium products and lower price sensitivity (Ramkumar et al, 2013), proving to be more pro table than their nonengaged counterparts (Voyles, 2007).…”

“…Increasingly, long-term, sustainable competitive advantages depend on the rm's ability to retain, sustain, and nurture its customer base (Anderson, Fornell, & Mazvancheryl, 2004;Gruca & Rego, 2005;Rego et al, 2009;Van Doorn et al, 2010). Customer relationships became one of the main issues in marketing, with several authors emphasizing its importance in business.…”

“…Most studies are descriptive or conceptual in nature (e.g., Brodie et al, 2011;Sashi, 2012;Van Doorn et al, 2010;Vivek et al, 2012) and much of what has been written about engagement has its basis in management practice rather than in academic research (Bowden, 2009). Moreover, while CE is considered a multidimensional construct with cognitive, emotional and behavioral components, few empirical research focus the attitudinal antecedents of engagement Also, though CE is a context-dependent concept, most studies refer to speci c settings (Vivek, 2009), namely online brand communities, instead of the "physical world, " and thus these are elds that require further attention (Brodie et al, 2013).…”