Does Multi-stage Marketing Pay? / Business-to-Business-Marketing (PDF)

Some scholars propose that the concept of market orientation needs to be extended to encompass a company's indirect customers too. In an action-oriented perspective, this extended market orientation implies the notion of multi-stage marketing (MSM). For B-to-B settings, MSM entails the expanded consideration of both direct and indirect customers; it also provides the necessary capabilities to implement such a market orientation. In this study, Alejandro-Marcel Schönhoff presents a scenario-based experiment, using limit conjoint analysis, to establish an empirical basis for measuring the potential effects of different MSM types on direct customers' willingness-to-pay and other key outcome variables. The results show, among other things, that collaborative MSM exerts a positive effect on willingness-to-pay, whereas non-collaborative MSM has a negative effect on direct customers' satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, the relevance of MSM depends on the direct customers' market power toward their own customers.

Contents

• Conceptualization and definition of MSM
• Generic types and instruments of MSM
• Effect mechanisms of MSM
• Implications for marketing research and practice

Target Groups

• Lecturers and students of business administration, specializing in marketing
• Marketing, sales, and general managers working in B-to-Bmarkets

The Author

Alejandro-Marcel Schönhoff is a sales manager in the industrial adhesives division of a consumer and industrial goods manufacturer in Düsseldorf, Germany.