Censos y producciones

The study acknowledges “the emerging paradigm for marketing” as an integrative approach triggered by 1) changes in media usage patterns, 2) emphasized focus on marketing efficiency and 3) generating firm value through customer engagement, as presented by Kumar (2015). In this light, the study explores prior research on changes in media consumption (Xu et al., 2014; Siles & Boczkowski, 2012; Grade & Raviola, 2009; Chiagouris et al., 2008; Mitchelstein & Boczkowski, 2010), customer engagement (Bowden et al., 2014; Cvijikj & Michahelles, 2013; van Doorn et al., 2010; Verhoef et al., 2010b; Bijmolt et al., 2010),the concept of customer value (Kumar, Aksoy, et al., 2010; Gupta & Zeithaml, 2006), and customer equity (Rust et al., 2004; Hogan et al., 2002) from the company perspective, as well as from the customer perspective (Rose et al., 2012; Chang & Wang, 2011; DeSarbo et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2004; Payne & Holt, 2001).

The study recognises the value of engaged customers for the company (Bowden et al., 2014; Gummerus et al., 2013; Bowden, 2009; Malthouse et al., 2013) as a basis for customer value management in the online environment (Verhoef et al., 2007; Kumar et al., 2006; Payne et al., 2001; Daniels & Shirley, 2000; Persson, 2013) and from prior literature adopts the principles of successful customer value management. The three emerging perspectives on managing customer value form the core of the study: managing customer engagement, managing customer networks, and managing the customer experience (Verhoef & Lemon, 2013).

By integrating the available knowledge and best practices, the study first investigates the antecedents and outcomes of the customer experience (Rose et al., 2011; Verhoef et al., 2009) in the online news channel context. By addressing the functional, psychological and content factors of the online customer experience (Constantinides, 2004), the study identifies the key components of OCE for an online news channel. The study broadens the existing theoretical framework of OCE by adding on some new components forming the OCE. The study found the

component of emotions and attributes of brand perception and the Fear of Missing Out –phenomenon (Przybylski, 2013) relevant, affecting loyalty (Gentile et al., 2007; Lin, 2004; Srinivasan et al., 2002) in the online news channel context. The factor of emotions was brought in as a component of OCE, yet mostly neglected by prior studies. Creating a superior customer experience and embracing the concept of customer experience management has been one of the central objectives for many companies around the globe, referred to even in company mission statements (Verhoef & Lemon, 2012). However, despite the volume of online news channels, the amount of consumers already paying for the content and the centrality of the concept in literature as well in practice, prior research on online customer experience in the media industry still remains scarce. Superior customer experience of online news channels has not been a direct focus of any prior studies.

Second, the thesis contributes to existing literature on managing customer engagement and the value of customer-firm interactions in the online context (Yang & Coffey, 2014). By extending the current research on full value potential of an online customer relationship (Kumar, Aksoy, et al., 2010), the current work introduces monetary, social and visitor value as manageable factors creating the full value of an online customer. The study puts emphasis on the low conversion rate (percentage of visits that result in desired action such as in purchases) in the online environment (Lin, 2004; Bucklin & Sismeiro, 2009), and implies that the majority of interactions are in the form of visit instead of purchase. Resting upon this industry-wide fact, the work elaborates the concept of visitor value in online relationships and suggests recognising the value of customer visits to online sites as one central part of CVM. In prior studies, even in the holistic view to the value of online relationships, the value of visitor behaviour, such as the recency and frequency of visits (Ho et al., 2012; Kumar et al., 2010), and the browsing behaviour (Lin, 2004) has often been neglected.

The third contribution to theory is made from the perspective of relationship marketing strategies and CRM systems especially in the online environment. CRM aims at leveraging investments in customer relations to strengthen the competitive position and maximize returns (Bueren et al., 2013). The central idea of CRM is that businesses should be more interested in keeping long-lasting relationships with their customers than in accumulating occasional exchanges (Beatty et al.,1996). Furthermore, in the online context, the development of the CRM paradigm has been seen to shift towards social CRM and customer engagement (Choudhury & Harrigan, 2014; Kumar, 2015). The present research adds on this theory by continuing the tradition on customer value management theory of Verhoef & Lemon, (2012) and Kumar et al., (2010), and by presenting a value analysis of online customer relationships for customer value management. The study identifies manageable customer segments for CRM, based on customer engagement value in the online environment, including the social value of customer relationships.

The results from prior studies indicate that managerial perception of customer value is different from what customers experience as customer value (Nasution & Mavondo, 2008). The contribution of the study to CRM literature lies also in recognizing the different types of customer relationship value, perceived by customers, and also from the company perspective, and in demonstrating with a unique real-life dataset how a company can identify the most valuable customers based on their monetary and / relational value for the premise of CVM and enhance the loyalty of the relationships.

is important for all companies competing for loyal customers in the digital marketplace. The importance of linking the customer relationship strategy to CRM technology is also evident (Krishnan et al., 2014). Along with technical developments in marketing, such as dynamic CRM systems, segmentation and customer value management are the key strategic weapons that can be employed to assist in this endeavour. The study has proven that for customer value management in the online environment, it is important to identify, understand, and manage not only individual customers’ purchase behaviour, but also other, especially relational aspects of the relationship. The thorough literature reviews of customer value management, online customer experience and customer engagement show that in online relationship management, traditional CRM and prior research on customer value seem inadequate to recognize the full value potential of customers, as the value created in online relationships is multi- faceted and constantly evolving. The value of online customer relationships can be measured with to the presented value components and suggested variables. Measurement combines traditional CRM information about customer purchases with information about customer behaviour, easily tracked with generic online customer-level analytic tools. Therefore, the objectives for growing the total customer value can be set and measured accordingly.

In summary, the study suggests adopting the principles of customer value management in the online environment to grow the value of the entire customer base. Adopting customer value management principles would mean driving superior customer experiencse through the key components of value perceived by the customer and managing customer engagement and social network value of customers as the basis of value for the company. The aim of CVM in the news industry is to grow the value of individual customer relationships as well as the value of the total customer base through increased customer loyalty and enhanced customer engagement. A loyal, engaged customer base is the most valuable asset for the future of a news channel in the competitive market of online information.