Customer Lifetime Value: Empirical Generalizations and Some Conceptual Questions

Robert C. Blattberg, Edward C. Malthouse*, Scott A. Neslin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

From the extant literature on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), we identify four empirical generalizations (well-defined, consistent effects found by at least three different sets of authors): customer satisfaction, marketing efforts, cross-buying and multichannel purchasing all have positive relationships with CLV. The frequency and monetary value of previous purchases generally have a positive effect on CLV, although there are some contradictory findings in this regard. We identify additional issues that have received limited attention in the literature, but require further empirical study: the effects of pricing, earned rewards and promotions on CLV, managing a sequence of contacts to maximize response rates and CLV, and whether CLV can be forecasted sufficiently accurately. We also discuss additional conceptual issues that merit further research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)157-168
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Interactive Marketing
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2009

Keywords

  • Customer equity
  • Customer lifetime value
  • Empirical generalizations

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Marketing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Customer Lifetime Value: Empirical Generalizations and Some Conceptual Questions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this