Managing customer engagement at trade shows

Srinath Gopalakrishna*, Edward C. Malthouse, Justin M. Lawrence

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Customer engagement is a buzzword in today's business landscape. It is a key driver of a firm's long-term success. Marketers overwhelmingly agree that engaged customers are valuable because, in all likelihood, they will keep coming back to transact business. In this study, which uses the novel context of B2B trade shows, the authors link engagement with two outcomes – intention to attend the next show and intention to purchase from exhibitors. Based on data collected from attendees before and after the show, they propose and test a conceptual model of customer engagement. They show that satisfaction with the trade show fully mediates the impact of behavioral engagement on the two outcomes. They also find that marketers i.e., the show organizer and exhibitors, benefit when visitors become engaged with the trade show in a fully comprehensive manner, even if some visitor segments may initially have low anticipation with regard to the upcoming event and the activities involved.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-114
Number of pages16
JournalIndustrial Marketing Management
Volume81
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2019

Keywords

  • B2B marketing
  • Customer engagement
  • Engagement dynamics
  • Events
  • Trade shows

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Marketing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Managing customer engagement at trade shows'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this