Understanding the quality–quantity conundrum of customer referral programs: effects of contribution margin, extraversion, and opinion leadership

Vijay Viswanathan*, Sebastian Tillmanns, Manfred Krafft, Daniel Asselmann

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Firms can substantially profit from customer referrals, but they must understand the different stages of the referral process to determine what drives the number of referrals (first stage), conversion (second stage), and average contribution margin per referral (third stage). Applying a framework that integrates perceptual and behavioral drivers, this study uses a financial services company’s customer survey and transaction data to investigate how the effect of contribution margins of referring customers at all three stages depends on their perceived extraversion and opinion leadership. Extreme extraversion and opinion leadership diminish the positive effect of the contribution margins of referring customers on the number of referrals; their effect on the number of successful referrals is insignificant. In terms of the contribution margin of successful referrals, extraversion has a negative and opinion leadership a positive moderating effect.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1108-1132
Number of pages25
JournalJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science
Volume46
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2018

Keywords

  • Customer influence
  • Customer value
  • Extraversion
  • Opinion leadership
  • Referral programs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Marketing

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