Understanding the Empowered Customer in Relational Contexts

Understanding the Empowered Customer in Relational Contexts The emergence of a relational perspective on customers has created a new need to understand the communication functions and processes between the two parties, the marketer and the customer in the relationship. Little attention has so far been devoted to interactive communication issues in the relationship marketing literature. The traditional marketing communication literature has largely modeled situations where the marketer is active and aim at influencing a passive receiver, the customer. Communication has gained recognition as an element that creates connectedness between the parties. This research project has the aim to develop new conceptual frameworks and methods for analyzing the nature and effect of relationship communication. The outcome of the present research provides new innovative ways of managing the organizational value creation by understanding and applying communication assets in a relational context. The project can be seen as positioned at the crossroads of multiparadigmatic discourses. It represents an extension of the research in marketing communication and advertising. The development of this conceptual framework is significant for expanding the scope of customer relationship management and marketing. Firstly, it directs further empirical academic work and thus represents a rich foundation for focused studies. Secondly, it in itself gives new insights and approaches from a managerial point of view. Even if this knowledge has to be further developed and adapted in specific business contexts, new concepts have the potential to enable managers to perceive their management situations more effectively than before.