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Firms invest heavily in different types of business-to-business relationship marketing activities in the belief that such programs bolster their bottom line. In this study, we develop and test a conceptual model that links customer-specific relationship marketing investments to short-term, customer-specific financial outcomes. Data from a matched set of 313 business customers covered by 143 salespeople of 34 selling firms indicate that investments in social relationship marketing pay off handsomely, financial relationship marketing investments do not, and structural relationship marketing investments are economically viable for customers serviced frequently. We conceptualize relationship marketing in a context involving nested participants (customers, salespeople, selling firms) and employ a hierarchical linear modeling approach to account for observations that are not independent. Across the three hierarchical levels, the impact of the financial, social, and structural components of relationship marketing investments and the potential moderating factors offer valuable insights into contextual factors and managerial strategies for leveraging relationship marketing investments. In an attempt to suggest normative guidelines to managers, we extend our analysis to a simple resource allocation model that describes the optimal mix of relationship marketing resources based on firm strategies.relationship marketing, customer relationship management, marketing strategy, financial outcomes, allocation, hierarchical linear modeling

Trade shows are an important but under-researched component of the promotion mix for most industrial products. In this paper, we develop a three-stage model of trade show performance, relying on different indices of performance at each stage: attraction, contact, and conversion efficiency. We model the impact of preshow promotion, booth space, use of attention-getting techniques, competition, number and training of booth salespeople on the extent of attraction, contact, and conversion. The results from an empirical application using data from 85 firms that participated in a major trade show in 1991 suggest significant and different impact of these variables. In addition, we illustrate how the model can be used to evaluate trade-offs among different decision variables. Finally, we develop some general results implied by our model concerning the optimal allocation of trade show resources.industrial marketing, marketing mix, trade shows

Trade shows are a multi-billion dollar business in the US and the UK, but little is known about the determinants of trade show effectiveness. In this paper, we build a model that explains differences in trade show effectiveness across industries, across companies and across two countries. We focus on the differences in trade show effectiveness measured in a similar way across similar samples of 171 US and 135 UK fIrm-show experiences between 1980 and 1991. While the similarities outweigh the differences, we fmd evidence that trade shows are viewed differently by exhibitors and attendees in these two countries. We are able to make substantial generalizations about the effect of various show selection (go-not go) variables as well as tactical variables (booth size, personnel, etc.) on observed performance. We discuss the implications of our research for developing benchmarks for trade show performance and for better global management of the business marketing communications mix.