The Dark Side of CRM: Customers, Relationships and Management

Customers are treated badly. Not all customers. Not always. But many are and often. Some customers are bad. They treat firms badly. Firms have to react. Employees and customers endure the consequences. Such bad behaviours, by firms and customers, have consequences for perceptions of trust and fairness, for endorsements and referrals, for repeat purchasing and loyalty, and ultimately for a firm’s profitability and RoI. The management of customer relationships is core to the success and even survival of the firm. As The Dark Side of CRM explores, this is an area fraught with difficulties, duplicitous practice and undesirable behaviours. These need acknowledging, mitigating and controlling. This book is the first of its kind to define these dark sides, exploring also how firms and policy-makers might address such behaviours and manage them successfully. With contributions from many of the leading exponents globally of CRM and understanding customers, The Dark Side of CRM is essential reading for students, researchers and practitioners interested in managing customers, relationship marketing and CRM, as well as social media and marketing strategy. Bang Nguyen , PhD, is a faculty member in the Marketing Department at the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), School of Business, China. Lyndon Simkin , PhD, is Executive Director of the Centre for Business in Society and Professor of Strategic Marketing at the Univesity of Coventry. Ana Isabel Canhoto , PhD, is a Principal Lecturer in Marketing at Oxford Brookes University, UK and the Alf Mizzi Chair in Digital Marketing at the University of Malta. ‘Trouble is brewing; all is not well in the land of customer management. Companies and customers often act deceitfully and amorally. This important book sounds the alarm about contemporary customer management practice, and suggests responses and remedies for businesses and public policy makers.’ - Dr. Francis Buttle, Principal, Francis Buttle & Associates - francisbuttle.com.au – and author ‘Customer Relationship Management: Concepts and Technologies’, 3rd edition. 1. Introduction to The Dark Sides of CRM ( Bang Nguyen, Ana Isabel Canhoto and Lyndon Simkin ) 2. CRM and Customer Management: Identifying and Confronting Dark Side Behaviours ( Pennie Frow, Adrian Payne, Louise Young and Ian Wilkinson ) 3. Perceptions of Fairness and Unfairness ( Lan Xia ) 4. CRM and Social Media ( Adam Rapp and Jessica Ogilvie ) 5. Negative Word-of-Mouth, Misbehaviour and