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Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

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Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 3/2023

15-10-2022 | Original Empirical Research

The design of B2B customer references: A signaling theory perspective

Authors: D. Eric Boyd, F. Javier Sese, Sebastian Tillmanns

Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science | Issue 3/2023

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Abstract

Customer references represent a popular marketing strategy, in which customers of a particular supplier share their prior experiences with other potential buyers. The number of customers featured in a customer reference (i.e., reference breadth) and the richness of information it provides (i.e., reference depth), as design decisions, in turn might influence the financial impact of customer references. Drawing from signaling theory, the authors develop a conceptual framework to understand the impact of customer reference design and the moderating role of trade receivables, which represents a finance-based signal of quality often used in business-to-business markets. Two studies test the model, one focused on investors’ reactions to the design of customer references and another that addresses buyers’ reactions. The results affirm the importance of reference design factors for both investors and buyers and reveal important insights at the marketing–finance interface.
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Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
We consistently use the term “references,” though a variety of other terms, such as “customer stories,” “advocate marketing,” and “case studies,” appear in business practice. For a more extensive discussion of terminology, please refer to Godes (2012, p. 258).
 
3
Another possible reason for the lack of significance of the nonlinear effect is the mean number of customers involved in a reference in our sample, 1.83 (standard deviation of 1.80). We considered, but did not find, that more reference customers might lead to an inverted U-shaped relationship. Additional studies might investigate the nature of this relationship in more depth, using a larger number of reference customers. We thank an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.
 
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Metadata
Title
The design of B2B customer references: A signaling theory perspective
Authors
D. Eric Boyd
F. Javier Sese
Sebastian Tillmanns
Publication date
15-10-2022
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science / Issue 3/2023
Print ISSN: 0092-0703
Electronic ISSN: 1552-7824
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00902-6

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