CRM, KDD and Relationship Marketing: Requisite Trio for Sustainable E-Marketing

Abstract

Customers vary in their needs, and their wants change swiftly. The Internet and allied technologies enable customers to locate and obtain a variety of services/products and sometimes even have fun in the process. For e-marketers, satisfying the varied and changeable customers and surviving in today’s fast moving marketplaces is a huge challenge. Three main themes for serving customers have appeared in the business world: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Technology, Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD, or data mining) Techniques, and Relationship Marketing. The integration of these three themes is a key aspect of success in online marketing environments. In this chapter, we outline and illustrate a model that links these three elements based on ongoing research streams in Management Information Systems (MIS) and marketing as well as our own ongoing research program. Starting with three case examples, quick overviews of CRM, KDD, and Relationship Marketing are provided. Then the model and its theoretical justification are presented. This is followed by elaboration and illustration of some of the linkages in the model. Finally, in the concluding section, practical and theoretical challenges are revisited.