Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Business
Program Name/Specialization
Marketing
Faculty/School
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
First Advisor
Dr. Chatura Ranaweera
Advisor Role
Supervisor
Second Advisor
Dr. Nicole Coviello
Advisor Role
Committee Member
Third Advisor
Dr. Bryan Hochstein
Advisor Role
Committee Member
Abstract
Organizations are increasingly implementing customer value management practices to ensure that customers derive value from their offerings. Contemporary marketplace developments compel organizations to move beyond merely selling offerings toward actively supporting customer value realization. Despite growing scholarly and managerial interest, important gaps remain in our understanding of customer value management. This dissertation addresses these gaps across three essays.
As customer value is the focal outcome of value management practices, Essay 1 provides a foundation for understanding this construct. The customer value literature remains fragmented with diverse perspectives on the construct. I seek to develop a more unified understanding of the construct by conducting a longitudinal review of four decades of customer value research using multidimensional scaling of co-citation data, complemented by a review of highly cited recent publications. The essay develops an integrative framework that synthesizes key perspectives on customer value and maps its broader nomological network.
Essay 2 shifts attention to customer value management, addressing it from a strategic orientation perspective. Although practitioners increasingly view customer success as an organization-wide philosophy, existing research has largely examined the phenomenon from process and functional perspectives. Using a qualitative, theories-in-use approach, I conceptualize customer success orientation as an organizational strategic orientation that prioritizes the achievement of customer goals. The findings show that customer success orientation is rooted in organizational culture and manifested through practices that align the firm around customer outcomes. The essay also provides evidence that prioritizing customer success can generate a range of economic and non-economic benefits.
Essay 3 examines customer value management at the organizational frontline. Firms increasingly rely on specialized frontline employees to support customers after the sale. While these efforts can strengthen customer relationships, they also place substantial demands on these employees, creating an inherent tension in the role. Using a mixed-method approach that combines qualitative interviews with survey data, I identify three competencies frontline employees leverage to manage customer value and examine their impact on performance and burnout. The findings highlight the dual role of these competencies, as they strengthen customer relationship performance while reducing burnout tendencies. These effects vary across customer contexts, with customer adaptiveness enhancing performance benefits and customer complexity strengthening the buffering effect against burnout. They also indicate that curiosity supports the development of these competencies, whereas formalization plays a double-edged role.
Together, the dissertation contributes to the marketing literature by offering an integrative view of customer value and examining customer value management across multiple levels of analysis. The essays also offer practical guidance for managers seeking to implement customer value management in their organizations.
Recommended Citation
Mirza, Jeeshan, "THREE ESSAYS ON CUSTOMER VALUE AND CUSTOMER VALUE MANAGEMENT" (2026). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2958.
https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2958
Convocation Year
2026
Convocation Season
Fall