Student guide Faculty of Economics A.Y. 2007/08

The three principal learning objectives of the course are:

- To familiarise students with the modern approaches to relationship marketing.

- To illustrate the new methods for the sociological and psychological profiling of customers.

- To analyse the role of new ICT (Information Communication Technology) tools in modernising marketing activities (Customer Relationship Management.)

Relationship marketing is a method that has long been well-established in industrial markets. It is today also being taken up by companies in the consumer goods and services markets, who seek to likewise foster long-term relationship of trust with their customers. Further bolstering this trend are the gradual changes in the interactions between supply and demand, driven by a growing ethical and environmental awareness within sizeable segments of demand. The course begins by illustrating the effects of European consumer protection regulations and the development of C.S.R. (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategies in relations with clients. The new methods for studying demand are also examined, particularly with regard to the sociology and psychology of purchasing. The central part of the course is then devoted to illustrating and commenting on the main methods for interpretative analysis of the Customer Mind and Customer Behaviour in the principal markets. The final part of the course deals with the innovative approaches to marketing which the advent of new Information Communication Technologies (ICT) has made available to modern companies. The topic area of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is then studied more in depth, with reference to those markets where it is most extensively deployed.

Customer Relationship Management can be viewed as a "cultural opportunity" for rethinking, in the light of new technologies, the relationship between a company and its customers. Procedures for the profiling and classification of purchasers, modern approaches to building loyalty, and the operational alternatives available are some of the topics examined from an innovative perspective aligned with the needs of Italian firms. This section will include illustration and discussions of the principal CRM projects implemented by Italian and international companies, and presentations by some pre-eminent Italian experts. Finally, particular emphasis will be given to the latest innovations in use of the Internet for involving customers in corporate decision-making through collaborative marketing

1. The relationship marketing concept: general criteria

2. Ethics and marketing: a novel perspective

3. The European consumer protection regulations and the development of C.S.R. strategies

4. Relationship marketing in different types of markets: convenience goods, industrial goods and services

5. New methods for the sociological and psychological profiling of customers

6. Relation between Customer Mind and Customer Behaviour

7. Logic of alignment between Company Thinking and Customer Thinking

8. New technologies applied to marketing: Customer Relationship Management

9. Structural attributes of a Customer Relationship Management project

10. Technological infrastructure: evaluation and selection criteria

11. The central role of content and services in interactions with customers

12. Integrated management of customer relations: multi-channel approaches, from the call centre to the contact centre

13. The organisational implications of Customer Relationship Management activities

14. Analytical Customer Relationship Management: novel approaches to customer profiling and classification

15. Managerial Customer Relationship Management: criteria for loyalizing customers

16. Preparation and discussion of Ducati case study

17.         e-CRM: the role of internet marketing

18. Wireless technologies

For students who attend class:

Two intermediate progress tests or a single final written exam (with optional additional oral).

For distance students:

Written exam (with optional additional oral).

Zaltman G. [2003] Come pensano i consumatori, Milano, Etas.
Farinet A., Ploncher E. [2002], Customer Relationship Management: approcci e metodologie, Milano, Etas.

 

Wallace P. [2000], La psicologia di Internet, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editori.