Elizabeth Ascherl is Head of the Intercultural Communication Hub at ICN Business School, where she ensures students receive teaching in language and intercultural communication skills at the cutting edge of pedagogical innovation. She has extensive experience in higher and continuing education, supporting learners and organisations in multilingual and multicultural environments.
Elizabeth Ascherl is currently completing an Executive Doctorate of Business Administration on “Conceptualisation and key success factors of social entrepreneurship: Evidence from the French context.” Her research is conducted under the supervision of Professor Kamel Mnisri at ICN Business School and focuses on understanding how social enterprises create sustainable impact and long-term viability within the French ecosystem.
Thesis Direction
Prof Mnisri Kamel
Thesis Title
Relationship marketing and customer engagement as competitive advantages for professional service firms – An empirical study in the commercial law firm sector
Abstract
Over a long period of time, professional service firms were considered resistant to market cycles and even tectonic shifts in the economy due to their ability to make use of an asset – distinct knowledge – that is subliminal and generally inaccessible to third parties. This (self-)image has been undermined by new technologies that democratize access to information and have created a historically unique permeability of knowledge.
In an environment in which competitive advantages generated by cognitive superiority are eroding, new market development strategies are needed. In a highly saturated market, it is important to position value propositions that enable differentiation and to place the value creation of highly complex services, traditionally measured in terms of professional excellence and economic output, in a new context.
The present study uses the example of commercial law firms to examine how relational marketing strategies can be used not only to intensify established relationships between legal advisors and clients, but also to create new business opportunities. Drawing on normative concepts and theories of relationship marketing – commitment, trust, gratitude, dependence – the study shows that interpersonal factors in various forms of operationalization are suitable for positively influencing customer engagement as an economic target state in the marketing of commercial law firms.
The qualitative study, based on a qualified theory model derived from the data of 30 semi-structured interviews, shows that strategies aimed at creating a social connection, reciprocity and affection are particularly promising for the marketing practice of commercial law firms. It also shows that the sense of loyalty and the willingness to recommend/word-of-mouth in different manifestations represent customer engagement in the legal services market. The deductive research design confirms the applicability of established relationship marketing concepts to the sector, which is being addressed for the first time (horizontal contribution of the study), but also allows the genesis of new knowledge through inductive disclosure and decomposition of the tested concepts into industry-specific sub-aspects (vertical contribution).
In addition to a two-pronged gain in knowledge for relationship marketing research, the study develops recommendations for marketing practice. Its objective is to transfer the theoretical framework tailored to the legal services industry into marketing and communication measures that can be put into practice and to offer specialized and executive staff working in commercial law firms guidance in the use of relational market development strategies. To this end, fundamental guidelines are issued in addition to strategic marketing measures – co-creation, reference marketing, (customer) social relationship management, brand Communitys. These guidelines address concepts that are closely related to interpersonal factors – in particular perceived value and perceived risk – and link empirical data with recommendations for the operational design of relationship marketing in the legal sector.