Channel Coordination Mechanisms for Customer Satisfaction

We consider two broad categories of incentives by which a manufacturer can motivate its retailers to provide high customer satisfaction: (1) manufacturer assistance that reduces the retailer's cost of providing customer satisfaction (CS assistance); and (2) customer satisfaction index (CSI) bonus. We show that if a retailer has a long-term orientation, CS assistance is a more effective coordination mechanism that induces the retailer to expend more effort at customer satisfaction. However, if the retailer has a short-term orientation, CSI bonus is a more effective coordination mechanism. We then show that a long-term oriented retailer is more valuable to a manufacturer than a short-term oriented one. Finally, we show that the use of CS incentives results in greater profits for both the manufacturer and the retailer.