Doctoral Dissertation CONNECTING CUSTOMERS WITH THE COMPANY:

Departament d'Economia de l'Empresa
Doctoral Dissertation
CONNECTING CUSTOMERS WITH THE COMPANY:
THE ROLE OF INTERACTIVENESS AND ITS EFFECT ON
PERFORMANCE
Albena Pergelova
Supervisors:
Diego Prior Josep Rialp
Bellaterra, April 2010

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This dissertation was undertaken under the Programa de Formació de Personal
Investigador de la Generalitat de Catalunya with the financial support of Comissionat
per a Universitats i Recerca del Departament d’Innovaciò, Universitat i Empresa de la
Generalitat de Catalunya and the European Social Fund.

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Acknowledgements
When I started this PhD, a second-year doctoral student (Allan) told me that this
doctoral programme will change my life. How right you were!
A journey like this is always shared with many people and it is difficult to mention all
the names here; I have tried though to show my gratitude along the way, since I believe
that as important as the final results is, even more important is what you do and what
you become during the journey.
First of all, I would like to thank my thesis supervisors Diego Prior and Josep Rialp. I
feel lucky to have had them as supervisors. They have gone the extra mile being there
for me always; not only with academic support, guidance and advice, but with human
understanding and friendship. I am indebted to you both.
My deep gratitude to the people who believed in me and supported me academically,
administratively and financially: to Dr. Joaquim Vergés and the staff of the
Departament d’Economia del’Empresa for their help and support from the very first
day in the doctoral programme; and to the Agency for Management of University and
Research Grants (AGAUR), under the Catalan Ministry for Universities, Research and
the Information Society and the European Social Fund for the financial support that
permitted the completion of this research. Special thanks to Bengt Johannisson (Vaxjo
University, Sweden) and Daniel Bello (Georgia State University, USA) for their support
during my academic stays in Vaxjo and Atlanta respectively.
Many people participated in the qualitative stage of this research. Sebastián Waliño and
Gabriel Izard provided me with contact details and thus, access to companies; Gabriel
Martinez, Juan Pablo Eslava, Xavier Lesauvage, Josep Mª Francés, Jaime Lloret,
Eduardo Alcalá, Bernat Morales, Ramon Calbet and Joaquín Peret gave me the precious
gift of their time and shared their managerial experiences. Thank you all.
I thank Gloria Tort and the staff and members of the Association of Marketing
Professionals (Club de Marketing de Barcelona) for supporting the quantitative stage of
this research.
This adventure would not have been possible without the constant encouragement of my
friends and family. Thanks to my dear friends from Bulgaria Dima, Niki, Nevi and
Rosi, who supported me at a distance; to Claudia and Leti whom I was fortunate to meet
in Barcelona, and to my friends and colleagues from the doctoral programme from
whom I have learned a lot (special thanks to Eloisa and to Juan for their kindness and
friendship). My cousin Desi has always given me her love and support to all my
endeavours. I could not have made my first steps in this journey without the help of my
brother Slavi. And I would not have the courage to start it without my parents. I
received from my parents the most important lessons, the ones that go beyond
knowledge to touch wisdom and transcend time and space to touch hearts:
unconditional love, humbleness, courage, belief in oneself and respect to others. I hope
to match up.
In the darkest moments (yes, there were dark moments although I enjoyed this journey!)
there was Fernando. In the happiest moments there was Fernando. Your love gave me
the strength to be where I am. Thank you for being by my side.

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This dissertation started with my interest in interactive
media (and their potential for enhancing company performance while
simultaneously empowering consumers) and widened to
interactiveness as a strategic-level concept. In the course of this
research I received the advice and constructive comments from many
anonymous reviewers, as well as the appreciation to my work from
several organisations. They all helped me to grow as a researcher.
Refereed Publications
Pergelova, Albena, Diego Prior and Josep Rialp “Assessing Advertising Efficiency:
Does the Internet Play a Role?”, forthcoming in Journal of Advertising.
Pergelova, Albena, Josep Rialp and Diego Prior (2009), “Interactiveness in B2C: A
Challenge for Marketers”, American Marketing Association Summer Educators’
Proceedings, Vol. 20.
Pergelova, Albena, Diego Prior and Josep Rialp (2008), “Marketing Communication
Efficiency in the Spanish Automobile Sector: Analysing the Role of Online Advertising
through DEA and Stochastic Frontiers”, Academia, Revista Latinoamericana de
Administración, Vol. 41, 91-107.
Contributions to Conferences
“The Multiplicity of Interactiveness: a Qualitative Inquiry into Firm-Customer
Interactions” (Best Paper in Track Award), Academy of Marketing Annual Conference
2009, Leeds, UK (with Diego Prior and Josep Rialp)
“Assessing Advertising Efficiency: Does Internet Play a Role?”, Academy of Marketing
Annual Conference 2007, London, UK (with Diego Prior and Josep Rialp)
“Valoración de la eficiencia publicitaria: El caso del sector español de automoción”,
Encuentro de profesores universitarios de marketing 2006, Almería, Spain (with Diego
Prior and Josep Rialp)
Awards and Grants
Best Paper in Track Award for the paper “The Multiplicity of Interactiveness: a
Qualitative Inquiry into Firm-Customer Interactions” presented at the Academy of
Marketing Annual Conference 2009, Leeds (UK), 7-9 July 2009.
Pre-doctoral grant for a 5-month research period at Georgia State University
(Department of Marketing), Atlanta, USA (April – September 2009), awarded by
Agency for Management of University and Research Grants of the Catalan Government
(AGAUR), for the development of the project “Firm-Consumer Interaction: Effect on
Innovation, Efficiency and Financial Performance”.
Grant from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) to participate in the 2007
Annual Academy of Marketing Conference and present the paper “Assessing
Advertising Efficiency: Does Internet Play a Role?”

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Abstract
The aim of this dissertation is to explore the concept of interactiveness in marketing, to
understand managers’ attitudes and perceptions about interactiveness and to assess
empirically the effect of interactiveness on the generation of marketing assets and firm
performance. The motivation behind this dissertation is the growing concern among
marketers stemming from an increased difficulty to connect with customers and to
prove the contribution of marketing to firm’s financial performance.
We first review the roots and the drivers behind the use of the terms interaction and
interactivity, which have seen growing popularity in marketing. Interactiveness is
suggested as a unifying concept that refers to continuous interaction and dialogue
between marketers and consumers in both online and offline marketplace.
The review of the literature revealed that while interactiveness is likely to bring
competitive advantages to firms committed to continuous dialogue with consumers, it
will also require organisational changes and will pose managerial challenges. Thus, we
further focus on a qualitative research approach based on interviews with managers in
order to provide in-depth understanding on how managers perceive interactiveness. We
used the techniques and procedures of Grounded Theory in the process of gathering and
analysing data.
Based on the analysis of the interviews and a review of the relevant literature, we
conceptualise and theoretically anchor interactiveness as a dynamic capability and we
suggest models of analysis and hypotheses linking interactiveness with marketing
assets, innovation, stakeholder involvement and performance, as well as a model linking
interactiveness with innovation efficiency and consequently to profitability. To test the
hypotheses, we used survey data. We ran several different analyses, employing
Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Structural Equation Modelling, Data Envelopment
Analysis, Free Disposal Hull analysis, Tobit and Truncated regressions.
The results revealed that interactiveness influences positively customer and brand
assets, as well as stakeholder involvement and innovation. This way, interactiveness
helps achieve competitive advantage, which is translated consequently into improved
performance. In addition, interactiveness helps improve the efficiency with which
innovations are converted into higher customer satisfaction and perceived brand value
(innovation efficiency), thus influencing indirectly profitability. A major implication is
that the results of interactiveness at the performance level are not seen directly and
immediately, since interactiveness works through building and leveraging intangible
firm-specific assets. Interactiveness drives firms toward more flexible, participative
culture and co-creation of value with consumers, thus helping firms to re-connect with
customers and to enhance performance.
Keywords: interactiveness, value co-creation, marketing assets, stakeholder
involvement, innovation efficiency, performance