Responsible Customer Engagement

Aims and focus

This inter-disciplinary group draws upon research from academics in marketing, tourism, and sport management. We also work collaboratively with academic colleagues in national and international universities and businesses in the region and across the UK.

Our research focuses upon ‘responsible’ and sustainable interactions between customer/providers, developing long-term, valuable relationships with customers, and obtaining robust, relevant consumer understandings. The group has a particular focus on retail and tourism and in-depth qualitative research methodologies such as the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET).

Collaborations, advisory work and funded projects

We work with several organisations in the private sector, such as the Cathedral Quarter (Derby) Business Improvement District, Derby City Council (Future High Streets fund and City Vision Commission), the Australian Environment Protection Agency, Derby County Football Club, Derby County Community Trust, Marks and Spencer, the Co-operative Group and the Tanzania Tourist Board.

Members of the group also act as advisors and committee members for, for example, the British Academy of Management Marketing & Retail SIG, the Global Wellness Institute, the National Research Council Italy, and the Norway Research Council.

Members of the research group worked on a funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with PKF Cooper Parry, a leading international business advisory organisation, in 2017/18. The funded project explored how the company could develop a digital ‘zero touch’ client engagement strategy.

In 2016/17, we were awarded a grant from the Academy of Marketing Research Funding scheme to support work into value co-creation in temporary, independent retailing. This study looked at how pop-up stores are perceived by customers.

Previous events

Colleagues from the group have been involved in a number of events and invited talks:

In 2020, the group hosted a funded Society for the Advancement in Management Studies Visual Methodology event aimed at Early Career Researchers (ECR) and Postgraduate Research (PGR) students with guest speakers from Harvard University, the University of Birmingham and the University of Manchester. Methodologies explored in the event included ZMET, eye-tracking technology and film making.

In 2019, members of the group hosted the international Tourism Naturally Conference as part of a consortium of founding institutions which include Colorado State University, the University of Pisa, Central China Normal University and the University of Sassari.

Researchers have been invited keynote speakers at, for example, the Peak District Partnership, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development East Midlands, the International Robotics Festival on ‘Tourism for all’, the Annual Forum and Conference of Chinese Tourism Management Association and LUX* Resorts and Hotels.

In 2020, Professor Carley Foster was invited to give her Inaugural Lecture on Retail in the Community: Beyond the buyer-seller transaction.

Publications

Examples of our work include (for further outputs please refer to individual staff profiles):

Bostock, J. et al (2017) 'No plan B: the Achilles heel of high performance sport management', European Sport Management Quarterly, 18 (1), pp. 25-46.
Brindley, C. and Oxborrow, L. (2014) 'Aligning the sustainable supply chain to green marketing needs: a case study'. Industrial Marketing Management, 43 (1), pp. 45-55.
Hancock, C. and Foster, C. (2019) 'Exploring the ZMET methodology in services marketing'. Journal of Services Marketing, 8, pp. 1-11.
Longbottom, D. and Lawson. A. Eds. (2017) Alternative Market Research Methods: Market Sensing, London, Routledge. ISBN 9781138843721
Michopoulou, E., Azara, I. and Russell, A., (2020). 'Investigating the triangular relationship between temporary event workforce, event employment businesses and event organisers'. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, pp. 1-27.
Ramkissoon, H., Mavondo, F., & Uysal, M. S. (2018). Social involvement and park citizenship as moderators for quality-of-life in a national park. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(3), 341-361.
Tomasella, B. and Ali, A. (2019). The importance of personal values and hospitableness in small foodservice businesses’ social responsibility. Hospitality and Society, 9 (3), 307-329.

Blogs

Charles Hancock stands outside a building at Harvard University with Professor Gerald Zaltman.

Living the University values can lead to great things

Fresh from a visit to Harvard and face-to-face meeting with a marketing legend, Dr Charles Hancock discusses how his meeting with Harvard Emeritus Professor Gerald Zaltman came about.

Red background in which there is a silhouette of a white Christmas tree.

Christmas adverts: Show a little love and sparkle

Charles Hancock, Lecturer in Marketing, comments on the importance of feel-good Christmas advertisements.

Shopping centre with a large Christmas tree inside.

A reason to Christmas shop

Professor Carley Foster, Head of the Centre for Business Improvement, discusses the implications for the high street in the run-up to Christmas and beyond.

Working with the media

East Midlands Today
Radio Derby
Pop-ups: New High-Street Heroes

Researchers

Doctoral students

We welcome applications for doctoral study in areas relating to responsible customer engagement, particularly in the retail and tourism industries, please contact Professor Carley Foster for an informal discussion.

Centre for Business Improvement

The Centre for Business Improvement supports organisations in their goal to improve and maintain strong business performance through applied multi-disciplinary research.

Apply for a research degree

We are looking for ambitious and talented students to join our dedicated research community where we will support you on your own research journey through to graduation. These pages give you all the i...