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MIP 31,6

Customer relationship management: the evolving role of customer data

rvi Hannu Saarija
University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

584
Received 24 May 2012 Revised 28 August 2012 3 December 2012 27 February 2013 Accepted 24 April 2013

Heikki Karjaluoto
skyla , Jyva skyla , Finland, and University of Jyva

Hannu Kuusela
University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
Abstract
Purpose Customer relationship management (CRM) developed a separate identity as a result of companies utilising customer data in managing customer relationships. In this evolution, CRM became a heavily company-oriented construct: customer data were used instrumentally to serve companies purposes. However, as companies increasingly shift attention from selling products to serving customers, traditional CRM activities, such as segmentation and cross-selling, may prove inappropriate owing to their inherent orientation towards selling more products to customers. The perspective on customer data usage needs to better address the strategic goal of serving customers. Consequently, the purpose of the paper is to reconfigure the role of customer data within the CRM framework. Design/methodology/approach CRM literature is briefly reviewed and a case study is conducted to empirically illustrate how customer data can be used also for the benefit of the customer. Findings As a result, four CRM waves are identified that characterise the evolving role of customer data in CRM and help identify new directions for customer data usage. The focus is shifted from the internal to the external use of customer data: customer data are increasingly understood to be a resource for the customers not just the firms value creation. Originality/value The paper introduces a fresh perspective to CRM by exploring the evolving role of customer data within the CRM framework. New directions for customer data are introduced that have major implications both theoretically and practically. Keywords Customer data, Customer relationship management, Service logic, Service-dominant logic Paper type Conceptual paper

Marketing Intelligence & Planning Vol. 31 No. 6, 2013 pp. 584-600 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-4503 DOI 10.1108/MIP-05-2012-0055

Introduction Since its introduction in the early 1990s, customer relationship management (CRM) has developed a diverse set of identities. The lack of common conceptual ground and fragmented research field have resulted in a domain that operates at multiple levels of analysis: conceptually, empirically and practically (Zablah et al., 2005). In this setting, customer data have been used first and foremost for the benefit of the firm, that is, as an input resource for company processes. Through CRM activities such as cross-selling, customised marketing communications or segmentation, the value potential of customer data gets captured, because firms can sell more products and better manage their customer relationships. As firms increasingly shift their attention from selling products to serving customers though, the traditional uses of customer data can prove unsatisfactory. Current methods for using customer data are heavily product centric: they target selling more things to customers and fail to address the move towards facilitating processes that support customers value creation, which constitutes the basic determinant of service as a

 nroos, 2008). Firms CRM activities also may lead to customer data business logic (Gro misuses, often referred to as the dark side of CRM (e.g. Boulding et al., 2005). Furthermore, increasing numbers of private and public initiatives challenge conventional CRM activities undertaken by companies and suggest novel, innovative ways to use customer data, such as refining and giving their data back to customers. Current research on CRM has not yet addressed this emerging reconfiguration of customer data, which is why its value-creating opportunities have remained unexplored. Instead, most research has centred on accumulating knowledge about the existing CRM domain, which has meant neglecting both theoretical and managerial opportunities related to this increasingly emerging phenomenon (e.g. Nguyen and Mutum, 2012; Verhoef et al., 2010). The purpose of this study is to reconfigure the role of customer data within the CRM framework. Accordingly, this paper begins with a brief discussion of CRM literature, along with the three CRM waves that characterise the evolving role of customer data in current CRM frameworks. A case study serves to illustrate empirically the emerging shift in customer data usage. After suggesting new directions for customer data usage, including implications for the CRM framework, this paper concludes with implications. CRM The origins of CRM: wave 1 As a separate research and business area, CRM started to gain attention among scholars and practitioners in the early 1990s. As a result of the explosion of customer data, firms faced enormous challenges when they sought to organise these data for analysis (Boulding et al., 2005). In response, vendors started to introduce commercial hardware and software solutions to better manage the vast amounts of customer data. Sales force automation and customer service and support (Kumar and Reinartz, 2006) were integral to firms CRM activities. With the help of these solutions, firms could better collect, store and analyse customer behaviour and build long-term relationships. Eventually, vendors started to use the term CRM to refer to the collection of customer data and other activities related to the management of the customer-firm interface (Boulding et al., 2005). Thus CRM was about empowering technology; different types of technological solutions appeared as keys for firms seeking to overcome the dispersion of customer data. Redefining CRM: wave 2 As a consequence of increased interest in CRM, a diverse set of approaches and definitions emerged to capture its central characteristics. There was soon common interest in countering the impression that CRM offered merely technological or software solutions to meet the growing challenges of customer data management. Rather CRM came to be presented as a process, strategy, philosophy, capability or technology (Zablah et al., 2005). In addition, CRM gradually extended to account for more than the management of customer data; it came to be a holistic approach to the management of customer relationships, and researchers started to stress differences among tactically, operationally and strategically oriented approaches. Thus Payne and Frow (2005, p. 168), after exploring a wide variety of definitions, identified three primary perspectives on CRM: as narrowly defined and tactically oriented; as the implementation of an integrated series of customeroriented technology solutions; and as a more strategic version, including a holistic approach to the management of customer relationships to create shareholder value. Theoretically, CRM developed a link to relationship marketing and the widely accepted notion that building and maintaining customer relationships constituted the core of the marketing concept (Reinartz et al., 2004; see also Kandampully and

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Duddy, 1999). Conceptually, one-to-one marketing (Peppers and Rogers, 1993, 2004; Peppers et al., 1999) and mass customisation (Pine, 1993) shifted attention even further from technology and towards customers, which also helped firms realise the value potential of customer data and how it could be harnessed to serve company purposes. Fragmentation of CRM: wave 3 The CRM domain gradually diversified as researchers became interested in topics such as customer lifetime value (Peppard, 2000; Reichheld, 1996), CRM adoption and implementation (Hansotia, 2002; Hsieh, 2009; King and Burgess, 2008; Ko et al., 2008; Krasnikov et al., 2009; Richard et al., 2007; Wilson et al., 2007), information systems (Chalmeta, 2006; Chang, 2007; Roh et al., 2005; Teo et al., 2006; Torkzadeh et al., 2006) and the interrelationship between CRM and efficient knowledge management (du Plessis and Boon, 2004; see also Reychav and Weisberg, 2009). Despite efforts at redefinition (e.g. Boulding et al., 2005), the CRM framework still operated at multiple levels. Thus research became empirically inconsistent and conceptually complex. Some researchers questioned whether CRM ultimately exerted a positive effect on firm performance (Ernst et al., 2011; Fan and Ku, 2010; Reimann et al., 2010), even as others were illustrating CRMs strategic opportunities for building competitive advantages (Humby et al., 2003). Consequently, customer data increasingly represented a company asset, used to predict customer behaviour (e.g. Shankar and Winer, 2006; see also Homburg et al., 2009) and gain competitive advantage (e.g. Chakravorti, 2009). Summarising the waves: CRM and the role of customer data CRM developed a separate identity as a result of firms need to take advantage of customer data when managing their customer relationships. Gradually, research evolved under multiple banners, resulting in a fragmented set of perspectives, definitions and research results. Along the way, CRM became a heavily firm-oriented construct. Customer data were used instrumentally to serve firms purposes. With the help of supportive technology, firms used customer data to acquire new customers, retain their current customers and enhance customer relationships. Customer data also were harnessed for firm purposes, such as customised communications, cross-selling, or segmentation (Payne and Frow, 2005; Peppers et al., 1999; see also Jayachandran et al., 2005). Despite the diversification of CRM as a framework during the three waves, the role of customer data in that evolution remained limited and narrow. Internally, customer data supported firms processes and efforts to sell more products. Thus, they were first and foremost input resources for firms that helped the firms address the fundamental challenge of connecting market demand with supply. However, both public and private initiatives recently have challenged this traditional and limited use of customer data, by shifting attention towards sharing data with customers rather than using it only for firm purposes (Thaler, 2011). This challenge in turn has driven a re-evaluation of the role of customer data within the CRM framework. To illustrate this reconfigured role and explore its implications, this study presents a case study of the internet-based service application Nutrition Code. Research methodology Case study research setting Case study research enables an in-depth exploration of the dynamics that mark a single setting, which makes it particularly suitable for new research areas, areas in which existing theory seems inadequate (Eisenhardt, 1989) or those for which existing research

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is situated within the context of discovery rather than the context of justification (see Yadav, 2010). Accordingly, case study research has been widely applied in disciplines as varied as psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, economics, public policy and management (Yin, 1994). As suggested by Gilmore and Carson (1996), at an early exploration stage, qualitative methods in general are suitable for capturing the nature and dimensions of a research phenomenon. Considering the novelty of the focal research phenomenon, a case study research approach thus appears appropriate. The objective of case study research is to learn from a particular case (Dubois and Gadde, 2002); it investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life contexts when the boundaries between the context and the phenomenon are not clearly evident (Yin, 2009). The focus is on gaining an in-depth understanding of the research phenomenon, in this case, the reconfigured role of customer data. Using the case study classifications established by Harre (1979), Yin (1994, 2009) and Stake (1994/2005), this case study is intensive, exploratory and instrumental. The aim is to present the case study in a way that it can be read with interest towards the case itself but also support another agenda (Stake, 1994/2005). That is, the case itself can be regarded as a tool, because it offers an empirical illustration for approaching a certain research phenomenon. Case description Increasing service orientations and private and public initiatives are exerting pressure to reconfigure the role of customer data in companies CRM activities. To illustrate this emerging shift, this study considers Nutrition Code, an internet-based service application designed by a Finnish IT and health service provider and launched by a major Finnish food retailer, targeting holders of the retailers loyalty card. The focal service combines point-of-sale data with the nutritional value of the purchased groceries, compares this information against recommendations provided by the National Nutrition Council and then offers the results to customers free of charge through the services web site. There are not that many metrics available for customers use to capture the multifaceted and complex nutritional playground. This was one reason for developing such a service. Through the service customers can thus easily and conveniently gain a detailed nutritional profile, based on their own grocery shopping, which should help them better follow nutritional guidelines provided by authorities and even get advice on how to enhance the quality of their diet. Another reason for establishing such a service was the food retailers motivation to increase the loyalty of existing customers and even attract new customers due to the new and innovative service, and the fact that increasing amount of customers are interested in issues related to food healthfulness. In this endeavour, reconfiguring the role of customer data played a critically important role. Consequently, in the context of this study, the case study empirically illuminates the central characteristics related to the new and emerging role of customer data. Data generation and analysis Empirical data emerged from two distinct phases: in three structured interviews with the representatives of the food retailer and the actual service provider (IT and health service provider); and then in 16 unstructured interviews with customers (Table I). The firm interviews were conducted prior to the customer interviews and the data generation process as a whole was conducted within ten months. The firm representatives were chosen on the basis of their experience and understanding of the service as well as

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Gender and age Female, 55 years Female, 61 years Female, 21 years Male, 37 years Female, 34 years Male, 48 years Female, 42 years Female, 53 years Female, 48 years Female, 30 years Female, 55 years Female, 40 years Male, 19 years Female, 64 years Female, 30 years Female, 47 years

Occupation Practical nurse Acquisition engineer Student IT-engineer Cosmetician Librarian Career planner Instrument caretaker Spokesperson Clerical employee Practical nurse Sales manager Sales assistant Secretary Teacher Designer

Household size 2 1 1 4 3 4 2 2 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

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Table I. Details of the customer interviews

their influence on developing the service further to better incorporate both customer and firm needs. In the firm interviews, the overarching purpose was to generate in-depth understanding of the process of the firm giving customer data back to customers and uncovering the reasons behind it. Customer informants were contacted with the help of an online survey targeted to the users of the service. Following the guidelines of theoretical sampling (see Corbin and Strauss, 2008, p. 143; Alvesson and ldberg, 2000, pp. 27-28), customer interviewees were selected in a way that could Sko contribute to a rich and diverse set of informants with different levels of, for example, user experience. Furthermore, household size, age and gender were considered when forming an appropriate set of interviewees. Both the structured and unstructured interviews served to produce a focused firm perspective, such that the pre-determined questions pertained specifically to the topic of giving customer data back to customers, while the open questions allowed service users to describe their experiences more freely. Incorporating structured firm interviews and unstructured customer interviews was considered as a suitable data generation strategy given the novelty value of the phenomenon. On the one hand firm interviewees attention was guided towards issues that were specifically linked to the reconfigured role of customer data. On the other hand, customer interviewees were allowed to holistically describe and discuss how that eventually influenced their behaviour; since it is the customer who defines whether or not something is of value to him or her. Consequently, this combination helped build a more versatile understanding of the implications of the reconfigured role of the customer. Researcher immersion also improved understanding of the context surrounding the research phenomenon. Due to the open-ended, non-preordained nature of some questions, the researchers became very familiar with the research phenomenon (Gilmore and Carson, 1996). Specifically, interviews with the firm representatives focused on clarifying the service delivery process and the food retailers motivation for reconfiguring the role of customer data in its business context. The focus in customer interviews was on building a customer perspective and addressing how customers perceived the food retailers new uses of customer data. All the interviews were recorded for further analysis. Parts of the firm and customer interviews also were transcribed, to enhance the quality of the data analysis and provide

illustrative examples of the primary aspects emphasised during the interviews. The interviews were supplemented by secondary documentation about the food retailers strategy and the Nutrition Code service. The analysis of the interviews started with the researchers listening to the interviews several times and writing detailed summaries. These data were thematically analysed using NVivo software. Through coding, categorising and thematising steps, the data also were investigated for similarities and interesting features related to the research phenomenon. No pre-determined coding scheme was used; the focus was on letting the data speak in broad terms. During the data analysis, it was vital to note when the informants were talking about themselves and their actual experience and when the focus was on general observations about the case context. Furthermore, it was important to distinguish whether informants spoke in conditional terms, not based on personal experiences, or about their imagined experiences of others. The empirical focus was to tease out experiential knowledge from simply opinion or preferences (Stake, 1994/2004). After the analysis, the researchers listened to the interviews once more, to ensure all important insights had been included in the final analysis. Results Four themes emerged from the data that characterise the reconfigured role of customer data in the context of the Nutrition Code (Table II): customer loyalty, firm differentiation, firm values and firm image. They comprise constellations of characteristics brought up by both customer and firm informants. Themes operate at multiple levels of firms processes and uncover the diverse implications of the reconfigured role of customer data. When considering their interrelations, it should be noticed that the themes operate at multiple levels of firms processes and uncover diverse implications of the reconfigured role of customer data. For example, firm image can be regarded as a somewhat more intangible and hard to measure construct than customer loyalty, which in turn is more closely linked to the firms value creation in terms of increased future revenue. The themes have different roles regarding how and at which point they contribute to supporting the firms value creation. Furthermore, they illuminate both strategic and operational aspects of a firms value creation, as discussed in more detail next.

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Customer loyalty Firm differentiation

Firm values Firm image

Due to customer data reconfiguration the firm is able to increase the loyalty of those customers that find the information provided by the service relevant and interesting Due to customer data reconfiguration the firm is able to differentiate itself from the competition and even attract new customers. In addition, while the firm provides customers with additional resources (food healthfulness information), the firm positions itself more as a service firm Due to customer data reconfiguration the firm can put its values and strategy into practice, for example, by emphasising customer orientation by providing customers with access to their own data Due to customer data reconfiguration customers perceive the firm in a more positive light. For example, customers perceived the food retailer as a pioneer because it provided such a service and give customer data back to customers

Table II. Central characteristics of the themes

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Customer loyalty The reason for establishing the Nutrition Code in the first place was to provide a new service targeted at the food retailers loyal customers. Loyal customers wanted a service that would be genuinely beneficial to them. The reconfigured role of customer data thus appeared first and foremost as a means to increase the loyalty of existing customers:
This is a service for our loyal customers, and the idea is to create such benefit to our loyal customers that its worthwhile for them to be our customers and therefore they will shop at our stores (Firm representative).

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From the customers perspective, being provided with information about the nutritive substance of their groceries offered such a benefit that many customers were willing to buy more from the food retailers stores. Customers described how they became more loyal to the food retailer as a result of being provided with information about the nutrition exemplified by their groceries:
I tend to shop a lot more at the food retailer[y]. I used to go the food retailer something like 75 per cent of the time but now Id have to say its more like 90 per cent just because of this (Clerical employee, 30 years).

In addition to the shopping levels as the food retailer, the service encouraged customers loyalty intentions. Customers were more willing to concentrate more of their shopping at the food retailer, as illuminated in the following comment:
Well yeah, sure if Ive got a competitors and the food retailers stores side by side Ill go to this food retailer, if not for any other reason than just because what Ive bought will be registered in the Nutrition Code (Sales assistant, 21 years).

Furthermore, providing customers with interesting and useful information was regarded as going beyond conventional customer loyalty rewards, which tend to be characterised by monetary forms of compensation. In that respect, the Nutrition Code was perceived as an additional service, among the existing set of customer loyalty benefits:
Well with these customer loyalty cards its only a monetary benefit that you receive, so the Nutrition Code service is significant precisely because you can see your shopping list in front of you and think about it and then it hopefully guides you toward a better lifestyle, so its not the monetary benefit but the health benefit, thats how I would see it (Practical nurse, 55 years).

In particular, the service seemed very beneficial to the increasing group of customers who were interested in monitoring the nutritive substance of their groceries:
I have to say that when I first heard of this me and my husband always went to the competitors supermarket [y] but when this service came up I thought this is such a good idea that you can get information about what you buy and what you should eat, so it was because of that really that we moved over to being the food retailers customers (Secretary, 64 years).

In this respect, sharing data with customers even led some customers to reassess their current customer loyalty entirely and switch from one retailer to another. Firm differentiation By establishing a service that provides customers with information about the healthfulness of the goods being purchased, the firm can differentiate itself from competitors and adjust its role in customer value creation. In addition to goods, customers receive information about the healthfulness of those goods and this service offers added value to customers. Customers receive additional resources for their use, which also repositions the retailer as a resource provider, supporting the customers value creation. The focus shifts from goods

to a more holistic perspective on customers value creation, which consists of goods and information that helps customers in their everyday activities (i.e. monitoring the healthfulness of their eating). This aspect of the reconfigured role of customer data were noted by both firm representatives and customers:
Well its that, by being a loyal customer you get a service like this, which you cant get anywhere else (Firm representative). If I shop somewhere else then I wouldnt know how healthfully I eat, I want to go there to register my purchases in the service and then I can keep track of how healthful my diet is (Instrument caretaker, 53 years).

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Thus, the reconfigured role of customer data helps firms differentiate themselves from other market actors. The harsh competition among food retailers requires firms to seek ways to strengthen their existing customer base, as well as attract new customers by distinguishing their offer from competitors and positioning themselves more favourably in customers minds. Establishing a service that is based on the reconfigured role of customer data may help firms do just so, such that they position themselves as service firms by harnessing the potential of customer data in the shift from goods to services:
[y]but now going to the store doesnt end with me getting a product from there and me giving my money to the retailer, but the retailer offers me something for which they wont get any money, they give me information, they gather information for me (Teacher, 30 years).

Providing customers with information about the healthfulness of their groceries was genuinely an innovative service, not just locally or nationally but also at an international level. Consequently, customers accessed an online service that literally was not available anywhere else or from any other retailers. Firm values Providing a service such as the Nutrition Code provided a concrete example of how the reconfigured role of customer data helped the implementation of firm values (e.g. bearing corporate responsibility, exceeding customer expectations) in practice:
Responsibility is a truly important issue for us [y] and it creates something positive, which probably wasnt the first viewpoint to this, but people within the firm like the idea that were taking part in an undertaking such as this one and that were involved in responsible projects. And then of course on the outside too, we hope that people will see that we are really looking for solutions that will benefit our customers. And oftentimes the discussion about responsibility revolves around how a firm is this or that and a firm is highly energy-efficient or something, but quire rarely do you see responsibility being truly about helping your customers lead a more healthful or more responsible life (Firm representative).

Nutrition Code thus offered a practical means to practice corporate responsibility. First, it helped customers manage their increasingly topical concerns about food healthfulness and thereby potentially decrease problems related to national health, such as diabetes and obesity, such that it offered benefits for the whole society as well. Second, the service facilitated customers interest in health-related topics, because customers became more interested in and informed about their own health as a result of using the Nutrition Code. Being provided with such information triggered customers interest in the increasingly important food healthfulness phenomenon:
Ive become more interested in getting more information about what kind of an effect my purchases will have. Like what I get too much of and what I lack and from where I might get what Im missing and what I could, what I should hive up because Im getting something too

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much[y]. It has kind of sparked my interest in finding out more about it. When you see those green dots and red dots and what you have bought in a concrete way. So that has sparked my interest even more (Acquisition engineer, 61 years).

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Furthermore, in line with the corporate responsibility notion, the service was offered free of charge. Customers only needed to apply for the loyalty card of the food retailer and register with the service, which was not limited or cost based for any customer. All customers had the chance to gain access to the information about the healthfulness of their own groceries and use that information to improve the quality of their diets. In addition to corporate responsibility, the reconfigured role of customer data was closely linked to another core value of the firm, namely, exceeding customer expectations. Because the Nutrition Code was among the first attempts by a retailer to provide customers with information about the healthfulness of their groceries, customers were not used being offered such a service. In this sense, customers expectations were exceeded by the offering of a truly unique service:
So I think they are ahead of their time. Its like really something positive. They care about what we, or what the people want and what they eat. That they really consider whats going on with us. Anyhow, I think its big deal coming from a big institution like this that they have a service like that. On one else has the same thing anyway. So I think its a really positive thing (Cosmetician, 34 years).

Through the service, the firm was able to make its core values more visible and concrete. Using customer data in an innovative way, for the benefit of the customer, was perceived as something surprisingly positive and yet not linked to the traditional role of food retailers. Firm image The Nutrition Code, as an innovative, new service, improved customers image of the firm. First, the data sharing offered real benefits to customers, which led them to view the firm as a pioneer:
Well from my point of view a store like this that develops or offers services like this, I see them as forerunners and that it really benefits me as a customer (Sales manager, 40 years).

Second, customer data traditionally has been used solely for the benefit of the firm, such that customers might receive only information about how much money they have spent in the retailers food stores or how many loyalty points they have earned. In the case of the Nutrition Code, the customer point-of-sale data had been refined (i.e. complemented with information about the nutritive substances of the groceries) and returned to customers for their own use:
So what the store takes from me except for the money, it gives something back to me. I think this is one of those, even though its not that functional yet that it would give me as much benefit as I would hope, then still I think its a smart move, it gives you the feeling that they aim at something good (Spokesperson, 48 years).

Because these customer data were used not just for firm purposes but for the benefit of the customer, customers perceived that they were receiving something useful in return for their customer loyalty card usage, which influenced their perceptions of the firms image. Introducing new directions of customer data usage: towards wave 4 The results of the case study illustrate the implications of the shift towards using customer data for the benefit of the customer. Instead of using customer data merely to

suit company purposes, such as segmentation or cross-selling goals, customer data took on a reconfigured role:
Many customers perceive that customer data is used against them, to manipulate them. But here, customer data is used directly for the benefit of the customer. Its a totally different starting point, or perspective on customer data usage (Representative of the service provider).

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As a result, customers were able to monitor the nutritional value of their groceries and get advice on how to improve the quality of their diet increasingly important objectives in food retailing today. This expanded role eventually had implications for customer loyalty, the firms ability to differentiate itself from competitors, the firms implementation of corporate values and its image. Furthermore, the information resulting from the combination of point-of-sale data with nutritional values could not be used to support the food retailers internal processes, due to data protection laws, so these customer data had a fundamentally different role than serving the purposes of the company. Attention shifted to how customer data might be used externally to support various value-creating processes undertaken by customers and how customer data might better serve customers. Consequently, the role of customer data became not to supply the firms information needs but to be shared with customers; the role of customer data was further reconfigured when it was refined and given back to customers to support their value-creating processes, which is a central characteristic of the proposed wave 4. Table III illustrates how the role of customer data within the CRM framework has evolved through data dispersion, data organisation and data ownership, towards data sharing. During its evolution, customer data were long considered an input resource for firms processes. However, the increasing service orientation moved the locus of attention towards exploring the value potential of customer data as an input resource for the customers not the companys value-creating process. Customer data evolve into the customers data. Conclusion The current CRM framework is inherently firm centric as suggested by Thaler (2011), the perspective on customer data usage are narrow and limited, and customer data have been used nearly exclusively for the benefit of the company (see also Thaler and Tucker, 2013). As companies shift their attention towards serving customers, the role of customer data must be reconfigured as well to better address these strategic purposes. The traditional role of customer data simply is not in tune with the orientation towards serving customers, because of its inherent focus on selling more products. Despite recent initiatives in both private and public sectors, no prior research has addressed the opportunities of using customer data as an input resource for customers value-creating processes. To address this gap, this study has sought to reconfigure the role of customer data within the CRM framework by first identifying three CRM waves, on the basis of a literature review. A case study provided an empirical illustration of the reconfigured role of customer data, resulting in the conclusion that the role of customer data within CRM is entering a phase of customer data sharing, as companies seek to introduce ways to refine and give customer data back to customers, to support their valuecreating processes. The evolution from data dispersion through data organisation and data ownership towards data sharing is well in tune with the shift from viewing customers as passive to reconsidering them as active partners (e.g. Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004a, b). The reconfigured role of customer data, together with both public and private initiatives to

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Evolution phase

Characteristics CRM as tactical and operational Reduced cost of interaction; increased customer retention; improved customer experience; empowering data

Focus

Goal

Table III. The evolving role of customer data (II) Data organisation CRM wave 2 mid 1990s Customer data organised to better serve company purposes; concepts such as mass customisation and one-to-one marketing established Mass customisation; one-to-one marketing; service and sales CRM wave 3 2000-2010 Customer data as a company asset; customer loyalty programmes used to better manage customer relationships Entire organisation; integrated communications (III) Data ownership (IV) Data sharing CRM wave 4 2010 Customer data refined and given back to customers; external use of customer data; customer data as customer resource Social CRM; CRM leveraged outside the organisation; customerto-customer interactions CRM as strategy and CRM as value co-creation; philosophy experiences; interaction; conversation Cost reduction and revenue Serving customers; supporting customers value creation; growth; predicting empowering customers customer behaviour; competitive advantage; empowering firms

(I) Data dispersion

CRM wave 1 early 1990s Companies faced with overwhelming amounts of data; a focus on developing technological solutions to better manage the company-customer interface Service automation; call-centre management; customer service support; sales force automation CRM as a technology solution

Improved service operations; increased sales efficiency; empowering technology

give customers more access to their own data, have major implications for public policy as well. Consumers and governments are increasingly interested in finding ways to enhance the quality of life for both the individual and society, by harnessing the power of the vast amount of data accumulated, for example, by energy providers, retailers, insurance companies and tax authorities. Moving towards customer data sharing opens new business and service opportunities. For example, healthcare actors should return data about customers (i.e. patients) back for customers own use, and local authorities can provide geographical data to customers to modify, refine and apply in their own processes. An increasing number of social media applications harness the power of customer data to support customers processes. Gaining an in-depth understanding of this evolution might help not only capture the nature of this emerging phenomenon but also influence public attitudes and general opinion. As a framework, CRM must adapt to market dynamics and new forms of interaction, exchange and value co-creation that emerge in relationships between customers and companies. In that respect, understanding the opportunities involved with the reconfigured role of customer data has major implications for practice; it suggests a variety of ways to serve customers better, which eventually should result in equal benefits for the firm. Theoretical implications Instead of the one-sided customer data usage that were apparent in the data dispersion, data organisation and data ownership waves, data sharing opens up great valuecreating opportunities for firms and customers. As illustrated in the interviews, customer data take on redefined meaning when they are used for the benefit of customers. The very notion that customers increasingly are being offered access to their own data has several major implications for the development of the CRM framework. First, as a framework, CRM should better address the possible uses of customer data for the benefit of the customer, as suggested in the emerging data sharing wave. The current CRM framework is heavily influenced by the market to philosophy (Lusch, 2007) and fails to recognise the opportunities arising from using customer data in customers value creation. Customer data should never be viewed as solely owned by or solely useful for the company. They should be considered a way to provide customers with additional resources, for the purpose of better serving those customers. Notwithstanding context dependability, customer data can be developed into information that is shared not with other actors in the supply chain to decrease the bullwhip effect or save costs (e.g. Ryu et al., 2009), but with customers. This shift in thinking is well in tune with the transformation from strategies focused on transactions to strategies that incorporate both transactions and interactions, often referred to as social CRM (Greenberg, 2010a, b). Second, the reconfigured role of customer data does not exclude traditional CRM activities, such as segmentation and identification of the most profitable customers. Instead, it extends the current CRM framework and provides new opportunities for developing customer relationships. With the help of innovative uses of customer data, firms can establish new ways to interact with customers, in terms of social CRM but also in broader terms. Receiving information about their transactions or consumption can be a great support to customers value-creating processes. In that respect, by shifting the focus from internal to external uses of customer data, the CRM framework can find theoretical support in recent discussions about various service logics (e.g.

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nroos, 2008; Maglio and Spohrer, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008). Integrating Gro CRM with recent theoretical discussions about service may contribute synergistic outcomes that can better identify and delineate the potential of the reconfigured role of customer data within the CRM framework. Third, the reconfigured role of customer data contributes to avoiding the dark side of CRM (Boulding et al., 2005; Humby et al., 2003; Ngai, 2005). Customers have grown suspicious about customer data usage because of the unethical behaviour of some companies that misuse information, invade privacy and operate different customer lock-in strategies (Frow et al., 2011). Converting customer data into a customer resource that is available for use in customers resource integration processes, where the value potential is eventually actualised, can be considered an enlightened CRM strategy (Frow et al., 2011) and a way to develop customer relationships at a whole new level. Managerial implications As Thaler (2011) recommends, Not only should our data be secure; it should also be available for our own purposes. After all, it is our data. The same logic applies in other contexts. For example, Fiat has established a service application, EcoDrive, that helps customers drive economically and save money while reducing their environmental impact. This service application collects every single piece of data generated while the customer drives. Therefore, the resulting data are not point-of-sale data but rather vehicle usage information. This well-designed service application refines the data to be easily accessible for customers. Energy suppliers, such as the Finnish Fortum, also are providing customers with appliances that help them determine their levels of energy consumption conveniently and in real time. Customers also can set targets for daily consumption and learn how to save energy and money and support the environment. In all these examples, customer data are used not just for company purposes but rather are refined and given back to customers, in support of their value-creating processes. The trend towards data sharing is evident in the public sector too. A recent initiative by the British government challenges businesses in key sectors, such as banking or telecommunications, to provide customers with an opportunity to reclaim their data for their own use. Limitations and future research Considering the novelty value of this research phenomenon, this study is necessarily preliminary; it represents one of the first attempts to address the reconfigured role of customer data in the CRM framework. Therefore, additional empirical research is needed to illustrate and understand this shift in customer data usage. Empirical evidence about the problems and obstacles associated with the reconfigured role of customer data might contribute to a better understanding of the emerging phenomenon as a whole. These challenges include, for example, poor firm motivation to give customer data back to customers or a firms inability to refine customer data into meaningful information. Therefore, further research should address the reconfigured role of customer data in all its diversity. Moreover, understanding how themes such as those identified in this case study relate to one another would provide a deeper understanding of the reconfigured role of customer data within the CRM framework. Finally, identifying innovative, realworld applications and business concepts in which the traditional role of customer data are being challenged contributes to an enhanced understanding overall of the central characteristics related to customer data sharing. Further research along these lines ultimately will help unlock the full potential of customer data.

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About the authors rvi is a Researcher and a PhD Student at the University of Tampere, Finland. Hannu Saarija His research interests lie in value co-creation, service marketing and customer relationship management. His doctoral dissertation focuses on two-way use of customer data from the value co-creation point of view. He has published in Industrial Marketing Management. Hannu rvi is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: hannu.saarijarvi@uta.fi Saarija skyla , Finland. His Heikki Karjaluoto is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Jyva research interests include marketing communications, digital marketing, electronic business and customer value. Previous publications have appeared in the European Journal of Marketing, Electronic Markets, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, International Journal of Electronic Business and others. Hannu Kuusela is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Tampere. His research interests lie in consumer behaviour and marketing strategy. In addition to textbooks and chapters for books (focusing on the marketing of services, customer value and risk management), he has published papers in the American Journal of Psychology, European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Professional Services Marketing, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management and the Journal of Financial Services Marketing.

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