Impact of Hybrid Selling on Key Accounts Loyalty. Can Video Conferences be an Equivalent to On-Site Visits?

Master's Thesis from the year 2022 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,3, Ruhr-University of Bochum, language: English, abstract: Loyalty in relationships between selling companies and key accounts are fundamental for successful business-to-business relationships. Prior research exposed communication to be an important antecedent of loyalty. However, while digital communication channels like video conferences gain importance in B2B sales, research has widely ignored this transformation. This study contributes to this gap by examining the impact of communicating with key accounts through video conferences and on-site visits on attitudinal loyalty. By applying the key mediating variable theory, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of key accounts' attitudinal loyalty formation through the mediating variables commitment, interorganizational trust, and interpersonal satisfaction. Based on data of a cross-industry survey of 280 key account managers and salespeople interacting with key accounts in the DACH region, this study first tested the conceptual model with a structural equation modeling approach and second the moderation effects with a multiple regression analysis.