Key account management (KAM) aims to develop successful and mutually beneficial business relationships with a company’s most important customers. Considering the increasing fragmentation of value chains in business markets as well as new academic insights on value and value creation, the purpose of this study is to examine their effects on KAM and particularly who a company’s most important customers really are.

This conceptual paper aims to add to the customer value-oriented evolution of KAM. The exploratory insights gained from the case study of a supplier in the electronics industry are mainly used to illustrate the impact of multistage business markets on KAM.

Based on a case study of an electronics component supplier and by applying a multistage marketing (MSM) as well as a customer-perceived value perspective, the authors demonstrate conceptually and empirically that the KAM perspective needs to be extended along the business market value chain for the proper selection and management of key accounts. The findings also underscore the importance of aligning goal structures across both external and internal KAM processes – on the corporate and organizational unit level.

The paper contribution to the KAM research field in two ways: it broadens KAM’s approach along the business market value chain by applying MSM as well as it proposes a value-oriented conceptualization of intra- and inter-organizational alignment by integrating the newest insights on customer value and value creation.

Stress increases the risk of road accidents by impairing driving performance. Although lavender is known for its calming effects, it remains unclear whether its use can reduce both cognitive (self-reported) and physiological stress in driving situations. In a simulated driving scenario, participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group exposed to lavender or to a control group. Physiological responses were measured via skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate (HR), while on subjective level the NASA-TLX and a single-item self-report measure were attached. Contrary to expectations, lavender exposure generally elevated both physiological and self-reported stress levels. However, conscious perception of the scent moderated this effect, with participants who were aware of the lavender reporting significantly lower subjective stress. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of lavender depends on cognitive awareness, offering novel insights into olfactory interventions in high-stress environments.

Despite being a specific sustainable development goal (SDG), the role of consumers for sustainable consumption is still ambiguous. This is exemplified by a vast amount of research on the attitude-intention-behavior gap, which generally describes consumers’ failures to behave as sustainable as theoretically predicted. Recent reviews have prompted further investigations beyond the existing literature on factors influencing this gap. We contribute to this call by quantitatively investigating five antagonistic dimensions – both intrapsychic and situation-related – of smartphone usage and sustainable consumer behavior in Germany (n=800). Our results indicate two novel concepts. Emotional connection – i.e., consumers’ connections with the consumption experience – can either promote or prevent sustainable behavior, while exploration-driven consumerism – i.e., new purchases due to exploration tendencies – typically attenuates sustainable behavior. This illustrates how and when sustainability is outweighed by other consumer attitudes. We contextualize these results and conclude our study by highlighting limitations and further research opportunities.

This paper examines the evaluation of advertising with particular reference to possible
sexism and the differences in response among individuals of different religious affiliation,
religiosity, and origin. Religion, religiosity and migration background make small explanatory
contributions to the evaluation of advertising in four relevant dimensions, but in
the overall picture prove to be less significant than sociodemographic and psychographic
criteria beyond religion and origin.