Mona HageböllingTaktische Kündigung von vertraglichen Dienstleistungen

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Tactical termination in competitive service markets

In highly competitive markets, service providers often rely on target group-specific pricing policies. New customers are acquired with attractive promotions and former customers are won back with bonuses that offer better value for money compared to the conditions of existing customers. Existing customers are aware of this, but do not receive any benefits for their loyalty.

Instead of submitting to the conditions created by the providers, existing customers recognize their value to the providers due to alternatives in the market and the low differentiation of offers. As a result, existing customers may respond to providers' price discrimination policies with tactical terminations in order to obtain more attractive terms. A tactical termination is a formal termination without a clear intention to switch providers, primarily aimed at obtaining better contractual conditions in the future. Although the phenomenon of tactical termination seems to be well known both among customers and in business practice, it has so far received little attention in (marketing) research.

This dissertation extends existing research by investigating the phenomenon of tactical termination of contractual services using a mixed-methods research approach. The results show that price differences resulting from a customer status-based discrimination strategy lead to perceptions of price unfairness and low appreciation among existing customers, whereupon they tactically terminate their contracts.

The dissertation also offers companies practical solutions for optimizing customer interactions across the entire customer relationship life cycle and for stabilizing the customer base in highly competitive service markets.