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Relationship marketing managers around the world actively try to stimulate customer engagement because of its performance-enhancing effects. Research insights into how to engage customers, such that they voluntarily contribute their resources to support companies' marketing efforts, almost exclusively pertain to individual, domestic markets. However, the prerequisites of customer engagement strategies naturally differ across country-specific market environments. Therefore, the authors develop a conceptual, comprehensive battery of cultural, institutional, societal, and economic country-level contingency factors (CISE indicators) as well as between-country psychic distances on those indicators. A set of 11 high-level research propositions aims to enhance marketing researchers' and managers' understanding of the contingencies of international customer engagement strategy effectiveness and customer engagement's performance ramifications. The analysis reflects the richness and complexity of potential contingency effects across the four CISE categories and encourages empirical research on their separate and joint effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of trust and communication on flexibility and customer relationships between port logistics firms and shippers. In order to achieve this objective, the study collected questionnaires from 238 port logistics firms and conducted analyses. The results are as follows: First, the trust of port logistics firms has a positive effect on both flexibility and customer relationships. When there is a high level of mutual trust between port logistics firms and shippers, the firms can provide flexible services and work towards a common goal by sharing information and resources based on a strong understanding. Second, port logistics firms that engage in frequent communicate with shippers are more likely to provide flexible services. By exchanging information with shippers, port logistics firms can establish service processes that align with the specific needs of the shippers, ultimately leading to the provision of superior services. Third, the flexibility of port logistics firms enhances customer relationships with shippers. By offering flexible services, port logistics firms can build strong relationships with shippers and work together towards common goals. Fourth, trust and communication of port logistics firms further reinforce the relationship between flexibility and customer relationships. When there are trust and effective communication between the firms and shippers, the positive effect of flexibility on customer relationships is amplified.

This study reviews the concept of detachment in interpersonal relationships by examining its drivers and outcomes laying the foundation for detachment to potentially be extended to customer-employee relationships. Information from several studies in the fields of psychology and marketing was used to identify and categorize the drivers and outcomes of detachment. Using various search platforms, a total of 75 articles were deemed appropriate for this study and were thus included in the review. The results from this review provide a condensed list of preexisting and potential drivers and outcomes for detachment, each of which, were assigned to broader categories based on similarities and other relevant factors. Similarities were also drawn between detachment in adult interpersonal and customer-attachment figure relationships to solidify detachment's extension to customer-employee relationships. This study contributes to theory by being among the first to provide a summarized list of potential drivers and outcomes of detachment within a single paper, thereby advancing the existing knowledge of detachment. The results of this review may also be of particular importance to psychologists and marketing managers as it provides a comprehensive discussion of how detachment could occur in both interpersonal and customer-employee relationships and the possible consequences thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of trust and communication on flexibility and customer relationships between port logistics firms and shippers. In order to achieve this objective, the study collected questionnaires from 238 port logistics firms and conducted analyses. The results are as follows: First, the trust of port logistics firms has a positive effect on both flexibility and customer relationships. When there is a high level of mutual trust between port logistics firms and shippers, the firms can provide flexible services and work towards a common goal by sharing information and resources based on a strong understanding. Second, port logistics firms that engage in frequent communicate with shippers are more likely to provide flexible services. By exchanging information with shippers, port logistics firms can establish service processes that align with the specific needs of the shippers, ultimately leading to the provision of superior services. Third, the flexibility of port logistics firms enhances customer relationships with shippers. By offering flexible services, port logistics firms can build strong relationships with shippers and work together towards common goals. Fourth, trust and communication of port logistics firms further reinforce the relationship between flexibility and customer relationships. When there are trust and effective communication between the firms and shippers, the positive effect of flexibility on customer relationships is amplified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to measure the impact of visual humor advertising on customer relationships in Saudi fastfood restaurants. The IV is visual advertising and DV is customer relationships. The DV has two sub-variables which include: Attracting Attention and Brand Recall. The Research Population consists of all Saudi customers of fast-food restaurants in Saudi Arabia. The sample size reached 500 customers, and the purposive sampling method was used. The research tool is the closed-ended questionnaire, and the five-point Likert scale was adopted. The study found that Visual Humor Advertising VHA and Customer Relationships (CR) are moderately applied. The study concludes that there is a positive impact of VHA on customer relationships in Saudi fast-food restaurants and no statistical differences in the customer relationships according to the demographics (age, sex, education). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from a resilience assessment of Harare's water supply, the system interactions of the city's water management arrangements are explored through a series of causal loop diagrams. These are based on economic, physical, commercial, environmental, and social subsystems and the reinforcing and balancing loops that influence key variables of interest in each are identified. The analysis identifies a series of shortcomings including a weak provider-customer relationship, limited governance capacity, inadequate coordination and integration between key players, shortfalls in physical supply and critical infrastructure, environmental degradation, and a lack of disaster response and recovery measures. A series of strategies are proposed as intervention actions that target the areas of potential leverage identified in the causal loop analysis, including improving customer-provider relationships; increasing coordination, collaboration, and integration; developing physical and informational infrastructure and enhancing environmental protection and rehabilitation. The impacts of these strategies are highlighted as strengthening key elements of the causal loop diagrams and addressing the resilience gaps identified. The systems mapping approach reveals that key issues are large-scale, cross-sectoral, and compounding. Remediation strategies must therefore also be multi-faceted and holistic in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer surveillance is a pervasive marketing practice that involves the collection, usage, and storage of customers' data from transactions, loyalty programs, and social media. Customer data are valuable to firms in gaining or maintaining an edge over competitors by developing superior customer insights that may assist product or service innovations. However, customer surveillance practices also risk customer relationships by potentially activating privacy and data security concerns. This article explores customer insight strategies that focus customer surveillance by assessing the insight value of data sources to avoid unnecessary data collection and capture. Three prediction experiments show that three distinct data source attributes, namely data quantity, data detail, and data content, are diagnostic of the prediction accuracy of customer psychographic characteristics and behavioral intentions. By demonstrating that customer insights are more (or less) valuable when derived from different data sources, this article shows that "more" data is not necessarily better. We advocate a smarter approach to customer surveillance practices that are selective in choosing to capture customer data that can yield more accurate customer insights while reducing the risk of jeopardizing customer relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends and tests a model determining how customer perceived benefits affect perceived relationship investment and brand relationship quality as mediators to behavioural and attitudinal loyalty with type and timing of rewards as moderators. A quantitative methodology and survey approach was applied using randomly selected stratified sampling resulting in 277 financial services loyalty programme member respondents. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The results highlight social and exploration benefits to be much stronger determinants of customer loyalty than monetary and entertainment benefits, with recognition having no effect and timing of rewards moderating the influence of monetary and exploratory benefits. The type of reward moderated the influence of entertainment and exploratory rewards. The study's theoretical contribution provides for an empirically validated comprehensive conceptual model of loyalty programme effectiveness for the financial services industry and very important loyalty programme design findings for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper analyzes previously unmeasured effects of a response to a service incident called “benevolent” within the customer –firm relationship. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was administered to telecommunication customers in a Western European country, and the model was estimated using partial least squares (PLS). Findings – This study shows that the customer–firm relationship is surprisingly affected by the response to expected incidents that the customer interprets as acts of benevolence or opportunism. This research also shows that the firm's incident response interpreted as benevolence or opportunism has an effect that merely positive or negative events do not. Acts of benevolence response towards an incident positively affect customer–firm relationship quality, and expectations of such acts may lead to an upward spiral in customer commitment. Originality/value – While benevolence trust has been proposed and studied before, the response to incidents interpreted as benevolent or opportunistic and their consequences have been under-studied, hence exhibiting a research gap. 研究目的 – 在公司與顧客之間的關係的範疇內, 公司對服務事故所作的被稱為仁慈的反應的影響不曾被測量; 本研究擬就該反應的影響進行分析和探討。 研究設計/方法/理念 – 研究以問卷方式進行¸ 對象為一個西歐國家裏的電訊服務客戶。研究人員使用偏最小平方法作估算, 設計有關的模型。 研究結果 – 研究結果顯示、若顧客對公司就預期的事故所作的反應看作是仁慈的話, 又或相反地視為是投機主義所驅使的, 則公司與顧客之間的關係會出人意表地受到影響。研究結果亦顯示、顧客的仁慈、抑或是投機主義的闡釋和理解所帶來的影響, 與單純積極正面事件或消極負面事件所帶來的影響是不一樣的。公司對事件仁厚的回應會給予顧客之間的關係的質量帶來正面的影響; 而且, 對這種回應的預期、或會給客戶承諾帶來螺旋上升。 研究的原創性/價值 – 對仁厚之信賴曾被提出並作探討。唯對被視為仁慈的或機會主義作祟的反應所作的研究則不足, 這方面實存研究缺口。

In recent yeats, technological advancement has become a crucial factor for businesses’ survival. Traditional business models and processes have been modified and integrated with technology to enable competitive business operations. Consequently, the internet has taken on an important role in business as it allows access to a large number of users at the same time, resulting in an ability to compete without limits. This research aimed to study the effect of electronic service (e-service) quality on the competitive advantages of tourism and hotel businesses in Thailand. Data were collected from 113 marketing managers of tourism and hotel businesses in Thailand using a questionnaire as the research instrument. Statistical methods used to analyze the data were Correlation Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis. The results showed that the reliability and efficiency of e-services correlate with and have an impact on competitive advantages – in the aspects of customer relationships, business networks, organizational learning, productivity, technology sourcing, knowledge management, and entrepreneurship orientation – at a statistically significant level of 0.05. That means business should place importance on the reliability of online service websites. This is to help service users have more confidence in the accuracy of information and security of private information. There should also be a reliable security system in place and a focus on providing support to customers through the website.

Customer relationships are important strategic resources. With a sample of A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2020 in China, this paper examines the recognition and value relevance of customer-related intangible assets. Current accounting standards require an acquirer to recognise identifiable intangible assets acquired in the business combination separately from goodwill. However, stakeholders question the usefulness of the information about customer relationships that are difficult to value reliably. The IASB and IFRIC have discussed a lot about whether to continue to separate customer-related intangible assets from goodwill. We find that firms with more R&D investments are more likely to recognise customer-related intangible assets. We also find that the book value of customer-related intangibles is positively associated with share price, which means recognised customer-related intangibles provide useful information to investors. We report empirical evidence in support of both international and Chinese accounting standards for separate recognition of identifiable intangible assets.

In community-based marketing, the new marketing framework presented in this study is as follows: (i) in term of the creation of value, it views a product from the perspective of solving the life issues of the customer base by including augmented products; and (ii) in terms of communication and delivery of value, a company forms a community with customers who are interested in and empathize with the value that the company creates and who can be constantly connected through social media services, apps, and other digital means. There, interactions among customers are born and new value is created. It is managed by proactively collaborating with other companies toward creating innovative values. We believe that this framework accurately describes the ongoing marketing activities of companies.

Two characteristics – Grit and Political Skill – appear to offer meaningful value to industrial marketers through improving customer relationship quality. The premise of this study is to investigate the role of these characteristics of business-to-business salespeople as they influence selling approaches and ultimately long-term customer relationships. Previous research in both academic and practitioner literature has noted political skill and grit are individually linked to salespeople but remain chiefly unexplored simultaneously and in terms of their impact on customer relationships. The data used in this research are from a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople collected electronically by using the online platform of a national data broker. Self-reports were made about their grit, political skill, and customer relationship quality. These constructs were combined in a structural equation model. SPSS/Amos software was used to conduct multivariate analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement properties of each construct, while structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Results suggest grit is directly related to political skill and both are positively related to relationship quality. The results from this study lend credence to existing customer relationship literature and serve to extend our understanding, specifically as applied to business-to-business salespeople. In particular, we learn more about the role of grit and political skill in affecting the ability of salespeople to establish and maintain customer relationships. In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study explores a seller's perspective of two potentially important sales characteristics and relationship quality to extend findings on customer relationships. While grit has been considered an antecedent of outcome performance, the interaction between grit and political skill, and their impact on business-to-business salespeople's customer relationship quality had heretofore not been examined. This study extends previous research on grit and political skill by examining the association between the two as well as the impact on relationship quality. Our research strengthens the importance of grit and political skill by finding the synergy between the two indicates that when these characteristics of salespeople are possessed or developed they can enhance the relationship building conducted by business-to-business salespeople. Sales leaders may benefit from administering the salesperson grit and political skill scales as part of the screening process and developing these values among salespeople through training and coaching. Sales leaders should emphasize the positive impact of adopting these in focusing on customers. The study makes a practical contribution through an improved understanding of how a seller's communication and influence characteristics impact customer relationships. The findings underscore the importance of engaging in activities shown to improve connections with buyers and striving for levels of grit that assist the salesperson in overcoming any challenges faced in the normal set of activities required to build customer relationships. Encountering daily or short-term impediments that if not managed through perseverance may result in a salesperson being frustrated and abandoning more challenging accounts, despite the future potential payoffs by continuing to work with the account to obtain long-term outcomes. Additionally, political skill by itself and in conjunction with grit enables the business-to-business salesperson to utilize communication to persuade others, especially customers to act in ways that benefit both business-to-business buyers and sellers. Grit and political skill may combine to establish relationships and maintain them despite any short-term obstacles that require grit. An improved understanding of business-to-business salespeople's perspectives of the variables under study can potentially improve the hiring and training of salespeople to adopt beneficial characteristics that will enable them to build customer relationships and ultimately improve sales performance. The originality and value of this study rest with proposed connections between three prevalent issues in business-to-business sales organizations. Grit, political skill, and relationship quality provide valuable and unique insights into business-to-business selling behaviors and seller consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer relationships are important strategic resources. With a sample of A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2020 in China, this paper examines the recognition and value relevance of customer-related intangible assets. Current accounting standards require an acquirer to recognise identifiable intangible assets acquired in the business combination separately from goodwill. However, stakeholders question the usefulness of the information about customer relationships that are difficult to value reliably. The IASB and IFRIC have discussed a lot about whether to continue to separate customer-related intangible assets from goodwill. We find that firms with more R&D investments are more likely to recognise customer-related intangible assets. We also find that the book value of customer-related intangibles is positively associated with share price, which means recognised customer-related intangibles provide useful information to investors. We report empirical evidence in support of both international and Chinese accounting standards for separate recognition of identifiable intangible assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In community-based marketing, the new marketing framework presented in this study is as follows: (i) in term of the creation of value, it views a product from the perspective of solving the life issues of the customer base by including augmented products; and (ii) in terms of communication and delivery of value, a company forms a community with customers who are interested in and empathize with the value that the company creates and who can be constantly connected through social media services, apps, and other digital means. There, interactions among customers are born and new value is created. It is managed by proactively collaborating with other companies toward creating innovative values. We believe that this framework accurately describes the ongoing marketing activities of companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce business-to-business (B2B) relationships into an otherwise standard model to revisit two aspects of price dynamics in a unified analysis. On one side, the pass-through of cost shocks to prices is empirically incomplete. On the other side, the literature contains conjectures that long-term relationships may reduce the allocative role of price changes. After a partial equilibrium analysis of these aspects, we consider the general equilibrium effects. The formation of B2B relationships implies that the trade of intermediate goods depends on search, bargaining, and the adjustment along the intensive margin as opposed to the extensive margin. We find that, when this adjustment is costly, retailers have a relatively high bargaining power, and mismatch shocks are possible, the model can account for the second moments of the US producer price index and other variables. In this case, although its allocative role is low, the intermediate goods price affects the allocation of goods through the search externalities and is sufficiently volatile. The analysis includes several sensitivity tests and comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the competitive priorities of the slow and fast fashion retail operations of large retailers in an emerging economy. The study embraces the six largest Brazilian companies operating both fast and slow fashion businesses. The methodological path comprises a qualitative phase, in which four experts review the competitive priorities in fashion supply chains. Then follows a quantitative phase, in which the practitioners, supported by AHP, the analytical hierarchy process, weight the fast fashion and slow fashion supply chain priorities. Finally, the study compares the two sets of priorities by considering the uncertainty in the judgment. The most relevant priorities in slow fashion are price and quality, whereas those in fast fashion are customer relationships and flexibility. This study proposes guidelines for simultaneously managing these two strategies. In slow fashion, companies should reduce costs and improve quality by implementing online process controls. In fast fashion, companies should decrease lot sizes, increase the variety of mixes and assortments, and strengthen ties with customers. The main novelty of this study is the evidence that retailers operating fast and slow fashion must simultaneously manage two different strategies to achieve different priorities. In addition, some novel procedures are adopted to mitigate the uncertainty in the judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer relationships are an important pillar of a business model (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). For years, though, news media has not invested much effort into nurturing rich connections with their consumers and, consequently, neglected the promotion of a participatory culture that could bring benefits for all involved (Neuberger & Nuernbergk, 2010; Rosen, 2006). Vanishing advertising revenue and changing habits of news consumption on the Internet create a situation for changing that situation—especially when considering journalism as a service (Jarvis, 2014). Therefore, this article employs multiple case-study research to analyze and compare how four digital news natives from different countries (The Correspondent from the Netherlands, eldiario.es from Spain, Mediapart from France, and the Brazilian branch of The Intercept) are creating more meaningful connections with their audiences in order to sustain their businesses. We found out that all cases resort in varying degrees to the ideology of journalism, personification, transparency, impactful content, and community as motivations to attract members, while at the same time refraining from advertising becomes a guarantee of independence. Social media is losing ground, as companies use their own platforms and channels, such as emails, to develop routines that take member participation into account in different levels—from intermediate to maximal—though customization is still limited. The challenge for online-born news companies is to manage so many variables while taking into consideration feedback from their sustainable base of members.

On the example of 100 U.S. stock market leaders’ reporting the issues of the availability and level of disclosure of information on intangible assets that characterize customer capital are investigated. Based on the systematization of these companies' reporting data, the types of intangible assets that can serve as an information base for the analysis of customer capital are identified. In accordance with the requirements of international accounting legislation, the division of intangible assets that characterize customer capital into 2 groups – related to customers (customer lists, customer base, order or production backlog, etc.) and related to marketing (trademarks, trade names, brands) – is proposed. The share of intangible assets characterizing customer capital in the total assets of the 100 U.S. stock market leaders during 2014-2018 and the share of those assets in the total intangible assets are determined. Based on the results of 2018, raw materials, telecommunications, industrial, technology and consumer goods companies show a high proportion of those who disclose intangible assets that characterize customer capital, in its own reporting. The dynamics of change in the absolute average value of intangible assets characterizing customer capital is determined on the example of the surveyed companies for 2014-2018.

The twenty first century has witnessed wide-ranging changes in the banking industry and these changes have brought a number of challenges for customers and employees. Many banks have looked to employ storytelling as one way of trying to help both customers and employees to accommodate these changes and challenges. This exploratory paper looks provide a range of illustrations of the ways in which the UK’s leading banks have publicly employed stories on the Internet as part of their external and internal communication programmes and offers some reflections on the role of stories within such programmes. The paper reveals that the UK’s five leading banks all publicly employ stories, which address a number of issues including business successes and achievements, customers’ experiences, environmental and social commitments, career development, employees’ work experiences and the history of banks and their branches. The authors suggest that these themes collectively looked to reinforce the banks’ fundamental emphasis on trust, confidence, and customer relationships. At the same time, while the findings of the paper revealed that the stories are exclusively positive and are essentially scripted to cast banks in a favourable light, the authors counsel caution in that there is a danger that such stories may not always be fully representative of a bank’s relationships with its customers and employees.

This research focuses on the challenges in developing the cross-selling capability of a multinational European corporate bank operating in both the business and consumer markets. An extensive qualitative research design was carried out involving 50 interviews with chief financial officers (CFOs) and bank representatives from four European countries, eight workshops, and participant observation. The barriers to cross-selling experienced by the Bank are specifically: a lack of cooperation within organisational levels and units, non-existent information sharing among employees, underdeveloped internal services for cross-selling, resistance to change, and outdated CRM systems are identified as the five major internal challenges that banks have to cope with. Corporate customers however perceive that the five major challenges that inhibit the corporate banks' ability to provide better services and to properly exploit cross-selling capability are: the lack of cross-asset management, inability to sell cross-asset services, fragmented organisational structure, the lack of sufficient internal marketing and communication, and lack of knowledge sharing. This study identifies ten major challenges—five that deal with the Bank's internal personnel, and five identified by key corporate customers—that are essential to overcome to better address cross-selling efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features of business models of participants of the market of retail payment services are considered. An approach based on the allocation of nine elements of the business model is used: consumer segments, value propositions, sales channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners, cost structure

Despite increasing interest in warmth and competence as fundamental dimensions in consumers' evaluation of service providers, prior research remains ambiguous about which dimension is more important. The current study develops a nomological framework that clarifies this ambiguity and explains whether, when, and why warmth or competence takes precedence for different outcomes in customer-service provider relationships. Combined evidence from field and laboratory studies support the notion of an asymmetric dominance, which suggests that warmth is dominant in driving outcomes that capture relational aspects (e.g., customer-company identification), whereas competence is dominant in driving outcomes that capture transactional aspects of the customer-service provider relationship (e.g., share of wallet). The findings provide first insights into the underlying mechanisms that drive this asymmetric dominance by demonstrating that relational and capability concerns mediate this process. Moreover, the current investigation identifies novel moderators that offer managers help in identifying service contexts (people vs. object care) and customer segments (differing in process and outcome service goals) for which investing in warmth or competence is more promising. Overall, displaying competence is particular effective in driving customer attraction and current operating performance, whereas displaying warmth is better suited to establish strong emotional bonds and drive customer retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing your customers and their needs is a topic that has attracted increasing interest in the business and academic worlds. In line with this, constructing customer knowledge has come under examination in this study. A firm's ability to construct customer knowledge creates solid ground for responding better to its customers' needs. In the business‐to‐business markets, customers are demanding increasingly knowledge‐intensive services. Therefore, examining the topic is particularly important in this specific context. In this study, the purpose is to find out how customer knowledge is constructed in knowledge‐intensive customer relationships. To accomplish this purpose, a qualitative multiple case study is organized around seven case relationships allowing within‐case and cross‐case comparisons. The findings of this study describe a variety of practices knowledge‐intensive firms can utilize in constructing customer knowledge in their daily activities. This study helps KIBS organizations in their efforts to create a source of competitive advantage as customer knowledge is a critical asset for firms, especially in a fast‐changing knowledge‐intensive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) attracts much discussion and debate in the academic literature. As knowledge about EO has expanded, increased consideration is being given to the causal processes linking EO with superior firm performance. Building on the growing body of research on learning through interorganizational relationships, we introduce acquisitive learning and generative learning through key customer relationships as distinct conduits for the translation of EO into performance effectiveness. The research model is empirically examined using structural equation modeling on data obtained from small-and-medium sized high-technology firms in the United States. Findings indicate that EO boosts generative and acquisitive learning through customer relationships, and both generative and acquisitive learning have significant positive impact on firm performance. Notably, although generative learning and acquisitive learning through customer relationships act as mediators of the EO-performance link, the mediating effect through generative learning is significantly stronger than through acquisitive learning. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer relationships are an important pillar of a business model (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). For years, though, news media has not invested much effort into nurturing rich connections with their consumers and, consequently, neglected the promotion of a participatory culture that could bring benefits for all involved (Neuberger & Nuernbergk, 2010; Rosen, 2006). Vanishing advertising revenue and changing habits of news consumption on the Internet create a situation for changing that situation--especially when considering journalism as a service (Jarvis, 2014). Therefore, this article employs multiple case-study research to analyze and compare how four digital news natives from different countries (The Correspondent from the Netherlands, eldiario.es from Spain, Mediapart from France, and the Brazilian branch of The Intercept) are creating more meaningful connections with their audiences in order to sustain their businesses. We found out that all cases resort in varying degrees to the ideology of journalism, personification, transparency, impactful content, and community as motivations to attract members, while at the same time refraining from advertising becomes a guarantee of independence. Social media is losing ground, as companies use their own platforms and channels, such as emails, to develop routines that take member participation into account in different levels--from intermediate to maximal--though customization is still limited. The challenge for online-born news companies is to manage so many variables while taking into consideration feedback from their sustainable base of members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]