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All Outputs (25)

How to Use Emerging Service Technologies to Enhance Customer Centricity in Business-to-Business Contexts: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda (2025)
Journal Article
Wünderlich, N., Blut, M., Brock, C., Heirati, N., Jensen, M., Paluch, S., Rötzmeier-Keuper, J., & Tóth, Z. (2025). How to Use Emerging Service Technologies to Enhance Customer Centricity in Business-to-Business Contexts: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda. Journal of Business Research, 192, Article 115284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115284

Manufacturers in business-to-business (B2B) industries aim to gain a competitive edge by adopting the concept of customer centricity in their strategy. Acknowledging manufacturers’ challenges in implementing new technologies, we showcase how digital... Read More about How to Use Emerging Service Technologies to Enhance Customer Centricity in Business-to-Business Contexts: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda.

The SME R&D intensity and product innovation relationship: the mediating role of quality management in the context of a developing country (2024)
Journal Article
Omari, D., Scott, S. A., Tóth, Z., & Tsinopoulos, C. (2025). The SME R&D intensity and product innovation relationship: the mediating role of quality management in the context of a developing country. R&D Management, 55(3), 837-854. https://doi.org/10.1111/radm.12721

SMEs engage in product innovation despite their inherent resource constraints, lack of financial slack, and the under‐development of competitively viable strategic configurations around the globe. While progress has been made in identifying the antec... Read More about The SME R&D intensity and product innovation relationship: the mediating role of quality management in the context of a developing country.

Virtual Influencers Versus Real Connections: Exploring the Phenomenon of Virtual Influencers (2024)
Journal Article
Mrad, M., Ramadan, Z., Tóth, Z., Nasr, L., & Karimi, S. (2025). Virtual Influencers Versus Real Connections: Exploring the Phenomenon of Virtual Influencers. Journal of Advertising, 54(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2393711

While there is growing interest in the use of social media influencers in digital marketing campaigns, little is known about virtual influencers and their impact on consumers and brands. Virtual influencers are becoming efficient advertising tools. H... Read More about Virtual Influencers Versus Real Connections: Exploring the Phenomenon of Virtual Influencers.

Adversarial Service Networks: A Study of Service Firms’ Response to Manufacturer-led Servitization in Aviation (2024)
Journal Article
Wirths, O., Tóth, Z., & Diaz Ruiz, C. A. (2024). Adversarial Service Networks: A Study of Service Firms’ Response to Manufacturer-led Servitization in Aviation. Industrial Marketing Management, 119, 162-177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.04.004

This study examines the adversarial dynamics that emerge when service firms assess that manufacturers’ servitization initiatives pose an existential risk to their survival as independent organizations. Adopting an industrial networks perspective, thi... Read More about Adversarial Service Networks: A Study of Service Firms’ Response to Manufacturer-led Servitization in Aviation.

Ethical compass: The need for Corporate Digital Responsibility in the use of Artificial Intelligence in financial services (2024)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., & Blut, M. (2024). Ethical compass: The need for Corporate Digital Responsibility in the use of Artificial Intelligence in financial services. Organizational Dynamics, 53(2), Article 101041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2024.101041

Service research and business ethics literature intersect concerning the question of artificial intelligence (AI) service robot accountability. In financial services, there is a broad spectrum of potential ethical issues, from data usage to customer... Read More about Ethical compass: The need for Corporate Digital Responsibility in the use of Artificial Intelligence in financial services.

Elite Luxury Experiences: Customer and Managerial Perspectives (2022)
Journal Article
Mrad, M., Karimi, S., Tóth, Z., & Christodoulides, G. (2022). Elite Luxury Experiences: Customer and Managerial Perspectives. Journal of Marketing Management, 38(13-14), 1339-1368. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2022.2078860

This study contributes to the nascent literature on luxury experiences by focusing on a significant yet understudied segment of consumers responsible for a large share of luxury purchases. Seven in-depth interviews with ultra-high-net-worth individua... Read More about Elite Luxury Experiences: Customer and Managerial Perspectives.

B2B eWOM creation on Alibaba: Signaling through online reviews in platform-based social exchange   (2022)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., Mrad, M., Itani, O., Luo, M. (., & Liu, M. J. (2022). B2B eWOM creation on Alibaba: Signaling through online reviews in platform-based social exchange  . Industrial Marketing Management, 104, 226-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.04.019

This study investigates the contemporary role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in business exchanges through buyers’ signaling of observable and unobservable supplier characteristics on the Alibaba e-commerce platform. Utilizing a qualitative pre-s... Read More about B2B eWOM creation on Alibaba: Signaling through online reviews in platform-based social exchange  .

Unintentionality in market shaping – A multiple case study of touring exhibitions from New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom (2022)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., Biggemann, S., & Williams, M. (2022). Unintentionality in market shaping – A multiple case study of touring exhibitions from New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Industrial Marketing Management, 103, 117-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.03.012

This study addresses the issue of unintentionality in market shaping with special regard to bifurcation points, representational practices, and shared mental models. Based on three case studies of touring exhibitions, we found that the intended outco... Read More about Unintentionality in market shaping – A multiple case study of touring exhibitions from New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

The Dawn of the AI Robots: Towards a New Framework of AI Robot Accountability (2022)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., Caruana, R., Gruber, T., & Loebbecke, C. (2022). The Dawn of the AI Robots: Towards a New Framework of AI Robot Accountability. Journal of Business Ethics, 178(4), 895-916. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05050-z

Business, management and business ethics literature pay little attention to the topic of AI robots. The broad spectrum of potential ethical issues pertains to using driverless cars, AI robots in care homes, and in the military, such as Lethal Autonom... Read More about The Dawn of the AI Robots: Towards a New Framework of AI Robot Accountability.

Tensions in Digital Servitization through a Paradox Lens (2022)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., Sklyar, A., Kowalkowski, C., Sörhammar, D., Tronvoll, B., & Wirths, O. (2022). Tensions in Digital Servitization through a Paradox Lens. Industrial Marketing Management, 102, 438-450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.02.010

Two of the most disruptive changes in today’s business markets are servitization and digitalization. Their increasing convergence into digital servitization leads to tensions both within and between organizations. The authors investigate such intra-... Read More about Tensions in Digital Servitization through a Paradox Lens.

Social capital creation on professional sharing economy platforms: The problems of rating dependency and the non-transferability of social capital (2022)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., Nemkova, E., Hizsák, G., & Naudé, P. (2022). Social capital creation on professional sharing economy platforms: The problems of rating dependency and the non-transferability of social capital. Journal of Business Research, 144, 450-460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.01.090

The sharing economy platforms facilitate collaboration across geographical boundaries and promote service innovation by reshaping traditional business networks. This study takes a Social Capital Theory perspective on how Social Capital (SC) is create... Read More about Social capital creation on professional sharing economy platforms: The problems of rating dependency and the non-transferability of social capital.

Interfirm Problem Representation: Developing Shared Understanding within Inter-Organizational Networks (2021)
Journal Article
Ogundipe, S., Peters, L., & Tóth, Z. (2022). Interfirm Problem Representation: Developing Shared Understanding within Inter-Organizational Networks. Industrial Marketing Management, 100, 76-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.11.004

Actors in business networks often struggle to integrate their resources and bridge knowledge boundaries, which makes shared understanding difficult to establish and sustain. We develop the concept of interfirm problem representation (IFPR) to illustr... Read More about Interfirm Problem Representation: Developing Shared Understanding within Inter-Organizational Networks.

Necessary condition analysis in marketing research (2021)
Book Chapter
Dul, J., Hauff, S., & Tóth, Z. (2021). Necessary condition analysis in marketing research. In R. Nunkoo, V. Teeroovengadum, & C. Ringle. (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods for Marketing Management (51-72). Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788976954.00008

Necessary condition analysis (NCA) is a new approach and analysis technique for identifying necessary conditions. Necessary conditions represent constraints, bottlenecks, or critical factors that cannot be compensated by other factors. This logic dif... Read More about Necessary condition analysis in marketing research.

A framework for differentiation in composed digital-physical products (2020)
Journal Article
Baumers, M., Ashcroft, I., Benford, S., Flintham, M., Koleva, B., Tóth, Z., & Winklhofer, H. (2020). A framework for differentiation in composed digital-physical products. International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 13(4), 286-298. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMMS.2020.112351

Product-service systems (PSS) composed of physical products and digital services are emerging as an important new product category. In this paper we suggest that the established metaphor of layering is insufficient to capture the diverse ways in whic... Read More about A framework for differentiation in composed digital-physical products.

The strategic role of corporate online references: building social capital through signaling in business networks (2020)
Journal Article
Tóth, Z., Henneberg, S., Naudé, P., & Ruiz, C. (2021). The strategic role of corporate online references: building social capital through signaling in business networks. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 36(8), 1300-1321. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-02-2020-0101

Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize corporate reference management as a strategic signaling activity in business networks. While research has extensively outlined how firms develop and maintain social capital through business-to-business (B2B)... Read More about The strategic role of corporate online references: building social capital through signaling in business networks.