The role of hometown ties and visual cues in relationship marketing : evidence from digital B2C sales

Abstract

The digital transformation of business-to-consumer (B2C) sales has fundamentally altered the dynamics of customer-salesperson interactions, presenting both opportunities and challenges for businesses aiming to optimize sales effectiveness. This dissertation investigates two underexplored factors—hometown ties between customers and salespersons and the use of publicly available WeChat profile pictures—to enhance sales performance in an online B2C context. In collaboration with Zhulong Institutes (ZLI), a leading online education platform for construction engineers in China, the study addresses two primary research questions: (1) How do hometown ties between customers and salespersons influence sales performance in a digital B2C environment, and what mechanisms underlie this effect? (2) How can publicly available WeChat profile pictures be utilized to infer consumer behavior and tailor sales strategies while respecting consumer privacy? These questions aim to bridge the gap between human-centric sales approaches and data-driven insights, offering a balanced perspective on improving sales effectiveness in the digital age. Study 1 reveals that customers paired with a salesperson from the same hometown exhibit significant improvements in sales performance: conversion rates increase by 24%, the number of orders rises by 39%, and purchase amounts grow by 27%. Content analysis of WeChat messages shows that salespersons frequently mention hometown-related topics (e.g., shared cultural references) when interacting with same-hometown customers, fostering stronger relational bonds. Moderating analyses indicate that the effect is more pronounced in regions with fewer dialects and stronger clan cultures, supporting the role of cultural proximity, while it is weaker in large cities and same-gender pairs, where incidental similarity may be less impactful. Long-term outcomes further demonstrate that hometown ties lead to fewer product refunds, suggesting that shared hometowns facilitate smoother communication, better service alignment, and higher customer satisfaction. Study 2 examines the role of WeChat profile pictures as a non-intrusive tool for understanding consumer behavior, using a dataset of 9,197 customers on the ZLI platform. Customers with cartoon and human profile pictures show higher conversion rates (8% and 10% increases, respectively) and greater spending (25% and 19% increases, respectively) compared to those with other profile picture types. The effectiveness of sales tactics varies across profile types: for customers with cartoon profile pictures, emphasizing work-related topics reduces purchase likelihood and spending, while using emojis enhances both outcomes; for those with human profile pictures, focusing on money-related topics decreases purchase likelihood, but emojis have a positive effect. These findings highlight the potential of profile pictures to serve as a proxy for consumer characteristics, enabling salespersons to tailor communication strategies effectively. These findings contribute to relationship marketing and consumer segmentation literature by highlighting the role of human connections and visual cues in digital sales, offering practical strategies for sales optimization, and proposing an ethical, privacy-respecting approach to data-driven marketing. This research bridges human-centric and technological approaches, providing actionable insights for improving sales performance in the digital age.