Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/330745 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science [ISSN:] 1552-7824 [Volume:] 53 [Issue:] 5 [Publisher:] Springer US [Place:] New York, NY [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 1447-1481
Publisher: 
Springer US, New York, NY
Abstract: 
Business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers increasingly bundle add-on services with their core service. The implications of such bundles for onboarding customers to the relationship remain unclear; in particular, the common practice of trying to maximize add-on bundling during the customer acquisition phase arguably might conflict with goals to achieve long-term retention of customers. The current study therefore focuses explicitly on the impact of add-on bundling on customer retention during the onboarding stage, using multiple methods. A theories-in-use exploration suggests that the positive effects of add-on bundling may not manifest in the initial relational stage of customer onboarding. A field study involving a B2B SaaS provider further reveals that bundling more add-on services can significantly decrease customer retention during the onboarding stage. Moving to leaner communication channels can aggravate such attrition. Finally, a cross-industry survey of B2B managers identifies complexity perceptions as the likely source of these detrimental effects of add-on bundling during the customer onboarding stage.
Subjects: 
Bundling
Add-on services
Software-as-a-service
Subscription services
B2B services
Customer onboarding
Customer retention
Relationship marketing
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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