Understanding the Impact of Information Quality on Customer Relationship Management

Information represents a valuable firm resource. The quality of this resource can benefit or adversely impact social and/or economic outcomes within the organization. Previous studies predominately establish that a global measure of information quality has a positive relationship with the success of technology adoption. But there is limited understanding of the impact of information quality on outcomes other than technology adoption. This study investigates the multi-dimensional aspect of information quality and advances the proposition that it acts as a strategic success factor to customer relationship performance. Specifically, this study explores information as a resource for the firm and suggests that higher quality information will yield better decisions, which in turn, induces higher customer perceived relationship investment and relationship quality. This research builds upon resource based view theory to conceptualize information as a firm resource and will empirically investigate information quality as either an enhancement or impediment to organizational success of customer relationship management. Finally, this contributes to cross domain literature consisting of information systems and marketing which is currently underexplored. If organizations can identify vulnerability in the information quality structure, information can then be calibrated to reflect necessary improvements. Using a survey of 303 participants from multiple respondent groups (e.g., information producers, custodians, consumers and managers), findings suggest that information quality dimensions have different effects on perceived customer relationship management. Due to the exploratory nature of the study and complexity of the model, results were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results of the study (1) build upon previous information systems literature to identify and analyze information quality dimensions that are a relevant consideration in today’s digital era (2) contribute to resource based view theory literature by establishing that information quality resources represent a strategic success factor to customer relationship performance, and (3) expand upon customer relationship management literature by discovering that information quality drivers distinctively impact management levels in a contrasting manner thereby effecting perceived customer relationship investment and perceived customer relationship quality. In terms of managerial implications, results provide valuable insight that information quality initiatives are a business issue worthy of recognition since the use of information is inextricably linked to performance measures. If organizations continue to struggle with information quality, the information will remain an impediment to customer relationship management success and economic performance