IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/marpmg/v43y2016i4p420-435.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Customer segmentation of freight forwarders and impacts on the competitive positioning of ocean carriers in the Taiwan--southern China trade lane

Author

Listed:
  • Chieh-Hua Wen
  • Wei-Wei Lin

Abstract

An ocean carrier can establish a competitive advantage to meet the customers’ needs more successfully than its rivals. This requires understanding its major strengths and weaknesses. Exploring market segmentation and competitive positioning in the ocean liner shipping market allows for development of effective marketing and operating strategies for ocean carriers. This study involved surveying freight forwarders that used ocean carriers to move cargo between Taiwan and southern China, and undertaking factor analysis and two-step cluster analysis to group freight forwarders into two customer segments: small firms that emphasize service performance and reputation, and large firms that emphasize freight charges and information technology. For each segment, correspondence cluster analysis was used to create perceptual maps that revealed carriers’ major strengths and weaknesses of services and to classify the carriers into multiple competitive groups. This study concludes with managerial implications and directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Chieh-Hua Wen & Wei-Wei Lin, 2016. "Customer segmentation of freight forwarders and impacts on the competitive positioning of ocean carriers in the Taiwan--southern China trade lane," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 420-435, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:43:y:2016:i:4:p:420-435
    DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2015.1111527
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03088839.2015.1111527
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03088839.2015.1111527?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ana C. Paixão Casaca & Peter B. Marlow, 2005. "The competitiveness of short sea shipping in multimodal logistics supply chains: service attributes," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 363-382, October.
    2. Lu, Chin-Shan, 2003. "The impact of carrier service attributes on shipper-carrier partnering relationships: a shipper's perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 399-415, September.
    3. V. Kannan & S.K. Bose & N.G. Kannan, 2011. "An evaluation of ocean container carrier selection criteria: an Indian shipper's perspective," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(7), pages 754-772, June.
    4. Wen, Chieh-Hua & Chen, Wei-Ying, 2011. "Using multiple correspondence cluster analysis to map the competitive position of airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 302-304.
    5. Shih-Hao Yang & Cheng-Chi Chung, 2013. "Direct shipping across the Taiwan Strait: flag selections and policy issues," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 534-558, November.
    6. Peter C. Wong & Hong Yan & Colin Bamford, 2008. "Evaluation of factors for carrier selection in the China Pearl River delta," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 27-52, February.
    7. Chin-Shan Lu & Kee-Hung Lai & T.C.E. Cheng, 2005. "An evaluation of web site services in liner shipping in Taiwan," Transportation, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 293-318, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sulfiah Dwi Astarini & Christiono Utomo, 2020. "Performance-Based Building Design of High-Rise Residential Buildings in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Surucu-Balci, Ebru & Iris, Çağatay & Balci, Gökcay, 2024. "Digital information in maritime supply chains with blockchain and cloud platforms: Supply chain capabilities, barriers, and research opportunities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    3. Vural, Ceren Altuntaş & Göçer, Aysu & Halldórsson, Árni, 2019. "Value co-creation in maritime logistics networks: A service triad perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 27-39.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Balci, Gökcay & Cetin, Ismail Bilge & Tanyeri, Mustafa, 2018. "Differentiation of container shipping services in Turkey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 26-35.
    2. Michael J. Maloni & David M. Gligor & Ioannis N. Lagoudis, 2016. "Linking ocean container carrier capabilities to shipper–carrier relationships: a case study," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 959-975, November.
    3. Yang, Ching-Chiao & Marlow, Peter B. & Lu, Chin-Shan, 2009. "Assessing resources, logistics service capabilities, innovation capabilities and the performance of container shipping services in Taiwan," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 4-20, November.
    4. Hsu, Wen-Kai K. & Huang, Show-Hui S. & Yu, Hong-Fwu, 2009. "Shipper behavior to use EC services in liner shipping," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 56-66, November.
    5. Kuo, Szu-Yu & Lin, Pei-Chun & Lu, Chin-Shan, 2017. "The effects of dynamic capabilities, service capabilities, competitive advantage, and organizational performance in container shipping," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 356-371.
    6. Peng, Zixuan & Shan, Wenxuan & Guan, Feng & Yu, Bin, 2016. "Stable vessel-cargo matching in dry bulk shipping market with price game mechanism," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 76-94.
    7. Mohammad AL-Zoubi, 2018. "The Role of Technology, Organization, and Environment Factors in Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation Success in Jordan," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(8), pages 48-65, August.
    8. Cheng, Yung-Hsiang & Tsai, Yi-Ling, 2009. "Factors influencing shippers to use multiple country consolidation services in international distribution centers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 78-88, November.
    9. Yuen, Chi-lok Andrew & Zhang, Anming & Cheung, Waiman, 2012. "Port competitiveness from the users' perspective: An analysis of major container ports in China and its neighboring countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 34-40.
    10. Chen, Kee-Kuo & Ho, Hui-Ping & Chang, Ching-Ter, 2015. "Estimating attributes importance for container shipping industry by closing the listening gap with maximum convergent validity," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 145-163.
    11. Pérez-Mesa, Juan Carlos & Galdeano-Gómez, Emilio & Salinas Andújar, Jose A., 2012. "Logistics network and externalities for short sea transport: An analysis of horticultural exports from southeast Spain," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 188-198.
    12. Yang, Chung-Shan & Lu, Chin-Shan & Haider, Jane Jing & Marlow, Peter Bernard, 2013. "The effect of green supply chain management on green performance and firm competitiveness in the context of container shipping in Taiwan," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 55-73.
    13. Nguyen, Son & Chen, Peggy Shu-Ling & Du, Yuquan & Shi, Wenming, 2019. "A quantitative risk analysis model with integrated deliberative Delphi platform for container shipping operational risks," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 203-227.
    14. Morales-Fusco, Pau & Saurí, Sergi & Lago, Alejandro, 2012. "Potential freight distribution improvements using motorways of the sea," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 1-11.
    15. Su-Han Woo & Stephen Pettit & Anthony Beresford & Dong-Wook Kwak, 2012. "Seaport Research: A Decadal Analysis of Trends and Themes Since the 1980s," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 351-377, January.
    16. Hsiang-Yu Ma & Jui-Chung Kao & Rui-Hsin Kao & Cheng-Chung Cho, 2020. "How to Shape the Employees’ Sustainable Work Attitude: The Moderating Effect of Supervisor Attitudes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-27, October.
    17. Konstantinus, Abisai & Zuidgeest, Mark & Hess, Stephane & de Jong, Gerard, 2020. "Assessing inter-urban freight mode choice preference for short-sea shipping in the Southern African Development Community region," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Pérez-Mesa, Juan Carlos & García-Barranco, M & Piedra-Muñoz, Laura & Galdeano-Gómez, Emilio, 2019. "Transport as a limiting factor for the growth of Spanish agri-food exports," MPRA Paper 119855, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Fichert, Frank & Kirschnerová, Ivana & Tomová, Anna, 2020. "Business models in business aviation – An empirical analysis with a focus on Air Charter Companies," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Anastasia Christodoulou & Zeeshan Raza & Johan Woxenius, 2019. "The Integration of RoRo Shipping in Sustainable Intermodal Transport Chains: The Case of a North European RoRo Service," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:43:y:2016:i:4:p:420-435. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TMPM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.