Snubbing the old to embrace the new: the impact of cross-buying on the usage of existing services

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of an additional service on existing consumers’ usage of existing services from the same service provider. Research has often focused on marketers’ efforts to sell new offerings to existing customers. However, does the consumption of these new offerings by existing customers affect their usage of the firm’s existing services? This research examines this question in the context of a subscription service. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses matched consumer- and firm-level data from a leading telecom service provider in India. These data include responses from 230 consumers, as well as details on their usage of existing and additional services. The data are analyzed using three-stage least squares regressions while controlling for consumers’ past usage of the existing services. Findings: The results indicate that existing consumers’ cross-buying of the new service results in a reduction of their future usage of existing services. Most consumers also managed to maintain their monthly payments constant, even though they had subscribed to the new service. Together, these findings imply that consumers reallocate their budget by reducing their usage of existing services to accommodate the usage of an additional service from the same service provider. Consequently, the revenue of the firm might not always increase when the consumer cross-buys an additional service from the firm. Originality/value: Marketing research on cross-buying has so far neglected to look at the effects of existing consumers’ adoption of an additional service on existing services of the service provider. This study focused on this gap in knowledge, in the context of subscription services. Using consumers’ perceptions and matched service usage data, the authors extend the literature that tries to understand why cross-buying may not be beneficial to the firm in certain service settings.