Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):32–34 Content available at: https://www.ipinnovative.com/open-access-journals Journal of Management Research and Analysis Journal homepage: https://www.jmra.in/ Original Research Article Customer relationship management vs Consumerism: in post Covid-19 period T Bayavanda Chinnappa 1 , N Karunakaran 2, *, K R Ajith Kumar 3 1 Dept. of Management, People Institute of Management Studies, Munnad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India 2 Dept. of Economics, People Institute of Management Studies, Munnad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India 3 Dept. of Management, People Institute of Management Studies, Munnad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 24-03-2021 Accepted 30-03-2021 Available online 02-05-2021 Keywords: Customer Relationship Management Consumerism COVID19 ABSTRACT The new millennium marketer post covid-19 is faced with a host of challenges and opportunities. Challenges in the form of discerning and knowledgeable prospect/customer base coupled with availability of a plethora of choices which has made the marketers job complicated. The objective of this paper is to reiterate the need for CRM initiatives and corresponding marketing strategies in lieu of covid-19 which the consumer forums and consumerism prevails. The marketers’ job is thus defined and implied (i.e., CRM practice to be imbibed and executed in letter and spirit). Consumerism on the other hand is an established and accepted (albeit with resistance) practice. Consumer exercises his/her right in the event of non- performance or underperformance of the product or service. Be it known that CRM as a marketing tool as compared to consumerism are entities that vests with one, the marketer/company and the other, with the consumer. CRM when practiced in totality is the answer to consumerism. © This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 1. Introduction The new millennium marketer post covid-19 is faced with a host of challenges and opportunities. 1 Challenges in the form of discerning and knowledgeable prospect/customer base coupled with availability of a plethora of choices which has made the marketers job complicated. Opportunities in the form of his disposable income and the flow of FDI and FII have given the marketer a shot in the arm. Switch over of your customer to the competition and poaching by the competition has made Customer Relationship Management (CRM) imperatives, 2 essential, failing which consumerism takes over. 2. Objectives The objective of the paper is to reiterate the need for CRM initiatives and corresponding marketing strategies in lieu of covid-19 which the consumer forums and consumerism * Corresponding author. E-mail address: narankarun@gmail.com (N. Karunakaran). prevails. The marketers’ job is thus defined and implied (i.e., CRM practice to be imbibed and executed in letter and spirit). 3. CRM Vs Consumerism It implies that the customer should be at the centre stage of all activities of the organization (customer centric organization). 3 When the organization smells, feels, hears and breathes the customer, CRM is in its rightful place. This reminds of the company Bata, a shoe major’s adage “If you’re satisfied tell others if not tell us”, 4 indicating that one satisfied customer will bring in ten more. Conversely, dissatisfied customer (with a minimum percentage of post purchase dissonance) is sufficed to erode the customer base and consequently market share (Haridasan and Venkatesh, 2011).Consumerism on the other hand is an established and accepted (albeit with resistance) practice. 5 Consumer exercises his/her right in the event of non performance or underperformance of the product or service. https://doi.org/10.18231/j.jmra.2021.008 2394-2762/© 2021 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved. 32