What is it about?
Contrary to popular belief, customers who are shopping do not seem to change mindsets when switching between offline and online channels. The article shows that the attributes consumers use for evaluating offline and online channels mirror each other. The authors introduce the 5C model of customer satisfaction, which shows that five “mirror” features are mainly responsible for customer satisfaction in multichannel environments. Those channel features that have corresponding attributes in the counterpart channel should be the focus of designing parallel routes to market. The five “Cs” of satisfaction relate to choice (assortment breadth and depth), charge (availability of fair prices), convenience (efficiency of the purchase process), confidence (security of transactions), and care (assurance of promised quality).
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Why is it important?
The 5C model improves the measurement of multichannel performance because it lets the firm keep an eye on both offline and online satisfaction in a consistent manner. The paper provides a unified view of channels that helps marketers monitor the performance of basic shopping attributes in both traditional and digital formats. The presented tool allows managers to benchmark channel-specific satisfaction scores.
Perspectives
A major benefit of our 5C model is its direct linkage to budget allocation decisions. As we pinpoint in the article, a channel’s share of investment should match its unexploited satisfaction potential. Therefore, managers ideally invest greater marketing effort in the channel indicating lower absolute satisfaction levels. Interestingly, the 5C model can also be used to optimize within-channel decisions.
Dr Maik Hammerschmidt
Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Channels in the Mirror, Journal of Service Research, June 2015, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1094670515589084.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Identifying Cross-Channel Dissynergies for Multichannel Service Providers
In a multichannel environment, evaluative conflicts (dissynergies) between service channels exist. Building on status quo bias theory, the authors develop a model that relates offline channel satisfaction to perceptions about a new self-service channel. Results show that offline channel satisfaction reduces the perceived usefulness and enhances the perceived risk of the online channel. These inhibiting effects represent a status quo bias. Trust in the bank shows both adoption-enhancing effects and an adoption-inhibiting effect. Finally, the negative relationship between offline channel satisfaction and perceived usefulness is significantly stronger for men, older people, and less experienced Internet users. This study has both theoretical and managerial relevance as it helps to understand consumer behavior in multichannel environments and provides implications for the design of multichannel service strategies.
The service quality-satisfaction link revisited: exploring asymmetries and dynamics
This study provides deeper insight in the link between service quality and customer satisfaction. The traditional assumption of a linear relationship is challenged by exploring asymmetries and dynamics. The simultaneous influence of service quality and customer experience on satisfaction is examined by means of nonlinear structural equation modeling. Results show that functional-utilitarian quality attributes (availability, efficiency, fulfillment, and privacy) lose their capability to delight customers as the customer relationship matures. In contrast, hedonic quality attributes (design, enjoyment, and image) only exhibit an increasing effect on satisfaction for more experienced customers. These insights are vital for service managers as they help to improve the efficiency of quality investments.
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