Evaluating the Effectiveness of Customer Touchpoints in Multichannel and Omni-channel Environments
COM1 Level 2
Video Conference Room, COM1-02-13
EXAMINERS
1.Dr Phan Tuan Quang
2.Dr Oh Hyelim
ABSTRACT:
In this graduate research paper, we make an extended literature review about customer touchpoints in the context of multichannel and omni-channel. Most of prior studies have not provided well-founded theoretical arguments for differentiation in touchpoint effectiveness and interdependences among different touchpoints. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of customer touchpoints, and to investigate the interdependent relationships (i.e., substitution and complementarity) among different types of touchpoints (i.e., paid media type, owned media type and earned media type) in multichannel and omni-channel environments. Our hypotheses and arguments are proposed mainly within the framework of Media Richness Theory (MRT). Data for this study are provided by one leading multichannel cosmetic retailer. We model the customer purchase outcomes including purchase decision, purchase expenditure and purchase quantity. It is expected that owned media and earned media type of touchpoints would lead to better purchase outcomes than paid media type, but the comparison between owned media type and earned media type is competing. We also expect that positive interdependences exist among different touchpoints, which means one type of touchpoint will not only influence purchase outcomes, but also positively influence the effectiveness of another type of touchpoint (i.e., complementarity effect). This study will contribute to literature on channel integration and customer acquisition in a multichannel or omni-channel setting, and will provide insights for companies that develop and implement multichannel strategies.