Trust, Social Relations and Engagement: Understanding Customer Behaviour on the Web

Customer engagement

---

How can customers be involved in social marketing programs so that satisfaction, trust, and commitment can lead to actual behaviors and not just intentions? The solution lies in customer engagement. This represents a dilemma, because the multirelationship model of social marketing described by Hastings 5 places the focus once again on social marketing organizations rather than on customers. Addressing this gap, this paper focuses on the central tenet of the multirelationship model of social marketing to consumers, as emphasized by Morgan and Hunt see Figure 2. Multirelationship model of social marketing.

An examination of other such mechanisms led to a focus on the customer engagement concept, which may be a superior predictor of customer loyalty relative to traditionally used marketing constructs. Engagement has been found to generate a number of potentially positive consequences at both the organizational and individual levels including attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, such as job satisfaction, low absenteeism, high organizational commitment, superior customer-related performance, and customer evaluations.

Current research focuses on customer engagement behavior which also encompasses customer cocreation. Therefore, customer engagement is seen from a behavioral perspective. Andreasen 4 has discussed the need for the target audience to be involved in predesign, design, implementation, and evaluation of social programs. However, there has been a surprising oversight by social markets in integrating customers theoretically into social marketing programs, even though reviews of social marketing highlight the importance of focusing on customers for behavior change.

Hastings 5 had made contributions in adding the relational paradigm in social marketing, and Russell-Bennett et al 79 have discussed a value creation model for governmental social marketing activities. Their paper suggests integrating customer engagement in social marketing, as shown in Figure 3 , for further deepening of the social marketing domain. For customers to perceive value and benefit in social marketing interventions and to establish long-term relationships, there is a need to engage customers in creating value to maintain loyalty. The relationships built with different stakeholders through interactions motivate customers to be involved in the design and implementation of effective social marketing programs.

Involvement and interaction allow room for customers to be cocreators in social marketing programs, which customers can then identify with trust and commit to moving from intentions to actual behavior. Social marketing is still the umbrella for behavioral change. Behavioral change is regarded as a subcategory of a larger concept, ie, behavioral influence. This will only happen if there is an environment of satisfaction, trust, and commitment, which needs customer engagement, ie, involvement and interactions.

The move to relational and engagement paradigms in social marketing does not mean that social marketers should ignore the important role played by the traditional marketing mix in designing effective social marketing programs. Segmentation of the target audience, in this case youth, is also critical, as proposed in Figure 4.

This social network is evident amongst youth, who see groups as a reflection of their identity. The premise of social marketing is not only based on adapting commercial marketing techniques but also on relationships.

Product details

There are sets of values and perceptions in the contemporary world to create positive perceived value in the minds of youth through meaningful and long-term relationships trust, commitment, and satisfaction , and youth need to be engaged right at the beginning through involvement and interactions for sustainable behavioral change. Trust, commitment, and satisfaction are not only consequences of customer engagement but are also antecedents of customer engagement in the long term. The absence of customer engagement undermines social marketing programs which have their foundations in youth.

If behavioral change is the ultimate goal, then the process of building relationships has to be incorporated into social marketing. To build this relationship, youth in social marketing programs should be seen as customers and partners in cocreating value. This allows for both consumer-oriented and stakeholder-oriented outcomes to be achieved. Customer engagement should be seen as an added dimension in effective social marketing programs.

Perceived value and perceived benefit of individuals is a manifestation of self image. Because the postmodern customer is going through a transformation of value systems, there is a greater need for empowerment and capacity building. Empowerment refers to the ability of people to gain understanding and control over personal, social, economic, and political forces in order to take action to improve their life situations.

Join Kobo & start eReading today

The process of empowerment, dialog, interaction, and involvement is difficult, 5 but it can be achieved by engaging customers throughout planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of social marketing programs, especially with the involvement of social media. This paper attempts to provide a perspective for integrating customer engagement into a social marketing program. Future research can focus on testing the framework empirically and deepening this concept in social marketing.

National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Adolesc Health Med Ther. Published online Dec Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract It is widely accepted that many social and health problems have underlying behavioral causes. Introduction Youth often make decisions and choices which are detrimental to their health and to society at large. Open in a separate window. Behavior change through social marketing There are three common approaches to behavior change, ie, education, marketing, and legislation. Health belief model Developed in the s, the health belief model suggests that health behavior is a function of individual sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes.

Social cognitive theory The social cognitive learning theory states that new behaviors are learned either by modeling the behavior of others or by direct experience. Diffusion of innovation theory Rogers 36 describes the diffusion of power theory as the process by which an idea is disseminated throughout a community. Post-modernism Post-modern theorists, eg, Lyotard, 44 conceptualize modernity as an historical period in which, despite the world being understood as complex, perceptions were organized by totalizing theoretical systems focused on predictability, objectivity, and scientific progress.

Creation of value The impact of postmodernism and its interplay with marketing has been discussed by previous researchers. Relationship marketing Gronroos 65 developed several new concepts in service marketing, which were later incorporated as part of the Nordic School of Services. Quality perceived by consumers Other researchers 68 , 69 have discussed customer-perceived quality as a function of customer perception of two dimensions, ie, what the customer receives and the impact of various interactions the customer has with the marketing body.

Trust Discussions on trust have received a great deal of attention in organizational behavior studies, 71 in social psychology, 72 sociology, 73 and in economics. Commitment Commitment is considered to be central to all relational exchanges between the various protagonists in commercial marketing. Customer engagement An examination of other such mechanisms led to a focus on the customer engagement concept, which may be a superior predictor of customer loyalty relative to traditionally used marketing constructs.

Footnotes Disclosure The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work. Diamond W, Oppenheim MR. Sources for special topics: J Bus Finance Librarianship. The effectiveness of social marketing interventions for health improvement: Improving the Quality of Life. Marketing social marketing in the social change marketplace. J Public Policy Marketing.

Relational paradigms in social marketing. The life trajectory of social marketing: A systematic review of social marketing effectiveness. Carrots, sticks and promises: Merchandising commodities and citizenship on television.

Applying social marketing to health promotion and disease prevention. Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research and Practice. Kotler P, Zaltman G. The identity crisis in marketing. National Social Marketing Centre. National Consumer Council; Waterschoot W, Van den Bulte C.

The 4P classification of the marketing mix revisited. Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Kotler P, Levy S. Broadening the concept of marketing. Demarketing products which may pose health risks: The determinants of cigarette consumption: Saffer H, Chaloupka F. The effect of tobacco advertising bans on tobacco consumption. Demarketing tobacco through governmental policies: Fishbein M, Ajzen I. Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research.

Navigation menu

A comparison of the theory of planned behavior and the theory of reasoned action. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. The theory of reasoned action: The theory of planned behavior. Organiz Behav Hum Decision Proc. From intentions to actions: Kuhl J, Beckmann J, editors. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Reconceptualising the behavioural approach in agricultural studies: The health belief model. Health Behaviour and Health Education: Health behavior models compared.

The trans-theoretical model of health behavior change. Am J Health Promot. Community-level interventions are needed to prevent new HIV infections. Am J Public Health. The Guilford Press; Howard M, McCabe J.

Helping teenagers postpone sexual involvement. Sexual networks and HIV. Cluster of cases of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Patients linked by sexual contact. Levy SJ, Zaltman G. Marketing, Society and Conflict. The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. University of Minnesota Press; The Consequences of Modernity. American Marketing Association; Postmodernity as the climax of modernity: Dangers of the Bush Legacy. Rowman and Littlefield; About postmodernism [Internet] Acad Marketing Sci Rev [serial on the Internet] Conceptualizing value for the customer: The Nature of Human Value.

The Free Press; Firat AF, Venkatesh A. Int J Res Marketing. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. University of California Press; Kassarjian H, Robertson T, editors. Handbook of Consumer Theory and Research.

The consumer in postmodernity. Advances in Consumer Research. Association for Consumer Research; The widespread adoption of the internet during the late s has enhanced the processes of customer engagement, in particular, the way in which it can now be measured in different ways on different levels of engagement.

It is a recent social phenomenon where people engage online in communities that do not necessarily revolve around a particular product, but serve as meeting or networking places. This online engagement has brought about both the empowerment of consumers and the opportunity for businesses to engage with their target customers online. The concept and practice of online customer engagement enables organisations to respond to the fundamental changes in customer behaviour that the internet has brought about, [14] as well as to the increasing ineffectiveness of the traditional 'interrupt and repeat', broadcast model of advertising.

Due to the fragmentation and specialisation of media and audiences, as well as the proliferation of community- and user generated content , businesses are increasingly losing the power to dictate the communications agenda. Simultaneously, lower switching costs , the geographical widening of the market and the vast choice of content, services and products available online have weakened customer loyalty.

Enhancing customers' firm- and market- related expertise has been shown to engage customers, [15] strengthen their loyalty, [16] and emotionally tie them more closely to a firm. Since the world has reached a population of over 3 billion internet users, it is conclusive that society's interactive culture is significantly influenced by technology.

Connectivity is bringing consumers and organisations together, which makes it critical for companies to take advantage and focus on capturing the attention of and interacting with well-informed consumers in order to serve and satisfy. Connecting with customers establishes exclusivity in their experience, which potentially will increase brand loyalty, word of mouth, and provides businesses with valuable consumer analytics, insight, and retention.

Customer engagement can come in the form of a view, an impression, reach, a click, a comment, or a share, among many others. These are ways in which analytics and insights into customer engagement can now be measured on different levels, all of which is information that allows businesses to record and process results of customer engagement.

Taking into consideration the widespread information and connections for consumers, the way to develop penetrable customer engagement is to proactively connect with customers by listening. Listening will empower the consumer, give them control, and endorse a customer-centric two-way dialogue. This dialogue will redefine the role of the consumer as they no longer assume the end user role in the process.

The Value for Engagement (VFE) Model – Donatella Padua |

Particularly since the internet has provided consumers with the accumulation of much diverse knowledge and understanding, consumers now have increasingly high expectations, developed stronger sensory perceptions, and hence have become more attracted to experiential values. Therefore, it would only be profitable for businesses to submit to the new criteria, to provide the opportunity for consumers to further immerse in the consumption experience. This experience will involve organisations and consumers sharing and exchanging information, which will generate increased awareness, interest, desire to purchase, retention, and loyalty among consumers, evolving an intimate relationship.

Significantly, total openness and strengthening customer service is the selling point here for customers, to make them feel more involved rather than just a number. This will earn trust, engagement, and ultimately word of mouth through endless social circles. Essentially, it is a more dynamic and transparent concept of customer relationship management CRM. Customer engagement marketing is necessitated by a combination of social, technological and market developments. Companies attempt to create an engaging dialogue with target consumers and stimulate their engagement with the given brand.

Although this must take place both on and off-line, the internet is considered the primary method. Marketing begins with understanding the internal dynamics of these developments and the behaviour and engagement of consumers online. Consumer-generated media plays a significant role in the understanding and modeling of engagement.

Upcoming Events

The effectiveness of the traditional 'interrupt and repeat' model of advertising is decreasing, which has caused businesses to lose control of communications agendas. In response to the fragmentation and increased amount of time spent online, marketers have also increased spending in online communication.

ContextWeb analysts found marketers who promote on sites like Facebook and New York Times are not as successful at reaching consumers while marketers who promote more on niche websites have a better chance of reaching their audiences. Rather than trying to position a product using static messages, companies can become the subject of conversation amongst a target market that has already discussed, positioned and rated the product.

This also means that consumers can now choose not only when and how but, also, if they will engage with marketing communications. The lowering of entry barriers, such as the need for a sales force, access to channels and physical assets, and the geographical widening of the market due to the internet have brought about increasing competition and a decrease in brand loyalty. In combination with lower switching costs, easier access to information about products and suppliers and increased choice, brand loyalty is hard to achieve.

The increasing ineffectiveness of television advertising is due to the shift of consumer attention to the internet and new media, which controls advertising consumption and causes a decrease in audience size. This has shifted advertising spending online. The proliferation of media that provide consumers with more control over their advertising consumption subscription-based digital radio and TV and the simultaneous decrease of trust in advertising and increase of trust in peers [20] point to the need for communications that the customer will desire to engage with.

CE behaviour became prominent with the advent of the social phenomenon of online CE. Creating and stimulating customer engagement behaviour has recently become an explicit aim of both profit and non-profit organisations in the belief that engaging target customers to a high degree is conducive to furthering business objectives. Shevlin's definition of CE is well suited to understanding the process that leads to an engaged customer. In its adaptation by Richard Sedley the key word is 'investment'. A customer's degree of engagement with a company lies in a continuum that represents the strength of his investment in that company.

Positive experiences with the company strengthen that investment and move the customer down the line of engagement. What is important in measuring degrees of involvement is the ability of defining and quantifying the stages on the continuum. One popular suggestion is a four-level model adapted from Kirkpatrick's Levels:. Concerns have, however, been expressed as regards the measurability of stages three and four. Another popular suggestion is Ghuneim's typology of engagement. The following consumer typology according to degree of engagement fits also into Ghuneim's continuum: Creators smallest group , Critics, Collectors, Couch Potatoes largest group.

Engagement is a holistic characterisation of a consumer's behaviour, encompassing a host of sub-aspects of behaviour such as loyalty, satisfaction, involvement, Word of Mouth advertising, complaining and more. The behavioural outcomes of an engaged consumer is what links CE to profits. From this point of view,. The main difference between traditional and customer engagement marketing is marked by these shifts:. All marketing practices, including internet marketing , include measuring the effectiveness of various media along the customer engagement cycle, as consumers travel from awareness to purchase.

Often the use of CVP Analysis factors into strategy decisions, including budgets and media placement.

• The English: Move by Move
• THE AMETHYST CRYSTAL
• Wayward Grace (Steamcraft and Sorcery Book 4)
• Web of Mystery #23
• Le Roman de Jacques Bonhomme, laboureur (Terroirs classiques) (French Edition)
• The City (Key Concepts)