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Abstract
Nowadays, living in the era of digitalization implies that companies have to focus on such phenomena as e-commerce and online marketing. The majority of interactions and transactions take place online and gaining the profound understanding of this topic has to be considered as highly important. To understand the working mechanisms of online consumer behaviour, the literature review was conducted. It helped determine a substantial role of the brand, online communities, and online customer dimensions (Communication, Interaction, Customer, Experience, Satisfaction, Continued Involvement, Bonding, and Recommendation).
Despite a significant number of researches conducted in this sphere, there were some gaps. Consequently, this research study attempted to address the topic of online customer engagement and the consistency of the seven dimensions. At the same time, it was critical to reveal whether the consistency of the theory of full cycle and incomplete cycle. Analysing these issues with the examples of the Australian banks such as Commonwealth, ANZ, and Westpac banks assisted in evaluating the consistency of the existent full cycle model and introduced particular adjustments. The quantitative method was used to analyse the posts and comments of the clients of the banks in the Facebook communities. It presented the analysis in the form of a sequence of steps. Alternatively, the qualitative method was utilised to provide recommendations to the banks.
The findings revealed that the complete cycle has a direct connection with the positive outcome of the interaction. At the same time, based on the results of this research study, the new model was proposed, and it included the stages like C-I-CE(S)-CI-B, as other phases are difficult to identify. As for the recommendations, the banks had to pay vehement attention to the training of their personnel, focus on C-I stages of interactions, and optimise the frequency of replies to the comments. A combination of these factors would assist the banks in restoring their brand image in the online environment. It remains apparent that marketing professionals, scholars, and newcomers to the industry could also use the findings of this research. In future, the practitioners can conduct similar studies to understand the definitions of the existent dimensions and discover the online consumer behaviour in different platforms and sectors.
Introduction
Nowadays, the modern world continues to develop, and it is under a vehement influence of the Internet and the associated consequences (Jordan 2013; Dutton 2013; Canzer 2009). The trends such as digitalisation and social media are gaining their significance in the modern business environment by becoming more and more popular among users (Looy 2016). At the same time, it could be said that they are engaging different consumer groups in these activities while overcoming the difficulties and challenges of the competitive rivalry. In this instance, it enhances communication between the customers.
At the same time, it minimises this gap by providing the clients with a platform to share their opinions and preferences and recommending the company and its products to each other (Langer 2014). As for the interaction between customers and brands, Langer (2014) highlights that introduction of social media assisted in finding touchpoints with the clients and emphasising the significance of external communication. The aspects indicated above underline that one cannot imagine their lives without social media, and it becomes one of the crucial elements to ensure the interaction between customers and companies and one of the effective methods for information sharing.
Consequently, marketers and brand managers tend to take advantage of these principles and use these innovations and technological tendencies to optimise their marketing campaigns and communication with clients (Sfetsu 2015). The shift in demand for e-commerce services can be explained by its impact on the customer’s engagement and its ability to increase profits of the company (Mittal 2013). For instance, the capability of e-commerce to reach many consumers at the same time helps increase the awareness of the potential clients about the brand and spread information about it in the social media.
These activities of the customers online have a positive effect on the company’s budgeting by decreasing its expenditures on marketing. It takes place, as the users of the social networks have a tendency to spread the information themselves (Neti 2011). Alternatively, it can change the consumer behaviour in the desired way, as the firms can actively interact with customers and create a particular perception of the trends (Mittal 2013). A combination of these factors underlines the fact that one cannot underestimate a positive impact of social media on the marketing campaigns and communication with consumers.
Nonetheless, despite these positive trends, these innovations have a tendency to pose some challenges. For instance, social media raises the need for the transparency of operations. As a consequence, any actions, which are perceived as wrongful in the society, can damage the company’s image and lead to the loss of the market share (Mohammadi and Nezhad 2015). At the same time, these changes affect consumer behaviour.
For instance, the stages of the consumer engagement cycle and role of the client were modified. Now, these relationships are more complicated, and the customers are involved in the decision-making in the firm (Lam et al. 2013). Discovering these consequences can be viewed as the primary goal of this research since the sphere of e-commerce will continue to evolve and depicting its positive features will have a beneficial impact on the development of the effective marketing campaigns.
Online Customer Engagement Definition
Online consumer engagement will be the main term discussed in this paper. It could be said that it is one of the main components of e-commerce and e-business and tactics to encourage interactions with the customers. In this case, it is critical to define it and identify the vital elements of this concept. Otherwise, it will be difficult to determine the main processes involved in this working mechanism.
It could be said that this aspect implies not only helping customers with the basic online activities such as transactions and support but also focuses on creating a particular image of the company and the brand (Verhoef et al. 2010).
Based on the main features of the model mentioned above, it could be said that it focuses on informing about the brand and the activities of the company, offering support and services, and trying to satisfy the clients’ needs and preferences. In turn, the second part encourages customers to continue this relationship and become loyal users of the company’s products and services (Bowen and Ozuem 2014). In this case, focusing on customer satisfaction is one of the central matters that helps the users to spread information about the company while becoming loyal customers of the brand.
Nonetheless, technological development modified this term and underlined the importance of clients in e-commerce (Lam et al. 2013). It remains apparent that the traditional definition of consumer engagement had the intention to cover similar purposes, but the means of encouraging customers to communicate were different and challenging in the past. Nowadays, the majority of the communicating activities is completed with the help of instant messaging and social media networks (Smith and Zook 2011).
These innovations require markers and brand managers to take advantage of these aspects, use them to reach the target audience, and increase the consumer engagement. Overall, it could be said that the idea of online customer engagement has many goals to accomplish and dividing it into components will assist in understanding the steps to be taken to evaluate the online actions of the users.
Importance of Online Customer Engagement
With the development of social media and the Internet, the perceptions concerning the communication of the brand with consumers have changed (Cabiddu et al. 2014). More and more purchases and business processes take place online. Nowadays, it is possible to take part in different activities without leaving home, as one can browse the Internet and find the best options for oneself. Initially, social media and instant messaging were used for individual communication and information sharing.
Nonetheless, the evolution of the business world and changes in consumer behaviour led to the need to use these aspects in the marketing and advertising purposes. This modification is logical. Nowadays, customers not only communicate with the individual users online but also interact with brands, Dessart et al. (2015) state. Consequently, the online consumer engagement is important, as it assists in establishing trusting relationships with the clients and encouraging them to participate in the company’s decision-making processes.
Alternatively, social media makes the marketing campaigns affordable and helps the companies reduce their marketing and advertising expenses (Cabiddu et al. 2014). The firms do not need to have a high budget to spend on promotion and marketing campaigns.
Consequently, using online technologies assists in reducing expenditure and stay competitive in the market. In this case, the companies can increase their spending on other activities such as R&D and innovations. This fact implies that it is necessary to take advantage of online social media platforms, as it assists in finding a connection with consumers and building trusting relationships with them.
At the same time, it could be discovered as one of the instruments, which helps the company generate a high return on investment (Bowen and Ozuem 2014). In this instance, the firms have a tendency to use many tools to measure the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns, and social media and online marketing are perceived as the most important tactics to attract more customers and generate higher revenues (Bowen and Ozuem 2014).
There are many registered users in online networks, and having brand communities in social platforms increases recognition of the brand and helps reach several customer groups simultaneously. A combination of these matters signifies that despite the recent introduction of the definition, online consumer engagement is vehemently important, as it assists in establishing a rapport with the customers and optimising the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns at a low cost.
Key Stakeholders in Online Customer Engagement
To understand the working mechanism of online consumer engagement, it is critical to identify the main actors involved in this process. A stakeholder could be viewed as an essential contributor to the success of the organisation since they are interested in actions of the company and their outcomes (Freeman 2010; Sasch and Ruhli 2011). It is important to consider their opinions and design a product or service that complies with the needs of all stakeholder groups. In the context of this study, they pertain to the brand, customer, and social media platform.
Initially, a brand is a perception of the company, its values, mission, and vision, which were developed among the consumers with the help of interactions and communications via different marketing channels (Dwivedi 2005). Complying with the customers’ perceived expectations creates a positive image of the firm, and one of the contributors to a high desire of consumers to continue the relationship with the brand (Dwivedi 2005).
Nonetheless, a brand is not only an image of the company. The era of digitalisation has changed its principles, and it is important to take into account brand communities. They tend to unite consumers that share similar viewpoints about the brand and offer a suitable platform for ensuring the effective interaction and communication between the customer and the firm (Gummerus et al. 2012; Algesheimer et al. 2005). In the context of this research paper, the images of Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ banks and their community groups on Facebook are the representatives of brands and the main stakeholders of the current research study.
As for the customers, in the context of the online environment, it can be referred to as a user, who tends to research and share opinions, emotions, and feelings about products, services, and particular events online (Sashi 2012). Nonetheless, there are different forms of consumers dependent on the desire to continue their relationships with the brand (Sashi 2012). The most common groups were fans and transactional and loyal customers (Sashi 2012). In this case, loyal customers experience a high level of intimacy towards the brand while transactional ones are only temporary clients. In the context of this paper, the consumer behaviour will be evaluated based on the posts and comments left by the users on Facebook with the help of the main dimensions of consumer engagement cycle.
Lastly, one cannot underestimate the role of the online platform, as it is a network where all interactions between consumers, social groups, brands, and celebrities take place. It helps individuals and organisations share their opinions about different social events, posts, products, and services with the help of likes and reposts (Neti 2011). Despite having a distribution of information as one of its major roles, social media platforms prioritise the concepts of networking, as not only delivering the message but also encouraging customers to interact is one of its most important goals (Neti 2011). Nowadays, there are many communication channels that users can use for information sharing such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and others (Neti 2011).
They tend to have various features, but all of them encourage their users to interact and communicate with each other. In the context of this study, it is represented by Facebook, as it is one of the most popular social platforms in the modern world. At the same time, selecting Facebook can be explained by the easy-to-use feedback and commentary systems that assist in tracking comments and actions of the users.
Overall, it could be said that each stakeholder group has to be considered in the research study. All of them can be discovered as equally important since they form a chain that ensures that the message of the company will be delivered to the customers. For instance, without the active involvement of the social media, it is impossible to establish a connection and rapport between customers and companies. In this case, social media gives an opportunity to interact and communicate successfully. At the same time, the interaction between customers and brand is essential, as they are the main participants of buyer-seller interactions.
Customer Engagement Dimensions
To understand the processes of online consumer engagement, several dimensions were introduced. Initially, only three components of the consumer cycle were detected, and they were “cognition, effect, and behaviours” (Dessart et al. 2015, p. 28). These stages reflected the main aspects that affect the desire of the consumer to continue a relationship with a brand (Dessart et al. 2015). They tended to cover consumer attitudes, wants, and preferences, as they had a clear reflection on the brand and quality of interactions (Dessart et al. 2015).
Nonetheless, based on a substantial number of researches conducted, the critical components of consumer engagement were modified and expanded. It was essential, as following these stages assists the companies in monitoring customer’s interactions with the brand (Dessart et al. 2015).
In this case, Ertell (2010) was one of the researchers, who proposed the idea that more phases have to be introduced to the existent consumer engagement cycle. In this case, the author added stages such as advocacy, retention, and commitment (Ertell 2010). They have a tendency to provide a clear understanding of the processes and stages that a consumer has to experience. Adding extra ones will have a beneficial impact on enhancing interactions with the customers. This aspect will assist in discovering the behaviour from different angles and take into account important details related to the consumer needs and preferences.
Now, it is vital to discover seven main dimensions, as they can be used to present stages that a customer experiences when communicating with the brand online. These phases were selected based on several scientific studies including the research by Ertell. However, some of them were renamed to ensure that their definitions reflect their meaning and intentions. They are Communication, Interaction, Customer Experience, Satisfaction, Continued Involvement, Bonding, and Recommendations. Describing them will offer a clear understanding of each process and role of the brand and customer in each of them.
The first stage (Communication) implies establishing contact with the customers by means of direct and indirect communication (Poovalighan and Veraasamy 2007). In this case, the firm can deliver its message via the posts in the social media, emails, and instant messaging. It can be present in any form including simple text and images. It helps the company to increase awareness of the customers and reach the target audience by prioritising the significance of marketing activities (Hudson and Hudson 2013).
At the same time, it has a high interference with the value creation process, as the first communication assists in developing particular associations with the brand and its values (Banyte et al. 2014). It could be discovered as the most important stage in the process of online consumer engagement since it helps establish an initial contact and determine the main touchpoints with the clients.
The process of Interaction could be viewed as a subsequent stage, and this phase pertains to engaging customers in the activities with the brand in the social media or its official website (Liu and Shrum 2002). It is mostly viewed as expressing opinions about the company and sharing feedback with the help reposts and likes on Facebook. This stage focuses on being in direct contact with the customers by responding to their comments in the social media. The role of this stage cannot be underestimated since it is one of the stages that assists in building the connection with the Internet users.
In turn, the level of Satisfaction is measured by the ability of the brand and its products to meet the perceived expectations of the consumers (Anderson et al. 1994). This stage helps customers assess offered products and services and understand the desire to continue the relationship with the brand. It could be viewed as one of the outcomes the phases such as communication and interaction mentioned above, as it implies response of customers to these aspects. In this case, positive feedback and actual satisfaction are priorities, as they can be discovered as a driver to continue being in contact with the brand.
Alternatively, Customer Experience is the reaction of a consumer to the offered goods and services (Meyer and Schwager 2007). It could be said that this matter is related to the previous dimension (Satisfaction), but this phase also tends to cover emotional and cognitive components. Focusing on these features helps marketers establish long-term and trusting relationships with the customers. It remains apparent that it is linked to the previous stages and is rarely discovered as a separate phase (Rohm et al. 2012).
Positive feedback leads to Continued Involvement with the brand on the long-term basis (Vries et al. 2012). Its main features pertain to encouraging consumers to continue communication and interactions with the brand by engaging them in various activities (Vries et al. 2012). Nowadays, to ensure a high level of connection, the companies tend to underline the significance of online environment and use social networks as one of the most suitable instruments. It helps marketers find a connection with the consumers and take into account their needs and preferences when developing new marketing strategies.
As for Bonding, it implies a higher level of intimacy with the customers than continued involvement. It could be said that this stage is linked to the customer’s loyalty and a high level of trust (Eskafi et al. 2013). Simultaneously, one cannot underestimate various external factors such as social values, preferences, and attitudes, as they have a tendency to define whether the consumer is satisfied or not (Eskafi et al. 2013).
As a result of this dimensions, the customers are interested in continuing being loyal to a particular brand and interact with it on the long-term basis. Furthermore, Recommendation can be discovered as a final and the first stage at the same time. In this instance, the customers show interest in sharing their opinions about the brand and encourage other users to try its products and services (Keller 2007). It can be viewed as the actual outcome of the subsequent stages and the most important one to increase the market share.
Based on the analysis of dimensions described above, it could be said that all of them have to considered as highly important. They tend to reflect the sequence of steps that define a desire of the consumer to continue a long-term relationship with the brand.
At the same time, this description of dimensions depicts the main features of consumer behaviour that the marketers and management of the firm have to consider when designing an online marketing strategy. Nonetheless, despite being well-established in the previous researches, it remains apparent that the definitions tend to lack details. This matter creates confusion and difficulties when trying to access each stage separately.
Research Motivation
The factors indicated in the previous sections underline that the spheres of e-commerce and online consumer engagement are relatively new and have not been studied profoundly. Nowadays, online consumer engagement is one of the critical components of the online marketing strategy of every company since the majority of interactions and purchases have a tendency to take place online (Langer 2014; Schneider 2011).
Consequently, using the features of online social media will not only help the company comply with the present trends of the industry but also decrease its marketing expenses and effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. Social media will allow covering different groups of target audience and increasing recognition worldwide (Bowen and Ozuem 2014). A combination of these factors underlines the significance of the topic and can be discovered as one of drivers to research the online consumer engagement profoundly.
Alternatively, these topics and themes are associated with many challenges, which may affect the revenues of the public sector and private businesses in a negative way. Consequently, it is necessary to improve the understanding of these concepts to help develop the most suitable strategies to reach the target audience. For example, there is no clear distinction between the communication and interaction, as these stages tend to be present at the same time to attract the attention of consumers.
Alternatively, there are dimensions that have not been previously introduced. Consumer experience is one of them since it is connected to the outcomes of previous stages such as satisfaction, and it is difficult to discover it as a separate component (Rohm et al. 2012). In this instance, the desire to contribute to the modern business world and its innovation is one of the main drivers to select this topic for the research study.
Despite having the majority of the reasons connected with the gaps in the previous research, there are several personal causes that boosted my wish to select this research topic. In the first place, one of them pertains to my desire to gain proficiency in this field of business. This sphere is future-oriented and may experience a positive shift in popularity in the recent future. At the same time, the desire to pursue career in e-commerce and online marketing is also one of the definers of this selection.
It could be said that these findings will have a beneficial impact on my career development, as with the help of this research study, I will gain profound understanding of this research topic and can use these findings in the marketing sphere. Overall, it could be said that choosing this topic for research is reasonable from both personal and professional viewpoints. It will not only fulfil the existent gaps in knowledge but will also have a positive impact on my future career development. A combination of these factors offers a clear rationale for conducting this research and expanding the horizons on the selected topic.
Thesis Structure and Summary
As for the structure of this research paper, in the first place, Chapter 1 will identify key terms and concepts, which will be addressed in the research paper. Consequently, referring to the term of online consumer engagement, its significance, and the key stakeholders of this working mechanism will have a beneficial understanding of the flow of the research. To understand the working principles of the selected theories, the Facebook posts and consumer behaviour and interactions related to Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ banks will be discussed.
Chapter 2 will determine the practical application of the research in terms of its theoretical, practical, and socio-economic importance. This section will help identify the potential implications of the research study. In turn, Chapter 3 is represented in the form of the literature review. It discusses each of the dimensions of online consumer engagement (communication, interaction, customer-experience, satisfaction, continued involvement, bonding, and recommendation) and depicts the main gaps such as the lack of knowledge and limitations of the research.
Chapter 4 addresses the research questions, which can be formulated as ‘What dimensions does the consumer behaviour reflect when a user is involved in the social media interactions?’, ‘Is the current consumer engagement cycle applicable in every case?’, and ‘Are there any adjustments that can be made based on the analysis of the online consumer behaviour of three banks?’, and ‘What recommendations can be made to the selected banks based on the findings of the research study?’.
Chapter 5 describes the research methodology, and it analyses the customer’s comments in terms of seven dimensions (C-I-CE-S-CI-B-R) and determines the cycles that the comments of the users of the selected posts cover. To analyse the findings both qualitative and quantitative methods were used, and participation of consumer in each stage represented by quantitative measures as a sequence of letters, and the evaluation of the comments and their content is accomplished with the help of the qualitative method.
Chapter 7 reflects the main findings of the paper and displays discussion. In this case, the research attempted to reveal that not all seven dimensions are involved in online consumer actions every time, and some of them are difficult to differentiate from each other. At the same time, the main findings refer to the need to adjust the model of consumer engagement cycle and emphasise as important for the working principles of the banks. Chapter 8 reflects the main limitations of the research, which pertain to substantial focus on the banking sphere and difficulties to find the main differences between the elements of online consumer engagement. Studying these aspects in the recent future could be viewed as the principle emphasis of the future research.
Research Significance
Theoretical/Technical Significance
As it was mentioned earlier, the e-commerce and e-business spheres are rather new and require profound research to understand how different commercial instruments can be used to take advantage of these innovations (Schneider 2011). Nonetheless, this trend is starting to gain popularity among independent marketers and business owners due to its ability to increase ROI and visibility of the firms in the market (Bowen and Ozuem 2014; Mohapatra and Lokhande 2014).
Despite a significant number of studies presented in this sphere, the gaps tend to exist since not all dimensions have clear definitions. It could be said that online consumer engagement is a relatively new trend, and dividing it into phases has been only recently introduced. The definitions lacked details and were rather confusing and challenging for the practitioners. For instance, there was no strong distinction between consumer experience and other stages (Rohm et al. 2012).
At the same time, it is difficult to differentiate communication from interaction, as these components are vehemently connected and dependent on each other (Sfetsu 2015). They are highly important since not discovering them leads to confusion among practitioners and a potential loss of the revenues. Consequently, this aspect pertains to the fact that these components do not have the well-defined differences.
In the context of this research study, these elements will be discovered separately, and this matter will offer more clarity to the existing definitions. Fulfilling these gaps in knowledge will help establish new theories and add details to the current ones. This study attempts to address this problem, and with the assistance of this research, it will be possible to introduce new ways in developing these definitions and adding more details to the existent dimensions of the online consumer engagement cycle and consistency of the existent model.
At the same time, some of the gaps may be discovered as potential reasons for misunderstandings and question the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. The lack of this knowledge creates confusion and difficulties for the businesses when operating in the industry. In this case, one of the benefits of this study is the fact that it takes into account different components mentioned above such as the main phases of online consumer engagement model simultaneously to define the working mechanism of online consumer engagement. Conducting this research will assist in revealing the principle touchpoints between these segments and determine the main differences between them.
With the help of the analysis, it will be possible to design the most appropriate and online marketing strategy, which will help the company survive the intensity of the rivalry (Ferrell and Hartline 2013). With the assistance of the practical examples, this study helps to find a basis for the development of the universal strategy that takes into account different theoretical principles to be used in different contexts.
Overall, it could be said that this study attempts to fulfil the existent theoretical gaps in knowledge. This research will expand the understanding of the consumer engagement cycle and its dimensions and proposing the adjustment that can be introduced to these models. At the same time, it will assist in depicting with the existent marketing principles and design a suitable theoretical framework that can be applied in different contexts and spheres.
Practical Significance
Despite having a substantial focus on the theory, the findings can be used by the business practitioners and marketers, as the main idea of the case is not only to fulfil the theoretical gaps but also improve the definitions of concepts to make them applicable in practice. In the first place, it will reveal whether the proposed theories of seven dimensions of consumer engagement can be applied in practice and contribute to the development of the effective marketing campaigns.
One of the goals of this research is to understand the consistency and relevance of the existent definitions and add more details to their descriptions. Consequently, proposing these modifications in the theoretical frameworks will assist in building trusting relationships with the customers and attracting new ones to start their journey with the brand.
In this case, the findings will provide real-life examples of online consumer engagement on social media platforms such as Facebook. The gained knowledge can be used to collect information about the consumer behaviour and desire to continue a relationship with the brand and community groups in the social networks (Facebook) with the similar features. The new entrants can take advantage of these findings, as they do not usually have a set of required skills and competences to be able to design the effective online marketing campaigns.
Alternatively, these results can also be used by the experts in the industry, as living in the era of globalisation and digitalisation requires the companies to take advantage of online marketing to be able to face intensified rivalry. In the context of this paper, the major users of this information are Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ banks, as possible recommendations on improving the quality of consumer engagement will be introduced to these businesses in details.
At the same time, this research paper will not only address the application of the existent theoretical concepts in the real business world but also will propose a relevant methodology. In this case, the research approach used in this study can be applied to interpret the actions of the consumers and depict its connections with the existent consumer engagement cycle.
At the same time, using similar qualitative methods can have a beneficial impact on the interpretation of the user comments and be used to enhance the current value proposition and posts and encourage the desired reactions. This tactic can be actively used to evaluate and depict the main features of consumers and adapt the existent marketing strategies to meet their perceived expectations. Understanding these principles will revolutionise the marketing sphere while making it easy to monitor.
Overall, these findings can reveal whether the proposed theories of online consumer engagement can be applied to practice. At the same time, evaluating the consumer interactions with the Facebook posts of the selected banks will determine the connection between the theory and practice and identify an existent gap in knowledge. Introducing the adjustments to the existent theoretical dogmas will minimise the adverse consequences and increase the quality of the delivered messages. A combination of these aspects states that this knowledge has a beneficial impact on the development of the associated theories and optimising the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns.
Socio-Economic Significance
As for the economic importance, in the first place, the desired outcomes can be actively used to increase the retention of the clients. Taking advantage of online consumer engagement can increase company’s revenues and its market share. It can be achieved by attracting current and potential customers to the Facebook pages of the banks. Taking advantage of social media platform and brand communities will help deliver the desired message to the customers, maintain the relationship, and encourage customers to continue the relationship with the company. This aspect will be a potential cause for the retention of the consumers and, as a consequence, one of the instruments to increase firm’s revenues (Butscher 2002).
At the same time, the findings of this research paper can help enhance the cost-effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. Using online platforms can assist the companies in saving financial sources and devoting them to other activities.
For instance, increasing the spending on research and development and innovation will expand the number of innovative products and services proposed by the firm. It will help the firm stay competitive in the market while complying with the continuously changing trends in the industry (Wingate 2014). Alternatively, the company can focus on improving the quality of the existent services by paying more attention to training and development of the personnel (Radzi et al. 2014).
Based on the findings depicted above, from the economic perspective, it will have a positive impact on the company’s financial prosperity and national economics. Using these results will assist in distributing the financial resources wisely and will have a positive reflection not only on the micro-economic level but also will increase the contribution of the banking sector to the overall economy of the country (Monin and Jokipii 2010). In this case, the sufficient functioning of the companies will have a positive impact on the growth of GDP and help ensure the financial stability in the country (Baumol and Blinder 2008).
Speaking specifically of banking segment, it is highly competitive as more and more offers appear in the market every day (Monin and Jokipii 2010). This new trend underlines that the banks have to take advantage of this segment, as digitalisation, fast development of technology, and rising popularity of social media influence the consumer behaviour (Tuten 2008). Applying the acquired findings into practice will increase the competitiveness of the banks selected for the research study. At the same time, it will ensure the stability and importance of the banks and differentiate them from the substitute services and products.
In this case, focusing on these matters will not only help upsurge the retention and involvement of the consumers in the development of the brand but also increase consumer awareness about different products and services. It could be said that this approach will help underline significance of the banks and help the clients ease their living with the banking services. The customers will understand the opportunities in the banking sector and learn something new about the products and services that interest them the most. At the same time, it will have a positive impact on the financial stability and prosperity of clients, as the representatives of the banks can answer their research questions and interact with them online.
Overall, it could be said that this research will have a positive impact on the economic conditions of the banks. Using the principles of online consumer engagement wisely can improve the quality of the provided services, contribute to the effective distribution of financial resources, increase in the revenues, and the importance of consumer opinions. At the same time, at micro-level, it can increase retention of the customers and enhance their awareness about the existent products and services. Alternatively, these changes have an advantageous impact at macro-level, as the firm’s revenues have a direct influence on the country’s GDP. A combination of these findings underlines the significance of the research in the field of e-commerce since it will have a positive effect on the society and economics of the country.
Literature Review
Online Customer Engagement
Online Customer Engagement: Introduction
The continuous technological development underlines the significance of digitalisation in various business operations (Resaul 2012; Jones 2011). This trend and its active presence in different business spheres and can be viewed as one of the major drivers for e-business and e-commerce. The gadgets tend to be constantly developed, as it offers an extended number of opportunities to the sources to acquire the information.
Nowadays, e-commerce is one of the processes, which gives customers and businesses a possibility to communicate online and offers goods and services (Schneider 2011). Nonetheless, the individuals often have a limited understanding of these concepts and underline only the shopping activities in the World Wide Web (Schneider 2011). Nonetheless, e-commerce is a complex business aspect with its principle emphasis on sales but not limited to it.
Alternatively, it also includes maintenance services and other supporting activities such as marketing, as they ensure the delivery of the actual message to the customers. Overall, it could be said that e-commerce transforms and adds notions to the ways of conducting and organising business operations and processes while taking advantage of the Internet and its constantly developing opportunities.
The existence of a plethora of capabilities of the concept of digitalisation increases the rivalry and requires the companies to optimise their value proposition. To remain competitive in the market and enlarge their market shares, the firms have to adapt to the constantly changing environment rapidly and not underestimate the gravity of flexibility. In this case, it could be said that this sphere has a vehement involvement in marketing activities and design of the advertising campaigns, as it implies that it assists in establishing a trusting relationship with the customers while gathering the feedback from them to improve the quality of the delivered services and products.
In this case, the majority of the companies tend to prioritise the gravity of the relationship management to support new marketing trends (Parvatiar and Sheth 2001). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one the prominent movements in marketing and business, which gained recognition among scientific researchers, scholars, and practitioners (Parvatiar and Sheth 2001). Using the concepts of CRM helps companies to enhance their marketing strategies to maximise the returns from sales and improve relationships with clients by collecting and analysing information about their consumer behaviour in a long-term (Parvatiar and Sheth 2001).
This model emphasises the importance of client-centred relationship while changing the overall flow of information and values in the organisation. Nonetheless, despite the substantial importance of CRM in the improvement of the business processes, executives of some companies tend to underestimate a pivotal role of this management system or have misconceptions about the applications of this model and its critical contribution to establishing a rapport with the customers.
To minimise the occurrence of misunderstandings, the researchers attempted to divide the consumer engagement process into stages while considering both online and traditional behavioural patterns. Meanwhile, the consumer experience was a central component in the majority of the business studies, but its features were discovered independently.
Alternatively, the firms have to consider the significance of social media, as this aspect is gaining its popularity in the marketing sphere and business environment (Tuten 2008). It underlines the fact that this instrument can be used to enhance collaborations with the consumers. In turn, another trend that becomes extremely important is the fact that online interaction starts being personalised (Kerpen 2011). This aspect implies that the customising the interface and including customers in the engagement process will optimise the efficiency of this approach. In this case, the majority of the companies were able to take advantage of these innovations.
However, despite the initial positive intentions, the process of online consumer engagement is associated with various complications and challenges (Weber 2009). To overcome these difficulties, the firms have to focus on advantages of this online phenomenon, as it offers the number of positive possibilities to enhance the engagement with the consumers and improve the competitive edge (Ritzer and Jurgeson 2010).
In this instance, the principles goal of the literature review is to acquire the insights of the working mechanism of online customer engagement. Focusing on the model of seven dimensions will assist in understanding the flow of information and identify the main strategies to increase customers’ participation in the development of the firm. Communication, interaction, customer experience, satisfaction, continued involvement, bonding, and recommendations are the major spheres to be discovered to understand the main principles of consumer behaviour.
The literature review will not only attempt to reveal the main details about the indicated phases but also highlight the critical gaps in the existent literature. It will help understand the aspects, which can be used as the major drivers for the subsequent research. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to summarise the main findings of the literature review and underline the main gaps depicted in the previous sections.
Value Creation in Customer Engagement
At the same time, it is critical to address the idea of value creation, as it has a beneficial impact on understanding the working principles of the customer engagement. The process of value creation implies using various marketing activities and communication of vision and mission internally and externally to create a particular image of the company and underline its value (Banyte et al. 2014).
In this instance, these definitions are interdependent, and their connection tends to have a beneficial influence on the loyalty of the consumers (Banyte et al. 2014). Consequently, they have to be considered at the same time to avoid confusion and evaluate their concepts from dissimilar angles. In this case, the authors indicate that the major aspect of the values creation process is communication of the medical personnel with the patients (Banyte et al. 2014). In the context of this research paper, engaging consumers in various activities and being in direct contact with them has a positive impact on trust (Banyte et al. 2014).
It could be said that these findings are beneficial for the process of value creation and underline that it has to be considered as a critical element of the stages of interaction and communication. Nonetheless, the primary drawback of this study is its focus on the medical sphere. This limitation may imply that these outcomes cannot be used in other contexts, as healthcare segment has its own specifics.
Brand Engagement
Another term that has to be considered as a part of the customer engagement model, as it is identified as one of the most important stakeholders of this process. The concept of brand engagement pertains to building an emotional bond with the company and attempts to create positive associations and attitudes towards the brand (Hollebeek 2011). Considering brand community is highly important since its presence in the social networks has a critical impact on developing trusting relationships with the brand.
For instance, these social groups are formed on Facebook and other social networks and unite people with the similar perceptions about the brand (Gummerus et al. 2012; Algesheimer et al. 2005). These findings tend to show that these aspects have a positive impact on building trusting relationships with the brand, but they create pressure at the same time (Algesheimer et al. 2005). In this case, the primary limitation of these findings is their focus on particular groups and social networks.
Another aspect that tends to have a substantial influence on the customer engagement is brand love. In this case, the researchers identify that this novel psychological concept is emerging, and the researchers tend to connect this aspect with an interpersonal feeling of love (Sarkar 2013). This finding indicates that consumer engagement has to be discovered from the emotional perspective with a sense of irrationality, as it will assist in developing intimate relationships with the customers and increase their desire to continue being in direct contact with the brand (Sarkar 2013).
At the same time, many researchers indicate the phenomenon of brand jealousy and propose various scale to measure it (Sarkar and Sreejeh 2014). A combination of these factors has a positive impact on developing a trusting relationship with the company due to the ability to consider customers from dissimilar angles.
Online Customer Engagement Cycle
Despite the clarity of the engagement model and the associated dimensions that were presented in previous sections it is critical to take into account consumer engagement cycle. In this case, it could be said that consumers can pass all stages of consumer engagement including Communication, Interaction, Experience, Satisfaction, Involvement, Bonding, and Recommendations (C-I-E-S-CI-B-R). Alternatively, apart from the phases highlighted above, Ertell (2010) displays stages such as advocacy, retention, and commitment.
They have similar features like the ones mentioned above, and the overall model focuses on the fact that the customer is expected to experience a sequence of phases (Ertell 2010). It could be said that theoretically all dimensions have a tendency to be present when being in direct or indirect contact with the customers.
Nonetheless, when operating in the real market, it is not always the case. In the majority of situations, the cycle is incomplete, as there are different types of customers, and they have different attitudes towards the brand. For instance, transactional consumers are very sensitive to price fluctuations and may select substitute brands if the prices do not meet their expectations (Ertell 2010).
These consumers are interested in a short-term relationship with the brand and have no intentions towards recommending or bonding. In turn, delighted consumers are dependent on emotional features of the brand, but it does not guarantee that they will be eager to continue long-term interactions with the brand. In this case, fans and loyal customers are the only groups that can be considered as the customers to be involved all phases of the cycle.
The primary benefit of this study is the fact that it displays insufficiency of the existent customer engagement cycle. At the same time, defining different consumer groups helps understand that not all stages of the consumer engagement cycle will be reflected in the presented research. Nonetheless, the study does not take into account internal and external features that tend to have an effect on the consumer behavioural patterns.
Online Customer Engagement Dimensions
Communication
As it was mentioned earlier, some researchers and scholars tend to indicate that communication is one of the most critical dimensions when understanding the principles of consumer engagement. Communication implies being in direct contact with the audience and delivering a clear message aligned with the company’s mission statement to the target market (Poovalighan and Veraasamy 2007).
It is often indicated that a well-developed communication system ensures the flow of information within the firm, improves relationships with the customers, optimises the resource allocation, introduces novel tactics of decision-making, and enhances problem-solving processes (Poovalighan and Veraasamy 2007). Nonetheless, the traditional definition of communication does not consider the main features of the era of digitalisation while emphasising only the matters, which are applicable in the context of old-fashioned marketing concepts. The lack of this knowledge creates a gap and decreases the opportunities of the company in the current market.
The active development of the Internet and the associated services revolutionised the potential approaches to communicating with the consumers and increasing their awareness of the brand and its products (Hudson and Hudson 2013; Ertell2010.). In this case, constant Internet access offers an extended number of consumer groups, and it not only enhances a quality of relationship with the customers but also improves the speed of delivering a message to the consumers.
One of the outcomes of this matter is emerging significance of social media. This novelty modified traditional consumer behavioural patterns and added complexity in understanding consumer engagement with the companies and their brands (Hudson and Hudson 2013).
In their study, Quan-Haase and Young (2010) tend to highlight that a plethora of consumer needs can be fulfilled with the assistance of taking advantage of social media. The authors question whether the users have a tendency to take advantage of different means of social media at the same time while theorising that its different forms to satisfy various needs. To identify the main needs in communication, the researchers compare different features of instant messaging and Facebook and behavioural patterns of consumers.
In this case, the primary difference lays in the fact that Facebook creates the environment for sharing information and expressing opinions and combines the concepts of interaction and communication simultaneously (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). Meanwhile, texting can be viewed as a tool of direct communication. Despite the gravity of these findings, the major drawback is the sample size and its characteristics. Selecting undergraduate students generalises the findings while increasing personal bias.
Simultaneously, to underline the benefits of online consumer engagement, Papasolomou and Melanthiou (2012) indicate that social media and other online platforms can be used to communicate and deliver information in different forms. The authors of the article emphasise that the principles of marketing and communicative mechanisms have not been modified, but the rising popularity of social media and the Internet increased the number of instruments to deliver information (Papasolomou and Melanthiou 2012).
Nonetheless, the article is not able to depict whether relying on social media solely in terms of communication is beneficial. Simultaneously, another gap pertains to a strong interference of the concept of communication with the term of interaction. Furthermore, one of the main benefits of online consumer engagement model with the help of social media is the fact that it can modify the behaviour of customers in the desired way.
However, when taking advantage of this approach, the CRM practitioners have to be able to face the challenges such the inability to control the diffusion of the message, the absence of the well-developed big data analysis strategies, and lack of know-how to integrate touch points (Malthouse et al. 2013). Overall, the existent publications provide a general understanding of the dimension of communication in the modern world, but its interference with interaction and a high-level of generalisation of its concepts are the major gaps.
Interaction
Alternatively, the process of interaction is the subsequent step in gaining a profound understanding of the online consumer engagement. In this case, the rise of the social media increases its measurability, as the modern social networks have a user-friendly design and interface that encourages customers to share and express their opinions about particular events and posts in the newsfeed (Liu and Shrum 2002). It seems that this concept is entirely positive, as it one of the essential steps of the value-creation process.
Nonetheless, the primary challenges posed to marketing pertain to the inconsistency of the concept of interactivity and its definitions, Liu and Shrum (2002) claim. This gap in knowledge underlines the need for the subsequent research and the necessity to clarify the term, as it creates confusion and imposes difficulties when differentiating between dimensions.
It may seem that the process of interaction has similarities with communicative initiatives. Nonetheless, the critical difference lays in the fact that interaction implies that consumers participate in the process of value generation and may be regarded as contributors to the decision-making activities of the organisation (Bowden 2009). The primary goal of this principle is to build a strong connection between consumer and the brand by engaging a client in various activities and marketing campaigns. In their study, Calder et al. (2009) underline that new approach of online interaction changes the conceptualisation of traditional marketing tactics and affects the effectiveness of advertising (Calder et al. 2009).
Despite finding positive correlations between consumer engagement process and communication, the study has limitations, as discovering this concept in the particular sphere makes it questionable whether the interaction will have a direct influence on advertising in different settings. Meanwhile, monitoring the actual responsiveness of the individuals to advertisements with the help of the social networks can expand this knowledge.
Alternatively, in the article, Chu and Kim (2011) tend to focus on the fact that to cultivate the presence of word-of-mouth and consumer interaction, the managers should focus on the stage of communication in the first place. It is clearly important, as it provides customers with the basic information about the brand and its features and ensures the spread of information.
The study by Chu and Kim emphasises that various factors including the development of trusting relationships and positive interpersonal relations have an advantageous influence on the electronic word-of-mouth (Chu and Kim 2011). Nonetheless, the primary drawback of the study is its state of the sample, as including only undergraduate students in the research does not guarantee the applicability of results in other contexts, and examining only the limited factors decreases the accuracy of the results.
Alternatively, Rohm et al. (2012) in their article The Role of Social Media in Brand Consumer Engagement point out that using the rising in popularity concept of social media platforms will exceed the initial goals of traditional marketing. At the same time, the publication states that the process of interactions may imply various purposes such as functional (browsing for specific, news, products, and feedbacks) and random interactions including sharing information online, writing different comments, and expressing emotions in posts (Rohm et al. 2012).
This approach offers important details about the changes in consumer behaviour associated with digitalisation and state that the companies have to expand their activities online (Rohm et al. 2012). Nonetheless, it is still impossible to predict the flow of the future trends and offer the tips to the companies on how to take advantage of the present tendencies in e-commerce. Based on the features indicated above, it could be said that this approach clearly supports the principles of consumer-centrism by giving customers an opportunity to cultivate innovation and development. Consequently, underestimating this stage questions the overall effectiveness of the firm’s e-commerce and its ability to stay competitive in the market.
Customer Experience
Meanwhile, the consumer experience was a central component in the majority of the business studies, but its features were not discovered independently (Rohm et al. 2012). Meyer and Schwager (2007) define this term as the reaction or response of the customer to the provided goods and offered services by being indirect or direct contact with the brand and its representatives. The novel tendencies in social media state that the majority of interactions is indirect, and it includes a plethora of stages such as customer care, online communication, advertising, promotions, and sales (Meyer and Schwager 2007).
Despite the clarity of this process, the researchers indicate that some of the companies’ actions that pertain as effective do not meet consumer expectations. To minimise this gap, the author proposes a claim that the marketers have to understand the potential and past behavioural patterns of their clients to optimise the overall experience (Meyer and Schwager 2007). Nonetheless, the critical challenge is to establish a system that will help companies to enhance the efficiency of e-commerce.
Due to the novelty of the term, the researchers tend to propose various approaches and strategies to assess the experience. For instance, in the article Implementing the Marketing Concept at the Employee-Customer Interface: The Role of Customer Need Knowledge by Homburg et al. (2009), the authors indicate that cognitive and affective assessment takes place as a consequence of communication and interaction. To ensure the exceptionality of employees experience, the concept of “customer need knowledge” (CNK) was introduced to understand the customer’s satisfaction and developed attitudes (Homburg et al. 2009).
Understanding these terms helps build emotional and cognitive contact with the employees and underline the significance of (CNK) (Homburg et al. 2009). The insights revealed in this article are valuable in understanding the influencers of customer evaluation, but the critical gap pertains to the fact that this dimension is viewed with the communication, interaction, and satisfaction simultaneously.
In spite of the critical role of e-commerce and digitalisation in the modern business world, marketing is one of the vital components not only to increase the awareness of the brand but also to improve the quality of the customer experience. In this case, Smith (2013) indicates that the markers use emotions, feelings, awareness, cognition, and social interactions as significant attributes to evaluate consumer experience (Smith 2013).
With the help of the Facebook example, the author indicates a correlation between a positive interaction with the brand on the social media and a higher percentage of subsequent purchases (Smith 2013). A combination of the aspects indicated above has a tendency to underline that customer experience has to be viewed as a separate dimension, but the critical limitation is the focus of the research on Facebook solely. Operating on different platforms may acquire dissimilar associations and make these findings not applicable in other contexts.
In this instance, Bowman depicts that there are several outcomes of this evaluation process and states that these aspects can be calculative, affective, and negative (Bowden 2009). In this instance, the calculative one may increase the percentage of consumer retention while affective drives the development of the positive rapport with a brand and desire to continue the collaboration. Alternatively, a negative outcome is the absence of desire to continue being in the subsequent contact with the brand (Bowden 2009).
These matters help understand the main consequences of the marketing actions, but one cannot underestimate that these responses are generalised. Based on the analysis of the concepts identified above, one of the primary gaps present in the current literature and publications is the fact that the consumer experience is often regarded as a part of interactions or communication dimensions. This matter emphasises that more attention has to be paid to this aspect and be discovered as a topic for the future research.
Satisfaction
Alternatively, one cannot underestimate satisfaction as another critical dimension when understanding the concept of online consumer engagement. This term can be defined that the actual assessment of the provided services and products and customer’s degree of fulfilment (Anderson et al. 1994). In this case, complying with the customers’ perceived expectations is a critical definer of quality and degree of satisfaction with products or services (Anderson et al. 1994).
In this case, Ertel (2016) underlines the need to include satisfaction as a new dimension. Alternatively, the researcher clarifies the term and states that it can be characterised as the level of meeting customer’s expectations with the brand image (Ertel 2016). This adjustment attempts to increase the quality of the relationship with the consumer, assist in cultivating trust, and enhance the consumer engagement. Nevertheless, similarities in definitions between the terms make the overall process confusing and pose difficulties to the marketers when designing advertisements and monitoring consumer engagement.
Alternatively, there are several matters to consider determining customer’s satisfaction with the company’s products or services. For instance, Chalmeta (2009) states that the level of satisfaction is defined by the ability of the company to meet short-term expectations of the consumer. Paying attention to CRM systems allows the author to improve the decision-making process and prioritise customer’s satisfaction as one of the central elements (Chalmeta 2009). However, prioritising CRM creates a gap due to its focus on the optimisation of the software and systems. Simultaneously, lacking the marketing perspective may question its application in the context of advertising and online consumer engagement.
In turn, Sashi (2012) opines that there is a connection between the processes of interaction, communication, and consumer satisfaction. In this case, the author indicates that the satisfaction of the consumers can be regarded as a major outcome of the first dimensions (Sashi 2012). At the same time, the author underlines the significance of developing a bond in consumer engagement and differentiates consumers in groups such as loyal and transactional customers (Sashi 2012). These findings help understand the interdependence between the components and pertain to the fact that the management of the organisation has to pay attention to these matters to ensure the satisfaction of the consumers with the firm’s services.
Nonetheless, the concept of satisfaction has changed with the development of the Internet and rising popularity of online marketing methods and social media. To support this point, in their research study, Flint et al. (1997) indicate the revolutionising digital trends are modifying the role of customer’s value and its contribution to the satisfaction with products and services. In this case, the clients do not only respond to the actions of the company but also attempt to change its value (Flint et al. 1997).
Focusing on the customer change theory will help the company increase the satisfaction of its clients and encourage them to participate in the company’s innovative processes. The findings of this article clearly modify the perception of satisfaction and the need to consider the viewpoints of clients. Nonetheless, the novelty of this concept indicates that gaps in knowledge continue to exist, as this concept of consumer change is relatively new and requires profound analysis and research to understand the working principles of a novel theory of consumer change.
It could be said that the articles and publications indicated above depict that that satisfaction is one of the critical aspects, which determines the overall quality of online consumer engagement. Simultaneously, it was revealed that the level of satisfaction is dependent on the stages such as communication and interaction while these matters determine different types of consumers and the rising popularity of the consumer value in developing satisfaction.
Continued Involvement
Furthermore, the principle of continued involvement has a critical connection with maintaining the actual relationship with the customers and increase his/her retention and desire to continue being in contact with the company. In the context of the online engagement, it tends to measure the length of time of the customer’s interaction with the brand on the social media and maintaining long-term relationships with them (Vries et al. 2012).
In this case, Vries et al. (2012) propose a theory that the locating the post in front of the page will assist the company in increasing customer’s retention and interactions in the social media (Vries et al. 2012). This aspect implies that the posting about the brand has to be interactive and positive to encourage consumers to communicate with it after the purchase. However, a critical drawback of this approach is its focus on social media solely, and these findings are not applicable in other contexts.
Alternatively, Mittal and Lee (1989) also depict that the subsequent long-term communication with the consumers usually takes place when it involves a high level of interactivity and complies with their needs and expectations. This concept helps understand that the role of consumers was central in the recent parts, and the development of technology only underlined the need to engage consumers in interesting activities. Nonetheless, despite the clarity of the principles and concepts depicted in the publication, the era of digitalisation evolved these principles and increased the need to take into account the principles of social media.
At the same time, it is critical to understand the principles of involvement of the customers with the brand, and Gordon et al. in the article Relationship Marketing Effectiveness: The Role of Involvement have a tendency to focus on this principle. The authors indicate that customer involvement is one of the critical components of relationship marketing, as it implies that focusing on customer’s values, thoughts, and preferences is extremely important when developing long-term trusting relationships (Gordon et al. 1998).
In this case, the primary benefit of this article is to its ability to highlight essential tactics of relationship marketing such as continuity and individualisation ones to ensure that the consumers are respected shareholders of the firm (Gordon et al. 1998). The presented findings can be actively applied in practice since the strategies remain the same, but adjusting it to the concepts of digitalisation and social media will help improve the quality of interaction and increase online consumer involvement.
Alternatively, Swinyard (1993) also emphasised the similar principles by focusing on the importance of mood, emotionality, consumer involvement on the retentions of the consumers and their desire to continue a relationship with a particular brand or location. In this instance, the marketers have to pay critical attention to the emotional state of the customer, as it defines the potential outcome of the situation (Swinyard 1993). Nonetheless, this matter is only applicable when direct communication takes place, and development of technology pertain to the prioritisation of online interactions. In this case, a plethora of factors has a tendency to affect consumer experience and the outcome.
At the same time, it remains apparent that continued involvement has a direct correlation with the subsequent stage, which can be defined as bonding. Apart from generalisations and the limited sample size used in the articles, this matter can be regarded as a critical gap in the literature since it creates confusion. Being dependent on other elements questions accountability and advocacy of the terms and clarity of the concept of continued involvement.
Bonding
The next dimension or stage that has to be actively considered when discovering and understanding the principles of online customers’ engagement. In this instance, this component includes several elements such as customer loyalty to the brand, building trusting relationships, and satisfaction. In the article Relationship Marketing in the Internet by Bauer et al. (1999), the authors underline that trust helps the company to increase the level of consumer retention but also assists customers in making effective decisions and avoid complications. Nonetheless, the primary drawback pertains to the inability of the article to take into account changing business environment and current technological trends and social media.
In this instance, this marketing stage focuses on developing a trusting relationship with the customer while focusing on emotional intimacy and underlying the gravity of client’s involvement in brand building. In this case, the ability to reach this stage implies high customer’s retention and the ability to enlarge the customer’s base and market share. In this case, customer’s preferences are dependent on the cognitive and psychological mechanisms, Eskafi et al. (2013) claim.
The authors emphasise that these opinions tend to be associated with a high level of bias while the customers are attracted to the particular features of the brand due to the influence of societal values, beliefs, and behavioural patterns (Eskafi et al. 2013). Simultaneously, the author does not underestimate the significance of consumer satisfaction and its influence on the consumer loyalty (Eskafi et al. 2013). These aspects present that the phenomenon of bonding is rather complex, and taking into account these concepts will assist in understanding the conceptualisation of the bonding process.
Apart from the importance of loyalty and satisfaction, one cannot underestimate the significance of commitment in the quality of the consumer engagement. In this instance, some researchers state that commitment can be defined as a specific obligation that consumer has a tendency to develop towards a specific brand (Piller and Schaller 2002; Gustafson et al. 2006). Furthermore, Gustafson et al. (2006) suggest that there is an extended variety of factors that affect commitment such as interesting and competitive offerings, different dimensions of commitment, and various changes in the customer’s lives (Gustafson et al. 2006). This theory offers critical understanding that bonding is a complicated process, and the continuation of relationship is dependent on various dissimilar factors.
Based on the aspects depicted above, it could be said that this dimension can be discovered as the actual outcome of the marketing plan and the ability of the company to follow all stages precisely. In this case, the majority of researchers emphasise the significance of consumer experience and identify that it could be utilised as an instrument to enhance the engagement with the consumers and improve competitive edge (Shaw and Ivens 2002; Voss 2006). Subsequently, this matter could be viewed as the major influencer on consumer’s satisfaction and the desire of the customer to continue establishing trusting relationships with the brand (Pullman and Gross 2004; Mascarenhas et al. 2006).
A combination of these aspects pertains to the principle constituents of the mechanism of bonding including trust, commitment, and loyalty of the clients. Nonetheless, an extended number of the interdependent components makes it difficult to distinguish due to their vehement interference. It is the principle gap in this context, as it creates difficulties for the companies since they cannot monitor the overall process of consumer commitment. Nonetheless, the publications and articles highlighted above were able to underline the significance of bond and the necessity to take into account various aspects before continuing with this stage.
Recommendation
The final step of this marketing cycle is recommendations. In this case, the customer’s desire to spread the information about the company to his/her relatives and friends is dependent on the level of satisfaction, bond, and intimacy, which the company was able to develop during the previous stages. The study by Keller reveals that consumers, who were able to develop intimate and trusting relationships with the brand, have higher intentions of recommending its products and services to the audience (Keller 2007).
In this case, using the word-of-mouth is one of the most common techniques, which is utilised by the clients to express their opinions about the company. Ensuring that the information is credible and relevant and complies with the needs of the consumer are the principle aspects that have a positive impact on spreading the information (Keller 2007).
Another attribute that has a positive influence on the desire of consumers to spread the information about the brand is the possibility to exchange values and concepts between the company and its consumers, Nordin (2009) states. The author clearly indicates that the present marketing models such as transactional and relational are outdated, and the concepts of transcendent approach are emerging (Nordin 2009). This novel strategy emphasises the gravity of exchanging values when developing relationships with the customers (Nordin 2009).
In this case, this approach assists in developing trusting relationships with the customers and in creating favourable condition for consumers to share their opinions. Overall, it could be said that recommendation is highly important since it can attract new customers and encourage customers to share information about the brand and its products. Nonetheless, it could be stated that the dependence of this matter on the previous stages may create confusion when developing marketing campaigns and designing advertisements.
Measuring Online Consumer Engagement
The dimensions identified in previous sections help understand the structure of the online consumer engagement cycle, as they clearly depict and describe every stage that a potential or loyal customer has to experience. Nonetheless, despite the well-developed structure of the stages, there may be possible difficulties with measuring the involvement of consumers and their interactions with the brand.
In their research study Measuring User Engagement, Lalmas et al. (2013) state the Internet-based companies have a tendency to use various approaches to building and measuring their relationship with the users. In this case, according to several researchers, there are several consumer engagement characteristics to comply with such as a positive impact on the user attitude, appealing design, and well-designed positive brand image (O’Brien and Toms 2008; O’Brien and McLean 2009; Attfield et al. 2011). A combination of these factors has to contribute the sufficient and self-controlled interactions with the brand. In this case, this knowledge can be considered when designing a methodology and selecting the most suitable approaches to assess the consumer engagement in the context of this research study.
Nevertheless, the complexity of the consumer engagement cycle and the need to take into account different aspects such as emotional and cognitive at the same time make it difficult to assess the outcomes (Lalmas et al. 2013). These aspects also question the validity and reliability of the data. As it was mentioned earlier, this article has a tendency to propose various tactics that can be utilised to understand and evaluate the involvement of consumers with the brands. In the first place, the data can be collected via a direct contact with the customers with the assistance of questionnaires, interviews, and self-reporting (Lalmas et al. 2013).
In turn, cognitive and Internet-based measures may take place and be represented in the form of psychological tests, neurological assessments, and online analytics (Lalmas et al. 2013). In this instance, the primary benefit of this study is the fact that it is able to present different methods that can be utilised to understand the consumer engagement. Nonetheless, when using these tactics, one cannot underestimate a pivotal role of researcher’s bias, as it can increase the subjectivity of the findings.
At the same time, Vivek et al. (2013) have a tendency to offer a different approach when measuring the engagement of the consumers and their interactions with the brand. In this case, the author modifies a traditional scale of measurement and adapts it to the context of the research study. The modified measures tend to reflect the main values of the consumers, their attitudes, potential future actions, and relationship with the brand (Vivek et al. 2013).
It could be said that the primary advantage of this approach is the fact that it focuses on several dimensions at the same time and provides a generalised approach to understanding the relationship between consumer and brand. The foundations of this approach can be applicable in the context of the current research study, but the data will be analysed based on consumer involvement in different stages in consumer engagement cycle that will be displayed as a sequence of letters.
Gaps in Literature
Reviewing different components of online consumer engagement and discovering its principle dimensions separately helped understand its working principles and underline its importance for the optimisation of the company’s CRM and flow of information between the departments. At the same time, the publications selected in the literature review attempt to discover the topic from dissimilar angles and differentiate traditional marketing strategies from innovative e-marketing initiatives.
It not only describes the concepts of online consumer engagement, dimensions, and outcomes of these actions but also offers the insights about the features of the digital era to be used to remain competitive in the market. Revealing these matters provides sufficient theoretical framework for the subsequent research and depicts the themes that require profound attention.
Nonetheless, in spite of having well-defined concepts and clearly explained working mechanisms of these principles, the articles and other types of publications selected for the literature review have a tendency to have some gaps and limitations. One of them is the focus of the articles on the particular sphere. For instance, the article by Hudson and Hudson pays vehement attention to the consumer engagement with the assistance of the social media with its emphasis on music festivals (Hudson and Hudson 2013). This limitation may decrease the applicability of this research study in other areas, as the discussed business segment is rather specific.
Another gap is the fact that generalisation takes place in some of the studies, as the research sample is based on the limited number of participants, who complied with sampling technique and its characteristics. For instance, some of the research articles have a tendency to focus on particular social networks such as Facebook or approaches like instant messaging. This aspect questions the application of the acquired results in different contexts and situations.
Alternatively, the novelty topic is a benefit and disadvantage at the same time. In the first place, it assists in understanding that the aspects of marketing and business are changing. Nevertheless, one of the critical challenges is the fact that this topic lacks research. The dimensions of consumer engagement are still discovered from the traditional perspective while only reviewing the major principles of marketing and advertising.
Alternatively, it remains apparent that another gap in knowledge pertains to the fact that the critical dimensions of online consumer engagement are not clearly defined and differentiated from each other. In this case, there is only a slight difference between communication and interaction, as these spheres interfere and create confusion when distinguishing between these terms. Alternatively, the interdependence between the subsequent components, the absence of the consumer experience as a separate term, and the inconsistency of the current model of customer engagement cycle could be regarded as another gap in the literature.
At the same time, there are not clear strategies that assist in evaluating consumer engagement cycle. It could be said that the lack of the well-determined stages and other steps may be a potential cause of misinterpreting the current trends in consumer behaviour.
Based on the analysis of the gaps indicated above, it could be said that online consumer engagement is the topic that requires profound research in future. Consequently, offering well-developed solutions and clarified description of the terms can be regarded as the excepted outcomes that can be used in policymaking and marketing sphere to optimise the effectiveness of e-commerce and marketing. At the same time, it will assist in proposing new theories concerning online consumer engagement cycle. Focusing on these insights will help enhance the quality of interactions, exchange of information and ideas, and the effectiveness of the online marketing campaigns.
Conclusion
Overall, the literature review indicated the principles aspects, which help design a well-developed strategy to enhance the engagement of consumers with the assistance of online environment. It portrays seven dimensions, which will assist in discovering this business phenomenon from dissimilar angles while defining the principle features of each step separately. In the first place, communication and interactions are the first stages that are necessary to find the touch points with the customers and interest them in continuing this relationship. As for consumer experience, it could be viewed as a consequence of these components, and this matter explains the absence of a separate definition of this concept.
The dimension of satisfaction could be discovered as the actual result of the previous stages, and it determines whether the value proposition by the company meet the perceived expectations of the customers. The results of this stage define the desire of the consumer to return to the company and make subsequent purchases and recommend it to a friend. Alternatively, continued involvement and bonding are dependent on the level of satisfaction and the ability of the company to establish trusting relationships during the initial stages.
The presence of these steps and dimensions is dependent on the level of intimacy, trust, and bonding with the clients. Recommending a product could be viewed as finishing and starting stage of a new online consumer engagement cycle since it pertains to intimacy and the quality of interactions.
Nevertheless, despite a profound understanding of these principles and their description in various publications and scholarly articles, the limitations and gaps in knowledge tend to be present due to the complexity of the selected topic. It was identified that one of the drawbacks is the focus of the studies on the particular sphere such as social media interactions and its impact on the consumer engagement in the music festival industry. In this case, it leads to the generalisations of the results and the existence of confusion when applying the findings. Apart from the limitations pertaining to the study methodology, other gaps were focused on the lack of the research of the particular dimensions.
For instance, consumer experience was only generally described, as the majority of the researchers disregarded it as a separate component of consumer engagement process. At the same time, the consistency of online consumer engagement cycle and the ways to evaluate consumer engagement are unclear. A combination of these factors could be viewed as a critical basis for the subsequent research and help fulfil the existent gaps in knowledge.
Research Questions
It could be said that gaps reflected in the literature review indicate that this topic has not been profoundly studied. It is evident that the majority of the findings are limited to the particular sphere or do not provide clear and profound definitions of the proposed dimensions. Consequently, in the context of this study, it is essential to fulfil the lack of knowledge presented in the literature review since this aspect will have a positive impact and underline the practical and theoretical significance of the designed research study.
In the first place, it is vital to discuss the different dimensions of consumer behaviour while using practical examples from the banking segment, as it is one of the spheres that has not been addressed in the literature in details, and some definitions lack profound descriptions and tend to be interdependent. It will be reflected when evaluating the comments to Facebook posts of Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ banks, as they are the companies that were selected for the analysis of the application of the theories of online customer engagement into practice. In this case, the research question can be formulated as ‘What dimensions does the consumer behaviour reflect when a user is involved in the social media interactions?’.
Answering to this question will assist in understanding the clarity of the definitions and the effectiveness of the identified models, as fulfilling these gaps will make the work of the scientific practitioners, researchers, and marketers easier.
At the same time, it is necessary to address the issue of inconsistency of the consumer engagement cycle. It was depicted in the literature review that it does always cover all seven dimensions of consumer dimensions, and some phases are difficult to distinguish, as they are dependent on each other. Due to the lack of clear and well-developed definitions of some stages, it is difficult to determine whether all phases are present during the actual relationship with the clients. It creates difficulties for marketers and researchers, as these gaps may be viewed as the potential reasons for confusion and ineffective marketing campaigns.
Consequently, focusing on this matter will reveal whether the present model is effective and corresponds with reality. At the same time, it will assist in proposing adjustments that can be made to increase the effectiveness of the existent theoretical frameworks and make them applicable in different contexts. To fulfil these limitations, it is essential to find a response to the research question such as ‘Is the current consumer engagement cycle applicable in every case?’.
Furthermore, as it was stated in section 1.3 Research Motivation, it is necessary to conduct the profound research to enhance the current theories and clarify some definitions. At the same time, it is essential to identify the ways that can optimise the effectiveness of the existent model and cycle to increase its applicability in different contexts. To find a solution to this issue, the research question can be formulated as ‘Are there any adjustments to the existent online consumer engagement model that can be made based on the analysis of the online consumer behaviour of three banks?’.
Despite the significance to fulfil the present theoretical gaps, it is vital to introduce various strategies and offer recommendations that the selected banks can be used to increase the effectiveness of their interactions with their customers and potential users. Simultaneously, the proposed tactics can be used by other banks to ensure the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. In this case, to find solutions to these matters, the research question can be described as ‘What recommendations can be made to the selected banks based on the findings of the research study?’.
Overall, it could be summarised that the main questions to answered in the research study are:
- What dimensions does the consumer behaviour reflect when a user is involved in the social media interactions?
- Is the current consumer engagement cycle applicable in every case?
- Are there any adjustments to the existent online consumer engagement model that can be made based on the analysis of the online consumer behaviour of three banks?
- What recommendations can be introduced to the selected banks based on the findings of the research study?
Research Method & Design
Introduction
Research methodology is one of the most important parts of the research study since it assists in selecting the most suitable tactics to find the answers to the research questions (Kumar 2014). It could be said that it not only addresses the issues, which are the central claims of the research study but also identify the existent gaps in the literature and assist in depicting the issues that have to be addressed in the future studies.
At the same time, in the business context, it could be defined as a set of methods and tactics that can be used to optimise decision-making process to increase the efficiency and maximise revenues of the business (Bryman and Bell 2011). It could be said that one cannot underestimate the significance of research methodology and should pay vehement attention to this stage since it has a direct impact on the outcomes of the research study.
Nonetheless, the research process may be complicated, as it involves a number of issues to be considered before starting the study (Kumar 2014). For instance, one cannot underestimate the possibility of researcher bias. It is one of the most common issues that occurs during the interpretation of research findings and results and ensuring the compliance of the outcomes with the existent theories (Mitchell and Jolley 2009).
The researcher may interpret the idea and adjust its principles to his/her perceived expectations (Mitchell and Jolley 2009). This matter pertains to the cognitive issues and consulting scientific literature, or other professionals can minimise the occurrence of this issue. At the same time, selecting irrelevant methodology may also have an adverse effect on the quality of acquired information and its applicability in different contexts. Not paying attention to these matters may question the relevance and validity of the findings, as the proposed research questions will not be fully covered. Based on the analysis of various issues and factors highlighted above, it could be said that considering potential difficulties is essential when developing and conducting research study in the chosen field,
In the majority of the cases, the researchers tend to take advantage of the literature review. This method helps gain fundamental theoretical knowledge concerning the theme or topic and underline the main matters that have to be discovered in details (Fink 2013). One of the major challenges of this qualitative method is selecting the reliable sources of information, as not paying attention to this feature may question the relevance of the collected information (Fink 2013).
Consequently, the publications, scientific articles, books, and other references have to be chosen wisely. In the context of the current research study, the literature review was one of the major steps to determine the existence of the certain gaps that have to be analysed profoundly. In this instance, the inconsistency of online consumer engagement model and cycle was the main driver to discover the principle features of the selected areas and expand the horizons of the present knowledge. Fulfilling these gaps is the central goal of this research study, and it has to be prioritised to enhance the efficiency of the marketing campaigns.
Consequently, the primary goal of this section is to choose the most appropriate methodology to find solutions to the research questions mentioned above. In this case, describing the selected approach in details is vital since it will help understand the steps that have to be taken in the subsequent sections. In this instance, describing data collection, analysis profoundly and providing a rationale for selecting a particular research approach are the critical objectives of the next sections. Overall, a combination of these factors will identify the sequence of steps that one have to follow to conduct this research study, fulfil the gaps and limitations identified in the literature review, and propose recommendations to the companies chosen for the research study.
Method
In the modern world, researchers tend to depict four principle types of methods that can be used to describe tendencies and find the solutions to the research questions. Quantitative research approach tends to focus on collecting numerical and statistical data to determine particular correlations and connections between the variables (Goertz and Mahoney 2012; Panter and Sterba 2011). Using various statistical instruments helps see these dependencies. In turn, qualitative methodology, it is often utilised to discover the meaning of behaviour and actions of the individuals (Goertz and Mahoney 2012).
In this case, its principle aim is to gain a profound understanding of the rationale behind people’s actions and their attitudes. In turn, many researchers also identify participatory or action research methodology as an independent tactic (McNiff and Whitehead 2011; Townsend 2013). In this case, the researcher discovers the situation from the perspective of the insider while being integrated into the working environment and communicating with the participants (McNiff and Whitehead 2011).
The primary benefit of this approach is the ability to discover the issue from a different angle and increase the validity of the research results. Nonetheless, one of the critical drawbacks is an increased possibility of researcher bias, as the practitioner may adjust the findings to his/her perceived expectations (McNiff and Whitehead 2011). This aspect will question whether the revealed outcomes are relevant and valuable.
Furthermore, the role of mixed methods cannot be underestimated, as it tends to combine the main features of qualitative and quantitative research at the same time. These research designs tend to focus on collecting both statistical and descriptive information to address the problems from different perspectives (Creswell 2014; Shalin 2014). In this case, the gathered findings will have work together as a combination. The quantitative data can be used as a basis for understanding the relevance of the proposed assumptions (Creswell 2014).
In turn, the qualitative findings can be discovered as additional information to reveal more details and provide descriptive recommendations. Based on the description of the main features of the mixed methods mentioned above, it could be said mixed methods is the most suitable approach when it is necessary to address the issue from different viewpoints and perspectives and offer the detailed description of the outcomes.
In the context of this study, it could be said that using the main features of the mixed methods is the most relevant approach. With the help of quantitative method, it will be possible to determine the presence of the stages of the consumer engagement cycle. Each comment will be evaluated and classified as one of its phases. In turn, to propose the adjustments, assessing the comments can be completed with the assistance of qualitative analytical tools.
In this case, it is critical to pay attention to the details, and applying qualitative method will assist in designing the well-established solutions. Consequently, taking advantage of mixed approach will help review the problem from dissimilar angles, propose adjustments to the existent model of consumer engagement cycle, and design recommendations that Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ can use to optimise their current social media strategies.
Data Collection
As it was mentioned earlier, three banks such Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ will take part in the research study. In the context of this paper, to find the answers to the proposed research questions, it is necessary to obtain the information from one of the most popular social platforms, Facebook. Facebook is one of the most common social platforms, and selecting as one of the main stakeholders pertains to the easy retrieval of information in the context of this research study.
Gathering the data from the comments’ section for each bank community group for a time period of one month (from the beginning of September until the beginning of October) will assist in gaining a profound understanding whether the consumer behaviour of the online commenters reflects all seven dimensions. This data will help gain a clear image of online consumer behaviour and understand whether the actions of customers comply with the presented model. Collecting as many as possible comments will have a positive influence on describing general trends concerning the online consumer engagement cycle and its main features.
As for the sample data selected for analysis, around 2000 consumer experiences were analysed in this research study. Nonetheless, it remains evident that not all of them could be included in the sample. In order to be considered, the comments have to either contain attitudes towards the bank or its services or lead to the future interactions with the bank. The comments that did not meet these criteria were considered as bad data. Consequently, 628 consumer experiences were viewed as appropriate for this research study, where 229, 128, and 271 comments account for Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ banks respectively.
Despite the substantial significance of the quantitative data, the actual opinions of the customers cannot be underestimated since they can be used to provide detailed information about the involvement of the clients in the particular dimensions while presenting their viewpoints about the posts of the banks. This matter will help determine the effectiveness of the selected marketing campaigns and posts of the banks in the social media. The viewpoints of consumers will be collected from the comments section of the social media platform, Facebook. Information about each bank will be collected separately to be used to provide detailed information to each business entity separately.
Data Analysis
As it was mentioned previously, both quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to find the solutions to the questions presented by the company. In the first place, it will be necessary to analyse quantitative data. The gathered comments will be examined with the help of seven dimensions of online consumer engagement (C-I-E-S-CI-B-R). In the first place, the comments and reactions of the online users can be assessed with the assistance of the qualitative approach. These features of customer behaviour and experience will be classified with the help of the descriptions of the main characteristics of dimensions identified in the literature review. This stage is essential, as, otherwise, it will not be impossible to interpret the outcomes and discover the relevance of the online customer engagement cycle.
After that, the classified comments and reactions of online users will be used to determine whether the online customer engagement cycle is complete or incomplete. The findings will be presented in the form of the sequence of letters that will take place to understand the effectiveness of the proposed model and cycle. It remains apparent that some customers may not go through all stages, and these results can present not a full sequence of letters such as C-I-B-R.
At the same time, some comments will have no meaning and should be dismissed when evaluating the results. Otherwise, it may create confusion and increase a level of bias. Due to a plethora of comments on Facebook, these findings will be generalised to depict the most common trend for each bank. The results will be displayed with the help of tables with examples to represent them and reflect the most common tendencies. It could be said that a combination of these findings will be used to understand the effectiveness of the online customer engagement cycle. At the same time, it will reveal whether the customers tend to experience all stages of the proposed model or some stages are avoided.
As it was mentioned earlier, the qualitative data will be collected. It will assist in understanding the main terms and trends and add specific insights about the attitudes of consumers towards the brands. In this case, the collected information will be divided into the groups, and the outcomes will reflect the positions of the customers towards each brand. Using typology and classification as the main approach will help divide aspects into the categories and make the results more valuable and easy to understand. In this case, the comments are classified as being negative, positive (if any), and ones that have a nature of recommendation.
At the same time, the comments from the potential customers (if any) will be classified as a separate group. It could be said that these approaches will assist in analysing the results and finding the solutions to the described research questions. Simultaneously, it can help banks optimise their online marketing strategies and increase the percentage of consumers that would like to continue a long-term relationship with the bank.
Choice of the Research Methodology
The subsequent sections clearly define the type of data and analysis to be collected to find a solution to the research questions and fulfil the existent gaps depicted in the literature review. In this case, the selection of the mixed methods is clear. In the first place, this approach helps collect general information about the consumer trends and determine the effectiveness of the proposed models and terms.
Consequently, it essential to use quantitative approach since it helps define whether the customers are involved in each stage of online consumer engagement model. This matter will determine the ability of the banks to attract customers to interact with their posts. At the same time, this analysis will reveal the effectiveness and appropriateness of the consumer engagement cycle and the clarity of the definition of each term. Based on these findings presented with the help of tables will reflect the sequence of processes, the adjustments to the existent consumer cycle can be proposed by uniting or diminishing some phases.
At the same time, utilising qualitative approach will assist in conducting the sufficient analysis of comments and responses to the posts of the banks. In this case, classifying the comments by positive or negative feedback will help see whether the customers show interest in continuing a relationship with the brand. At the same time, it will assist in understanding general attitudes towards the brand and identify the stages that take place in the consumer engagement cycle. In this case, these results can be used to provide the banks with recommendations that can improve the quality of online consumer engagement.
Overall, it could be said that using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will help determine general trends and gain profound insights of the topic. Simultaneously, it will fulfil the gaps depicted in the literature review and emphasise the fact that this knowledge can be applied in the similar contexts in future. Discovering the mechanism of e-commerce and online consumer engagement will help optimise the effectiveness of interaction and communication with the potential clients in the social media and propose the possible adjustments. It could be said that these findings can be actively applied in practice by business practitioners and marketers.
Research Steps
Based on the aspects presented above, it is possible to determine the particular steps to describe to find the solutions to the research questions. In the first place, the data will be obtained by collecting information concerning Facebook comments about the advertising posts of the banks. Each bank will be analysed separately, as, otherwise, it will be impossible to determine the main features of consumer behaviour that each bank encourages. In the first place, the information will reflect the stages that each client is involved. At the same time, the most valuable comments will be collected to understand the attitudes towards companies and their marketing campaigns in the social media. They will be classified with the assistance of qualitative methods.
After that, the quantitative method will be used to analyse whether all stages of the online consumer engagement are present. Simultaneously, the comments will be assessed from the qualitative perspective to identify the adjustments that have to be made. Despite the clarity of this process, it is critical to describe it in details, as it involves many stages and sub-phases. In this case, the responses to the research question will be divided into several groups.
In the first place, the information about each bank and consumer engagement cycle will be provided and reflected with the help of the tables with examples. After that, the subsequent section will present whether the proposed generalised models for the each bank are consistent and complete. In this case, it will describe whether the customer engagement cycle is complete or incomplete. In the third section, the comments of the users will be examined with the assistance of the qualitative research approaches and determine the main attitudes towards the brand among the customers.
The last step implies the conclusion and interpretation of the selected findings. In this case, it will assist in understanding the effectiveness of the presented research and determine the main limitations that tend to exist. At the same time, this section will help describe the subsequent issues and aspects for the future research, as it remains apparent that many aspects of the selecting topic will require conducting analysis in other business spheres.
Data Collection and Analysis
The primary goal of this section is to present the findings and analyse them by dividing the collected information by banks. This chapter will help find the solutions to the research questions and display whether the proposed online consumer engagement model is consistent. It will offer the insights of the existent dimensions and provide practical examples with the help of the analysis of the comments from Facebook posts of the banks. Nonetheless, each of the stages has to be described in details to understand the flow of the evaluation processes.
As it was mentioned earlier, online customer engagement cycle is one of the most important concepts to understand the behaviour of the online users (Dessart et al. 2015). Consequently, analysing it will have a beneficial impact on the understanding of the main elements of the consumer engagement model. At the same time, it will reveal the consistency of the proposed theories and their practical applications. At the same time, it remains apparent that all stages of the consumer engagement cycle are not always reflected in the behaviour of the customers (Dessart et al. 2015). In this instance, this analysis will help identify whether all stages of online consumer engagement cycle are present and can be used to propose the adjustments to the existent models and theories of the consumer interactions.
The last section of the assessment of each bank presents the analysis of the comments and recommendations that are apparent in the user comment section on Facebook. Applying the qualitative approaches and method for analysis will help understand the opinions and viewpoints of the customers in details. These aspects will assist in acquiring the profound understanding of the consumer behaviour and identify potential ways to improve the quality of interactions with clients. Using this information will help enhance the marketing strategy of each bank and propose the recommendations for the improvement.
ANZ Bank
Introduction
One of the banks to be analysed was Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ). Despite its initial focus on two continents, only its operations in Australia will be discovered and analysed. In the first place, ANZ bank offers services not only to the personal users but also to small businesses and corporate clients (ANZ: About Us 2016). For individual customers, loans, insurances, online banking, and investing opportunities are available, as they interest this consumer segment the most (ANZ: About Us 2016). At the same time, it does not underestimate the rising popularity of small and medium size companies (ANZ: About Us 2016).
Consequently, services such as guidance and consultancy tend to exist (ANZ: About Us 2016). This matter ensures that SMEs can penetrate the market successfully and increase their recognition among competitors. Overall, its website pertains to the fact that the company tend to take advantage of the information technology and provide its potential users with profound details about the services.
Despite the importance of discussing general banking services, it is vital to have a profound understanding of the firm’s values, attitudes towards customers, and its corporate culture. It remains apparent that this business prioritises innovation and has a well-developed sustainability strategy (ANZ: About Us 2016). With the help of social networks, it is able to deliver its messages to the target audience and encourage the audience in becoming an important part of the decision-making team (ANZ: About Us 2016). Overall, it could be said that ANZ bank can be discovered as one of the examples, which is able to take advantage of the process of digitalisation and use it to establish trusting relationships with the customers.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Full Cycle
In the first place, it is critical to determine whether all seven dimensions or the consumer engagement cycle tend to have a reflection on the comments on Facebook. In this instance, this section only represents the comments cover all seven dimensions of the model, as, otherwise, the cycle will be incomplete. In this case, Figure 1 represents the most important dimensions of online consumer engagement graphically. It could be said that it assists in gaining a deep understanding of the main components that have to be considered when paying attention to the functioning of ANZ bank.
As it was mentioned earlier, it is vital to discover the abilities of the online support team and other employees to experience all phases of consumer engagement cycle. The analysis of the information collected from Facebook revealed that ANZ bank pays vehement attention to its clients and highly encourages them to participate in the discussions. In this instance, the company not only encourages customers to share their feedback about the financial services and products but also tend to discuss important topics such as starting a business, life hacks for saving money, and various paintings and exhibitions (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016).
The customers tend to engage in the interactions online due to several reasons. One of them is offering clear feedback and help to the online users, and it helps build a rapport with the customers (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). At the same time, the bank tends to cover interesting topics and motivates the clients to share their opinions online.
Using the full cycle of online consumer engagement assists companies in building trusting relationship with the customers. In this case, C-I-CE-S-CI-B-R model was spotted 61 times, and in the majority of the cases, the overall customer experience can be perceived as positive. To understand the working mechanism of the full cycle, Table 1 presents detailed information. In this instance, initially, Cathie had some issues with the insurance and required assistance with this issue.
Chris, the employee of the bank, showed interest in her problem and asked her to provide personal information in order to be contacted. The subsequent comments depict that the outcome of the interaction was positive and Chris’ efforts were recognised by other users and loyal customers of the bank. It could be said that ANZ bank’s community Facebook page has a plethora of similar examples. It helps see that the company pursues excellence in customer services. This aspect helps create a positive impact on the brand and encourage other people to become the company’s customers.
Table 1. Full-cycle: ANZ bank.
Based on the factors and examples presented above, it could be said that there is a possible connection between full cycle customer engagement model and the desire of clients to continue the relationship with the brand. In the majority of the cases of ANZ, the feedback was positive, and it assisted the company in establishing trusting relationships with its customers. At the same time, to succeed, one cannot underestimate the significance of competences of the personnel and their abilities to be in direct contact with the customers.
The analysis of Facebook comments of ANZ bank revealed that the employees not only reply to the posts but also tend to add a bit of joke to their comments to make the experience with the bank pleasant and interesting. It could be said that a combination of these factors encourages customers to experience all stages of the online customer engagement cycle and continue the relationship with the brand.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Incomplete Cycle
Alternatively, this section will represent the evaluation and analysis of comments that tend to reflect only the limited number of stages of the consumer engagement model. As it was mentioned in the literature review, this phenomenon has a tendency to take place due to the fact that there are different types of customers (Ertell 2010). Their desire to continue a relationship with the brand is dependent on the desire of the customers and their attitudes..Nonetheless, this theory may be ineffective, as there are various internal and external factors that have to be considered when interpreting consumer behaviour. Consequently, in the context of this section, it is critical to describe each potential model of online customer engagement cycle and understand whether these interactions were positive, negative, or neutral.
After conducting an analysis of ANZ bank and its interactions in its online Facebook community. Several models were revealed apart from the full cycle (C-I-CE-S-CI-B-R). In this case, they included C-I (164), C-I-CE-CI (33), and C-I-CE-S-CI (13). To gain a profound understanding of the indicated incomplete cycles, it will be essential to analyse and describe them with the help of the consumer comments and reactions. In the first place, it is critical to describe the main features of the model C-I, as it presents a significant share of the responses. In this case, the company does not participate in the interactions of the consumers for some reasons.
Despite the lack of contribution of the brand, it seems that customers and online users of ANZ tend to have a positive experience with the brand. Nonetheless, negative comments still tend to occur, as some issues of the customers require substantial attention (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). These comments will be analysed in the subsequent section, as they can be used as a potential basis for recommendations that can be used to improve the connection with the banks.
Another model to be analysed is C-I-CE-CI. In this case, it misses three dimensions including Satisfaction, Bonding, and Recommendations. To understand the functioning of the incomplete model with these dimensions, it is necessary to provide the examples from the analysis of the customer’s comments. In this case, Table 2 is used to present the findings and supply each dimension with the practical examples. In the describe example, Silvana wants to clarify the opening hours of bank facilities (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). The employees of the bank offer her a detailed description of the services with the hours clearly described (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016).
Despite the positive intentions of the bank, the customer involvement in subsequent stages of the cycle is unclear. Alternatively, it is impossible to understand whether the customer is left satisfied or dissatisfied. Consequently, the aspects that are unclear are not reflected in a new model of the customer online engagement cycle. At the same time, it could be said that there are several reasons for the lack of these dimensions and presence of this incomplete model. Not being interested in continuing interaction and the inability of the employees to consider these problems could be discovered as the main reasons. Table 2. Incomplete cycle: ANZ bank.
Apart from the incomplete cycles mentioned above, there is C-I-CE-S-CI model. The primary difference from the previous model is its ability to cover the dimension of Satisfaction. To understand the working principles of this cycle, Table 3 tends to supply these findings with the practical examples. In this case, Brinley had a problem with getting her card deliver to her on time (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016).
This matter created a particular attitude towards the brand and increased the customer dissatisfaction with the service. In this case, the expression “love it” was used to express the anger (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). The online support team of the bank tried to find a solution to this issue by asking to provide personal information to be contacted (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). In this case, it seems that the dissatisfaction with the customer service has not changed, as the customer did not want to continue its relationship with the brand. When comparing it to the customer experience that took place C-I-CE-CI, it is evident that in the case of C-I-CE-S-CI, the attitudes of the customers are clearly expressed.
This matter helps identify potential reasons for the lack of desire to be involved in the subsequent stages. In the context of the customer experience presented below, it remains apparent that customer’s dissatisfaction with the banking services was one of the triggers to the development of the particular attitude towards the bank. Despite the negative attitude described in the case, the employees have a right set of competences that helps them to change the attitudes of their clients. Only 9 out of 44 experiences were perceived as negative for C-I-CE-CI and C-I-CE-S-CI incomplete cycles combined.
Table 3. Incomplete cycle: ANZ bank.
Overall, the findings depicted above portray that in the majority of cases, the desire of the customers and their attitudes towards the company define their desire to continue their relationship with the brand. Nonetheless, the example of ANZ bank showed that clients tend to continue a collaboration with the company if the employees have a required set of skills and competences to be able to convince their customers to build long-lasting relationships with the brand. At the same time, it was reflected that the dimensions such as Recommendation, Bonding, and Satisfaction are difficult to measure.
In this case, the most suitable model of the incomplete cycle for ANZ bank is C-I-CE-S-CI with the critical focus on the first two dimensions. It was opined that focusing on this strategy assisted the company in minimising the number of negative comments, encourages interactions with the employees and creates a favourable environment for sharing a positive experience with ANZ bank.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Analysis of the Comments
Despite the clarity of the provided analyses of the consumer engagement cycle, it is critical that discussing the contents of the comments with the assistance of the qualitative methods will help identify the main gaps in the communication of the brand with the consumers. As it was mentioned earlier, one of the main values of ANZ bank is making their clients an important part of the decision-making team (ANZ: About Us 2016). In this instance, it remains apparent that using Facebook could be viewed as a suitable social media platform not only to increase the loyalty of the customers but also develop new innovative ideas. It will help diversify its product lines and increase its recognition in the world.
Overall, it could be said that based on the analysis of the comments and behaviour of ANZ bank on Facebook. In this case, it could be stated that it does its best in responding to all comments of its clients. This approach underlines the fact that it cares about its customers and underlines their significance in designing effective marketing strategies and improving its services and product offerings (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). In this case, the users tend to respond with the positive comments such as “Hello ANZ! Just a friendly reminder: you are gorgeous” (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). Replying to the comments with the similar content encourages the customers to share their experience with other users on Facebook.
Despite the well-developed online marketing strategy of ANZ bank, it remains apparent that not all customers are interested in maintaining long-term relationships with the brand or interested in being engaged in continues process of interactions. These type of users tend to express negative comments in the Facebook community group of the bank. One of the comments states “Hi! I wrote to this address on the 10th August regarding my account and have not received a reply…do you still exist?” (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016).
The presence of this comment indicates that despite the positive intentions of ANZ, the company is still not able to reply to all comments to the customers and pay equal attention to each user. These comments imply that the company should not only focus on the technical improvement of the customer services in the form of various transactions but also pay vehement attention to the improvement of its online communication strategy. Minimising the number of dissatisfied users should be one of its major goals.
Due to the high recognition of ANZ in Australia, there are many users that are interested in switching to using ANZ services from other banks (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). They tend to ask questions about Apple Pay and clarify the details concerning some transactions (ANZ Bank: Facebook 2016). The company should consider responding to these customers, as they could become the loyal clients of the company in the resent future. It creates a new group of customers and underlines its significance.
Based on the analysis of the comments presented above, ANZ should continue improving its online communication along with introducing technological innovations. At the same time, the employees of the company have to consider the comments of new users and encourage sharing of positive comments on the Facebook page of the bank. Using a combination of these strategies will help the company in building trusting relationship with the clients, enlarge its customer base, and create a positive image of the brand.
Westpac Bank
Introduction
Another company, whose posts on Facebook will be analysed, is Westpac Group with the focus on the operations of Westpac Bank in Australia. Nowadays, this conglomerate has around 13 million customers worldwide and tends to cover different consumer groups (Westpac Bank: About Us 2016). For instance, it tends to offer services to the individual users and pays attention to their feedback and quality of the interactions to maintain long-term relationships with them (Westpac Bank: About Us 2016).
At the same time, the company does not underestimate relationships with the business customers, as they occupy a significant market share in the market. Offering guidance and assistance in finance interactions are highly important to SMEs and companies, which just start their operations. Alternatively, it offers loans to support the development of the businesses and provides them favourable financial conditions for development. A combination of these factors ensures that the company has a strong financial portfolio and a substantial number of services that comply with one’s needs and preferences (Westpac Bank: About Us 2016).
It remains apparent that the bank’s intentions to optimise profits and attract more customers to the brand are significant to Westpac Group’s success in the industry. Nonetheless, the management of the bank does not underestimate the significance of communication with consumers, as establishing long-term trusting relationships is one of the critical components of the firm’s corporate culture (Westpac Bank: Our Strategy and Vision 2016).
Focusing on social media and being adaptive to changes allows the company being one of the market leaders and overcoming the challenges of the modern business world. It could be said that a combination of these strategies can be discovered as the main instruments to meet perceived expectations of consumers while having a high recognition in the world.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Full Cycle
As it was mentioned earlier, Westpac Bank highly prioritises the significance of building trusting relationships with the clients and uses social media platforms such as Facebook to increase its recognition (Westpac Bank: Our Strategy and Vision 2016). In this instance, it will be possible to evaluate the reaction of consumers to each post. In the first place, it is essential to understand whether the customers were able to experience all stages of online consumer engagement cycle reflected in Figure 1.
To show the company’s interest in maintaining relationships with the customers, Table 4 presents one of the customer experience that covered all phases of the full cycle. This case indicates that Kate always had some issues with the transactions. In this case, in the phase of interaction, Westpac showed interest in helping Kate to find the solutions to the existent problems and offered her profound information to improve the order of her transaction.
The actions of the bank personnel, Matt, received positive feedback, and there is a potential that Kate will recommend the bank to her friends and relatives. Experiencing all stages of customer engagement cycle helped develop a trusting relationship with Kate and may be considered as a potential cause for the company’s positive image and recognition among the customers.
Table 4. Full-cycle: Westpac bank.
Additionally, there were 14 similar cases that were revealed during the analysis of the results. In the majority of the situations, the customer experienced particular difficulties with the online banking system, online transactions, or problems with the card (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). Despite the initial dissatisfaction with the services, the management of the bank was able to respond to the problems of the users and found solutions to their posts successfully.
It could be said that offering assistance on time helps Westpac bank continue interactions with the customers and create a positive image of the bank. These examples also underline the fact that communication and interactions with the customers are the most important stages that define the desire of the customers continue a relationship with the brand. In this case, it could be stated that the actual outcome is dependent on the ability of the employees to encourage customers to build trusting relationship with the brand.
Overall, it could be said that these findings underline the fact that it is important to follow the full cycle model of online consumer engagement. It helps the working personnel of the bank build rapport with the audience and change their perception about the bank. Nevertheless, in the majority of the cases, the ability to convince consumers to continue the relationship with the bank was dependent on the attitude of consumers towards bank and competences of the employees.
Based on the factors reflected above, it could be said that the capabilities and desire of personnel to help customers in confusing situations could be viewed as a bright example that other banks have to be considered when developing their online marketing and communication strategies. These matters have to be discovered as important concepts that have to be taken into account by the companies that tend to operate in the banking industry or other segments.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Incomplete Cycle
Alternatively, it remains apparent that some of the customers tend to terminate their relationship at a particular stage of the consumer engagement model.
In this case, the incomplete cycle will have a tendency to take place, as not all consumers are interesting in being engaged in the long-term relationship with the brand. There are several combinations that were revealed when analysing the comments of Westpac. One of them is C-I (30), and the primary characteristic of these comments is the fact that they have not received any recognition from the bank.
In this instance, it could be said that this dimension is characterised by having stages such as Communication and Interactions. Nonetheless, the phase of interaction tend to be present among the customers, who experience a similar issue or problem. For example, some comments such as “this is why I left Westpac?” are rather radical and negative at the same time (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). Not responding to these comments has an adverse impact on developing company’s image, and any company has to consider maintain it as low as possible.
Nonetheless, the most popular sequence of letters is C-I-CE-S-CI. The majority of the cases of online consumer experience were negative, as the employees of the bank were not able to convince the users to continue the interactions (bonding and recommendation phases are missing). In this instance, Table 5 presents a detailed analysis of one of the cases. One of the users showed that she is not satisfied with the current service and experience some issues.
The personnel of the bank asked for personal information to contact the client personally. Nonetheless, the client did not seem to show any interest in continuing this interaction. Based on the factors indicated above, it could be said that the subsequent stages were missing for several reasons. In the first place, it was difficult to monitor and evaluate them. Alternatively, another potential cause is the fact that employees lack expertise and were not able to encourage users in becoming loyal customers of the company.
Table 5. Incomplete cycle: Westpac bank.
Another most common model is C-I-CE-CI (7), and the primary difference from the previous one is the absence of dimension of satisfaction. In this instance, due to the absence of stages such as Bonding and Recommendation and particular attitude of the customer in initial comment, it was impossible to determine whether the client is satisfied or dissatisfied with the provided services. In this case, Table 6 present another example of incomplete cycle that was revealed after conducting the analysis of comments on Facebook.
In this case, the majority of the users were interested in clarifying particular details, and the bank was able to explain them the changes that may take place. Nonetheless, the subsequent stages of interactions were impossible to monitor since customers did not react to the comments in the desired way.
Table 6. Incomplete cycle: Westpac bank.
Despite the fact that the sequences of letters mentioned above represent the majority of the responses, there are some models that took place rarely. They are C-I-CI-B (4) and C-I-CE-S-CI-B (1). All these customer experience can be considered as positive since the customer showed the desire to continue the relationship with the brand. Some of the comments did not cover the banking services and getting a desired reply boosted the recognition of the bank among the users. Nonetheless, it was impossible to understand whether the online users of the bank will recommend this service to their relatives and friends. It could be said that it was one of the potential reasons for not including the phase of Recommendation when evaluating the experiences of these online users.
Based on the analysis of different possibilities of the incomplete cycle mentioned above, it could be said that one of the major difficulties was the inability to differentiate Customer Experience and Satisfaction dimensions. The definitions of these components are still unclear, and it creates confusion when finding the differences between these two important dimensions. It could be stated that this drawback is one of the critical reasons for the phases of Satisfaction being absent when analysing a significant number of comments.
This matter has to be considered in future, and subsequent researches have to be conducted to determine whether this dimension has to be diminished entirely. At the same time, in many cases, it was impossible to evaluate the concept of Recommendation, as alternative ways of monitoring it have to be introduced. In this instance, the alternative approach to the customer engagement cycle can be C-I-CE(S)-CI-B. This model takes into account recommendations and principles mentioned in this section.
Nonetheless, the outcomes were able to portray that the ability of the employees to maintain relationships with the customers was one of the critical approaches to the company’s success in the online environment. In this case, other banks have to pay vehement attention to developing trusting relationships with the customers by offering suitable training. The aspects of the incomplete cycle underline the fact that the abilities of the employees to interact effectively are the primary definers of the subsequent stages of interaction. In this case, effective communication that focuses on the creation of the feeling of intimacy helps customers change their perception about the bank.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Analysis of the Comments
As it was reflected in the company’s description, building trusting relationships with the customers is essential for the company’s success and brand image (Westpac Bank: Our Strategy and Vision 2016). Consequently, it is vital to evaluate the comments of the customers since they can provide valuable information that can be actively used to enhance the quality of interactions. In this case, evaluating the comments of the consumers will have a positive impact on the quality of the proposed marketing campaigns and strategies. These comments can be used for the enhancement of Westpac bank’s interactions with its customers.
In the first place, it was reflected Westpac bank pays vehement attention to replying to the comments of the users. In this case, only 22 comments were left unanswered while others were taken into account and replied in details. In this case, this fact supports its statement that the bank pays vehement attention to its customers and considers them as critical contributors to the company’s success. This approach complies with the mission statement of Westpac since it tends to cherish their clients and tries to offer only the best and high-quality services for them.
At the same time, in the majority of the cases, the users of the bank proposed suggestions and introduced various ways that can help the banks to enhance their services and user experience with the products. One of the most important proposals is the proposal of the automatic messaging system (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). The primary goal of this approach is to inform customers about any technical issues that have a tendency to take place once in a while (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). Introducing this method will assist the company in being in constant contact with its customers. At the same time, it will help avoid confusion and eliminate the potential future problems.
There were also other comments that proposed suggestions to the technical maintenance of the bank. The majority of them were concerning taking advantage of technologies such as Apple Pay and Android Pay (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). In this case, these suggestions can be used for the technological improvement only. However, taking into account these innovations will help Westpac satisfy the needs and preferences of the users, avoid similar issues in future, and improve their communication with the customers.
Alternatively, there are various proposals concerning technological maintenance and communication with the customers (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). To support the need for improvement, many companies suggest taking the example of ANZ (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). According to the opinions of the users, this bank do not have as many technological issues as Westpac has (Westpac Bank: Facebook 2016). At the same time, the users tend to claim that the employees of the bank tend to be more responsive to comments of the users in the Facebook group and other communities. The existence of these comments damages the company’s reputation and questions its competitive advantage while comparing it with its competitors.
It remains apparent that Westpac attempts to reply to the majority of the comments mentioned above. Nonetheless, its comparison with the exceptional services of ANZ bank underlines the fact that there is a space for improvement. It could be said that potential adjustments to make are making the responses to the comments of the customers more personalised and increasing the speed of replying to the customers’ comments and complaints. A combination of these factors will have a beneficial impact on improving company’s online marketing communication strategy and enhance its competitive edge and increase recognition among competitors such as ANZ.
Commonwealth Bank
Introduction
Alternatively, it is critical to consider Commonwealth Bank and its main features since it is the third bank to be analysed to understand the efficiency of the consumer engagement cycle. Commonwealth Bank offers banking activities such as personal banking, loaning, and other offerings as other banks mentioned above.
Nonetheless, the primary difference is the fact that the bank has a tendency to support local Australian communities (Commonwealth Bank: Spirit of Anzac 2016). For instance, Spirit of Anzac is one of the events supported by the bank, and its main aim is to reveal the spirit of community and unveil the importance of soldiers, military, and their contribution to the protection of the country (Commonwealth Bank: Spirit of Anzac 2016). Being active supporters of this program helps establish a connection with the customers and underline the significance of the communal and social values to developing a positive image of the firm worldwide.
As for the involvement of Commonwealth Bank in social media interactions, its values and corporate culture imply that being in direct contact with the customers is highly important. In this instance, the marketing team of the bank has to take advantage of information technology and its gadgets. The leaders of the bank highly understand the significance of this trend, and, currently, it uses different social media platforms to maintain in contact with the active users.
In this case, the company has introduced mobile applications with the user-friendly interface (Commonwealth Bank: About 2016). Simultaneously, the company has an active presence in social media and tends to interact with the clients by means of networking platforms such as Facebook. It could be said that a combination of these factors makes the company vehemently competitive in the market due to its ability to understand the significance of social media.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Full Cycle
It remains apparent that the Facebook comments have to be considered for Commonwealth Bank to understand the cycles and phases of online consumer engagement. In this case, it remains apparent that some customers were involved in all seven phases. The number of these cases tend to be limited, as it seems to be difficult for the company to maintain customers interested in continuing the relationship with the brand. In the context of Commonwealth Bank, only five customer experiences could be considered as full cycles.
In this instance, Commonwealth Bank was interested in maintaining a relationship with the customers, and there are four positive and one neutral experiences that covered all seven dimensions. In this case, Table 7 represents one of the examples of full-cycle. It could be said that being able to quickly respond to the problem with the client assisted the firm with building trusting relationship with the customers and encouraging them to recommend the financial services of the Commonwealth bank to other clients. In the example presented in Table 7, Gina experienced some issues with the retrieval of the information.
The employees of the bank replied rapidly to this request. Asking the customer to send a personal message received positive feedback. In this case, it led to the desire of the customer to continue interactions with the brand. It could be said that other examples of full cycles had similar outcomes and described similar situations, but the topics for inquiries were different.
Based on the outcomes reflected above, it could be assumed that replying to the customers’ comments and encouraging them to continue interactions contributes to creating a positive brand image of the company. It seems that the bank cares about its customers and wants to increase their retentions. At the same, signing the messages with the individual names of the personnel assists in increasing intimacy with the clients and develop a positive emotional touch.
In this instance, the findings displayed in this section emphasise the fact that the existent model of customer engagement cycle tend to be present, and the customers of Commonwealth bank tend to experience a sequence of stages. At the same time, it could be concluded that there is a connection between the positive experience of the customers and the full cycle of online consumer engagement.
Table 7. Full-cycle: Commonwealth bank.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Incomplete Cycle
Nonetheless, it remains apparent that despite the clarity of the definition of the full cycle, some of the stages tend to be dismissed and underline the existence of the incomplete cycle of online consumer engagement. In this first place, it could be said that a significant number of the negative comments (201) was ignored by the personnel of the bank. These results were the main reasons for the customer’s dissatisfaction and covered only C-I dimensions, where interactions only took place between the individual users. These comments will be analysed in the subsequent section, as they can be used as a basis for recommendations.
Nonetheless, the existence of these matters underlines the fact that Commonwealth bank does not put attention on the maintaining its customers satisfied. The existence of this matter creates a perception that the company’s online marketing strategy does not comply with its initial mission and vision statements. Consequently, it creates a clash of interests between the actions of the bank and the perceived expectations of the customers.
There are several combinations of letters that took place rarely. For instance, C-I-CE-B (once), C-I-CE-CI-B-R (once), C-I-CI (once), C-I-CI-B-R (once), C-I-CE-S-CI-B (twice) are not the most common combinations that were revealed during the analysis of the gathered information. The customers involved in these interactions tend to have different experiences regarding their communication with the Commonwealth Bank.
Nonetheless, in comparison to C-I reaction, the majority of the cases received positive or neutral recognition among consumers. It could be assumed that each overall customer experience was dependent on the emotionality (negative or positive attitude) displayed in the initial post of the client. The most common finding pertains to the fact that in the first place, customers had a negative attitude towards the brand. Nonetheless, the employees, who were in direct contact with them were able to change their perception concerning the brand and propose the effective solutions.
For instance, Table 8 offers an example of an analysis of the positive consumer experience with the help of seven dimensions of customer engagement. In this case, the customer claimed his/her pleasure for using Albert by depicting its positive features and showing their desire to share his/her positive experience in the Facebook community of the bank (Commonwealth Bank: Facebook 2016). The employees of the bank spotted this opportunity and underlined the fact that they appreciated sharing this information with the other users of the community.
Alexandra (the user) liked this comment, and this matter indicated that the customer experienced the Bonding phase. Nonetheless, it was unclear whether the customer would recommend the services of this bank to her relatives and friends. It could be said that this analysis depicts that all stages including C-I-CE-S-CI-B are easy to monitor. However, some alternative strategies on measuring Recommendation have to be introduced.
Table 8. Incomplete cycle: Commonwealth bank (Commonwealth Bank: Facebook 2016).
At the same time, a combination of letters C-I-CE-S-CI was reflected 13 times in the responses of the consumers. In this instance, it is evident that customers did not want to continue a close relationship with the brand, which is usually reflected in dimensions such as Bonding and Recommendations. Initially, the customers showed their dissatisfaction with fees, devices, or services offered at the bank (Commonwealth Bank: Facebook 2016).
Table 9 reflects these stages of customer experience. Aimee and Polly complained about the effectiveness of Albert (Commonwealth Bank: Facebook 2016). The employees of the company encouraged them to send a private message. After that, online customer engagement cycle was terminated, as the employees were not able to find touchpoints with the customers. In this case, the personnel of the bank was not able to find ways to convince their customers that their experience in future can be improved. This matter led to high levels of dissatisfaction among customers and the lack of desire to continue the relationship with the brand. In this case, missing two last dimensions signifies that the company has issues with its online marketing strategies.
Table 9. Incomplete cycle: Commonwealth bank.
Based on the analysis of the customer experience mentioned above, it could be said that not employing a full cycle model does not help change consumer experience about the services of the bank. The customers have strong beliefs, and it is hard to change their opinions in a positive direction. Nonetheless, supporting positive feedback assists in collaborating and maintaining the loyal customers, who are satisfied with the offered services.
In this instance, it could be said that the most effective customer engagement model that Commonwealth bank has to apply apart from the full cycle is C-I-CE(S)-CI-B. It has a positive reflection on the satisfaction of the customers and underlines the need in focusing on training of the personnel. Overall, it could be stated that company has to reconsider its collaboration with the customers and try to cover all dimensions of consumer engagement cycle.
Seven-Dimension Customer Engagement Model: Analysis of the Comments
Simultaneously, it is vital to access the comments on the posts of the users on Facebook, as they will offer valuable information about the interaction of the customers with the brand. In this case, these findings will be beneficial for the company, as Commonwealth Bank prioritises the values of community and highlights them as the essential elements of the corporate culture (Commonwealth Bank: About 2016).
In the first place, speaking of positive comments, some of them were reflected in previous sections, and it is assumed that involving almost all stages of consumer engagement cycle encourages their presence in the social networks. Based on this assumption, it could be said that prioritising this assumption will be beneficial to the Commonwealth bank, as these matters have a reflection in the mission statement of the company.
Alternatively, as it was mentioned earlier, when the bank does not show any interest in customer comments, only two dimensions are covered. This trend is one of the potential reasons for dissatisfaction among consumers. In this case, the dimension of Interaction is usually represented in the form of communication between the users in the social media. The representatives of the bank do not participate in this process.
In this case, the comments can be divided into two main categories. In the first group, customers show their negative attitude towards the brand. For example, some of the users tend to claim that customers are not satisfied with the services by saying “How about helping all those Bank Victims!” (Commonwealth Bank: About 2016). At the same time, some users have a tendency to depict that “all customer comments are being ignored” (Commonwealth Bank: About 2016).
This finding underlines that the customer engagement cycle is incomplete, and it creates a perception that customers are not significant contributors to the company’s success. The existence of these negative claims by the customers underlines the fact that despite reflecting the desire to help different cultural groups and support various events, the management of the company is not able to focus on one of its stakeholders (customers). It questions the ability of the bank to be able to deliver high-quality services to its loyal customers.
In turn, the second group of comments can be discovered as a potential source of recommendations that the company can use to optimise their services and performance. For example, some users encourage the company to take advantage of Apple Pay and consider all benefits that it can do to its customers by claiming “Think of what Apple Pay can do to your customers?” (Commonwealth Bank: About 2016). At the same time, this concept can be discovered as potential driver to start focusing on the research and development. Monitoring these comments with ideas for innovations can assist the company in developing its marketing strategy and increase the ability of the financial products and services to meet the perceived expectations of consumers.
Based on the comments and feedback reflected in the previous sections, Commonwealth bank should encourage the collaboration with customers and increasing the frequency of the responses to the comments. In this case, creating interactive posts and reacting to the negative comments of the customers will assist in restoring a positive brand image. These concepts have to be applied at the same time, as improving online marketing strategy has to be prioritised to meet the perceived expectations of the clients of Commonwealth bank.
Research Findings and Conclusion
Findings
When analysing the main findings of the paper, it is vital to provide a summary and identify the principle concepts that can be used as a basis for the future research. Initially, the outcomes were aimed to answer the research questions concerning the relevance of the online consumer engagement cycle. Nonetheless, when referring to the online marketing strategies of the particular banks, it was critical to present recommendations that can be actively used to improve their current marketing strategies. It will not only help enhance the functioning of the banks but will also have a beneficial impact on the organisations that tend to use online platforms to develop their relationships with the customers.
In the first place, the outcomes had a tendency to describe the involvement of consumers in all stages of the consumer engagement cycle. In the case, in all of the banks only a limited number of clients tended to experience the consumer engagement process. Nevertheless, these experiences have a tendency to be positive, as the customers experience a high level of intimacy with the brand. This finding underlines the fact that full cycle has a connection with the desire of the customers to continue their relationship with the brand.
Consequently, it could be said that the proposed model is consistent with reality. Nonetheless, one cannot underestimate that the actual outcomes are dependent on the initial attitudes of the customers towards the brand, their desire to continue the relationship with the brand, and communicative skills and competences of the employees that are involved in the decision-making process. Considering these concepts at the same time will help the company in building trusting relationships with its customers, improving their online strategies, and enhancing their competitive edge.
In the recent past, it was revealed that the consumer engagement cycle has a tendency to be incomplete, as online users tend to have different intentions when communicating and integrating with the brand (Ertell 2010). It could be said that this finding opines that one of the main assumptions identified in the literature review seems to be correct. Alternatively, it could be assumed that the majority of the customers that tend to be part of the customer groups tend to be engaged in the long-term relationships with the banks and usually clarify information and attempt to find resolutions to their issues. Nonetheless, due to the lack of data it was impossible to determine the correlation between being a representative of the particular consumer group and experiencing the particular stages of the customer engagement framework.
Furthermore, it was reflected that the consumer involvement in the subsequent stages of consumer engagement cycle pertains to the initial emotions of consumers and the ability of the professionals of the bank to encourage changing their attitude in a positive direction. In this case, not being involved in last stages such as Recommendation and Bonding indicates that marketing professionals have to reconsider their marketing strategy and underline the significance of the interactions with consumers. At the same time, having only stages such as C-I implies that the company tends to dismiss the comments of the users.
The lack of these actions increases the levels of dissatisfaction among consumers and damages the company’s image. It remains apparent that the companies have to understand the significance of the interactions with the customers online and devote substantial attention to the training of their employees.
A combination of these factors underlines the need to modify and redefine the components will have a beneficial impact on the quality of interactions. Uniting the components with a similar such as Customer Experience and Satisfaction will help focus on offering only positive experience to customers and emphasising the need to continue a long-term relationship with the brand. Currently, the existence of separate definitions of these dimensions creates confusion for the researchers and marketers at the same time. It could be said that uniting them will clarify the definitions of stages and decrease the level of misunderstanding. These changes will ease the understanding of the decision-making process, but it is not a compulsory adjustment.
At the same time, considering different dimensions of online consumer engagement cycle, Recommendation was discovered as another dimension that creates difficulties. According to the analysis conducted above, it could be said that some customer experiences did not reflect this dimension. One of the main reasons for that is the fact that it is one of the most difficult concepts to predict and monitor. In this case, proposing alternative strategies and approaches to evaluating it could be considered as another intention of the future researchers. It will assist in understanding whether the consumer engagement cycle is complete without highlighting this dimension. In this instance, the revised model of online customer engagement can be represented in the form of C-I-CE(S)-CI-B(R).
Despite the need to discover the appropriateness of the online consumer engagement cycle and its seven dimensions, another critical aspect to address was offering recommendations to each bank concerning their social media marketing strategies. In the first place, it was reflected that ANZ bank has a tendency to take advantage of the model of the full cycle of online customer engagement. At the same time, it remains apparent that the company understands the significance of online communication strategy and tries its best when responding to the comments of the clients online.
It could be said that it is one of the primary reasons for the development of the positive image of the brand. Nonetheless, the company has to enhance its strategy by increase the speed of the responses to the comments and leave as fewer as possible comments without answers. Simultaneously, replying to the comments of the potential users can enlarge the company’s market share. ANZ bank has to apply these concepts at the same time, as they will help the company pursue excellence in this segment.
It could be said that Westpac bank tends to pay vehement attention to the interactions with its customers. This feature of its marketing strategy entirely complies with the bank’s vision and mission statement. Nonetheless, the customers often claim that its services have to be improved and refer to ANZ as the main example. In this instance, the company has to attempt making its responses more personalised and reducing waiting time. At the same time, the company has to conduct the sufficient analysis of ANZ online consumer engagement strategy. A combination of these factors will assist the company in enhancing its online marketing strategy and underline its competitive edge.
As for Commonwealth bank, its current strategy does not comply with its mission statement and consumer expectations. In this case, it has to consider paying more attention to the interactions with the clients online. The personnel, who work with the Facebook comments, have to be pass training that will help them to deal with negative commentaries effectively. Simultaneously, the company can post various interactive posts that will help improve existent banking services and offer new ones. It will assist a company in restoring its brand image and changing the perception of the consumers about the brand.
Overall, it could be said that the analyses each bank helps understand the most common tendencies that can be used by banks in different countries. In the first place, the companies have to understand that they have to interact with the customers and minimise the number of uncommented posts. It will create a perception that the companies care about their clients. At the same time, the management of the banks has to monitor the actions of the competitors, evaluate the information presented in the posts, and take advantage of the theory of online customer engagement dimensions. A combination of these factors assists the companies in restoring their brand images and build their images in the era of digitalisation.
Keyword Analysis
Despite the clarity and importance of the findings, one cannot underestimate the analysis of the keywords, as they assist in depicting the main topics presented in the paper. At the same time, they help understand the main spheres where these findings can be applied. Alternatively, describing the keywords helps understand not only the principle focus of the paper but also optimise the search and understand the main principles of finding this research study in the scientific database.
In this case, online consumer engagement could be discovered as the main keyword. One of the main reasons for that is the fact that the proposed research study focuses on its dimensions and has a tendency to fulfil the gaps in the understanding of this concept. This study proposes new solutions to optimise the effectiveness of the online consumer engagement cycle and understand the principles of interacting with the customers.
Alternatively, one cannot underestimate the importance of seven dimensions described in the research study. In this case, they are Communication, Interaction, Customer Experience, Satisfaction, Continued Involvement, Bonding, and Recommendations. It could be said that each phase of consumer engagement cycle can be analysed as a separate keyword. The primary reason for that is the fact that both the literature review and research methodology tend to address each step in details. At the same time, it helps understand whether these concepts can be actively applied in practice. Consequently, depicting these aspects as the main keywords are highly important since they have a direct connection with the online consumer engagement model.
Alternatively, it could be said that the main stakeholders of the company can also be discovered as the main keywords that cannot be underestimated in the context of this research study. In this instance, they include brand, customer, and social media platform. In the first place, brand and brand community can be viewed as vehemently important, as it helps understand that designing the company’s image is one of the critical elements for the company’s success.
In turn, ‘customer’ is another important keyword, as this actor represent the demand side of online and offline communication. Speaking of social platform, it is one of the essential components, which ensures the appropriate functioning of online consumer engagement model. It helps establish a connection between the customer and company. Reflecting this term in the keyword will help the interested individuals discover a new role of social media in marketing and business.
Furthermore, one cannot underrate the significance of the general concepts such as digitalisation and e-commerce, and online. In this case, it is evident that the online customer engagement can be discovered as a consequence of digitalisation and e-commerce. Nowadays, the majority of the interactions with the customers are completed ‘online’, and underlying this term will be beneficial for the researchers, who want to gain the profound understanding of the consequences of these terms and their main influence on marketing.
Based on the description and analysis of the keywords described above, it could be said that their selection pertains to describe the problem from different perspectives. In the first place, it identifies the main terms such as online customer engagement and seven dimensions of online consumer engagement model. At the same time, it provides information about the main stakeholders of the process. Offering general terms such as digitalisation and e-commerce describes the sections where the detailed topic can be found.
Conclusion
Overall, it could be said that this research attempted to address the issue and drawbacks of consumer engagement cycle. The literature review revealed that consumer engagement is a complex phenomenon. In the first place, it has a clear connection with the rising trends of e-commerce, digitalisation, and social networks. At the same time, one cannot underestimate a connection with the brand image and its high correlation with the value creation process.
Alternatively, many researchers divide it into dimensions and consider each phase as an essential component of the complete consumer engagement cycle. Evaluating these dimensions separately assisted in understanding that some of them lack clarity and definitions. For example, consumer engagement was not previously identified, and communication and interaction are highly dependent on each other.
Based on the factors highlighted above, it could be said that the main motivation for this research study can be explained by the gaps in the literature. The current stages of the consumer engagement cycle lack clarity. At the same time, professional and educational interest in this topic also underlines the desire to continue studying it and contributing to the research sphere. Applying both qualitative and quantitative methods simultaneously assisted in understanding the principles of the consumer engagement cycle while evaluating Facebook posts of three banks including Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ. In this case, it helped assess the comments based on the existent model of consumer engagement, propose recommendations, and identify the phases that can be adjusted.
One of the major findings is the fact the full-cycle model of online consumer engagement has a direct connection with the positive attitudes towards the brand and increase the percentage of loyal consumers. Consequently, using the existent model of consumer engagement will have a positive impact on the retention of customers. On the contrary, when the cycle is incomplete, in the majority of the cases, it is associated with negative attitudes among the clients.
The customer does not feel like an important part of the decision-making team, as the marketing professionals of the bank and support team are not able to convince them that the services will be improved. A significant number of the negative comments present online tend to damage the image of the company. These issues are present since the banks are not able to underline the importance of online interactions with the customers in social networks.
To avoid this confusion, one of the potential adjustments that can be used by the newcomers of the industry is uniting some of the dimensions together. For example, Customer Experience and Satisfaction are difficult to differentiate, and making them a part of one step will ease the process and helps focus on the long-term relationships with the clients. At the same time, it is essential to introduce alternative approaches when measuring Recommendations, as it is unclear whether the customers are interested in continuing their relationship with the brand.
As for the recommendations to the banks, Commonwealth Bank has to reconsider its mission statement and online marketing strategy entirely. Offering additional training to its PR and marketing professionals will have a positive impact on its communications with consumers. It will reduce the number of negative comments and increase reaction of the company to enhance the reaction and responsiveness of Commonwealth bank.
It will assist in restoring its positive brand image and becoming an important member of the Australian community. Using these methods will help optimise the effectiveness and functionality of its services and comply with the customers’ needs and expectations. At the same time, Westpac bank has to consider monitoring the actions of the competitors and adapt their marketing strategies to enhance their recognition among customers.
Alternatively, ANZ bank has to aim towards the optimisation of its marketing strategy and increasing its responsiveness to the comments. Broadly speaking, all banks presented in this study have to pay vehement attention to the online marketing strategy, as living in the era of digitalisation implies a high significance of this component.
Speaking of implications of the research study, it could be said that these outcomes can be actively used, as the basis for developing and redesigning theories concerning online consumer engagement. These findings emphasise that the current model is not efficient and lacks details and definitions concerning different dimensions. At the same time, these models can be actively used by the marketers, as taking advantage of these research methodologies will have a positive influence on the effectiveness and design of the marketing campaigns.
In this case, it is essential that professionals will understand the gravity of social media platforms as a mediator of the relationship between the brand and its consumers and different research tactics to establish long-term trusting relationships with the online brand community members. Taking into account these aspects will have an advantageous impact on the company’s financial prosperity since these findings have a direct reflection on consumer loyalty and sizes of the market shares.
Limitations & Future Research
The questions of this research study attempted to cover the main gaps of online consumer engagement model that were depicted in the literature review. It could be said that it was able to fulfil its purposes and find the relevant answers to the research questions. Nonetheless, one of the limitations was a focus on the particular sphere. In this instance, the research sample that was used for analysis was represented by Commonwealth, Westpac, and ANZ banks.
In this case, having a limited scope of the research study and focus on the particular industry may increase the level of bias and question the applicability of the findings in other contexts (Rothstein et al. 2006). Another limitation is the fact that only a restricted number of comments was analysed. Focusing only on the interaction with the customers for a period of one month may not be enough to develop relevant solutions and understand the main feature of consumer behaviour.
At the same time, this research study paid attention only to the behaviour of consumers within one social media network. It is evident that Facebook is one of the most popular platforms in the modern world, and it is often regarded as a marketing instrument to increase the company’s recognition worldwide (Treadaway and Smith 2012). Nonetheless, Facebook has its own unique features that differentiate this social platform from the competitors (Treadaway and Smith 2012). Consequently, focusing only on Facebook solely will not be suitable for creating a universal strategy to be applied in different situations. Nonetheless, this aspect can be discovered as a potential definer of the topics for the future research.
Alternatively, one cannot underestimate the significance of personal bias since it has a vital impact on the relevance of the reported findings and results. For instance, it could be said that conducting analyses and evaluations of the particular methods could be affected by the ways the researcher wanted to interpret the outcomes (Fern 2001). It tends to increase the level of prejudice when discussing the findings and trends to find the proof to the personal beliefs in them (Fern 2001). In this case, the subjectivity of the findings when depicting the cycles of the consumer engagement model has to be taken into account, as some comments may be interpreted differently by other professionals.
It could be said that a combination of the factors identified above underlined the main areas that have to be considered in the future research study. In the first place, it is essential to conduct a series of studies in different spheres, as using this approach will assist in depicting the main similarities and features that can be identified as general theoretical concepts (Menard 2007).
Underlining the significance of this matter in the future studies will help eliminate the existent gaps in the literature and propose relevant and effective solutions to be applied in practice. Another aspect that has to be taken into account is expanding not only scope but also the sample size of the study. In this instance, making them longitudinal by covering several months will have a positive impact on establishing general trends. Alternatively, the researchers can discover the possibility of using different research methodologies, as finding a relevant mix of research tactics will contribute to depicting relevant solutions to the existent issues.
It could be said that the future researches also have to determine whether the findings revealed in this research study are relevant. It was proposed that the dimensions such as Customer Experience and Satisfaction have to be united. This innovation will assist in enhancing the concepts of online customer engagement model, as having many dimensions creates confusion for the researches. Checking whether this adjustment is relevant can be considered as one of the aims of the future research studies. At the same time, one has to consider the approaches of measuring and understanding the Recommendation dimension. Researching this aspect profoundly will help understand whether this concept has to be considered as a part of the consumer engagement cycle.
At the same time, the future studies have to consider other social networks that tend to highly popular these days. Taking into account other communication channels in the form of social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest will contribute to the development of the effective social media marketing strategies while considering the main features of these platforms and networks (Williams 2016; Hyder 2016). These findings can be actively used by the professionals of the industry since the marketers of the companies can take advantage of the proposed new strategies and methodologies to increase company’s revenue and financial prosperity.
It remains apparent that despite the significance of expanding the scope and sample size of the study, it is vital to introduce relevant strategies to minimise the influence of researcher bias. It is very important to address this issue, as it may question the overall relevance and validity of the findings and their applicability in different contexts (Fern 2001; Leavy 2014). In this case, involving several professionals in the research study will have a beneficial impact on the resolution of this problem, as they will have a balanced viewpoint about the problem that takes into account different angles and avoids prioritisation of one opinion over others (Leavy 2014).
In the end, considering all the limitations mentioned above in the future studies will have a positive reflection on the relevance and validity of the results. It will have a beneficial impact on designing high-quality marketing campaigns and introducing the outcomes and results that can help understand the significance of social media in the global business world.
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