Yliopistosta työelämään : opintopolun työelämäorientaatiota tukemassa
The Effects of Consumer Demographics and Payment Method Preference on Product Return Frequency and Reasons in Online Shopping
In online shopping, product returns are very common. In order to reduce them, one must first understand who are making them and why are they being made. In this study, we aim to address these questions by examining product return behaviour from a consumer-centric rather than the more traditional product-centric, retailer-centric, and order-centric perspectives. More specifically, we focus on the effects of four demographic characteristics of consumers (i.e., gender, age, education, and income) as well as their payment method preference on their product return frequency and product return reasons. As the data, we use the responses from 560 Finnish online consumers, which were collected with …
How Do QR Codes Enhance Customer Experience? : Omnichannel Customer Experiences in a Brick-and-Mortar Fashion Store
In this qualitative study, we investigate how customers perceive QR codes enhancing their customer experience (CX) in the brick-and-mortar (B&M) store environment. Introducing QR codes to B&M stores is a part of the larger phenomenon of retailers creating omnichannel CXs by utilizing digital and cyber-physical elements in B&M stores. To collect data from real customers’ CXs, we displayed QR codes in a Finnish fashion brand’s B&M store and interviewed customers who had authentically visited the store. The QR codes displayed in the store were linked to a product information page on the brand’s online store, a brand ambassador’s Instagram posts, and an online survey. The data consist of 15 ind…
Gender, Age, and Generational Differences in the Use Intention of Mobile Payments and Its Antecedents
Although mobile payments have gained considerable attention in academic research, there still are major gaps in our more in-depth understanding of the antecedents of their acceptance and use. In this study, we aim to address these gaps by examining the potential gender and age differences in the use intention of mobile payments and its antecedents in terms of the effects of the antecedent factors on use intention as well as the antecedent factors and use intention themselves while also considering the critical prerequisite of measurement invariance. Moreover, through a careful selection of the compared age groups, we extend the examination to cover also the potential generational difference…
What is meaningful for responsible shoppers in online fashion retail?
This qualitative study investigates what is meaningful for responsible shoppers in online fashion retail. The study aims to identify and describe these essential themes from the customers’ perspective. The data were collected by interviewing nine self-proclaimed responsible shoppers aged 26–51 years. All participants were female. The findings highlight six meaningful themes for responsible shoppers. These include 1) comprehensive and versatile information; 2) familiar brands and retailers; 3) domesticity; 4) pricing; 5) justification of purchase; and 6) the durability of fashion wear. The study indicates that these meaningful themes are related to the online store characteristics and brands…
Does airlines’ eco-friendliness matter? Customer satisfaction towards an environmentally responsible airline
The looming climate crisis requires an immediate response, also on an individual level. Consumers are being asked to reduce and replace their carbon-intensive consumption behaviors. One of the consumption behaviors with the largest impact is air travel. The growing awareness among consumers has led to the advent of flight shaming, which could seriously endanger airlines' existing business models. One way for airlines to respond to this threat is by becoming more eco-friendly. We therefore wanted to study whether the environmental responsibility of an airline could be positively associated with customer satisfaction and whether that could translate into more customer loyalty towards an eco-f…
The Cross-Channel Effects of In-Store Customer Experience in the Case of Omnichannel Fashion Retailing in Finland
Although omnichannel retailing has emerged as a popular research topic in academic research, there are still gaps in our understanding of this phenomenon. One such gap concerns omnichannel customer experience and particularly the cross-channel or spillover effects of how customer experience in one channel may affect customer behaviour not only in that specific channel but also in the other channels of the same retailer. In this study, we aim to address this gap by examining how customer experience in the offline channel affects customer behaviour in both the offline and the online channel, more specifically how in-store customer experience affects both brick-and-mortar store and online stor…
Exploring Online Customer Experience Formation:How do Customers Explain Negative Emotions during Online Shopping Encounters?
Exploring Online Customer Experience Formation: How do Customers Explain Negative Emotions during Online Shopping Encounters?
We investigated online customer experience formation by using customers’ own explanations of their negative emotions during their online shopping encounters. Survey data from 1,786 Finnish online shoppers were used to identify customers who experienced strong negative emotions during online shopping encounters (N = 215) and the causes of their negative emotions were then analyzed in depth from their written descriptions. Our findings indicated that customers attributed most of their negative emotions to online store characteristics, including user interface, product and service range, pricing, and trustworthiness; however, some negative emotions were also attributable to factors outside of …
Reinforcement of brand relationships in an omnichannel environment: a qualitative study on clothing shopping
Today’s brands operate in an omnichannel environment consisting of different online and offline channels where the brand can be experienced. This qualitative study investigates brand relationship reinforcement in the omnichannel environment among customers of a Finnish clothing brand, R-Collection. The data collection was conducted in 2021 by interviewing ten customers of R-Collection. We examined the brand relationship reinforcement in four channels: brick-and-mortar (B&M), online store, social media, and second hand. The findings show that brand relationships can be rein-forced differently in these channels. In B&M stores, sensing the quality of clothing, a customer experience that meets …
Exploring positive online customer experience formation : a study of food waste shoppers
This qualitative study investigates the formation of positive online customer experiences in the context of online grocery shopping. This study analyzes customers’ written descriptions of the causes of their positive experiences when visiting an online store. Data were collected with an online survey of 581 respondents. The case company is a Finnish online retailer, Fiksuruoka Ltd. Fiksuruoka’s business idea is to sell food waste; its product range consists of surplus groceries that are in danger of being disposed of. The findings show that four main themes contribute positively to the online customer experience. Positive customer experiences were explained by factors related to 1) the shop…
Customer Experience Formation in Online Shopping : Investigating the Causes of Positive and Negative Emotions During a Visit to an Online Store
This study explores customer experience formation in an online shopping context by investigating the causes of customers’ positive and negative emotions during their visit to an online store. Survey data collected from 1786 Finnish online customers was used to identify individuals who experienced strong positive (N = 138) or negative emotions (N = 215) during their visit. The causes of negative and positive emotions were studied by analyzing customers’ open-ended, written explanations attributed to their emotions. Attribution theory is utilized to explain how individuals make sense of their emotions. The findings show that customers offer various explanations for the emotions evoked during …
Identifying the Ideal Types of Online Shoppers : A Qualitative Analysis of Online Shopping
The tremendous increase in online shopping has created a growing demand to understand online shopping behavior. This study contributes to this understanding by identifying ideal types among online shoppers. An ideal type is an analytical construct used to ascertain similarities and deviations to concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. Theoretically, the study draws from different perspectives to create a multifaceted view of online shoppers. The purpose is not to categorize online shoppers under a specific category but rather to help understand different typically occurring online shopping behaviors. Through thematic analysis of the data from 31 participants, this study presents five id…
Customers’ QR Code Usage Barriers in a Brick-and-Mortar Store : A Qualitative Study
The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that hinder customers from utilizing QR codes when they visit brick-and-mortar (B&M) stores. The research was conducted at a Finnish fashion retailer, where three types of QR codes were displayed for customers to use. In order to identify the barriers that customers face, two different sets of data were collected and analyzed: open-ended survey data (n = 101) and interview data (n = 16). The findings showed two main categories of barriers,customer and company related, with seven sub-barriers. The customer-related barriers included lack of interest in QR codes, user-related usage issues, desire for a device-free B&M store, and dislike towar…
Asumisnormit vai yksilölliset haaveet? Asumistoiveet eri elämänvaiheissa
Aiempien tutkimusten perusteella eri-ikäiset suomalaiset toivovat asumiseltaan samankaltaisia asioita. Yhtenäisiä asumisen toiveita on selitetty kulttuurisidonnaisilla normeilla, jotka perustuvat paitsi virallisiin säädöksiin myös vähitellen normaaleiksi muodostuneisiin käsityksiin. Normit luovat yksilöille ymmärrystä siitä, mitä asumiselta tulisi toivoa. Yleisen ihanteen alle kätkeytyy normeista poikkeavia asumisen toiveita, haaveita ja intohimoja, jotka kytkeytyvät esimerkiksi yksilöiden elämänvaiheeseen, arvoihin ja ikään. Tämä tutkimus tarkastelee nuorten ja myöhäiskeskiikäisten aikuisten asumistoiveita sekä normien ja haaveiden ilmenemistä näissä toiveissa. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerätti…
Digital Technologies and Generational Identity
Barriers to Data-Driven Decision-Making Among Online Retailers
This study investigates the barriers to data-driven decision-making among online retailers. The study seeks to deepen the previous knowledge by considering data-driven decision-making as a process and identifying the critical obstacles within its different (6) stages. Qualitative interview data (N=10) collected from Finnish e-commerce professionals are analyzed. The findings show that barriers to data-driven decision-making occur at all stages during the decision-making process. The barriers are mostly related to the employees’ and the management’s expertise in collecting, organizing, analyzing, summarizing, synthesizing, and prioritizing data. In addition, attitudinal, technical, and strat…
Customer-Brand Relationships in the Context of Digital Brands
This qualitative study investigates customer-brand relationships between customers and digital brands. This study aims to describe different digital brand relationship types, and their manifestations among young adult customers. The data collection was conducted in 2021 by interviewing fourteen Finnish adults aged 22-31 years. The findings categorize the customer-brand relationships into four relationship types, according to the relationship strength from weak to strong. Brand liking lacks emotions and is characterized by low commitment towards a digital brand. Brand attachment includes having a slight barrier of digital brand replacement, and emotions towards the brand are weak. Brand lovi…
Barriers to Responsible Consumption in e-Commerce : Evidence from Fashion Shoppers
This qualitative study investigates the barriers to responsible consumption in e-commerce from the online shoppers’ viewpoint. The purpose of the study is to increase our understanding of what prevents young adults from making responsible purchases in online stores in the context of fashion retail. The data were collected by interviewing ten Finnish fashion shoppers aged 23-27 years. The findings show that responsible consumption is perceived as complex and challenging. The study identified barriers related to online stores and consumers themselves. Online store implementation (product availability, information and transparency, and pricing) is vital in facilitating online shoppers’ respons…
Ideal types of online shoppers : a qualitative analysis of online shopping behavior
Due to the growing popularity of online shopping, there is a growing demand for understanding the motives and behaviour of online shoppers. This study aims to increase this understanding by examining online shopping behaviour from the perspective of UTAUT2 theory integrated with self-efficacy and risk avoidance components. The thematically analysed data from 31 participants highlights the unique aspects of online shoppers by grouping them into ideal types, presenting the data as extensively as possible. An ideal type is an analytical construct used to ascertain similarities and deviations to concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. This study discovered five ideal types of online shopper…
The Effects of Consumer Demographics and Payment Method Preference on Product Return Frequency and Reasons in Online ShoppingEffects of Consumer Demographics and Payment Method Preference on Product Return Frequency and Reasons in Online Shopping
In online shopping, product returns are very common. In order to reduce them, one must first understand who are making them and why are they being made. In this study, we aim to address these questions by examining product return behaviour from a consumer-centric rather than the more traditional product-centric, retailer-centric, and order-centric perspectives. More specifically, we focus on the effects of four demographic characteristics of consumers (i.e., gender, age, education, and income) as well as their payment method preference on their product return frequency and product return reasons. As the data, we use the responses from 560 Finnish online consumers, which were collected with …
What Prevents Consumers from Making Responsible Online Purchases?
The objective of this qualitative study is to examine and describe what prevents consumers from making responsible online purchases. The data were collected during February and March 2023 with an online survey. The data comprises the respondents' (N=245) free-form written responses, in which they articulated and explained the factors that prevent their responsible online purchases. The findings indicate that external and internal factors can prevent consumers' responsible online purchases. While external factors – online stores – are mainly blamed for promoting irresponsible buying behavior, internal factors –consumers' individual characteristics – are also recognized to have an important r…
Introducing a sensemaking perspective to the service experience
PurposeMost recent service experience research considers customers as sensemakers and sensemaking as a focal process in experience construction. Despite this, the sensemaking theory engendered in organization studies has not been applied in the quest for an in-depth understanding of the service experience. This study introduces a sensemaking perspective to the service experience and develops a conceptualization of how customers construct their experiences cognitively through sensemaking.Design/methodology/approachThe service experience literature is dominated by a focus on firms implementing service experiences for customers. This study, in contrast, investigates service experience and its …
How Are Negative Customer Experiences Formed? A Qualitative Study of Customers’ Online Shopping Journeys
This study investigates how negative customer experiences are formed during customers’ online shopping journeys. A qualitative, in-depth dataset collected from 34 participants was employed to identify negatively perceived touchpoints that contribute to the customer experience in a negative way. The findings reveal that negative touchpoints are experienced during customers’ entire journeys, particularly after a purchase is completed. We identified 152 negative touchpoints from the data, of which 53 were experienced during search and consideration, 35 when finalizing a purchase, 33 during delivery, and 31 during after-sales interactions with the company. Within these four main categories, 20 …
Varttuneet kuluttajat, digitalisoituva arki ja kulutusympäristöjen muutos : digi 50+ -hankkeen loppuraportti
Väestön ikääntymisen ja palveluympäristöjen digitalisoitumisen seurauksena varttuneista kuluttajista on tullut yhä tärkeämpi kohderyhmä digitaalisille palveluille ja tuotteille. Ikääntyvien kuluttajien tarpeita, toiveita ja palveluiden käyttötottumuksia ei kuitenkaan usein oteta huomioon yritysten liiketoiminnassa, markkinoinnin suunnittelussa tai palvelumuotoilussa. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan varttuneiden, noin 50–65-vuotiaiden, kuluttajien kokemuksia digitaalisissa palveluympäristöissä. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että varttuneet kuluttajat kohtaavat erityisiä haasteita mutta myös uusia mahdollisuuksia digitaalisten palveluympäristöjen käyttäjinä. Vaikka yli 50- vuotiaat kuluttaja…
The Effects of Individual Values on Online Shopping Spending
Although individual values have been found as important antecedents of human behaviour, their effects on online shopping behaviour remain poorly understood. In this study, we aim to address this gap in prior research by examining the effects of individual values on both total online shopping spending and the specific types of online shopping spending in terms of orders made (1) with traditional computers versus mobile devices, (2) from businesses versus other consumers, and (3) from domestic versus foreign online stores. The examination is based on the data from 565 Finnish online shoppers, which was collected via an online survey between February 2019 and March 2019 and is analysed by usin…
A risk to privacy or a need for security? : Digital domestic technologies in the lives of young adults and late middle-agers
This chapter discusses the ways young adults and late middle-agers define their relationship with digital technologies in the contexts of housing and living. By analysing data from eight (8) focus group discussions, this chapter identifies socially shared ideals regarding consumption of digital technologies typical of young adults and late middle-agers as well as ideals that connect people over generational and life course boundaries. Young adults interpret digital technologies through concepts of time management, self-control and privacy. For late middle agers, technologies are conceptualised with meanings related to personal skills, social relationships and security. All participants nego…
The role of sustainability in online customer experiences : a qualitative study on female fashion shoppers
This qualitative study aims to understand sustainability’s role in responsible consumers’ Online Customer Experiences (OCEs). In this study, we focus on female fashion shoppers, and study three dimensions of their OCE: cognitive, affective, and social. Although online shopping and responsible consumer behaviour have increased tremendously, sustainability’s role in OCE has not been studied before from the customer’s perspective. The data consists of nine semi-structural interviews of Finnish female self-proclaimed responsible consumers and is analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The findings show that sustainability issues are present in all OCE dimensions, which are also all intercon…