0000000001267574
AUTHOR
Tiina Paananen
A Customer Perspective on Omnichannel Customer Journey and Channel Usage : A Qualitative Study
This qualitative study investigates customer behavior during the omnichannel customer journey. The study aims to increase the understanding of omnichannel service environments from a customer-centric point of view. The data was collected by interviewing 10 young adults (from 26 to 30 years old) who had bought a Finnish clothing brand (R-Collection) product via a digital or a physical channel. The research interviews dealt with the interviewees' experiences and channel behavior during their shopping journeys. Our results reflect the multidimensional nature of the omnichannel customer journey and give interesting insights into the usage of digital channels and technologies for clothing shoppi…
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…
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…
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 …
The Role of Anticipated Guilt and its Neutralisation in Explaining Responsible Online Shopping
Although responsible consumption has been the target of growing interest in academic research, the antecedents of responsible online shopping remain poorly understood. In this study, we address this gap in prior research by focusing on the role of anticipated guilt in explaining responsible online shopping. By using data from 479 Finnish consumers, we aim to answer two research questions: (1) how strong an antecedent of responsible online shopping intention is anticipated guilt in relation to other potential antecedents and (2) how efficiently can consumers regulate their resulting feelings of guilt by using different kinds of neutralisation techniques? We find anticipated guilt to be a str…
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…
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…
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…