{"id":698,"date":"2021-08-05T14:05:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T11:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/?p=698"},"modified":"2021-10-29T14:05:59","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T11:05:59","slug":"online-touchpoints-matter-an-empirical-analysis-of-consumer-brand-relationships-in-retail-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/?p=698","title":{"rendered":"Online Touchpoints Matter!&#8221; &#8211; An Empirical Analysis of Consumer-Brand Relationships in Retail Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>\n<span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia,serif;\"><strong>Title<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia,serif;\"><meta name=\"citation_title\" content=\"\" online=\"\" touchpoints=\"\" matter!\"=\"\" -=\"\" an=\"\" empirical=\"\" analysis=\"\" of=\"\" consumer-brand=\"\" relationships=\"\" in=\"\" retail=\"\" settings\"=\"\">&#8220;Online Touchpoints Matter!&#8221; &#8211; An Empirical Analysis of Consumer-Brand Relationships in Retail Settings<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4>\n<span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia,serif;\"><strong>Author<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia,serif;\"><meta name=\"citation_author\" content=\"Janina S\u00dcRKEN\">Janina S\u00dcRKEN, <meta name=\"citation_author\" content=\"S\u00f6ren SUNDERMANN\">S\u00f6ren SUNDERMANN<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><meta name=\"citation_publication_date\" content=\"2021\/08\/05\"><meta name=\"citation_journal_title\" content=\"Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management\"><meta name=\"citation_volume\" content=\"I\"><meta name=\"citation_issue\" content=\"1\"><meta name=\"citation_firstpage\" content=\"77\"><meta name=\"citation_lastpage\" content=\"87\"><meta name=\"citation_place_published\" content=\"Bucharest, Romania\"><meta name=\"citation_publisher\" content=\"The Bucharest University of Economic Studies Publishing House\"><meta name=\"citation_issn\" content=\"2537-5865\"><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4>\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><strong>Classification JEL <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><meta name=\"citation_classification_jel\" content=\"M3, M31, M37.\">M3, M31, M37.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4>\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><meta name=\"citation_abstract\" content=\"Brand touchpoints represent any communicative touchpoints between consumers and brands along the customer journey and are thus essential for the success of retail brands (Ieva &amp; Ziliani, 2018). However, the current pandemic crisis is characterized by some severe restrictions on brick-and-mortar retail. It can be assumed that this has led to a shortage of in-store brand touchpoints and consequently to a weakening of the consumer-brand relationship which needs to be compensated (Baxendale et al., 2015). In the sense of omnichannel retailing, combining offline and online touchpoints is being advocated - even before and independently of Covid 19 - to strengthen the brand relationship of customers (von Briel, 2018; Verhoef et al., 2015). It remains unclear to what extent this integrated use of online and offline touchpoints can help to compensate for corona-related limitations by strengthening the consumer-brand relationship. This study investigates the impact of corona-related scarcity of in-store brand touchpoints on four different dimensions of consumer-brand relationship (trust, satisfaction, attachment, loyalty). On the example of a shopping mall, we tested consumer responses to two different customer journeys (solely in-store vs. in-store &amp; online), which represented higher or weaker perceived strength of brand touchpoints. Findings of a PLS-SEM study (n=281) indicate that consumers\u2018 perceived strength of brand touchpoints has an overall positive effect on the single dimensions of consumer-brand relationships. It became evident that the joint use of online and offline touchpoints has a stronger effect on attachment than focusing exclusively on analog touchpoints. In our discussion, we highlight the importance of retail brands\u2018 capability to build up both, online and offline touchpoints to maintain and secure relationships with customers in times of crisis. The study contributes to a better understanding of brand-consumer relationships and the importance of a mix of offline and online brand touchpoints in the retail sector.\">Brand touchpoints represent any communicative touchpoints between consumers and brands along the customer journey and are thus essential for the success of retail brands (Ieva &amp; Ziliani, 2018). However, the current pandemic crisis is characterized by some severe restrictions on brick-and-mortar retail. It can be assumed that this has led to a shortage of in-store brand touchpoints and consequently to a weakening of the consumer-brand relationship which needs to be compensated (Baxendale et al., 2015). In the sense of omnichannel retailing, combining offline and online touchpoints is being advocated &#8211; even before and independently of Covid 19 &#8211; to strengthen the brand relationship of customers (von Briel, 2018; Verhoef et al., 2015). It remains unclear to what extent this integrated use of online and offline touchpoints can help to compensate for corona-related limitations by strengthening the consumer-brand relationship. This study investigates the impact of corona-related scarcity of in-store brand touchpoints on four different dimensions of consumer-brand relationship (trust, satisfaction, attachment, loyalty). On the example of a shopping mall, we tested consumer responses to two different customer journeys (solely in-store vs. in-store &amp; online), which represented higher or weaker perceived strength of brand touchpoints. Findings of a PLS-SEM study (n=281) indicate that consumers\u2018 perceived strength of brand touchpoints has an overall positive effect on the single dimensions of consumer-brand relationships. It became evident that the joint use of online and offline touchpoints has a stronger effect on attachment than focusing exclusively on analog touchpoints. In our discussion, we highlight the importance of retail brands\u2018 capability to build up both, online and offline touchpoints to maintain and secure relationships with customers in times of crisis. The study contributes to a better understanding of brand-consumer relationships and the importance of a mix of offline and online brand touchpoints in the retail sector.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4>\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><strong>Keywords<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><meta name=\"citation_Keywords\" content=\"Touchpoints, Omnichannel Retailing, Consumer-Brand Relationships, Customer Journey, Brand Experience.\">Touchpoints, Omnichannel Retailing, Consumer-Brand Relationships, Customer Journey, Brand Experience.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4>\n<span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><strong>Full Text: <meta name=\"citation_pdf_url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/RePEc\/aes\/jetimm\/2021\/ETIMM_V01_2021_34.pdf\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/RePEc\/aes\/jetimm\/2021\/ETIMM_V01_2021_34.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 205);\">download pdf<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:12px;\"><strong>Cite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/RePEc\/aes\/jetimm\/2021\/ETIMM_V01_2021_34.ris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: rgb(255, 0, 0);\">download citation<\/span><\/a> (for EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title &#8220;Online Touchpoints Matter!&#8221; &#8211; An Empirical Analysis of Consumer-Brand Relationships in Retail Settings Author Janina S\u00dcRKEN, S\u00f6ren SUNDERMANN Classification JEL M3, M31, M37. Abstract Brand touchpoints represent any communicative touchpoints between consumers and brands along the customer journey and are thus essential for the success of retail brands (Ieva &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[18],"class_list":["post-698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jetimm_2021"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=698"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etimm.ase.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}