Customer engagement
A case study for a sauna
How antecedents influence customer engagement and the
consequences it has for the value of the customer to the firm
. 6185460
Faculty of Economic and business Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS STUDIES
Under supervision of: Dr. E. Peelen Second supervisor: Dr. M. van der Veen
Academic year 2014-2015 15 December 2014
Customers engagement
A case study for a sauna
How antecedents influence customer engagement and the
consequences it has for the value of the customer to the firm
Description:
As businesses are changing and customers are more informed, connected and empowered, customer engagement (CE) is becoming a more important topic for scientists and professionals. However, research to date suggests relatively little is known about what the drivers are of CE and the consequences it has for the value of the customer to the firm. This multi-method exploratory study investigates the antecedents and consequences of CE in the case of a sauna. Qualitative as well as quantitative findings are presented which suggests that antecedents as intrinsic enjoyment, personal time-out, enthusiasm, satisfaction and resources influence customer engagement in a sauna and the higher the degree of these customer engagement, the higher the value of the customer (CEV) is to the firm. These findings might stimulate further research to customer engagement antecedents.
I
Table of Contents
List of figures ... III
List of tables ... IV
Acknowledgements ... V
1
Introduction ... 6
1.1 Research setting... 6
1.2 Research motive ... 7
1.3 Research objectives & research questions ... 8
1.4 Relevance of the research ... 9
1.4.1 Scientific relevance ... 9
1.4.2 Practical relevance ... 10
1.5 Outline of the research ... 11
2
Theoretical framework ... 12
2.1 Customer engagement ... 12
2.2 Antecedents of customer engagement ... 17
2.2.1 Satisfaction. ... 17 2.2.2 Trust/commitment. ... 18 2.2.3 Enthusiasm ... 19 2.2.4 Intrinsic enjoyment ... 19 2.2.5 Experience / flow ... 20 2.2.6 Consumer motivations. ... 21 2.2.7 Identity ... 22 2.2.8 Resources ... 23 2.3 Degrees of CE ... 23 2.4 Consequences of CE... 24 2.5 Conclusion ... 26
3
Methodology ... 28
3.1 General research approach ... 28
3.2 Qualitative study ... 29 3.3 Quantitative study ... 29
4
Qualitative study ... 30
4.1 Method ... 30 4.1.1 Participants ... 31 4.1.2 Data collection ... 31 4.2 Findings ... 32II
4.2.1 Antecedents ... 32
4.2.2 Findings online reviews ... 34
4.2.3 Variables ... 35 4.3 Conceptual model ... 38 Hypotheses ... 39
5
Quantitative study ... 41
5.1 Method ... 41 Selection of respondents... 41 5.2 Measures... 43 5.2.1 Research variables ... 43 5.2.2 Scale ... 43 5.3 Data analysis ... 46 5.3.1 Data collection ... 46 5.3.2 Data cleaning ... 46 5.3.3 Factor analysis ... 47 5.3.4 Reliability analysis ... 485.4 Findings quantitative study ... 50
5.4.1 Descriptive statistics ... 50
5.4.2 Correlation analysis ... 52
5.4.3 Regression analysis ... 54
5.4.4 Customer Engagement Value ... 56
5.4.5 Conclusion ... 57
5.5 Hypotheses ... 58
6
Discussion ... 61
6.1 Discussion of the research hypotheses ... 61
6.2 Discussion of the rejected hypotheses ... 62
6.3 Scientific implications ... 62
6.4 Practical implications ... 63
6.5 Limitations and further research ... 63
General Conclusion ... 65
References ... 67
III
List of figures
Figure 1: Concept of customer engagement value (Kumar et al., 2010) ... 25
Figure 2: Conceptual model ... 38
Figure 3: Experience of flow, as measurement for CE ... 51
Figure 4: Correlation Intrinsic Enjoyment and CE ... 54
IV
List of tables
Table 1: Overview on definition or explanation of concept of CE ... 15
Table 2: Overview antecedents of CE ... 18
Table 3: Summary of the different methods of the research ... 29
Table 4: Context specific antecedents of CE ... 37
Table 5: Sample composition (n= 1489) ... 42
Table 6: Constructs ... 44
Table 7: Measures ... 47
Table 8: Construct reliabilities ... 49
Table 9: Descriptive statistics ... 50
Table 10: Correlation matrix ... 52
Table 11: Coefficients ... 55
V
Acknowledgements
It would not have been possible to complete this dissertation in a relatively short period of time without the great support and help of a number people whom I would like to recognize and thank. Firstly, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my Master thesis supervisor, Dr. Ed Peelen. I am very grateful for his expert guidance, inspiration and enthusiastic commitment to my dissertation. For me, he is a role model in the marketing area, especially in the field of
customer relationship management. Secondly, I would like to thank all the staff at sauna ‘De Thermen’ and especially Laurens van Luxemburg, who provided the information needed to conduct the survey. Their readiness to contribute to my research project made it possible in the first place. Finally, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my family for their constant encouragement and supports.
Monique van Giersbergen 15 december 2014
| 6
1 Introduction
1.1 Research setting
The challenges facing global businesses and the people who lead them are intertwined in the direct empowerment and involvement of customers. Communication between customers and firms has changed and technology has dramatically accelerated the shift to customer-driven markets (Henning-Thurau, 2010). In today’s digital economy, actions of firms and their customers are highly transparent and visible. Instead of doing business to customers, we are now doing business with customers (Verhoef et al., 2010). Research shows that the ‘engaged’ customer provides information and actually acts ‘beyond their role’ of a customer (Pervan and Bove, 2011).
To meet the challenges, companies are focussed on fostering the engagement of customers. This is called customer engagement (CE), which refers to the customer’s increasingly active role regarding the customer’s emotional or cognitive involvement with firms and their behavioral manifestations beyond purchase in interaction with firms, or even their role in the co-creation process. This creation of deep connections with customers drive interaction, participation and purchase decisions over time. By these connections customers can create and add value to the firm by not only buying a product/service, but also taking part in the process. It drives business benefits that serve firms and consumers, such as improving loyalty and sales, exposing valuable leads, and providing better customer insight. According to Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) the informed, connected, empowered, and active consumers are increasingly learning that they too can extract value at the traditional point of exchange. Consumer-to-consumer communication and dialogue provides consumers an alternative source of information and perspective. They are not totally dependent on communication from the firm. Consumers can choose the firms they want to have a
7
relationship with based on their own views of how value should be created for them and can enjoy personalized consumer experiences...
The co-creation of value has to become a reality, thus it is the level of CE that drives customer and firm value (Kumar et al., 2010). CE can be emotional, physical, intellectual, or even spiritual, and different types of engagement can be achieved depending on the level of the connection with the environment (Voss and Zomerdijk, 2010). Customers are able to connect with the service in a personal, memorable way (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). Considering these characteristics, Voss and Zomerdijk (2010) even claim that service firms are designed to engage customers and it is engagement that builds the emotional connections that promote repeat purchase and positive word of mouth. A lot can be learned from the engagement in this kind of organisations. Service oriented firms have to face the challenge to pursue strategies steering customers beyond transaction to sustain and nurture their customers.
1.2 Research motive
In order to engage customers we have to know what its drivers are and in what this results for a firm. However, there is a lack of research based guidance to fully understand the concept of customer engagement. Several scientists (Calder and Matlthouse, 2004; Van Doorn et al, 2010; Kumar et al., 2010; Hollebeek, 2011b) mention the need for further research. There is limited information from case studies, although these would be very helpful. Especially in the area of antecedents that drive CE, combined with the question how CE is of value to the firm.
As engagement is highly applicable on service firms, the research will be conducted within a sauna. This kind of firm is chosen, because there is a lot of interaction with customers and, as Grambetti and Graffina (2012) point out, engagement is based on experiences and social dimensions (beyond thinking, feeling and doing), which are applicable
8
on a sauna. Sauna ‘De Thermen’ (DT) in Rosmalen has suffered the consequences of the crisis, as the level of visitors decreased and they noticed that it takes more effort to manage occupancy and attract sufficient guests to cover the constant costs. Their assumption is guests have a more transactional focus, instead of a relational focus, as they incidentally visit the sauna and switch more easy to another sauna. Consequently the sauna must take this changing behavior into account and adjust their marketing strategy. As Hollebeek (2011b) indicates, non-transactional behavior is increasingly important. Sauna DT wants to strengthen their customer relationship with a long term focus, rather than short-term policy. This current goal of the management of sauna ‘De Thermen’ corresponds with the construct of CE. Therefore it is eligible to -above all- learn from this service firm, where the engagement potential is superb, to answer some of those unanswered questions on our research agenda.
1.3 Research objectives & research questions
In order to get a better understanding about how antecedents influence CE and the consequences it has for the value of the customer to the firm, we have to find answers. This can be done by answering the following empirical research question:
- How do antecedents of sauna customers have an impact on the level of CE and how
does CE relates to value to the firm?
Sub questions can be aggregated: - What is customer engagement?
- What are the general antecedents of customer engagement?
- Which antecedents are identified by visitors of sauna ‘De Thermen’? - How do the antecedents influence customer engagement?
- How does the degree of customer engagement relate to the value of customers to sauna
9
1.4 Relevance of the research
1.4.1 Scientific relevance
CE has been consolidated in the literature in the last years as a relevant concept for current marketing theory (van Doorn et al., 2010; Vivek et al., 2012; Sawhney et al., 2005; Brodie et al., 2011) and the amount of attention consecrated to it has increased significantly (Brodie et al., 2013; Verhoef et al., 2010; Gambetti & Graffigna, 2010). The Marketing Science Institute emphasizes customer engagement as a research priority in its Guide for research 2010-2012 (MSI, 2010). Due to the pragmatic approach, there is a strong focus on transactions as value for CE. Though, in line with van Doorn et al. (2010), a focus on
measurable CE behaviors is needed that extend beyond customer-firm purchase transactions, such as word-of-mouth activity, writing reviews, recommendations, blogging, other customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions and customer-initiated interactions with firms.
Earlier research by van Doorn et al. (2010, p.262) noted that research is needed to more exhaustively identify the antecedents of CE and their interactions. They anticipate that the customer-based antecedents are the most important factor affecting CE; these antecedents need further research in particularly: customer satisfaction, trust/commitment, individual characteristics, customer goals, resources and perceived costs/benefits. In this research these antecedents proposed by van Doorn et al. (2010) are enlarged by the antecedent personal time-out (Pine & Gilmore,1999; Calder and Malthouse, 2004), intrinsic enjoyment (Wittke and Hanekop, 2011; Greve, 2014) and social elements (Vivek, 2009; Grambetti & Graffina, 2012). Besides this, Brodie et al. (2011, p.258) mention ‘CE reflects a psychological state, which occurs by virtue of interactive customer experiences with a focal agent/object within specific service relationships’ [FP1] and therefore ‘flow’ might influence CE in specific
10
contexts, like a sauna is. Also according to Malthouse and Calder (2011) engagement cannot be understood independently of experiences, as engagement is based on experiences, making it a different kind of psychological state. This state must be studied jointly with experiences thus research should identify and measure the ongoing flow of experiences (in the context of a sauna). With this focus a proper in-depth study is possible regarding the feelings and
experiences of customers.
It is important to understand the drivers of behaviors, seeing the fact that firms derive added brand value and turn over by using customers as an operant resource (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). Regarding these consequences of CE to the firm, Kumar et al. (2010) found this can be explained as ‘customer engagement value’ (CEV), measured though 4 dimensions. From prior literature, it is also not clear how the engagement of customers has a impact on this value. Previous research has not yet combined antecedents of CE with consequences (results) that can be generated by CE. This study addresses some of the gaps in the CE literature by the understanding of how and why customers engage themselves with services of a firm.
1.4.2 Practical relevance
As this research will be held within sauna ‘De Thermen’, the management can be informed by recommendations followed from this research and adjust their marketing strategy. More general, other sauna’s or similar customer-centric service firms can use the results and learn from further insights in CE, as engagement antecedents and their resulting value. Based on the results, managers can efficiently manage CE by focussing on the most influential antecedents in their strategies. Marketing strategies to engage individuals tend to focus on engagement from the perspective of organizations (Vivek et al., 2010), therefore further research is needed to focus on understanding the customer-focused elements of CE.
11
Professionals find it hard to understand the engagement theory because of the several discussions within the CE topic. The theory of this study will illustrate the discussion and provide suggestions on definitions and explanations.
The empowerment of customers forces managers to open their mind and no longer view engagement through the traditional-view of marketing (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Brodie et al., 2011). By providing information about customer’s engagement, its antecedents and how it creates value, managers are able to understand and manage their customer base. The concept of CE is complex and many firms struggle how to manage this successfully. Therefore, it is important to investigate the firm-customer interactions and consumer’s participation in the creation of value (Kumar et al., 2010), as CE can create positive results and business outcomes.
1.5 Outline of the research
First a literature review will explain the term customer engagement (CE), the definition of CE is explained and the elements that affect CE as antecedents are described. Then the degrees of CE are described and the consequences of CE in the relation of CE and the value of the customer to the firm. Furthermore, the research is explained with the introduction of a case, the purpose of the research, the research method, data collection, the research model, hypotheses and the research strategy. After presenting the findings, a discussion and recommendations for further research is formulated. Finally, I will conclude by an overall conclusion.
12
2 Theoretical framework
As the previous chapter shows, research indicates that CE matters. In order to gain the benefits of CE, it is important to find out what the antecedents of CE are, how the level of CE can be determined and the consequences that derive value to a firm. The following section aims to identify factors related to CE from the literature that is studied. By this I will provides the theoretical background of the concept CE and answer the question What is customer
engagement? Furthermore, the different variables are presented which are proposed to be
positively associated with CE, the degrees of CE and the consequences of CE are presented.
2.1 Customer engagement
The concept of engagement was at first applied to work by Kahn (1990), who described the behaviour of engaged employees. Employees vary in their expression of themselves in work roles and those who perceived more supportive conditions for authentic expression tend to be engaged. Later, Schaufeli et al. (2002) presented engagement as a motivational construct and defined it as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterised by the dimensions: vigor (high energy, willingness to invest), dedication (sense of significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, challenge) and absorption (happily engrossed in one’s work, fully concentrated, whereby time passes quickly and one feels carried away; p. 74-75). Even though some of these (psychological) elements can be addressed to an employee as well as to a customer of a firm, because of their specific nature, these are not applicable to the customer context without adaptations.
Engagement is also a phenomenon that exists in the business-to-business (B2B) context, where suppliers try to engage the customers through seminars, free trade shows, training etc. It is found that only a small percentage of B2B companies focus on engaging customers
13
emotionally (O’Boyle, 2009), Within this field far more research is conducted and learning can be taken, especially in the context of employees, even as findings are not directly applicable to the business-to-consumer context (Libai et al, 2010). There are differences in business-to-business (B2B) interactions, business-to-customer (B2C) or in customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions (Libai et al, 2010). They recognize that mainly C2C interactions can increase growth and profitability.
The term ‘customer engagement’ was also devoted an issue in the Journal of Service Research in 2010. Basically, it questions the classic view that a customer is a passive recipient of marketing efforts. Instead nowadays, as mentioned, customers are active participants in a process of value-creation that reaches from the marketing effort as far as business strategy (Bijmolt et al., 2010; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010). This might affect the firm and its elements in other ways than purchase, as word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals, participation in activities of the firm, service improvements suggestions, customer voice, brand communities participation, or revenge activities. As a consequence, the relationship between the firm and its customers might become closer (Bijmolt et al., 2010), it becomes more selective and in specific situations might become so familiar that even “customer intimacy” as a term is used (Treacy &Wiersema, 1993). So, even though it is harder to build relationships, relationships can vary and in selective situations be intense.
In an attempt to form a definition, several scientists have formed a definition of customer engagement (CE) or related to this concept, a summary is presented in Table 1. For example, Hollebeek (2011b, p.555) defines a customer's engagement with a specific brand as “the level of a customer’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral investment in specific brand interactions,” and like Brodie et al. (2013) and Gambetti et al. (2012), she recognizes that CE has behavioral (activation), cognitive (immersion) and emotional (passion) dimensions. Vivek et al (2012) add to this that engagement is a social construct. The cognitive and affective
14
elements of CE incorporate the experiences and feelings of customers whereas the behavioral and social elements capture the participation by customers, both within and outside of the exchange situations (Vivek et al., 2012). Further, Brodie et al. (2011) developed five fundamental propositions (FP), as basis for a general definition of CE:
Customer engagement (CE) is a psychological state that occurs by virtue of interactive,
cocreative customer experiences with a focal agent/object in focal service relationships
(FP1). It occurs under a specific set of context dependent conditions generating differing CE levels (FP5); and exists as a dynamic, iterative process within service relationships that cocreate value (FP2). CE plays a central role in a nomological network (FP3) governing service relationships in which other relational concepts (e.g. involvement, loyalty) are antecedents and/or consequences in iterative CE processes. It is a multidimensional concept subject to a context- and/or stakeholder-specific expression of relevant cognitive, emotional and/or behavioral dimensions (FP4).
This general definition is applicable across a range of situations, rather than limited to a particular situation. It builds on the conceptualizations developed by Vivek, Beatty, and Morgan (2010), Hollebeek (2011), and Mollen and Wilson (2010).
The verb ‘engage’ means to employ, hold fast, bind by contract, come into battle and to take part. All these meanings show action and imply a behavioral focus (Oxford dictionary). So an engaged customer will perform certain actions which a disengaged customer will not... EConsultancy (2011) regards engagement to be the outcome of ‘repeated interactions that strengthen the emotional, psychological, or physical investment a customer has in a brand’.
| 15
Table 1: Overview on definition or explanation of concept of CE
AUTHOR(S) CONCEPT DEFINITION
Oxford dictionary, (1996)
Engagement to engage' has several meanings, like to employ or hire, to hold fast, to bind by contract, to come into battle and to take part. All these meanings imply a behavioral focus.
Marketing Science Institute, (2010)
Customer engagement
Research on customer engagement is by MSI considered as one of the top priorities in the coming years... Prahalad &
Ramaswamy (2000)
Engagement active participation of individual consumers who help to construct their own unique brand experiences.
Solderlund (2002) Engagement increasing of familiarity with a specific brand = more elaborated knowledge structure with brand & psychological frame of reference (a customers' evaluative process!)
Mc Ewen (2004) Engagement extent of emotional and rational bonds with a brand and feelings in a brand
Higgins (2006, p.441) Engagement a second source of experience beyond the hedonic source of experience, resulting from a motivational force to make or not to
make something happen.
Saks, C.M. (2006) Engagement an appearance of being simply another management fad. Higgins and Scholer.
(2009), p.441
Engagement a state of being involved, occupied, fully absorbed or engrossed in something (i.e. sustained attention), generating the consequences of a particular attraction or repulsion force. The more engaged individuals are to approach or repel a target, the more value is added to or subtracted from it.
Algesheimer et al, (2005)
Community engagement
positive influences of identifying with the brand community through the consumer’s intrinsic motivation to interact/co-operate with community members.
Vivek (2009) Consumer Engagement
the intensity of consumer’s participation and connection with the organization’s offerings, and/ or organized activities. Patterson et al, (2006) Customer
engagement
the level of a customer’s physical, cognitive and emotional presence in their relationship with a service organization. Bowden, (2009) Customer
Engagement
a psychological process that models the underlying mechanisms by which customer loyalty forms for new customers of a service brand, as well as the mechanisms by which loyalty may be maintained for repeat purchase customers of a service brand.
Forrester Consulting. (2008),
Customer Engagement
creating deep connections with customers that drive purchase decisions, interaction, and participation over time. Bijmolt et al, (2010)
= in line with van Doorn et
al. (2010)
Customer engagement
behavioral manifestation from a customer toward a brand or a firm which goes beyond purchase behavior, affecting the brand
or firm and its constituents in ways other than purchase such as WOM referrals, participation in firm's activities, suggestions, customer voice, participation, or revenge activities. As a consequence the relation becomes closer, more selective.
Brodie et al, (2011) Customer engagement
a motivational state that occurs by virtue of interactive, co-creative customer experiences with a focal agent/object in focal relationships.
16 Sashi (2012) Customer
Engagement
an intimate long-term relationship with the customer Verhoef et al.(2010)
= in line with van Doorn et
al. (2010)
Customer Engagement
Customer Engagement is a part of Customer Management (CM), multi-dimensional.
+ Customer engagement is considered as a behavioral manifestation toward the brand or firm that goes beyond transactions. van Doorn et al.(2010) Customer
Engagement Behavior
Customer Engagement is a behavioral consequence of the psychological processes embedded in consumer-brand connections.
Kumar et al. (2010) Customer Engagement
Customers Engagement = a customer's behavioral manifestation toward a brand or firm, resulting in motivational drivers and in purchases from the firm.
Gambetti, R.C.; Graffigna, G. (2010; 2012)
Customer brand engagement
according to the praticioners' view = an dynamic and process-based concept evolving in intensity on the basis of the brand capability of increasingly intercepting consumers' desires and expectations using all possible physical and virtual touchpoints between brand and consumer. CBE appears an overarching marketing concept encapsulating different consumer-making dimensions, from brand preference to brand purchase and CBE emerges as an multi-dimensional construct that beyond traditional cognitive, emotional and conative dimensions seems to be based on emerging experiental and social dimensions. Spott, Czellar and
Spangenberg (2009)
Brand engagement in self-concept
an individual difference representing consumers’ propensity to include important brands as part of how they view themselves (p.92).
van Doorn et al, (2010)
Customer Engagement Behavior
goes beyond transactions, and may be specifically defined as a customer's behavioral manifestations (word-of-mouth, recommendations, helping other customers, blogging, reviewing and legal action) that have a brand or firm focus, which can be both positive and negative, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers.
Hollebeek (2011) Customer brand engagement
the level of expression of an individual customer’s motivational, brand-related and context-dependent state of mind characterized by a degree of activation, identification and absorption in brand interactions.
Hollebeek & Chen (2014)
Brand engagement has been defined as the level of a consumer’s 'cognitive, emotional and behavioral investment in specific brand interactions'. Mollen & Wilson
(2010)
Online Customer Engagement
Online engagement is a cognitive and affective commitment to an active relationship with the brand as personified by the website or other computer-mediated entities designed to communicate brand value. It is characterized by the dimensions of dynamic and sustained cognitive processing and the satisfying of instrumental value (utility and relevance) and experiential value (emotional congruence with the narrative schema encountered in computer-mediated entities).
17
2.2 Antecedents of customer engagement
There are different aspects that influence the development of engagement, which are
referred as ‘antecedents’. Van Doorn et al. (2010) concluded that customer engagement is
affected by three different antecedents: 1) customer-based (attitudinal factors), 2) firm-based
(brand, firm, industry) and 3) context-based (external environment).
Customer-basedfactors
are one of the most important factors affecting CE, that is the customer itself and its feelings/
behavior. The factors chosen by different scientists vary a lot. Van Doorn et al. (2010) and
Higgins (2006) conceptualize customer-based antecedents as a group of antecedents. These
exists out of
customer satisfaction,
trust/commitment,
identity,
consumption goals, resourcesand
perceived costs/benefits. Even though this summary seems clear, the selection procedure
of these antecedents is less clear. This is probably the reason why van Doorn et al. (2010)
mention that further research is needed to make a final selection of antecedents. Possible other
antecedents to CE include
intrinsic enjoyment,gratification, self-fulfillment and an interest in
a specific activity (Wittke & Hanekop, 2011; Greve 2014). Malthouse and Calder (2011)
added to this that engagement cannot be understood independently of
experiences.And Pine
and Gilmore (1999) and Calder and Malthouse (2004) finally found a
personal time outas an
antecedent for CE. Theory provided thus an extensive list (see table 2) of potential
antecedents and the most applicable ones will be studied in detail. The list starts with the
antecedents presented by Van Doorn et al. (2010), followed by other researchers. The
antecedents are described as affective elements, cognitive and behavioral elements, as a
customer may experience this in this sequence.
2.2.1
Satisfaction.
Customers who have a higher satisfaction seem to be more likely to engage for the
firm and perform beyond formal role-requirements (van Doorn et al, 2010). A high level of
18
satisfaction achieved when customer expectations are exceeded and when emotions become
highly positive, a customer is even delighted (Sashi, 2012). See-To et al. (2012) claim that
satisfaction has been shown to be the key variable for continued usage.
Table 2: Overview antecedents of CE
2.2.2
Trust/commitment.
Trust is seen as a CE antecedent by van Doorn et al. (2010) and Bowden (2009).
Bowden (2009) note that trust may transform customer–brand connections from being largely
cognitive in nature and based on risk minimization, to more emotionally oriented and
engaged. In contrast, Brodie et al.(2011) see trust as a relational consequence. They even pose
the question ‘Are the roles of specific relational concepts (e.g. involvement, trust) within the
nomological network stable, or relatively variable?’ A research of Gill (2013) found no effect
of trust on customer engagement behaviour in a community context.
ANTECEDENT
ELEMENT AUTHOR(S)
Satisfaction
cognitive
Van Doorn et al., 2010; Sashi, 2012;
See-To et al. (2012)
Trust/commitment
affective
Van Doorn et al., 2010
Identity (Id)/ participation,
Indiv. Characteristics.
behavioral
Van Doorn et al., 2010; Winterich et al.,
2009; Vivek et al., 2012
Consumer goals,
Motivations
cognitive
Van Doorn et al., 2010; Csikszentmihalyi,
1993; Higgins, 2006; Holbrook, 2006;
Resources
behavioral
Van Doorn et al., 2010; Saks, 2006; Vivek,
2009
Perceived cost/benefits
cognitive
Van Doorn et al., 2010
Personal time out
cognitive
Calder and Malthouse, 2014
intrinsic enjoyment
affective
Wittke & Hanekop, 2011; Calder et al.,
2009; Calder and Malthouse, 2004; See-To
et al. 2012
Experiences (flow) /
Immersion
affective
Vivek et al., 2012; Schmidt et al., 2014;
Hollebeek, 2011b; Pine and Gilmore, 1999
Enthusiasm/Passion
affective
Appelbaum, 2001; Vivek, 2009; Hollebeek,
19
2.2.3
Enthusiasm
According to Hollebeek (2011b) engagement cannot be understood independently of
passion, which she defined as ‘the degree of a customer’s positive brand-related affect in
particular interactions’, and as such, reveals the extent of individuals’ emotional investment in
specific brand interactions. This definition is sufficiently broad to encapsulate the notions of
enthusiasm (Vivek, 2009, p.60), which he describes as strong excitement or zeal about the
focus of engagement. Also Appelbaum (2001) describes ‘passion’ as one of the drivers of CE
in the Gallup’s 11-item CE index. This is named as ‘vigor’ by Schaufelli et al. (2012), as
having high energy level and willingness to invest. Thus, enthusiasm represents an
individual’s strong level of excitement and interest regarding the focus of engagement, such
as looking forward to a visit/ the service of a sauna.
2.2.4
Intrinsic enjoyment
Something can be engaging because it provides users with an intrinsically enjoyable
experience, this is according to Calder et al. (2009) described as: be enable to unwind and
‘escape’ from the pressures of daily life or being diverted from problems, relaxing, getting
intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment, filling time, emotional release and/or sexual arousal.
The term ‘enjoyment’ is also used by Calder and Malthouse (2004) to describe the construct
to measure the distinct experiences that define the brand and lead to usage of a service. Also
Wittke and Hanekop (2011) found in their study of web platforms that their sustainability
depends on the ongoing engagement of its users and those users experience enjoyment to be
engaged. See-To et al. (2012) noticed that enjoyment and engagement are the salient factors
in flow theory for elaborating an optimal experience in hedonic activities and that enjoyment
is a ‘pleasant’ experiential state. They claim that whether users can experience enjoyment,
‘having a good time’, is the key determinant of the users their evaluation. Therefore it is
20
assumable that intrinsic enjoyment is an antecedent, where the description of Calder et al.
exhibits similarity with motivations to visit a sauna.
2.2.5
Experience / flow
According to Malthouse and Calder (2011) engagement cannot be understood
independently of experiences, as engagement is based on experiences, making it a different
kind of psychological state. This state must be studied jointly with experiences thus research
should identify and measure the ongoing flow of experiences (context sensitive). When
people experience strong engagement with something, they are involved, occupied, interested
and attentive to it; they are absorbed or engrossed in it. This experience is related to the
concept of
‘flow’(Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990). Flow is described as an experience of
involvement and concentration. Born out of a desire to understand intrinsically motivated
activity, flow is a state of optimal experience characterized by total absorption in the task at
hand: a merging of action and awareness in which the individual loses track of both time and
self. It is experientially positive, and out of the flow experience emerges a desire to replicate
the experience. This experience can be
autotelic, referring to an activity that is ‘done not with
the expectation of some future benefit, but simply because the doing itself is the reward’.
Autotelic activities share a similar phenomenology in that participants consistently described
optimal state of complete absorption, focus and enjoyment (Schmidt et al., 2014). The optimal
state of ‘being in flow’ or ‘flowing’ is characterized by: (1) intense concentration on the task
at hand; (2) deep sense of involvement and merging of action & awareness; (3) sense of
control over one’s actions in dealing with the task at hand; (4) enjoyment in activity; (5) a
disorted sense of time (usually that time has passed very quickly). Experiences characterized
by these descriptions are flow experiences or flow states.
21
Higgins (200) noted that there is a clear overlap between the concept of flow and the
concept of CE, but there is a difference. He claims that the flow experience in itself is said to
contribute to happiness and enjoyment. Although flow can involve strenuous physical or
mental exertion, the experience itself is said to be a positive one of effortless involvement, in
which the action carries one forward ‘as if by magic’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 54). No
such claim is made for the experience of engagement, because strong engagement can
increase the attractiveness of attractive things but it can also increase the repulsiveness of
repulsive things. Thus it can be positive and negative, as Hollebeek (2014) also mentions.
2.2.6
Consumer motivations.
As Higgins (2006) noted, the need or goal states play a role in strength of engagement.
The impact of customer goals on the concept of CE can be dependent of several factors that
might
motivatea consumer to be engaged. Van Doorn et al. (2010) mention that it is useful to
make a distinction between planned and unplanned behaviour. In this study I assume that
consumers plan a visit to the sauna and their goals proceed from planned behavior. Especially
their reasons to visit, i.e. a consumers’ motivation is an important dimension of CE (van
Doorn et al., 2010). As the theory of the consumer value perspective (Holbrook 2006)
suggests, motivation relates to the values a consumer expects to obtain from being engaged
with an initiative (‘goals’ according to van Doorn et al.,2010). In many cases, the goals
themselves can influence how the service is used and consequently how customers engage
with the service. While some people expect to socialize by visiting a sauna (e.g. getting
involved in a customer community during a visit), others want to get the best deal (e.g.
Groupon deals, arrangements, 2 for 1). Csikszentmihalyi (1993), suggests that the motives are
equal to those of a vacation, when people have the opportunity to act on one’s own individual
ideas and desires; a chance to be their selves and enjoy free time. Calder and Malthouse
22
(2004) studied newspaper experience and defined as motive a personal time-out. Pine and
Gilmore (1999) argue that events are produced experiences and perceived as being situated in
a ‘time out of time’, within a special place. This suggests that in the event of a sauna visit
customers are in a special place having a time-out.
These are some examples, but review of literature shows that there is generally a lack
of empirical research on the motivational aspects of CE. Therefore the qualitative method will
be used to explore the motivational factors related to CE (see chapter 4).
2.2.7
Identity
Identity in psychology is a person's conception and expression of their own and others'
individuality or group affiliations acoording to Wikipedia. Many roles, attributes and
attitudinal differences attributed to biological sex are, in fact, manifestations of gender
identity (Winterich et al., 2009). From early childhood, expectations, feedback, and meanings
regarding gender
‐appropriate qualities and behaviors shape people’s experiences and, thus
their gender identity. In particular, males and females are differentially socialized regarding
relative emphasis on agentic and communal goals (Winterich et al., 2009). Identity may also
be a driver of CE as van Doorn et al. (2010) suggest. For example, those with a communal
focus, typically females (Winterich et al., 2009), are more likely to be motivated by the
common good of the group. It may be the case they are more likely to speak up, complain,
and engage in negative WOM (van Doorn et al., 2010). In the case of a sauna this behavior
may manifest providing useful and helpful suggestions to other visitors, helping a service
employee to better perform her or his job, or providing advice and guidance to other visitors.
According to the findings of Winterich et al. (2009), there might be a difference between men
and women.
23
2.2.8
Resources
The resources of a customer are perceived as another important dimension of CE (van
Doorn et al., 2010). Resources
such as time, effort, and money can also affect their level of
CE. Most likely, consumers evaluate the costs and benefits of engaging in specific behaviors
and the cost may be determined by relative resource endowments for consumers. For
example, a wife who manages the house with no children can have time and money. And a
student may have abundance of time but not money. Such a consumer may avoid visiting the
sauna more frequent due to shortage of monetary resources. In contrast, the student might be
more likely to engage with the service by participating in online communities, blogging, and
so forth. It is important to understand if the customer has the resources and even more
important if he/she wants to spend its time and money on the service of a sauna. Like Saks
(2006) found out that the amount of resources an individual is prepared to devote in their
work roles, results on the resources (expected to be) received. Thus it is important to measure
the willingness to devote time and money on the activity of a sauna visit.
2.3 Degrees of CE
We will not limit ourselves to the antecedents/ causes of CE, as we also have to deal
with the different levels of CE, i.e. degrees. Customer engagement is possible in various
degrees (Roberts & Alpert, 2010; Bowden, 2009; Brodie, 2011; Karpinska-Krakowiak, 2014;
Kumar et al., 2010; Hollebeek, 2011b; Pervan&Bove, 2011; Gambetti et al., 2012;
Sashi,2012, Brodie et al., 2013; Vivek, 2013) and each level builds on the previous level
according to Robert & Alpert (2010). In line with the CE matrix of Sashi (2012), Adkins
(2014) reports three degrees of customer engagement that can be identified
;
24
- Fully engaged:
customers are emotionally attached and rationally loyal. They'll go out of
their way to locate a favoured product or service, and won't accept substitutes. True brand
ambassadors, they are a company's most valuable and profitable customers;
- Indifferent:
customers are emotionally and rationally neutral. They have a
take-it-or-leave-it atttake-it-or-leave-itude toward a company's product or service;
- Actively disengaged:
customers are emotionally detached from a company, its products or
services and will readily switch brands. If switching is difficult or impossible, they may
become virulently antagonistic toward the company. Either way, they are always eager to
tell others exactly how they feel.
2.4 Consequences of CE
From the different degrees of CE, value can exist for a company, as a consequence of
CE. The main consequences in this study is value a firm can derive from a customer in total.
Gallup research (Fleming, 2009) has consistently found that emotionally engaged customers
deliver superior returns than disengaged customers, as fully engaged customers deliver a 23%
premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth than
average, while disengaged customers deliver a 13% discount. Simply put, when customers
believe they are getting more from a business, they give more of their business to it. Managers
seek to understand how all aspects of CE influence the customer’s path to purchase and
recognize CE as a psychological state; the interactive and experiential nature of CE (Brodie et
al. FP1). But despite all the information that is already known about engagement, there is still
a struggle to measure engagement overall. Because to know the exact value beyond
transactions, different kind of values have to be assigned and measured.
25
Kumar et al. acknowledge the value of CE as more than a transaction and Bijmolt et al.
(2010) also conclude that analytical methods for CE have to go beyond models for customer
transactions, and they associate the ‘Customer Lifetime Value’ (CLV) calculation to the
stages of the customer life cycle: customer acquisition, customer development, and customer
retention. It is also suggested that ‘Total Customer Engagement Value’ should replace CLV
when valuing customers in today’s highly dynamic and interactive business environment.
This was suggested by Kumar et al. (2010), who proposed four components to constitute a
customer’s engagement value (CEV) and concluded customers provide value to the firm
through CLV + CRV + CIV + CKV. Figure 1 explains the conceptualizing and measuring of
CEV.
These components can serve as a dashboard of customer metrics for top managers and
they can be monitored over time. The components measure different elements, as described
;
- CLV:
this is the customer lifetime value, which represent value of future profits of all
transactions, repeat or additional purchases through up-and cross-selling;
- CRV:
Customer referral behavior is the acquisition of new customers through firm
initiated and incentivized formal referral programs. The most important characteristic of
this kind of behavior is that it’s usually extrinsically motivated;
26
- CIV:
Customer influence behavior is the influence on other acquired customers as well as
prospects (e.g. voluntarily info sharing, WOM, that persuades and concerts prospects to
customers, minimizes buyer remorse to reduce defections, encourages increased
share-of-wallet of existing customers). This behaviour is usually intrinsically motivated. This
component is in line with Bijmolt et al. (2010), who distinguish three general indirect
manifestations of CE as WOM, customer co-creation, and complaining behaviour; all of
which affecting the firm in ways other than purchase;
- CKV:
Customer knowledge behavior is the feedback to the firm on ideas for innovation
and improvements. Value by understanding the customers preferences & customer input
as a valuable resource for quality/service improvement (e.g. Lay’s contest in the best new
flavour). This behaviour is extrinsically and intrinsically motivated.
The engagement of the customer can also be measured in contrast to the engagement of
the staff. Fleming (2009) and Roberts & Alpert (2010) found that units in an organization that
simultaneously optimize both employee and customer engagement significantly outperform
units that optimize just employee or customer engagement - or fail to optimize either element
- on measures of financial and operational success.
2.5 Conclusion
The analysis of the literature highlights an open issue regarding the CE construct: due
to the pragmatic approach, there is a strong focus on transactions as value for CE. Though, in
line with van Doorn et al. (2010), managers have to focus on measurable CE behaviours that
extend
beyondcustomer-firm purchase transactions, such as word-of-mouth activity, reviews,
recommendations, blogging, other customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions (e.g. helping
other customers, participating in communities) and customer-initiated interactions with
organizations. It is important to understand the drivers of both in-role and extra role
27
behaviors, seeing the fact that firms derive added value by using customers as an operant
resource (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). The notion of Brodie et al (2011) that CE is a
multidimensional construct [FP4] encourages research that deepens the understanding of
antecedents (and consequences) of CE. Van Doorn et al. (2010, p.262) explain that
antecedents of engagement have been frequently researched, but interactions between them
are not known because they are studied in separate studies. As customer-based antecedents
are the most important factor affecting CE, they need further research: customer satisfaction,
trust/commitment, individual characteristics, customer goals, resources and perceived
costs/benefits. These antecedents proposed by van Doorn et al (2010) are enlarged by social
elements (Vivek 2009; Grambetti & Graffina, 2012), because the interaction seems very
important (Zomerdijk & Voss, 2010). And as Brodie et al. (2011) mention ‘CE reflects a
psychological state, which occurs by virtue of interactive customer experiences with a focal
agent/object within specific service relationships’ [FP1] and ‘flow’ may act as a CE
antecedent in a specific context, like a sauna is. With this focus a proper in-depth study is
possible regarding the feelings and experiences of customers. From a practitioners view this is
necessary, as marketing strategies to engage individuals tend to focus on engagement from the
perspective of organizations (Vivek et al., 2010), therefore future research should focus on
understanding the customer-focused elements of CE.
Regarding the
consequencesof CE, as mentioned, Kumar et al. (2010) found that
customer engagement value (CEV) is formed by four dimensions; CLV + CRV + CIV +
CKV, see page 25+26. From prior literature, it is not clear
which consequences CE has for the value to the firm.Therefore I want to study how customers’ can be engaged and if value can
be derived, in a way that goes beyond transaction.
In the next chapter the methodology of this research will be explained, followed by the
detail regarding the study and in chapter 5 the model and hypothesis are explained.
28
3 Methodology
3.1 General research approach
The purpose of this research is to explain the drivers of customer engagement among
the visitors of sauna ‘De Thermen’ as well as the consequences it has for the value of the
customer to the firm.
By studying the literature we found an answer to the sub question
What are the antecedents of CE?From this information derived from earlier research, other studies are
proposed to find answers on the questions
Which antecedents are identified by visitors of sauna ‘De Thermen’?, How do visitors experience the identified antecedents?and
How does the degree of customer engagement relate to the value of customers to sauna ‘De Thermen’?Therefore, a mixed-method approach is used. This mixed-method allows me to better
evaluate the extent to which my research findings can be trusted and inferences made from
them (Saunders et al., 2009). First, a qualitative approach is chosen in an exploratory stage,
before using a quantitative online-survey. The qualitative data is used to formulate the
questions that should be asked in the online-survey. To map the antecedents that are relevant
in the specific context of a sauna, these two studies are complementary and the qualitative
data aids in the interpretation of the quantitative data (Saunders et al., 2009). Table 3 presents
a summary of the methods that are used in this research.
29
Table 3: Summary of the different methods of the researchMETHOD FOCUS SAMPLE ANALYSIS FINDINGS Field
interviews visitors
customer
perspective of CE
12 visitors text analysis of memos,
keyword search.
elements of CE for item generation
Netnography nature of customer engagement
50 online comments blogs, reviews & assessments.
text analysis of (online comments) keyword search refining conceptual dimensions, item generation Survey using questionnaires antecedents CE & value on CEV among visitors sauna 1498 surveys SPSS: descriptive statistics, factor,
reliability, correlation and regression analysis
testing hypothesis
3.2 Qualitative study
The first study was done by collecting interview data, supplemented with data from
online reviews. This qualitative approach is chosen in order to know what is going on,
regarding the sauna visitors and the key antecedents and find an answer to the question
Which antecedents are identified by visitors of sauna ‘De Thermen’?3.3 Quantitative study
The aim of the second study is to further research the patterns identified in the first
study in order to answer the sub questions:
How do the antecedents influence customer engagement?and
How is the CE experience of value to sauna ‘De Thermen’?And above all,
by answering these questions we can also provide an answer to the research question:
How do antecedents of sauna customers have an impact on the level of CE and how does CE relates to value to the firm?30
4 Qualitative study
4.1 Method
Because this research has a focus on the attitude and interest of interviewees,
semi-structured in-depth interviews were chosen to give the respondents the freedom to answer
with information they consider important. Moreover, there is also the possibility to obtain
information that has not previously been discussed in the literature (Saunders et al., 2009).
A disadvantage of semi-structured interviews is that they may be rather time-consuming, and
that the flexibility which they allow for might result in inconsistencies across the interviews.
Furthermore, the amount of information gathered might be extensive, so it could be difficult
to analyze. For the present study, however, conducting semi-structured interviews proved to
be very suitable as only a relatively small number of interviews were conducted. An interview
guide was developed for the interviews (see Appendix A). This guide provided a framework
that helped making the interviews ‘more systematic and comprehensive by delimitating the
issues discussed in the interview’ (Patton, 1982: 163). The questions asked were formulated in
truly open-ended fashion, to permit the interviewee to responds in his or her terms (Patton,
1982: 169). The questions asked in the interviews dealt with several aspects of the
interviewees’ engagement in visiting a sauna, and their motives.
As interviewees face-to-face might feel obstructed to criticize, 50 online reviews are
studied to complete the picture. These two resources provide the confidence to address the
most important elements.
31
4.1.1
Participants
The participants for this research are the visitors of the sauna, as they are in the best
positions to provide an understanding of the customers’ experience and antecedents for CE.
With 10 visitors interviews were held to generate information regarding the elements of the
individual antecedents. This contains valid and reliable data about the visitors as the questions
are very personal and feelings can be expressed in a better way (Saunders et al, 2009).
4.1.2
Data collection
The 12 interviews were conducted in the restaurant of sauna ‘De Thermen’, where
visitors normally take a break for a drink or something to eat. The interviewees included male
as well as female customers, of different ages, from different social classes. In order to
prevent a participant bias, the anonymity of the interviewees is guaranteed, while only the
first name was noted to keep the dialogue personal. The duration of an interview is 20- 45
minutes and all interviews were audio taped. After completion of each interview, memos were
written by the interviewer. Every interview was listened again and initial themes recognized
from studying the literature were written down. With the findings from the interviews, the
antecedents gained from literature will be supported and be narrowed down, regarding the
customer’s motivations. The one difficulty was that the interviews were all done in the Dutch
language, while the study is presented in English, and sometimes it was hard to completely
translate feelings and contexts into English.
In order to validate the collected data and complete the whole picture, I compared the
views of the interviewees with 50 online comments/reviews on the websites saunagids.nl and
sauna-review.nl, saunagespot.nl, sauna-ervaringen.nl and zoover.nl. Using theory and these
outcomes, a questionnaire is formed and sent to customers of the sauna. This approach will be
described in the next paragraph.
32
4.2 Findings
The purpose of this research is to map the antecedents of CE that are specific in the context of
a sauna and answer the question
Which antecedents are identified by visitors of sauna ‘De Thermen’?The generated data will be used to formulate questions for the questionnaire.
4.2.1
Antecedents
As mentioned in §2.2.6, the motives of the customer needed further research. A thorough
analysis of the interviews suggest that one’s motivation to engage in visiting a sauna may be
an important predictor of customer engagement. The findings provide a few suggestions of
the sauna visitors:
The most important one is to
enjoy the recuperationof their own body, mind and soul. Most
of the respondents mentioned the feel relaxed during their visit and they can escape the
hurried lives, with a daily busy agenda and many distractions in their environment (e.g.
phone, advertisings, radio, signs, noise,....). Visitors can be immersed in the activity:
environmental triggers, like a cell phone ringing, can set up a state of divided focus. A person
can give all of his/her attention directly to the task at hand. Learning to turn off extraneous
devices and distractions and control one’s focus on the activity at hand is a powerful skill a
person can develop. The constantly distracted mind is at the mercy of every passing stimulus;
therefore, attention is spread and diluted. With a relaxed state of mind, the sauna experiences
can become more meaningful. By a sauna visit they give in to the feeling to unwind their
selves, have no obligations and to have a moment for their own.
“When visiting the sauna I really feel to have quality time for myself, to have a focus on my own body and
my own feeling.” (Sonja, 39 years)
“Maybe it is a little bit ego-centric, but sometimes I want to seclude myself from a being a good mom and
wife, I just want to have a moment for my own.” (Danuschka, 48 years)
“By a visiting the sauna I feel that I permit myself to leave all their daily worries behind for a certain time.
After the visit I’m reloaded and can ‘concur the world’ (Erik, 49 years)
33
Another reason is to
enjoy/experience of naturein the sauna, as the majority of the
respondents say they like to be outdoors, in the garden and lay down in the water.
“I really have the need to feel the heat and cold to my body, all naked being on with nature.” (Guus, 54
years)
“I totally let myself go to enjoy and feel the nature. Before this break I went swimming naked and laid on
my back naked on the grass...” (Danuschka, 48 years)
Some of the respondents mentioned the availability of
resourcesas time and money, that
can affect their level of CE. In certain life stages you dont’t have money (e.g. younger people)
and sometimes you have a lack of time (e.g. having young kids). Most likely, consumers
evaluate the costs and benefits of engaging in specific behaviors and the cost may be
determined by relative resource endowments for consumers. For example, respondents said:
‘When I was at the age of 10 and played soccer on a high level we had a very wealthy sponsor who
provided us the entrance for the sauna every Monday. If he didn’t do, we would not have gone every
Monday
’(Erik, 44 years)
“We had a coupon of 2 for 1, so we decided to go to the sauna with the two of us, which we wouldn’t have
done if we did not have the coupon.” (Sonja, 39 years).
Thus probably visitors would have avoid visiting the sauna due to a shortage of monetary
resources. Other visitors received a cheque from their children, another special offer, they had
a day off to relax or a daytrip with a friend to catch up with one another, etc..
“Almost one year ago, my husband and me received a cheque for a sauna visit as a December present,
otherwise we wouldn’t have awarded ourselves to been here...” (Jos, 66 years)
From the respondents answers it is assumable that some of the visitors are engaged for
socialreasons. A group of 4 visitors were visiting the sauna as 2 sisters and husbands, a
couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary, friends were meeting each other. As a
visitor you are part of a like-minded group, without any hierarchy.
“In two weeks I’ve got a day of to spend with a friend. I think we’ll go to a sauna, at least as see will agree.
In this way we can enjoy the day together..” (Petruska, 50 years)
Another important element is to
energize yourselvethat gets them engaged, this has also a
lot to do with their motives:
“By a visiting the sauna I feel that I permit myself to leave all their daily worries behind for a certain time.
After the visit I’m reloaded and can ‘concur the world’ (Erik, 49 years)
34
Many of the respondents gave another important reason: to
enjoy(i.e.
the servicing of the
staff) because many visitors really like it that someone else service their drinks/meals, cleans
the facilities or gives them a massage.
“When I take a day off and I want to be really pampered and let myself go to enjoy all day” (Els, 49 years)
“For me a visit to the sauna is a pleasant experience, I feel that I permit myself to leave all their daily
worries behind for a certain time. After the visit I’m reloaded and can ‘concur the world’ (Erik, 49 years)
A necessary condition of the sauna is the
cleannessbecause a majority of the visitors pays
attention on the hygiene, as they don’t like the facilities to be dirty/ not hygienic.
“I always pay attention on hoe clean the facility is, because if a notice hairs in the showers of rests of body
fat on the side of the pool, I will never go there again.” (Els, 49 years)
4.2.2
Findings online reviews
Research revealed that customers who write reviews have a high level of engagement (van
Doorn, 2010), as they take the effort to write a -positive or negative- comment. These reviews
contain valuable customer insights, focussed on the customer experience with the service of a
sauna and gives me the possibility to adjust the proposed antecedents.
The experiences beyond purchase can be summarized as follow:
friendliness & helpfulness of the staff, feeling welcome;
handling of complaints;
level of meeting expectations;
scale of facility, variety of facilities, level of cleanness of facilities/hygiene;
atmosphere (colors interior, seats, architecture,..), smell/odor, cozy area to lounge/relax,
ease/tranquillity, privacy;
35
4.2.3
Variables
With the findings from the qualitative research, the variables that were marked as
antecedents in the model are reviewed.
From qualitative research individual characteristic not applicable in this context.
SatisfactionHighly satisfied customers engage in more positive WOM (van Doorn et al., 2010) and as
opposite a lower satisfaction should engage in more negative WOM. But in the reviews there
were customers who stated ‘not to believe the negative critics, after visiting the sauna their
selves. Thus, it can also be related to the level of expectations/ customers’ goals/ motives.
Therefore, further research is needed and I will maintain the element ‘satisfaction’.
Enthusiasm
From the interviews many respondents said they look forward to visit the sauna and that it
is a treat for them, something to look forward to. As in the context of a sauna this item is
confirmed, I will maintain the element ‘enthusiasm’.
Intrinsic enjoyment
A visit to the sauna is by the interviewees seen an something to enjoy in and from the
conversations it was confirmed that they find visiting a sauna a pleasant experience, also the
‘escape’ from daily lives or ‘unwind’ is mentioned several times, in line with the theory of
Calder et al. (2009). Therefore, the item ‘intrinsic enjoyment’ will be continued in this study.
Trust/commitment
