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Is it all going to be social?

The moderating impact of type of website on the relationship between the

determinants of customer experience and customer experience.

Martine Afman

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Is it all going to be social?

The moderating impact of type of website on the relationship between the

determinants of customer experience and customer experience.

Martine Afman University of Groningen

Marketing department Master Thesis

June 2015

Supervisor: prof. dr. P.C. Verhoef Second supervisor: F.T. Beke

Boumaboulevard 469 9723 ZS Groningen

+31618356947 martine-afman@hotmail.com

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Management Summary

Customer experience is a widely used and discussed management topic which involves all types of reactions (cognitive, affective, emotional, social and physical) towards a retailer during the total experience which is established through different contact moments online and offline. But in a world were online happens more than ever before and where social applications and user generated information are increasing by the day, it raises the question how online differences might influence customer experience. Previous research has focused on defining the determinants of customer experience and the impact of social media and user generated content on customer experience outcomes. But as some believe that type of store might influence the relationship between the determinants and customer experience, in an online world this relationship might be moderated by type of website. To answer this question and whether or not it is a good idea to build a user generated website from a customer experience viewpoint, this study examines the moderating impact of type of website on the relationship between the determinants of customer experience and customer experience. Whereby type of website is consisting out of two types of websites; non user generated websites where most of the content is created by a company and user generated websites where most of the content is created by customers.

In an online questionnaire (N = 151) the hypotheses as defined in the literature review were tested. The results first of all showed that the constructs sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment indeed significantly influence elements of customer experience and in this case e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty. Supporting thus previous research with regards to these elements and their impact on customer experience. These results furthermore show that managers developing a new website should take these constructs into consideration when aiming to fulfil the customers’ need of having a positive customer experience.

Additionally, it was expected that type of website would have a moderating impact on the relationship between the constructs and customer experience. However, only partial support was found within this research for the defined hypotheses. Partial support was found for hypothesis two, When sociability is considered less important, non user generated websites will

create positive customer experiences, which might be explained by the fact that non user

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websites should create a more positive customer experience for those customers. Secondly, support was found for hypothesis three; when trust is considered less important (low), user

generated websites will create positive customer experiences. In this case when customer’s

value more other people’s opinions user generated websites might be a good idea. And finally, support was found for hypothesis six, when functionality is considered less important, user

generated websites will create positive customer experiences. This might be explained by the

fact why people visit user generated websites. It is believed that they would visit those websites for not only finding the necessary information but also to just look around and thus navigating easy through such a website is of less importance.

The support for those hypothesis raises some other questions. With regards to trust it might be questioned when people value other people opinions more? Is this in general or does this differ per sector? Further research should look into this matter, which might also lead to results explaining the different findings regarding trust by Nielsen (2012) and Forrester (2014). Moreover, what is the optimum level of functionality for user generated websites? Based on findings from Brandzæg & Heim (2008), even user generated websites should have some degree of easy navigation, accurate and quick response and correct and relevant information, but based on the results from this research functionality should not get in the way of the objective why people visit a user generated website.

Finally, no support, not even partially was found on the moderating role of type of website on the relationship between entertainment and customer experience. Therefrom it might be thought that websites in general should be entertaining and arouse in some way the customer.

Nevertheless, combining these theoretical implications, management should first of all follow one of the key aspects of customer experience. Knowing what the customer wants. Even in this case website designers should know what the customer wants in relation to the defined constructs. Only then an optimum mix on these elements can be created, which in turn will lead to a positive customer experience.

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Preface

In your hands is now the final product of two years of hard work and lots of studying at the University of Groningen. After finishing International Hospitality Management and one year of traveling, I decided to fulfil a long term wish of mine by starting with the Pre Master Marketing in 2013. I’ve felt passionate about marketing for a really long time which has let me before to wonderful internships and jobs. This master was thus not only a logic step in my career path, but was also an enormous driver of my interest and passion for online marketing. Therefore, this master thesis does not only shows how much I have learnt these past few years but also shows my passion for this topic.

Not only customer experience, but also online marketing are widely discussed topics nowadays. Even with my partner’s and mine plans for the future, I know for sure that this study has given me new insights in those areas which will definitely be useful in the near future. I am really looking forward to this new and exciting phase and hope to not only apply all the knowledge, experience and qualities I’ve learnt so far but also to further develop them.

However, I’ve could not have done this without the love and support of many persons. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank those who guided, supported, helped and loved me along those years. First and foremost, my partner, who had to put up with my deadline stress too many times, but I’ve could not have done this without him. Second, my parents, who believed in my qualities and supported me all of those years. Moreover, I would like to thank the rest of my friends and family for their support, help and ‘you can do it’-talks when I needed it. And last, but not least, I would like to thank my supervisor prof. dr. Peter Verhoef for his support, advice and constant feedback throughout the process of writing this master thesis. Thank you all for supporting and helping me during every little step along the way, it is really appreciated and would always be remembered.

Martine Afman

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Table of contents

Management Summary 3

Preface 5

Chapter 1 – Introduction 7

Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework 9

2.1 – The concept of an integrated customer experience – online

& offline 9

2.1.1 – Measuring the broad construct 9

2.1.2 – Conceptual model 10

2.2 – Determinants of customer experience 10

2.2.1 – Sociability 10

2.2.2 – Trust 11

2.2.3 – Functionality 11

2.2.4 – Entertainment 12

2.3 – Defining user generated and non user generated websites 12 2.4 – How do (non) user generated websites influence the relationship between

the determinants of customer experience and customer experience? 13

2.4.1 – Sociability 13

2.4.2 – Trust 14

2.4.3 – Functionality 15

2.4.4 – Entertainment 16

Chapter 3 – Research design 17

3.1 – Target population 17

3.2 – Analysis plan 18

Chapter 4 – Results 19

4.1 – Characteristics of sample population 19

4.2 – Factor Analysis 20

4.3 – Regression Analysis – The influence of the constructs on e-commerce

customer satisfaction & e-commerce customer loyalty 23 4.4 – Moderation Analysis – Is the influence of the constructs on e-commerce

customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty moderated by

(non) user generated websites? 25

Chapter 5 – Conclusions & Recommendations 30

5.1 General discussion 30

5.2 Managerial implications 32

5.3 Limitations and further research 33

References 34

Appendix 1 – Survey design (Dutch version) 39

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Chapter 1 – Introduction

In a world connected by anyone and anywhere every second of the day, consumers are overburdened by messages, products and services from companies and other consumers. This does not only influence consumers, but also the way companies act and think towards distinguishing themselves from their competition. In this highly competitive environment of recent years many companies started to shift their focus from producing and delivering products and services to something more, called a focus on customer experience. According to Verhoef et al. (2009) customer experience is defined as a holistic construct which ‘involves the customer’s cognitive, affective, emotional, social and physical responses to the retailer’ and which goes beyond purchase, including also the search, consumption and after-sale of a product or service. A really broad concept which also implies a necessity for companies to integrate all departments, messages, services etcetera in a consistent manner and all in focus to the specific needs and wishes of the customers.

Likewise, with the growth of the internet and changing media landscape the number of touchpoints between companies and consumers increased significantly. Including not only an increase in the activity that falls in one of the three categories: owned media like company’s websites which are controlled by the marketeer, but also paid media like paid search and earned media like social media (Corcoran 2009; Hanna, Rohm & Crittenden 2011; Stephen & Galak, 2012). This increase in touchpoints provides companies nowadays with an additional challenge of managing a consistent customer experience across different types of media, especially because of earned media types where user generated content (UCG) is king. UCG is any form of content that is created by users and interactions between users of an online system or service which might entail blogs, reviews, tweets, pins, visual files and other forms of media (Moens, Li & Chua, 2014). Within this type of media consumers share what they want to share, good or bad and even about products and brands.

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needed in key periods to drive more customer engagement and is needed for its immediacy and scale. But how will it end? And in a world where customer experience is an important aspect of everyday life, what has more impact; user generated websites or non-user generated websites?

In recent years several researchers have identified the determinants and antecedents of customers experience (online and offline) and research moreover has focused on the impact of social media and UCG on several aspects like sales and customer relationships (Henning-Thurau et al. 2010; Marshall et al. 2012; Stephen & Galak 2012), but not on the broader concept of customer experience and the relationship between the determinants and customer experience. But while companies focussing on customer experience integrate more and more user generated content on their sites, the author believes that it is first more important to know whether this is a good decision and which impact (non) user generated content has on customer experience. Nevertheless, as stated before customer experience is a broad construct and difficult to assess every element of. Therefor this research will focus on one cognitive outcome and one affective outcome of it, namely e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty.

To summarize, this research will focus on the following problem statement:

‘What is the impact of (non) user generated websites on the relationship between the determinants of customer experience and customer experience?’

Thereby also answering the following research questions:  Which factors influence customer experience?

 Which factors do (non) user generated websites influence?

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Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework

2.1 – The concept of an integrated customer experience – online & offline

For understanding the drivers of customer experience, it is first important to have a full and complete understanding of what customer experience really means. Customer experience has been discussed by many researchers, not only across contexts like consumer marketing, tourism, retailing and services but also in the online situation making a distinction in customer experience and online customer experience (Rose, Hair & Clark, 2011). Nevertheless, while many researchers in the online customer experience field focus on the cognitive aspects of the online customer experience, in such a way as explaining it in terms of the performance of the website functionality (Christodoulides et al., 2006); or interactions and usability of the website (Nysveen & Pedersen, 2004; Novak, Hoffman & Yung, 2000), Rose, Hair & Clark (2011) argue already for an extended view on this including the emotional or affective level in it as well and thus more in line with the definition of Verhoef et al. (2009) as provided in the introduction. However, Rose, Clark, Samouel & Hair (2012) only limit this to the online situation. But is this really the situation at hand? Many people discuss the fact that we are all connected 24/7 and every aspect of our lives are integrated, online and offline. So why discussing customer experience and online customer experience as separate constructs? Given the existence of many companies being present in both domains, the author argues for an integrated concept of customer experience encompassing the total experience, online and offline and therefor extending previous definitions. Thus customer experience in this research will encompassed of a cognitive and affective response to the total experience with a retailer established through different contact moments online and offline.

2.1.1 – Measuring the broad construct

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2.1.2 – Conceptual model

With this definition of customer experience in mind, a conceptual model, as shown in figure one, was developed. Based on existing literature several determinants of customer experience were determined. These determinants include sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment. The model also includes the situational moderator of (non) user generated websites. All aspects included in the model will be further explained in text below.

2.2 – Determinants of customer experience

According to Verhoef et al. (2009) there are several determinants of customer experience which also can be found back in research done on online customer experience. Several researchers place these determinants into two categories, one addressing the emotional or affective side of customer experience through the sensations derived from the good or service, which will be discussed first, and one addressing the more cognitive aspect through the actual functioning of the good or service (Berry, Carbone & Haeckel, 2002; Nambisan & Watt, 2011; Voss, Spangenberg & Grohmann, 2003)

2.2.1 – Sociability

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customer from virtual communities can lead to a more enriched experience by sharing relevant information and fostering social interactions (Kim & Jin, 2006; Mittal & Tsiros, 2007). Moreover, other researchers showed that engaged and satisfied employees are more likely to deliver a consistent and enjoyable customer experience (Gremler & Gwinner, 2000; Mosley, 2007). But customers and employees may also destroy the experience for other customers (Harris & Reynolds, 2003; Wall Street Journal, 2008). Thus this dimension can influence customer experience in two directions; in a positive way by establishing strong networks and relationships and in a negative way by rude or inappropriate postings (Honeycutt, 2005; Preece, 2000).

2.2.2 – Trust

Related to the concept of sociability, trust can be seen as a determinant of customer experience. According to Mayer, Davis & Schoorman (1995) trust is “the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the agility to monitor or control that other party”. This action can consist of not only actually delivering a product, but also providing information or a service. Trust is a form of a customers’ response to a good or service and thus part of the affective part customer experience. Moreover, according to Rose et al. (2012) trust relates to feelings of vulnerability, which are fuelled by the relationships consumers have and is built as feelings of vulnerability decrease and expectations are consistently met. Several researchers have found positive relationships between trust and outcomes of customer experience like satisfaction and customer experience itself (Gwinner et al., 1998; Harris & Goode, 2004; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002; Hsu & Tsou, 2011). When expectations are met, promises are delivered on and thus trust is built by the brand, customer experience increases.

2.2.3 – Functionality

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effortlessly and without any obstructions or annoyances, while lower levels reflect technological and navigational distractions a customer can experience (Nambisan & Watt, 2011).

2.2.4 – Entertainment

A final determinant of customer experience is entertainment. According to research done by Wolfinbarger & Gilly (2001) customer experience results from the creation of an experience which is both fun as enjoyable. In a traditional retail setting like stores, entertainment cues are store layout, colour scheme, lighting, music and odours, but these cues as colour, design and graphics also provide entertaining stimuli online (Rose et al, 2012). Next to providing timely and reliable information, websites therefor should also be eye-catching to sustain customers’ interest and to communicate the brand message effectively. If brands are not employing these features, it will have an impact on customer experience and it may be very difficult to have these customers return (Keller, 2013). Moreover, when the medium becomes frustrating, boring or even unappealing to the customer, the customer’s experience will decrease (Nambisan & Watt, 2011).

2.3 – Defining user generated and non user generated websites

Overall, Verhoef et al. (2009) argue that type of store might be a moderator with regards to the constructs influencing customer experience. But as much as there are different types of stores, in the online customer experience world there are also different type of websites. As argued by Zhang & von Dran (2000) different website types may affect a user’s perception of a particular construct and companies need to be aware of the different roles these same constructs might have for different website types. In this research the author makes the distinction between user generated websites and non user generated websites.

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user generated content into the company’s/brand’s website content. Examples are product pages which include customer ratings and reviews, or hashtag content from sides like Twitter and Instagram which are used in website pages or campaign microsites (Blakley, 2012). Popular website examples are the micro campaigns of Nike and the travel website Tripadvisor. Non user generated websites on the other hand are entirely company/brand based websites, where content is created by the company’s/brand’s marketeers. Nevertheless, while many company’s/brand’s already incorporate UCG to some extent in their website, there still can be found a lot of differences. Knowing if and how this influences customer experience might be of valuable information for the future of website design and to what extent UCG should be incorporated in this.

2.4 – How do (non) user generated websites influence the relationship between the determinants of customer experience and customer experience?

2.4.1 - Sociability

First of all, as stated before sociability refers to the degree and extent interactions among customers themselves and between the company and the customers takes place. And while customer experience might vary according to the type of website ((Non) user generated) and sociability influences customer experience, it is likely to assume that the type of website interacts with sociability to moderate the relationship between sociability and customer experience. For instance, consumers looking for more sociability options are more likely to have a positive customer experience at user generated websites, whereas those in need of less degree of sociability are more likely to have positive experience at (non) user generated websites. Brandtzæg & Heim (2009) argue for example that sociability, especially sharing experiences and social support, is an important factor for a positive customer experience when using user generated websites.

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shown different findings from no effect to a positive effect regarding the influence of sociability on outcome measures, such as attitude towards an ad which according to de Vries, Gensler & Leeflang (2012) might be explained by the different levels of sociability. Since the objective of user generated websites is to motivate customers to socialize (Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012), the author expects that customers looking for more sociability will have a more positive experience at user generated websites than at non user generated websites. Therefore, the author proposes the following hypothesis:

H1: When sociability is considered important (high), user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

H2: When sociability is considered less important (low), non user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

2.4.2 - Trust

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positive experience at user generated websites and consumers valuing independent information might have a more positive experience at non generated websites. Nevertheless, the author believes that when information of an independent source is considered less important than other people’s opinions and therefor trust is low, user generated websites will create a more positive customer experience and vice versa. Therefor the author proposes:

H3: When trust is considered less important (low), user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

H4: When trust is considered important (high), non user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

2.4.3 – Functionality

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H5: When functionality is considered important (high), non user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

H6: When functionality is considered less important (low), user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

2.4.4 - Entertainment

With regards to the final aspect influencing customer experience as defined earlier,

entertainment, it also can be said that type of website interacts with entertainment and thus

moderates the relationship between entertainment and customer experience. Overall it can be said that creating entertaining designs and content is of great value to companies. Findings from Novak, Hoffman & Yung (1999) state that websites should provide enough challenges to arouse the customer, but not so much that the customer becomes frustrated with it and goes to another brand. Kim & Ko (2012) furthermore show that brands should focus on the entertainment aspect in their content and activities, like for example interacting with other customers and obtaining honest brand information should all be done in an entertaining way. By focusing on this aspect customer relationships will be deepened and enhance customer experience. Moreover, Shao (2008) shows that especially UCG and entertainment are nearly synonymous. The content is light, bright and digestible and may use this content to escape from problems, for relaxation or enjoyment (Shao, 2008). Furthermore, when entertaining was related to news consumption, previous research done by Diddi & LaRose (2006) showed that entertainment was positively related to an individual’s internet news reading but not to an individual’s newspaper reading. Lee & Ma (2012) explain this by the fact that the internet does not only satisfies the need for information but the interaction with others also satisfies the need of entertainment. Since user generated websites may also be used just for fun (Brandtzæg & Heim, 2009), it may be assumed that people looking for higher degrees of entertainment might have a more positive experience at user generated websites and vice versa. Therefor the author proposes:

H7: When entertainment is considered important (high), user generated websites will create positive customer experiences.

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Chapter 3 – Research design

To conduct this study, multiple steps were followed by the author. First of all, the author searched for articles and papers published in academic journals, to gain important understanding of the constructs related to customer experience and (non) user generated websites. Based on the constructs found within these academic journals as defined and explained in the theoretical framework, the author designed a web-based survey, which can be found in appendix 1. According to Malhotra (2010) the survey method for collecting research data has several advantages. Not only is it simple to administer, code, analyse and interpret the data, also the data obtained will be reliable because the responses to the questions are limited to the different alternatives stated. Moreover, the use of these so called fixed-response questions reduces the variability in results which might be caused by the differences in interviewers and helps to interpret the data and draw valid conclusions (Malhotra, 2010).

The survey consists out of 29 questions used to measure the independent and dependent variables. This survey will be administered among Dutch persons, therefor the design of the survey contains Dutch questions. Respondents will first be asked some general questions, followed by questions related to different types of websites. For this research travel websites were used because it is believed by the author that they show significant differences in the extent to which it is a user generated website or a non user generated website. The items used to measure the independent variable of the determinants of customer experience, were partly based on survey items used by other researchers (Eid, 2011; Gefen, 2003; Novak, Hoffman & Yung, 2000; Rose et al., 2012). The items used to measure the dependent variable customer experience, were developed based on items derived from the literature and were refined to the extent of this research (Eid, 2011). The items related to the construct and the specific literature are shown in appendix 2.

For most questions, 1 till 7 point Likert scales were adopted to measure the different items. For measuring satisfaction the scale was anchored for 1 ‘strongly dissatisfied’ and for 7 ‘strongly satisfied’. Furthermore, other scales for measuring several items were anchored for 1 ‘absolutely disagree’ and for 7 ‘absolutely agree’. Finally, some general questions about age, gender and web usages will be asked.

3.1 – Target population

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focuses on websites, the author believes that it is in best interest of the study to conduct it online. Moreover, this way of distributing the survey makes sure that everybody can participate in the study. Furthermore, there are no special requirements for the participants. To assure the reliability of this research, question will be asked in a neutral way, so participants won’t be directed to a certain answer and they will be asked as simple as possible such that everyone will be able to understand the question and provide the author with appropriate and reliable answers. Finally, to further assure the reliability of this research, the survey needs to be completed by 150 till 180 participants consisting out of online shoppers, located in the Netherlands.

3.2 – Analysis plan

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Chapter 4 - Results

4.1 – Characteristics of sample population

After cleaning, a total of 151 usable surveys were obtained by the author. The descriptive analysis of the sample profile are provided in table 1. These results show that the largest group of respondents consisted out of females (almost 66%) and almost 55% of the respondents were 30 years old or younger. Furthermore, the respondents were asked to note which travel websites they have used in the past year. A couple of those websites belonged to the non user generated websites like the sites directly belonging to the travel agency or service provider (like hotels/camping grounds etc.) and booking.com and expedia. Another set of websites like TripAdvisor, zoover and vakantiewijzer belonged to the user generated websites. Finally, the respondents had the option to choose to fill in a website which was not mentioned within the list, which provided a list of websites containing both types of websites like airbnb, marktplaats, vakantieveilingen, travelbird, hotelspecials, weekendjeweg, sunweb, ns spoordeelwinkel and trivago. For subsequent analysis, the author combined these results into two dummy variables, one containing the non user generated websites and one containing the user generated websites. This resulted in the outcomes that almost 34% of the respondents used user generated websites in the past year for their travel plans, around 95% of the respondents used non user generated websites in the past year and around 29% of the respondents used both in their search and booking for their travel plans.

Table 1

Sample profile (n = 151)

Demographic n Percent of sample %

Gender Male 52 34,4 Female 99 65,6 Age 19 – 30 82 54,3 31 – 40 14 9,3 41 – 50 21 13,9 51 – 60 21 13,9 60+ 13 8,6 Frequency of online activity

Not very active 1 ,7

A little active 17 11,3

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Very active 85 56,3

Travel website usage (multiple answer option)

Directly at the travel agency (like Arke, Kras, D-reizen etc.) 88 58,3 Directly at the hotel/camping ground/bungalowpark 58 38,4 Booking.com 43 28,5 Expedia 15 9,9 Tripadvisor 37 24,5 Zoover 21 13,9 Vakantiereiswijzer 2 1,3 Other 16 10,6

Type of website Non User generated websites

144 95,4

User generated websites 51 33,8

Both Non User Generated and User generated websites

44 29,1

4.2 – Factor Analysis

In order to test the survey for construct validity, a factor analysis in SPSS was performed for the independent variables sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment. However, due to wrong formulation of variables in the survey some variables were left out of this analysis, namely A) Being able to connect with other consumers is an important feature to me; B) Being able to connect with the organisation/service provider/hotel is an important feature to me; C) The possibility to view reviews is an important feature to me and D) I think it is an advantage when the content of the website is partly influenced by other customers. Thus the factorability of 15 items regarding those constructs was examined.

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variables. Finally, the communalities were all above .3 except one (The website provides me with enough opportunities to contact the organisation/service provider/hotel), which was also excluded later on from the factor analysis based on the Cronbach Alpha (.527 when this variable was removed). The communalities for the other items confirm that each items shared some common variance with other items. Given these indicators, factor analysis was conducted with 14 items, excluding ‘The website provides me with enough opportunities to contact the organisation/service provider/hotel’.

Principle components analysis was used in this research to re-identify the factors underlying the items of the survey. The factor loading matrix for this final solution is presented in table 2. The factor analysis with 14 items was even more appropriate according to the criteria. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .827, Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (X2 (91) = 982.758, p = .000) and all communalities were now above .5.

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Output Factor Analysis

Construct name

Items Component Communality Alpha

1 2 3 4

Sociability The website provides me with enough opportunities to contact other customers

.779 .651 .527

I consider the reviews of other customers on the website as reliable information

.774 .668

Trust The website is trustworthy and honest .856 .787 .869

The website instils the confidence in his customers .843 .783

The website does fulfil the promises and commitments he assumes

.818 .736

By reviewing the website I can be confident that I have made the best purchase decision

.688 .673

Functionality The navigation of this website is quick and easy .833 .732 .866

Pages of the website usually load quickly .851 .777

The website is easy to use .789 .732

The website increases my search effectiveness .725 .691

Entertainment The look and feel of the website is an important feature to me .794 .646 .779

The website is fun to watch .702 .623

The website looks attractive .704 .662

Pictures and videos are important features of a website to me .758 .592

Eigenvalue 5.411 1.661 1.563 1.115

% of total variance 38.652 11.867 11.167 7.964

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Furthermore, internal consistency for each of the factors was examined by using Cronbach’s alpha as can be seen in table 2. No substantial increases in Cronbach’s alpha could be realized for any of the factors by eliminating more variables.

Finally, combined scores were created by the author for each of the four factors, based on the mean of the variables which were included in each factor. These descriptive statistics are shown in table 3. Higher scores indicate more consent with the statements included in those constructs and thus how relative important those constructs are. With regards to the results, they show that entertainment is the most important construct followed by functionality. Trust is also important but to a lesser degree and sociability is a little bit important.

Table 3

Means and Standard Deviations on the constructs influencing customer experience

Construct n M SD

Sociability 151 5,0795 1,33553

Trust 151 5,8444 ,88353

Functionality 151 5,9305 ,84812

Entertainment 151 6,1639 ,74780

For conducting subsequent analysis with the two other constructs; e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty; new variables were also made by averaging the existing variables and were then standardized, which let to appropriate variables for further analysis. Table 4 presents the descriptive statistics for these two constructs and shows that the respondents are satisfied and loyal to the website they’ve used for their travel plans.

Table 4

Means and Standard Deviations on the customer experience constructs

Construct n M SD

E-commerce customer satisfaction 151 5,8300 ,83787

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4.3 – Regression Analysis – The influence of the constructs on e-commerce customer satisfaction & e-commerce customer loyalty

In order to test whether or not the constructs defined out of the factor analysis indeed influence e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty, the author performed several regression analysis. The results from these analysis can be found in table 5. To note, a significance level of .1 was used within this research due to the small sample.

Firstly, the author run a multiple regression to predict e-commerce customer satisfaction from sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment. This regression analysis was significant, R2 = .503, F(4,146) = 36,966, p <.1. Thus the independent variables explain 50,3% of the variability of the dependent variable and the regression model is a good fit of the data. Moreover, the coefficient results show that all constructs have a significant influence on e-commerce customer satisfaction. It was found that sociability significantly predicts e-e-commerce customer satisfaction (β = .174, p < .1), as did trust (β = .172, p <.1), functionality (β = .513, p < .1) and entertainment (β = .424, p < .1). Furthermore, for every increase in sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment, e-commerce customer satisfaction will be positively influenced. Especially functionality and entertainment have the greatest influence on e-commerce customer satisfaction.

Table 5

Multiple Regression e-commerce customer satisfaction predicted by the constructs

Construct B p VIF Sociability .174 .003 1 Trust .172 .004 1 Functionality .513 .000 1 Entertainment .424 .000 1 Notes. R2 = .503, R2adjusted = .490

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(β = .472, p < .1). The coefficient results further show that for every increase in these constructs e-commerce customer loyalty will be positively influenced. Again entertainment and functionality seem to have the greatest influence on this dependent variable.

Table 6

Multiple Regression e-commerce customer loyalty predicted by the constructs

Construct B p VIF Sociability .237 .000 1 Trust .253 .000 1 Functionality .362 .000 1 Entertainment .472 .000 1 Notes. R2 = .474, R2adjusted = .460

Thus, overall can be said that the constructs defined in the literature review indeed influence customer experience.

4.4 – Moderation Analysis – Is the influence of the constructs on e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty moderated by (non) user generated websites?

To analyse whether type of website moderates the relationship between the constructs and e-commerce customer satisfaction, a multiple regression analysis was performed with two dummy variables; non user generated websites and user generated websites. Non user generated websites consists of 1 = non user generated website used, 0 = non user generated website not used. And user generated websites consists of 1 = user generated website used, 0 = user generated website not used. Those dummy variables were used also later on during the moderation analysis of type of website on the relationship between the constructs and e-commerce customer loyalty. Once more, due to the small sample a significance level of .1 was used. Furthermore, even if an interaction was not found significant, the interaction graphs will show the interaction effects for both user generated and non user generated. In this way the differences between user generated and non user generated will become clearer. However, if no significant effect for one of the constructs was found in both user generated and non user generated, no interaction graphs will be displayed.

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significant amount of variance in e-commerce customer satisfaction, R2 = .504, F(6,144) =

24,376, p < .1. Although Non user generated websites and User generated websites were not significant predictors, sociability (β = .169, p < .1), trust (β = .171, p < .1), functionality (β .511= , p < .1) and entertainment (β = .424 , p < .1) were significant predictors of e-commerce customer satisfaction. In the second step of the multiple regression analysis, the interaction term between the constructs and (non) user generated websites was entered, which accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in e-commerce customer satisfaction, ΔR2 = .051, ΔF(14, 136) = 12,134, p < .1. Nevertheless, only one significant predictor was found. Only User generated websites * functionality (β = -.145, p < .1) was a significant predictor of e-commerce customer satisfaction. This would mean that for user generated websites, the relationship between functionality and e-commerce customer satisfaction would decrease as presented in figure one and thus supporting hypothesis six, When functionality is considered less important,

user generated websites will create positive customer experiences. All other variables were no

significant predictors of e-commerce customer satisfaction. Thus type of website does not further moderate the relationship between the constructs (sociability, trust and entertainment) and e-commerce customer satisfaction. The results of this second step in the moderation analysis are presented in table 7.

Table 7

Moderation analysis e-commerce customer satisfaction predicted by the constructs * (non) user generated websites

Construct B p Constant .924 .273 Sociability 1.239 .194 Trust -.003 .991 Functionality .337 .691 Entertainment -.500 .514

Non User Generated website -.191 .282

User Generated website -.071 .593

Non User Generated Website * Sociability -1.102 .230

Non User Generated Website * Trust .218 .437

Non User Generated Website * Functionality .205 .803

Non User Generated Website * Entertainment .912 .226

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User Generated Website * Trust -.055 .493

User Generated Website * Functionality -.145 .065

User Generated Website * Entertainment -.008 .912

Notes. R2 = .555, R2adjusted = .510, R2change = .051

Figure 1

Interaction graph functionality influencing e-commerce customer satisfaction; user generated website (significant) & non user generated (not significant)

Finally, type of website was examined also as a moderator of the relationship between the constructs and e-commerce customer loyalty. As did in the previous analysis, the constructs and (non) user generated websites were entered in the first step of the multiple regression analysis. A significant amount of variance in e-commerce customer loyalty was accounted for by these variables, R2 = .497, F(6,144) = 23,742, p < .1. Significant predictors of e-commerce

customer loyalty were sociability (β = .213, p < .1), trust (β = .249, p < .1), functionality (β .364= , p < .1), entertainment (β = .476 , p < .1) and non user generated website (β = .147 , p < .1). Only User generated websites was not a significant predictors of e-commerce customer loyalty.

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Nevertheless, only two significant predictors were found. Non user generated websites * sociability (β = -2.271, p < .1) was a significant predictor of e-commerce customer loyalty as well as User generated website * Trust (β = -,148, p < .1). With regards to the first significant interaction effect it would mean that for non user generated websites, the relationship between sociability and e-commerce customer loyalty would decrease as presented in figure two. This would partly support hypothesis two, when sociability is considered less important, non user

generated websites will create positive customer experiences. Moreover, the second interaction

effect would partly support hypothesis three, when trust is considered less important, user

generated websites will create positive customer experiences, because for user generated

websites, the relationship between trust and e-commerce customer loyalty would decrease as presented in figure three.

All other variables were no significant predictors of e-commerce customer satisfaction. Thus type of website does not further moderate the relationship between the constructs (functionality and entertainment) and e-commerce customer loyalty. The results of this second step in the moderation analysis with regards to e-commerce customer loyalty are presented in table 8.

Table 8

Moderation analysis e-commerce customer loyalty predicted by the constructs * (non) user generated websites Construct B p Constant 1,208 .150 Sociability 2,516 .009 Trust .309 .306 Functionality -.742 .378 Entertainment -.755 .321

Non User Generated website -.245 .165

User Generated website -.049 .435

Non User Generated Website * Sociability -2.271 .014

Non User Generated Website * Trust .008 .977

Non User Generated Website * Functionality 1.101 .179

Non User Generated Website * Entertainment 1.181 .115

User Generated Website * Sociability .012 .876

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User Generated Website * Functionality -.111 .152

User Generated Website * Entertainment .037 .612

Notes. R2 = .562, R2adjusted = .517, R2change = .065

Figure 2

Interaction graph sociability influencing e-commerce customer loyalty; non user generated website (significant) and user generated (not significant)

Figure 3

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Chapter 5 – Conclusions & Recommendations

5.1 General discussion

A commonly wide used management practice nowadays is the focus on customer experience. Many researchers have done research in this field, online and offline, focusing on outcomes of customer experience and where it is constructed from. But as some researchers argue that type of store might affect the relationship between the constructs which define customer experience and customer experience itself (Verhoef et al, 2009) it might be argued that online this relationship might be influenced by the type of website. And as more companies are focusing their online marketing activities on user generated content and thus user generated websites, it raises the question how type of website might influence the relationship between the constructs and customer experience and if a focus on user generated websites is the wise thing to do from a customer experience point of view. This research tries to answer these questions, whereby customer experience was measured through e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty.

First of all, from the literature review four different constructs were defined influencing customer experience; sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment. From the analysis it became clear that indeed these four constructs positively influence e-commerce customer satisfaction and e-commerce customer loyalty and thus customer experience. Hence, the analysis is supporting the literature showing that the higher the level of sociability, trust, functionality and entertainment the more positive the customer experience.

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when confronted with rude and inappropriate postings to ensure positive customer experience at their website.

Furthermore, while many researchers are putting much interest in social aspects and many companies focusing on customer experience are starting to change around their websites to a more user generated website, it still might be argued that this is too early. Many customers nowadays are still and foremost searching for information and booking their holidays at non user generated websites as shown in the result section. Adding some user generated aspects might positively influence customer experience like possibilities to socialize, but changing full non user generated websites around towards user generated websites might be too early in this sector. Trust, for example, is one of the constructs which is of great concern regarding this matter. While research on this subject has been inconclusive, this research has found support for hypothesis three; when trust is considered less important (low), user generated websites will

create positive customer experiences. Thus when people value more people’s opinions user

generated websites might be a good idea. But in which cases do people value other’s opinion more? Is this in general or does this differ per sector? Further research should therefore focus on in which sectors people rely more on other’s opinions than on information from an independent source. Results from such a research might then also explain the inconclusive results regarding trust as argued by Nielsen (2012) and Forrester (2014).

Moreover, regarding the objective of this research, not much support has been found for the moderating role of type of website on the relationship between the constructs of customer experience and customer experience. Partial support was found for hypothesis three as mentioned before. Besides partial support was found for hypothesis two, When sociability is

considered less important, non user generated websites will create positive customer experiences and hypothesis six, When functionality is considered less important, user generated websites will create positive customer experiences. These hypothesis were only supported in

one of the two situations (e-commerce customer satisfaction or e-commerce customer loyalty) and therefore it can’t be fully concluded that customer experience is influenced by type of website when regarding those constructs.

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looking for interaction with other customers and/or having the option to view reviews, non user generated websites are the best website to go to for fulfilling his/her need.

Looking at what the support for hypothesis six means related to the literature review, one might argue that visiting a user generated website is done for different reasons than visiting a non user generated website and good functionality might therefore not be needed at user generated websites. For instance, it might be argued that customers visiting a user generated website might not only want to find their relevant information but also want to browse around. And while functionality was found as an important construct of defining customer experience and thus supporting the findings of Brandzæg & Heim (2008), that even user generated websites should have some degree of easy navigation, accurate and quick response and correct and relevant information, the support for hypothesis six shows that this should only go to a certain extent and should not get in the way of the objective why people visit a user generated website. Finally, no support has been found on the moderating role of type of website on the relationship between entertainment and customer experience. Therefrom it might be thought that websites in general should be entertaining as mentioned by Novak, Hoffman & Yung (1999) and Kim & Ko (2012) and that both type of websites fulfil on entertainment needs.

5.2 Managerial implications

Managers of travel websites can be guided by this research first of all by being made aware of the fact that changing a website around from non user generated to user generated might not be such a good idea unless they know what their customer is looking for. Companies currently having a non user generated website should first know in which way their customers value trust (do they value other’s opinion more or independent company information), to which extent they want to socialize and browse around or just quickly want to find their information and book their holiday. This information will then provide more insights in how to design the right website for a positive customer experience and an answer to the question whether a website should be non user generated, user generated or even maybe a combination of both.

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5.3 Limitations and further research

This research however is subject to some limitations which might provide insights for further research. The author has chosen for a survey design which resulted in the fact that some respondents used both non user generated and user generated websites last year with regards to their travel plans. This might have influenced their answers concerning the constructs and their impact on customer experience. An experimental design with two groups (non user generated website and user generated website) might provide more clear answers and might provide more support for the hypothesis defined within this research.

Furthermore, the amount of data was sufficient to investigate the hypothesis, but was still rather small. To better understand these relationships, further and extended research with a larger sample size should be done. Moreover, generalisations made within this research might not hold for different nationalities due to the fact that this research was held with Dutch nationals. Besides, this research focused on travel related website sector. Researching the hypothesis defined in this study in other sectors might provide different answers.

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Appendix 1 – Survey design (Dutch version)

Beste respondent,

Voor het afronden van mijn Master Marketing aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, doe ik onderzoek naar het effect van verschillende websites op klant beleving. Voor een goede voltooiing van het onderzoek en mijn studie, wil ik graag uw medewerking vragen voor het invullen van een korte vragenlijst. Het invullen van de vragenlijst kost slechts 5 minuten. Alle gegevens zullen volledig anoniem verwerkt worden en niet verstrekt aan derden.

Als u begint met de vragenlijst zullen u eerst een paar algemene vragen worden gesteld. Vervolgens krijgt u een aantal vragen met betrekking tot verschillende reiswebsites en klantbeleving. Zou u zo vriendelijk willen zijn deze vragen zo volledig en eerlijk mogelijk in te willen vullen?

Alvast hartelijk dank, Martine Afman

1. Wat is uw geslacht? O Man O Vrouw 2. Wat is uw leeftijd? O Jonger dan 18 O 19 – 30 O 31 – 40 O 41 – 50 O 51 – 60 O Ouder dan 60 3. Hoe actief bent u op Internet?

O Niet actief, ik gebruik het zelden

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O Actief, ik maak gebruik van de zoekfuncties, onderhoud contacten via email en social media en koop regelmatig via het internet

O Heel actief, ik maak dagelijks gebruik van de verschillende mogelijkheden (apps, social media, aan- en verkopen via het internet etc.)

4. Heeft u afgelopen jaar via internet een reis/vakantie/weekend weg geboekt of informatie gewonnen voor een reis/vakantie/weekend weg?

O Ja (Ga door na vraag 5)

O Nee (Indien nee, bedankt voor u medewerking, u bent aan het eind gekomen

van deze enquête)

5. Van welke sites heeft u voor het boeken of informatie inwinnen voor u reis/vakantie/weekend weg gebruik gemaakt?

O Direct via de reisaanbieder (Bijvoorbeeld Arke, Kras, D-Reizen etc.) O Rechtstreeks bij het hotel/verhuurder van bijv. bungalow/camping O Booking.com O Expedia O Tripadvisor O Zoover O Vakantiereiswijzer O Anders, namelijk ……… De volgende vragen zullen gaan over de klantbeleving die samenhangt met de websites die u gebruikt hebt. Geef aan in hoeverre u het met de stelling eens bent terugdenkend aan uw ervaring met de websites, waarbij 1 helemaal oneens is en 7 helemaal eens.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. De mogelijkheid om via internet contact te leggen met

andere consumenten vind ik belangrijk.

2. De mogelijkheid om via de website contact te leggen met de organisatie/aanbieder/hotel vind ik belangrijk

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5. De mogelijkheid om beoordelingen te zien en te geven vind ik belangrijk

6. Ik vind het een voordeel als de informatie op de pagina gedeeltelijk afkomstig is van andere consumenten

7. De website is betrouwbaar en eerlijk

8. De website wekt het vertrouwen in zijn klanten

9. De website maakt de beloften en toezegging die hij doet waar

10. De website geeft mij het gevoel dat als ik hiervoor kies ik een goede keuze maak

11. De beoordeling van andere consumenten vind ik betrouwbare informatie

12. De navigatie van deze website is gemakkelijk 13. De website reageert snel als ik ergens op klik 14. De website is makkelijk in gebruik

15. De website vergroot mijn zoek effectiviteit 16. Hoe de website eruit ziet vind ik belangrijk 17. De website vind ik leuk om te bekijken 18. De website ziet er aantrekkelijk uit

19. Foto’s en video’s zijn belangrijk voor een website 20. De prestaties van de website voldeden aan mijn verwachtingen

21. De website biedt de nodige middelen om handelingen naar succes uit te voeren

22. Ik ben tevreden met de werking van de website 23. Ik zal in de toekomst ook gebruik maken van deze website

24. Ik zal deze site aanbevelen aan familie/vrienden/collega’s

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Appendix 2 – Construct, scale items and references

Construct Scale items Literature References

Sociability A. Being able to connect

with other consumers is an important feature to me.

Novak, Hoffman & Yung, 2000; Rose et al., 2012 B. Being able to connect

with the organisation/service provider/hotel is an

important feature to me. C. The website provides me with enough opportunities to contact the

organisation/service provider/hotel

D. The website provides me with enough opportunities to contact other customers E. The possibility to view reviews is an important feature to me.

F. I think it is an advantage when the content of the website is partly influenced by other customers.

Trust A. The website is

trustworthy and honest

Eid, 2011; Lee & Turban, 2001

B. The website instils the confidence in his customers C. The website does fulfil the promises and

commitments he assumes D. By reviewing the website I can be confident that I have made the best purchase decision

E. Reviews of other customers are trustworthy information to me. Functionality A. The navigation of this

website is quick and easy

Eid, 2011; Gefen, 2003 B. Pages of the website

usually load quickly

C. The website is easy to use D. The website increases my search effectiveness

Entertainment A. The look and feel of the website is important when internet shopping

Rose et al., 2012

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D. Pictures and videos are important features of a website to me

E-commerce Customer Satisfaction

A. The performance of Web site meets my expectation

Eid, 2011; Khalifa & Liu, 2007

B. The Web site does have the necessary resources to carry out its activities successfully

C. I am satisfied with the performance of the website E-commerce Customer

Loyalty

A. I will continuously purchase from the Web site in the near future.

Eid, 2011; Khalifa & Liu, 2007

B. I will recommend this website to

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