BUS631: Brand Management

The methods of statistical analyses applied in the present study were driven by hypotheses and the measurement scale of variables. Since reliance on the twenty-five digital touchpoints was measured with Likert-type items, bivariate relationships among variables of interest were measured with non-parametric tests. Considering the hypotheses of the present study, H₁ was assessed with univariate analysis (i.e., descriptive statistics), while H₂ to H₆ were tested with bivariate tests (i.e., Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney, depending on whether the independent variable was dichotomous or categorical with more than two response categories).

Univariate Analyses

Descriptive analysis of participants' perceived importance of alternative digital touchpoints (Table 2) indicated that to recognize a need, consumers rely on online stores (3,88 / 5), corporate websites (3,57 / 5), Instagram (3,39 / 5), web enquiries (3,29 / 5) and YouTube (3,16 / 5). To search for product information, consumers turn to corporate websites (4,00 / 5), online stores (3,71 / 5), YouTube (3,34 / 5), web enquiries (3,29 / 5) and Instagram (3,13 / 5). For the task of evaluating alternative choices, consumers place their emphasis on corporate websites (3,84 / 5), online stores (3,65 / 5), YouTube (3,18 / 5) and web enquiries (3,14 / 5). Subsequently, in the purchase stage, consumers report reliance on corporate websites (3,87 / 5), online stores (3,60 / 5), web enquiries (3,16 / 5), YouTube (3,14 / 5) and Instagram (3,10 / 5). Lastly, to evaluate their level of satisfaction after having made a purchase, consumers demonstrate limited reliance only on corporate websites (3,08 / 5). Overall, these findings suggest that throughout the buying process, consumers emphasize the same digital touchpoints (i.e., corporate websites, online stores, Instagram, web enquiries and YouTube). Although the relative importance of said touchpoints may slightly differ among stages of the buying process, participants seem to, more or less, rely on the aforementioned five touchpoints. However, contrary to the first four stages of the buying process, consumers do not appear to place importance on any of the digital touchpoints included in the study with respect to post-purchase evaluation.

Considering individual touchpoints, corporate websites emerged as the most important touchpoint for consumers for information search, evaluation of alternatives and purchase decisions. Moreover, websites were the only touchpoint of even limited importance to consumers for the post-purchase evaluation stage. Online stores were the primary digital touchpoint consumers associate with need recognition. With respect to the remaining individual touchpoints of significance, web inquiries were perceived as moderately important for need recognition and information search, Instagram was deemed moderately important for need recognition and YouTube for information search. Overall, given the limited variations in the digital touchpoints on which consumers rely throughout the buying process, H₁ appears to be largely unsupported.

Table 2. Consumers' Perceived Reliance on Alternative Digital Touchpoints

Notes: (1) Mean values are presented; (2) values exceeding the midpoint of the five-point scale employed (i.e., ‘3') appear in bold and are assumed to indicate consumer reliance on the corresponding touchpoint; (3) the value of the most significant digital touchpoint in each stage of the buying process (i.e., column) appears in bold and underlined.

Bivariate Analyses

The results of the bivariate analyses (Table 3) suggest that consumer reliance on digital touchpoints depends on users' demographic characteristics. Females appear more likely to rely on Instagram to identify potential needs (3,68 / 5) whereas males demonstrate increased reliance on YouTube to identify needs (3,73 / 5), search for product information (3,76 / 5), evaluate alternative options (3,76 / 5) and make purchase decisions (3,85 / 5). Generation Z consumers appear significantly more reliant on Instagram to identify needs (3,82 / 5), search for product information (3,64 / 5) and make purchase decisions (3,54 / 5). They are also more reliant on YouTube to identify needs (3,45 / 5), evaluate alternative options (3,54 / 5) and make purchase decisions (3,36 / 5). Lastly, Generation Z consumers exhibit greater reliance on websites to engage in post-purchase evaluations (3,38 / 5). Educational level did not emerge as a significant factor affecting consumer reliance on digital touchpoints throughout the buying process. Consumers holding Master or PhD degrees appear to only rely significantly more on web inquiries to search for brand or product-related information (4,06 / 5). Overall, results suggest that individual users who belong in younger generations report greater reliance on all important digital touchpoints throughout the buying process, thus providing evidence to support H₂. On the other hand, because educational level was only associated with greater use of web enquiries during the second stage of the buying process, H₃ appears to be unsupported.

Table 3. Demographic Factors Affecting Consumer Reliance on Alternative Digital Touchpoints

Notes: (1) Mean values of statistically significant differences between groups (p < 0,05) are presented; (2) Between group differences for each digital touchpoint were assessed with series of Mann Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis H-Tests.

As per Table 4, individuals who use the internet very frequently (i.e., several times daily) demonstrate greater reliance on web inquiries to identify potential needs (3,51 / 5). However, because they do not place increased emphasis on digital touchpoints in any of the other four stages of the buying process, there is not sufficient evidence to support H₄. Avid smartphone users demonstrate greater reliance on online stores (4,00 / 5) and Instagram (3,59 / 5) to identify needs, web enquiries (3,52 / 5) to search for information, websites to evaluate alternatives (4,09 / 5), as well as online stores (3,77 / 5) and Instagram (3,30 / 5) to make purchase decisions. Thus, because individuals who primarily use their smartphone to access the internet demonstrate dependence on certain digital points for information search and purchase decisions, H₅ appears to be unsupported. Heavy laptop users rely substantially more on web inquiries for need identification (3,86 / 5) and information search (3,91 / 5), as well as on YouTube to evaluate alternative choices (3,73 / 5). Therefore, as they do not appear to exhibit significantly more reliance on digital touchpoints to make purchases, H₆ is unsupported.

Table 4. Digital Preferences Affecting Consumer Reliance on Alternative Digital Touchpoints

Notes: (1) Mean values of statistically significant differences between groups (p < 0,05) are presented; (2) Between group differences for each digital touchpoint were assessed with series of Mann Whitney U-Tests.

Prior to the interpretation of findings and given the absence of multivariate analyses in the present study, it was deemed necessary to examine any interrelationships among the independent variables included in the preceding statistical analyses. Table 5 shows that older consumers demonstrate lower usage frequency of smartphones (rho = -0,21, p = 0,05) and greater usage frequency of desktops (rho = 0,24, p = 0,02). Consumers who have attained higher educational levels are older (rho = 0,52, p = 0,00) and therefore associated with less use of smartphones (rho = -0,22, p = 0,04). Higher usage frequency of the internet is associated with higher use of smartphones (rho = 0,47, p = 0,00) and laptops (rho = 0,31, p = 0,00), suggesting that smartphones and laptops are the main digital devices through which tech-savvy consumers access the internet and interact with brands.

Table 5. Non-parametric correlations between independent variables

Notes: Statistically significant correlations (p < 0,05) appear in bold; (2) Biological sex and usage frequency of tablet were not correlated with any of the variables in the table and are therefore not presented.