Consumer Reliance on Alternative Digital Touchpoints

Brand managers use consumer mapping to analyze touchpoints along a consumer journey mapping. Within digital engagement, these touchpoints have been found to influence brand choice. Ultimately, consumers choose to purchase among a sea of competing brands, and each step is another reason why (or why not) one brand is chosen over another. Look at the external "third party" influences in your own decision-making and select the one that you trust more than the information marketed to you. Now, select a point along the consumer journey where the brand you have chosen might lose its influence.

Research Premises

The importance and perceived usefulness of each digital touchpoint on each stage of the consumer buying process is assumed to be shaped by individual consumer characteristics and the nature of the product being sought. Given that each touchpoint corresponds to a different digital marketing tactic, their relative importance to consumers is also anticipated to vary according to each touchpoint's particular specifications. Furthermore, existing literature suggests that consumers' digital experiences are strongly influenced by the type of digital device they use. With more than 6,3 billion smartphone users on a global level, mobile devices have become of critical importance to marketers, and consumers appear to use them primarily for information search.

Because the present study assumes that the diverse characteristics of digital touchpoints are better matching to different stages of the buying process, consumers are expected to demonstrate varying levels of reliance on different digital touchpoints, according to 'where they are' in the buying process. However, due to the vast number of existing digital touchpoints and the fact that they may have some overlapping characteristics, it is rather difficult to produce definitive predictions about their perceived usefulness by consumers. For instance, emails, web enquiries, digital advertising and social media are often combined to generate online traffic. Emails, text messaging and social media may be employed to communicate behavioral incentives, in the form of competitions or exclusive promotions, thus contributing to purchases. Considering the significant differences and overlap of alternative digital touchpoints, it is hypothesized that:

Consumers rely on different touchpoints and/or channels as they find themselves in different stages of the buying decision process (H₁).

Although contested, past research has argued that older consumers demonstrate lower usage of digital technologies and the internet, suggesting the existence of an age-based digital divide. At the same time, existing literature suggests that the emergence of social media coincides with the rise of highly educated consumer populations that demonstrate higher levels of skepticism towards marketing tactics. In view of the above, irrespective of the specific stage in the buying process, it is expected that:

Reliance on digital touchpoints is greater on average for consumers who are younger (H₂), less educated (H₃) and are frequent internet users (H₄).

Regarding the digital environment, as it is determined by the device employed, prior studies suggest that mobile devices are mainly used by consumers for informational purposes. Thus, it is expected that:

Consumers who primarily use mobile devices (i.e., smartphones) to access the internet, are more likely to rely more on digital touchpoints to identify needs (stage 1), collect information (stage 2), evaluate alternative choices (stage 3) and evaluate their level of satisfaction (stage 5) (H₅). On the contrary, consumers who primarily use laptops to access the internet are more likely to rely more on digital touchpoints to purchase products and brands (H₆).