Steinmann ExploratoryInvestigationMultidimensional 2016

An Exploratory Investigation of Multidimensional Customer Contact Sequences –
Insights into Customer Behaviour in Multichannel Retailing

Author(s): Sascha Steinmann, Hanna Schramm-Klein, Gunnar Mau and Gerhard Wagner
Source: Marketing: ZFP – Journal of Research and Management , 38. Jahrg., H. 2 (2016),
pp. 75-91
Published by: Verlag C.H.Beck
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26426809
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Abhandlungen
An Exploratory Investigation of Multidimensional

Customer Contact Sequences – Insights into
Customer Behaviour in Multichannel Retailing
By Sascha Steinmann, Hanna Schramm-Klein, Gunnar Mau and Gerhard Wagner
1. Introduction
We used a multidimensional sequence align-
ment method to cluster customers (N = 304) of The contacts between customers and retailers influence
a German multichannel retailer for consumer the entire purchase process, beginning with the custom-
electronics according to the multidimensional er’s first intent to buy, which may be initiated by the re-
sequences of their realised customer contacts tailer’s advertising, all the way to the intention to become
(dimension 1), the functions of the realised a repeat customer of that retailer, which may be based on
contacts (dimension 2) and the importance of the retailer’s after-purchase services. In this context, a
the customer contact (dimension 3). In doing profound knowledge of the customer behaviour through
so, we obtained four clusters. The results of a multichannel system is a strategic success factor for
our exploratory study reveal differences re- any retailer or service provider (Neslin et al. 2006). The
garding the customers’ behaviour concerning fundamental element for the attainment of customer
the customer contacts and their functions knowledge is the contact between the retailer and its cus-
across the entire purchase process and be- tomers in the different channels of the marketing and dis-
tween the customer segments identified. Fur- tribution system (Silberer 2009). Not only the type and
thermore, the findigs show that the dimensions number of the customer contacts in a specific process
of the multidimensional sequences are influ- phase but also their functions and importance to the cus-
enced by the complexity and the price of the tomer are relevant here, to say nothing of the sequence of
purchased product and they further influence these three dimensions during the different phases of the
aspects related to customer satisfaction and purchase process.
perceived risk. The method that we applied is
superior to customer segmentation based on Hence, it can be assumed that customer contact se-
demographic or psychographic variables and quences are of great relevance to retail marketing: for ex-
enriches our knowledge of customer behav- ample, it can be expected that different customer contact
iour in a multichannel retail system. sequences are accompanied by different product pur-
chases and that different customers have different con-
Sascha Steinmann is Assistant Hanna Schramm-Klein is Gunnar Mau is Assistant Pro- Gerhard Wagner is Assistant
Professor at the Chair of Mar- Professor of Marketing at the fessor at the Chair of Market- Professor at the Chair of Mar-
keting, University of Siegen, University of Siegen, Unteres ing, University of Siegen, Unte- keting, University of Siegen,
Unteres Schloß 3, 57072 Sie- Schloß 3, 57072 Siegen, Ger- res Schloß 3, 57072 Siegen, Unteres Schloß 3, 57072 Sie-
gen, Germany, Tel. +49 271 many, Tel. +49 271 740 4281, Germany, Tel. +49 271 740 gen, Germany, Tel. +49 271
740 3946, Fax +49 271 740 Fax +49 271 740 14380, 3946, Fax +49 271 740 14380, 740 5019, Fax +49 271 740
14380, steinmann@marke- schramm-klein@marketing. mau@marketing.uni-siegen.de. 14380, wagner@marke-
ting.uni-siegen.de. This manu- uni-siegen.de. ting.uni-siegen.de.
script is based on the disserta-
tion of Sascha Steinmann.
*Corresponding author
MARKETING · ZFP · 38. Jg. · 2/2016 · S. 75 – 91 75

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Steinmann/Schramm-Klein/Mau/Wagner, An Investigation of Multidimensional Customer Contact Sequences
tact sequences according to their individual channel be- or other fields of research (see Silberer 2014 for an over-
haviour (Steinmann 2005). Knowledge of the potentially view). For example, Steinmann et al. (2007) used the
existing interdependencies between the different custom- realised customer contacts with several touchpoints of
er contacts facilitates the purposeful control of the cus- the multichannel marketing system of a retailer of con-
tomer across all phases of the purchase process by the re- sumer electronics across all phases of the purchase pro-
tailer and thus extends the commercial possibilities to in- cess as a basis for customer segmentation, but did not ac-
teract with customers within the bounds of marketing count for the sequence of the contacts in their analysis.
(Peterson et al. 1997; Verhoef et al. 2007). Day (2011) Their results show that customers use the different offli-
indicates that in the past, there has been a rapid prolifera- ne and online channels for different purposes and that the
tion of touchpoints connecting a retailer with its custom- realisation of contacts with specific channels will differ
ers and argues that for an effective and efficient design, it with regard to the stage of the purchase process. Stein-
is necessary to investigate which channels are most im- mann and Silberer (2008) applied a unidimensional se-
portant to the customer, how customers cope with a mul- quence alignment approach to identify customer seg-
tichannel environment, and how firms can take advan- ments based on the sequence of the customer contacts in
tage of an investigation of the customer behaviour within the multichannel system of a tour operator, but did not
such environments across all phases of the purchase pro- account for the interdependencies between the customer
cess. In this context, the „pinball” framework introduced contacts, their functions and importance. These authors
by Hennig-Thurau et al. (2010) implies that research has applied a sequence analytical method, which was former-
to account for different types of channels and the poten- ly described by Wilson (1998) to analyse as well as to
tially existing spill-over effects with other channels when identify similarities regarding the daily activities of con-
analysing consumer behaviour and the relationship be- sumers over a period of time. Van Rijnsoever et al.
tween customers and suppliers over a period of time. Al- (2012) have investigated the role of the sequence of the
though their framework and the derived research agenda use of multiple information sources during the pre-pur-
mainly focuses on the influence of new media channels chase phase of a purchase decision for passenger cars in
(e. g., social online networks) on customer relationships, the Dutch market. Their findings imply that consumers’
this implication is also stated by Oppewal et al. (2013), involvement towards a product category will lead to a
who highlight that surprisingly few studies have investi- more differentiated use of the available information
gated how customers realise contacts with multiple chan- sources as well as to a higher number of realised contacts
nel alternatives during the purchase process. during the decision-making process. Moreover, Li and
Kannan (2014) introduced a probabilistic model to ana-
Investigating the multidimensional sequence of customer
lyse carryover and spillover effects in an multichannel
contacts (dimension 1), their functions (dimension 2) and
online marketing environment with regard to the impact
their importance (dimension 3) with regard to the cus-
of sequence of customer contacts on subsequent pur-
tomer behaviour through a multichannel marketing and
chases on a firm’s website. Their study especially fo-
distribution system can provide crucial insights into the
cused on contacts with different online channels in the
behaviour and the needs and preferences of customers
pre-purchase and purchase phase, but did not account for
over time because it has become routine to use different
the potential impact of as well as the potentially existing
channels complementarily in the purchase process
interdependencies with customer contacts with offline
(Schramm-Klein et al. 2011; Silberer 2014; Zhang et al.
channels. Sequence analytical methods have been ap-
2010). In this context, Li and Kannan (2014) note that an
plied to segment visitors of a web site according to their
analysis of the multiple contacts with different touch-
clickstream behaviour (e. g., Hay et al. 2003). In this
points within a multichannel system is also of crucial rel-
context, in a recent study, Anderl et al. (2016) used click-
evance for the evaluation of campaign effectiveness
stream data to analyse consumer behaviour in a multi-
across different channels. An analysis of the interdepen-
channel online environment with a graph-based Markov-
dencies between the realised customer contacts with dif-
ian framework. Amongst others, the findings of their
ferent channels will deepen the understanding of the
study imply that the channels consumers’ use during
channel-related factors or attributes that influence a con-
their customer journey should not be investigated in iso-
version or an abortion of the purchase process. The abili-
lation. Even while the previous mentioned studies focus
ty to understand consumer perceptions and evaluations
on the investigation of specific stages of the purchase
of the multichannel mix seems to be of crucial relevance
process or are related to specific aspects regarding a con-
for adapting or designing channel offerings that are ap-
tact between a customer and a company, their findings
propriate to fit the needs and preferences of consumers
show that an analysis of the sequence of the customer
while moving through the purchase process (Steinmann
contacts, their functions and importance will lead to a
2005).
deeper understanding of the customer behaviour in a
Up to today, only a few studies have empirically investi- multichannel environment.
gated the sequential behaviour of customers regarding
the customer contacts in multichannel environments Therefore, this exploratory study aims to contribute to
(e. g., Steinmann et al. 2007; Steinmann and Silberer the retailing literature by addressing how multidimen-
2008; van Rijnsoever et al. 2012; Li and Kannan 2014) sional customer contact sequences (MCCS) can be mea-
76 MARKETING · ZFP · Heft 2 · 2. Quartal 2016

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sured and can form the basis for customer segmentation contacts in the different channels throughout the pur-
and provide insights into the customers’ behaviour by chase process range from general and selective informa-
identifying clusters based on the multidimensional se- tion regarding the desired product or service, price com-
quence of realised contacts, the functions of the contacts, parisons and purchasing up to the use of different types
and the importance of the contacts realised across all of customer services and advisory and complaining
phases of the purchase process in multichannel retailing. (Wallace et al. 2004). Media richness theory (Daft and
Our findings show that cluster membership can be satis- Lengel 1984) implies that during the purchase process,
factorily predicted by the sequencing of the customer customers will subsequently find it easier to establish
contacts, even if a retailer has only knowledge about a contacts with a retailer in a manner that best fits their
part of consecutive contacts out of the whole sequence. needs, which requires that the respective channels and
In addition, we derive and test hypothesis with regard to their combination are capable of fulfilling customer
potential determinants and effects of the customer con- needs and preferences concerning the desired functional-
tacts, their functions and their importance. Finally, based ity in the different process phases.
on the findings of the present study, implications for re-
However, there are channel-related differences in fulfill-
tail practice and research are derived and discussed.
ing customer’s needs and preferences across the pur-
chase process, including the richness of the information
presented (Daft and Lengel 1984) and accessibility or
2. Conceptual background and literature convenience. The results of Verhoef et al. (2007) show
review that customers can benefit from channel-related differ-
ences throughout the phases of the purchase process by
2.1. Customer contacts, their functions and using the channels according to their individual channel
importance across the purchase process behaviour because channels differ not only in their func-
It is common for firms to employ online distribution tionality but also in their ability to fulfil individual cus-
channels alongside their offline distribution channels and tomer needs to the same extent across the different pro-
further marketing channels to rely on these complex cess phases. Research also shows that benefits and, thus,
combinations as a source of competitive advantage and the importance of the several contacts sought change
to better serve their customers’ needs and preferences across the process phases (Mittal et al. 1999).
(Geykens et al. 2002). In such environments, many cus- The previous comments show not only that customers’
tomers have become multichannel users. They realise use of the different contact point may differ during the
contacts between the firm and themselves at different purchase process but also that they support the assump-
contact points (e. g., store, sales staff, homepage) across tion that the functions, in addition to the importance of
all phases of the purchase process. the customer contacts, also change during the purchase
In retailing, we can differentiate three phases of the pur- process. We assume that this phenomenon is reflected in
chase process, i. e., the pre-purchase phase, the purchase multidimensional customer contact sequences.
phase and the post-purchase phase, but in other branches
or when we are interested in specific problems or re- 2.2. Customer segmentation
search questions, it may be more meaningful to use a For our study, research regarding different approaches to
more detailed modelling of the process. Furthermore, we customer segmentation is of particular interest. Sinha
can distinguish the variability of the contact points (per- and Uniyal (2005) and Ganesh et al. (2007) provide an
sonal, semi-personal and impersonal contacts; Silberer overview of a large number of empirical studies on this
and Mau 2006). Payne and Frow (2004) define these cat- topic. The procedure for the formation of customer seg-
egories of customer contacts as a continuum of forms ments can thus be divided into two different approaches.
that range from physical contact to virtual contact. Ac- Both demographic variables (e. g., age and gender) and
cording to Daft and Lengel (1992), customer contacts psychographic variables (e. g., motives or attitudes) are
can be distinguished according to their relative richness drawn upon for the segmentation. In doing so, the con-
of information provided, which is determined by the me- stituted customer groups reveal who is buying in the in-
dium’s capacity for e. g., immediate feedback and perso- vestigated stores or channels and why. However, cus-
nalisation, from the richest to the leanest medium. Thus, tomers’ actual buying behaviour during and after pur-
face-to-face contacts represent the richest contact point, chase, i. e., how customers inform themselves prior to
followed by telephone contacts, electronic mail and web- purchase, how the transaction is realised in the store, and
sites up to different types of traditional marketing mea- how the relationship between retailers and customers is
sures, such as contacts with newspapers and radio adver- organised after the purchase, is barely taken into ac-
tising. count.
Every customer contact fulfils different functions across Only a few studies account for the customer’s behaviour
the various process phases. Consequently, speech, sales in the formation of segments (Bloch et al. 1994; Kim
and service functions can be distinguished (Simons and and Park 1997). Although they ultimately have partially
Bouwman 2004). Therefore, the functions of customer different results, the aforementioned studies show the
MARKETING · ZFP · Heft 2 · 2. Quartal 2016 77

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usefulness of customer segmentation based on customer 2.3. Determinants and effects of the customer
behaviour. However, with regard to customer behaviour contacts, their functions and importance
in a multichannel environment, different essential as-
2.3.1. Determinants of the customer contacts, contact
pects have not been taken into account: the specified
functions and contact importance
studies only examine behaviour in a specific channel of
a supplier in the purchase phase. It should be expected Research in the field of consumer behaviour in multi-
that different behaviours during the purchase are reflect- channel marketing has shown that the price of the pur-
ed in different behaviours prior to and after the purchased product as well as the product complexity could
chase. Another aspect addresses the variables used in the be considered as important determinants for the realisati-
segmentation analysis: considering only the behaviour on of customer contacts (Neslin et al. 2006).
in one specific channel leads to the neglect of other con-
According to Kotteaku et al. (1995) the complexity of a
tacts.
product is closely related to the number of different attri-
According to Hägerstrand (1970), customer behaviour butes or characteristics of a specific product. The more
can be viewed as a sequence of interdependent actions different attributes are combined, the higher is the degree
over time. However, customer behaviour in the studies of product complexity. In this context, a notebook is of
noted above is mostly treated as a chain of independent higher complexity compared to a DVD. According to the
activities. Thus, the sequential order and obvious rela- concept of adaptive decision-making of Payne et al.
tions of the activities are often neglected. Therefore, Ab- (1993), a customer shifts from the pre-purchase phase to
bott’s (1995) statement that „We assume intercase inde- the purchase phase from an attribute-based search to an
pendence even while our theories focus on interaction” alternatives-based search as he or she progresses in the
regarding the social sciences is also largely true for mar- decision-making process. In the case of complex prod-
keting research concerning customer segmentation with ucts or services, these alternatives are complex bundles
regard to the individual behaviour of customers across of attributes and benefits that need to be cognitively pro-
the purchase process. The aforementioned approaches cessed during the decision-making. In cases where many
are far from satisfactory when there is interest in custom- relevant aspects of the decision cannot be controlled,
er segmentation that involves the entire purchase process customers seek some type of help in decision-making
because important aspects that reflect customers’ behav- and it is thus more likely that they will realize more con-
iour in a multichannel retail environment are not ad- tacts and will use the different contact points for more
dressed. different functions. Furthermore, consumers might use
the desired benefit of the realised contacts as the basis of
The sequential behaviour of customers throughout the
evaluating the characteristics of the different contacts
purchase process also in different channels has barely
points and the importance of the specific contact in the
been accounted for in the formation of segments. For
purchase process (Frambach et al. 2007). The findings of
marketing purposes, e. g., Larsson et al. (2005) use a se-
Gupta et al. (2004) imply that this is especially the case
quence-analytical clustering approach to evaluate shop-
for the realisation of customer contacts in the purchase
ping behaviour in a supermarket for the foundation of
phase, while Steinmann and Silberer (2010) assumed an
customer segments. Steinmann and Silberer (2010) used
impact of the product complexity on the realisation of
the unidimensional sequence of the customer contacts to
customer contacts across all phases of the purchase pro-
evaluate differences in the customer’s behavior with re-
cess. Moreover, their findings imply that an increasing
gard to the whole purchase process. This type of segmen-
product complexity will positively influence the number
tation can give a retailer or service provider important in-
of different contact functions as well as the importance
sights into the requirements, preferences and behaviour
of the realised customer contacts in the multidimensional
of customers over a period of time.
sequence across the purchase process. Hence, we hypo-
The previous discussion shows that customer contacts thesise:
(dimension 1) not only differ across the successive
H1: The product complexity will positively influence a)
phases of the purchase process but also support the as-
the number of realised customer contacts, b) the
sumption that the functions (dimension 2) and the impor-
number of different contact functions, and c) the im-
tance (dimension 3) of customer contacts also change
portance of the customer contacts across the pur-
during the purchase process. The actual behaviour of
chase process.
customers over a period of time is taken into account for
customer segmentation through the use of multidimen- Previous research has shown that the price of a product
sional customer contact sequences, which facilitates a and the way price and product information are communi-
differentiation of customers that is not possible on the cated via the different channel of a multichannel system
basis of demographic or psychographic variables. This affects the consumers’ perceptions of the performance
type of segmentation can provide a retailer with impor- risk as well as the perceived financial risk regarding the
tant insights into the requirements, preferences and be- purchase of a product (e. g., Shimp and Bearden 1982).
haviour of customers throughout the purchase process in Based on the assumptions and implications of prospect
a multichannel environment. theory (Kahneman and Tversky 1979), consumers will

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take efforts during the purchase process to minimize the customer contact points should lead to a decrease of the
potential risk of an incorrect purchase decision that perceived risk and to an increase of trust towards a pur-
might not fit with their desired outcome. We assume that chase at the retailer. In this context, the contact functions,
this should be reflected in the number of realised custom- the number of different contact functions as well as the
er contacts, the number of different contact functions, importance of a customer contact should also be of par-
and the importance of the customer contacts across the ticular interest (Steinmann 2011). For example, a consul-
purchase process. For example, the higher the product tation with the sales staff could fulfil several different
price, the more contacts will be realised across the pur- functions and hence, might also be considered as an im-
chase process. Hence, we conclude: portant contact at a specific stage of the purchase process
that will reduce risk perception and increase trust to-
H2: The product price will positively influence a) the
wards the retailer and the multichannel system.
number of realised customer contacts, b) the num-
ber of different contact functions, and c) the impor- If the retailer is able to fulfil the specific needs and re-
tance of the customer contacts across the purchase quirements of the customers across the purchase process
process. this should further positively influence customer satis-
faction as well as the intention to recommend. According
Previous studies have addressed the impact of the cus-
to Oliver (1997), it seems to be relevant to distinguish
tomers’ Internet affinity on channel choice as well as the
between aspects of customer satisfaction, which are
role of online channels in multichannel environments
strongly related to the experiences and activities of the
(e. g., Peterson et al. 1997; Burke 2002; Montoya-Weiss
customers within the several channels across the pur-
et al. 2004). If a customer has a high Internet affinity and
chase process (process-related customer satisfaction)
is also used to use the Internet in purchase processes it is
and aspects, which are strongly related to the purchased
likely that more online contacts will be realised across
product (output-related customer satisfaction) (Monto-
the stages of the purchase process, that such contacts
ya-Weiss et al. 2003). One might conclude that number
should fulfil more different contact functions and are al-
of the realised customer contacts, the number of the dif-
so of higher importance compared to offline contacts,
ferent contact functions, and the importance of the cus-
which should be especially realised by customers with
tomer contacts, especially, should influence process-spe-
low internet affinity. In this context, Gupta et al. (2004)
cific aspects of customer satisfaction. But, in this con-
and Frambach et al. (2007) have shown that internet af-
text, the findings of Steinmann and Silber (2009) imply
finity should not only have an influence on the realisati-
that also product-specific aspects of customer satisfac-
on of contacts with online channels, but also should have
tion could be affected. Moreover, the findings of Wallace
an effect on the customer contacts with offline channels
et al. (2004) and Steinmann and Silberer (2009) imply
which are combined in a multichannel system of a retail-
that the customers’ intention to recommend the retailer is
er or service provider. Therefore, we assume:
influenced by the realised customer contacts, their func-
H3: Internet affinity will influence a) the number of rea- tions and importance. Hence, we assume:
lised customer contacts, b) the number of different
H4: The number of a) the realised customer contacts, b)
contact functions, and c) the importance of the cus-
the number of the different customer contacts, and
tomer contacts across the purchase process.
c) the contact importance across the purchase pro-
cess will influence the customers’ 1) perceived risk
2.3.2. Effects of the customer contacts, contact func-
towards a purchase, 2) trust towards the retailer, 3)
tions, and contact importance
customer satisfaction, and 4) customer loyalty.
Previous studies that have investigated the effects of cus-
tomer behaviour in multichannel environments on sever-
al customer-related outcome variables indicate that the 3. Method
contacts between a retailer and its customers should have
an impact on e. g., the perceived risk towards a purchase 3.1. Measures and procedure
at a specific retailer, trust, customer satisfaction, and the
The aim of our exploratory study is to identify powerful
intention to recommend (e. g., Montoya-Weiss et al.
customer clusters based on multidimensional customer
2003; Steinmann 2011; Wallace et al. 2004). Based on
contact sequences (MCCS), which are very similar with
this, we assume that the realised customer contacts, their
regard to their individual behaviours, as reflected in the
functions, and importance across the whole purchase
MCCS across the purchase process. We investigated
process will have an influence on the previous mentioned
MCCS regarding the three different phases of the pur-
responses.
chase process in retailing (the pre-purchase, purchase,
Schramm-Klein (2003) has identified an impact of the and post-purchase phases) with customers of a German
design of single retail channels as well as of the whole multichannel retailer for consumer electronics in person-
multichannel retailing system on perceived risk towards al interviews based on a structured questionnaire. The re-
a purchase at the specific retailer as well as on trust to- tailer was selected because at the point of the study the
wards the retailer. An increasing number of channels or company had used a considerably differentiated multi-

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channel marketing and distribution system that enables the customer contacts up to the measurement of the mul-
the retailer to get in touch with its actual and potential tidimensional customer contact sequence in different
customers via a broad range of different channels (e. g., branches. Previous versions of the questionnaire as well
the store, sales staff, website, newspaper advertising, TV as the version used in the present study have been suc-
and radio advertising). Therefore, we were able to get a cessfully applied in several preliminary studies, which
comprehensive impression on how the several channels were related to customer behaviour in multichannel envi-
of the multichannel system were complementary used by ronments (e. g., Silberer and Mau 2006; Steinmann et al.
the customers across all phases of the purchase process. 2006, 2007; Steinmann and Silberer 2008, 2009).
In each interview, not only the MCCS actually realised
To support the recollection of events from the distant
but also their potential determinants and the effects were
past – the customer contacts realised, their functions, and
examined. Based on previous research on the determi-
importance as well as the sequence across all phases of
nants of the realisation of customer contacts, we consid-
the purchase process – in the interviews a procedure
ered the complexity of the purchased product, the prod-
based on cognitive psychology was chosen (Ericsson and
uct price, the participants’ internet affinity, and age as
Simon 1980). Therefore, the questionnaire leads the cus-
well as gender as potential determinants for the realisati-
tomer through his or her memories step by step – starting
on of customer contacts, the contact functions, and the
with the events that are most accessible because they
contact importance in the MCCS. Product complexity
were realised closest to the interview (post-purchase
was operationalized by using the approach of Kotteaku et
phase) – and ending with those situations that are initial-
al. (1995). Hence, based on the number of different attri-
ly difficult to remember without any support because
butes, which are combined in a single product, we distin-
they date from the distant past (purchase phase and pre-
guished between purchased products with a low degree
purchase phase). If the customer was first asked for con-
of complexity (e. g., CD-ROMs, DVDs), products with
tacts prior to purchase, then he/she would have to re-
an average degree of complexity (e. g., a coffee ma-
member those events dated farthest back – an attempt at
chine), and products with a high product complexity
which he/she would potentially not succeed. By contrast,
(e. g., notebook, digital camera). The price of the product
the events and their attributes – the realised contacts,
was measured with a single-item in an open-ended ques-
their functions, and importance – after the purchase are
tion („What was the price of the purchased product?”).
most clearly in memory as they date back the shortest pe-
According to Jepsen (2007), we used the average Inter-
riod of time. Therefore, the first questions were directed
net usage of the participants as an indicator of Internet
to the realised customer contacts with the different con-
affinity. The average Internet usage was measured with a
tact points of the retailer, the functions of each contact
single-item on a five-point rating scale („How often do
realised, the importance of the realised contacts, as well
you use the Internet on average?”, 1 = less than once a
as to the sequence of the realised contacts in the post-
week – 5 = several times a day). We used a single-item in
purchase phase. Closely connected with events after pur-
an open-ended question to measure the participants’ age
chase are those situations in memory that lie temporally
(„How old are you?”). Finally, the gender of the partici-
prior, i. e., during the purchase. If the customer remem-
pants was observed and recorded in the interviews.
bers the post-purchase phase, then the events during the
purchase are more present. Therefore, the realised cus- Regarding the effects of the MCCS, we examined cus-
tomer contacts, their functions and importance during the tomer satisfaction with the purchased product and its
purchase phase were surveyed second. Pursuing the price and the retailer’s service across the successive
same strategy, customer contacts, contact functions, con- phases of the purchase process, customer loyalty towards
tact importance, and the contact sequence in the pre-pur- the retailer, perceived risk, and trust towards the retailer
chase phase was recorded third. Hence, the captured in the interviews. Customer satisfaction was measured
MCCS included different customer contacts realised at on a six-point rating scale (ranging from 1 = entirely dis-
the several contact points of the retailer (dimension 1: satisfied to 6 = very satisfied) by adapting the approaches
e. g., retailer advertising, retailer website, store, sales introduced by Schütze (1994) and Rapp (1995) to the
staff), the functions of the realised contact (dimension 2: context of our study. Hence, we were able to distinguish
gathering general and selective information, price com- between process-related aspects of customer satisfaction
parison, purchase, advisory and complaining) and the and output-related aspects of customer satisfaction (e. g.,
importance of each realised customer contact (dimension How satisfied are you with the purchased product?”).
3). The importance of each realised customer contact in Process-related customer satisfaction was measured with
the MCCS (dimension 3) was measured with a single three items and covers the satisfaction with the service
item on a six-step rating scale ranging from 1 = entirely outcomes of each single phase of the purchase process
unimportant to 6 = very important. The previous de- (e. g., „How satisfied are you with the retailer’s service
scribed procedure for the collection of the relevant se- prior to your purchase?”; Cronbach’s alpha = .74), while
quential information in the questionnaire was developed output-related customer satisfaction was operationalised
step by step, starting with an approach to survey the rea- with six items and includes e. g., the satisfaction with the
lised customer contacts across the whole purchase pro- purchased product or with the pricing of the retailer
cess to the collection of the unidimensional sequence of (Cronbach’s alpha = .76). According to Söderlund

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
(2006), loyalty towards the retailer was collected with was M = 5.42 (SD = 1.2), while – interestingly – the in-
single-item measures of two loyalty facets namely, rec- tent to recommend the retailer was only M = 1.23 (SD =
ommendation intention („Did you recommend the retail- 0.7) on average.
er because of your purchase?”) and the likelihood for re-
peat purchases („How likely is it that you will again pur- 3.3. Multidimensional sequence alignment and
chase a product at this retailer?”, 1 = very unlikely – 6 = sequence clustering
very likely). According to Spence et al. (1970), perceived
To analyse the captured MCCS, we applied the multidi-
risk was measured with a single item („How risky do you
mensional sequence alignment method (SAM) (Joh et al.
evaluate purchasing a product from this retailer?”, 1 =
2002). The idea of SAM is to equalise two different se-
not risky at all – 6 = very risky). In line with Barney and
quences with regard to the operations insertion, deletion
Hansen (1994), a single-item was also used to measure
and substitution. The weight of one is mostly assigned to
the participants’ trust towards the retailer on a six-step
the operations insertion and deletion; for substitutions,
scale („How trustworthy do you evaluate this retailer?”,
the consecutive operations deletion and insertion are
1 = not trustworthy at all – 6 = very trustworthy).
summed. Typically, there are different ways to transfer
one sequence to another in the aforementioned opera-
3.2 Participants
tions, and therefore, the minimal sum of the weighted op-
We used a convenience sample and acquired only those erations, i. e., the Levenshtein distance (Levenshtein
customers who actually affected a purchase at the select- 1966), is commonly used as a similarity measure for the
ed retailer within the last six months prior to the study considered sequences (Joh et al. 2002). According to Joh
that they could remember well. The interviews were con- et al. (2002, p. 386–387), „the interesting feature of se-
duct in 2008/2009 in a stationary shop of the selected quence alignment is that it employs biological rather than
German multichannel retailer for consumer electronics in geometric distance (Euclidean) distance as the basic con-
a medium-sized German city under the guidance of the cept of comparison.” Hence, such approaches account
first author of the present manuscript by two business for the real behaviour of customers in a multichannel en-
students of the Georg-August-University Göttingen vironment, and therefore, they make it possible to identi-
(Germany) with Marketing as their major field of study. fy behaviour-related customer segments, which is one of
Before the interviewers commenced with the main study, the most important challenges for an effective and effi-
both students were trained in conducting personal inter- cient multichannel system design (Neslin et al. 2006,
views and they further pretested the questionnaire. Non- Zhang et al. 2010).
alcoholic beverages and cookies were offered to each
In this study, customer behaviour is not represented as
participant as an incentive for supporting the study. Fur-
the customer contacts by a single attribute. To gain deep-
thermore, the participants could take part in a raffle in
er insights into the differences in customer behaviour and
which they had the chance to win a voucher of the retail-
to obtain powerful clusters, the MCCS were characteri-
er for consumer electronics with a value of 20, 30, or 50
sed by three dimensions: the customer contact sequence
Euros.
(dimension 1), the sequence of the functions related to
A total of N = 304 customers of the German retailer for the customer contacts (dimension 2), and the sequence of
consumer electronics participated in the survey. Custom- the importance (dimension 3) of the contacts to the cus-
ers were addressed at the central entrance and exit of the tomers. The easy way to compare such sequences is to
store while they were leaving. In the sample, women rep- calculate the Levenshtein distance for each dimension
resented 48.0 %. The average age of the participants was separately and then sum the measured distances of all di-
M = 37.2 (SD = 13.8) years. Overall, more than one-third mensions. This approach is based on the assumption that
(36.2 %) of the customers bought electronic appliances all attributes are independent. However, in the context of
and accessories, and PC hardware and software were the present study, this is clearly not the case because
purchased by 20.5 % of the participants in our sample. there are dependencies between the customer contacts,
Other frequently purchased product categories were their functions and their importance. Therefore, the cal-
sound carriers and DVDs (19.4 %), consumer electronics culation of the measured attributes for each dimension
(6.2 %), and digital cameras (6.0 %). The average price distorts the result. To avoid such distortions with regard
of the purchased products was M = 137.36 (SD = 273.01) to the different measurement scales of the dimensions,
Euros. Overall, 61.9 % of the customers in our sample we use a multidimensional approach, called „optimal tra-
spent less than 50 Euros. Slightly less than one-third jectory multidimensional SAM,” which identifies the el-
(30.3 %) of our sample spent up to 500 Euros, and 7.8 % ements that can be aligned simultaneously without calcu-
of the customers paid more than 500 Euros. The partici- lating the costs twice (Joh et al. 2002). The distances are
pants were nearly equally satisfied with process-related calculated, using the DANA software [1], as a basis for
aspects (M = 4.89, SD = 1.1) and the output-related as- our cluster analysis using the Ward Method. Based on the
pects of the purchase (M = 4.81, SD = 0.9). Perceived elbow criterion as well as on a visual inspection of the
risk was considerably low (M = 2.10, SD = 1.3) and trust dendrogramm, the results of our cluster analysis imply
towards the retailer was considerably high (M = 4.71, SD that the differentiation into four clusters proved to be rea-
= 1.0). The participants’ likelihood for repeat purchases sonable.

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
4. Results: Multidimensional sequence tive information, the desired product was bought in the
clusters store.
The centroid of cluster 2 is the only centroid that in-
In the following, the results of our segmentation using
cludes a customer contact with the retailer’s homepage in
multidimensional sequence alignment as well as the dif-
the purchase process. The first contact in the centroid of
ferences between the four clusters with regard to the
cluster 2 was realised with the store and was used to ob-
multidimensional customer contact sequences, the reali-
tain general information about the retailer’s offers. This
sed contacts, the contact functions, and the importance of
contact was followed by a contact with other websites,
the realised contacts across all phases of the purchase
which were used for selective information. These two
process will be presented. In the first step the four identi-
customer contacts were both realised during the pre-pur-
fied cluster will be described based on their multidimen-
chase phase and were rated as important contacts. During
sional centroid sequences, the typical representative of
the purchase phase, the product was bought after consult-
each of the identified multidimensional sequence clus-
ing the sales staff. Such contacts were of specific rele-
ters. Additionally, the four clusters will be described by
vance and were therefore rated as very important con-
the realised customer contacts, their functions, and im-
tacts.
portance in the different phases of the purchase process.
Moreover, differences between the clusters with regard The centroid of cluster 3 shows that these customers rea-
to the investigated determinants as well as the effects of lised the highest number of contacts in the purchase
the MCCS are reported. Finally, the results of a multino- phase. They sought contact with TV and newspaper ad-
mial logistic regression on the cluster level show that vertising in the pre-purchase phase to obtain general in-
cluster membership can be satisfactorily explained by the formation. These contacts with the retailer’s different
sequencing of the customer contacts. types of advertising were both evaluated as important
contacts. During the purchase phase, the customers of the
4.1. Description of the clusters using constituent third cluster often realised contacts with advertising at
variables the point-of-sale that were used for selective informa-
tion. Such contacts were also rated as important. The fol-
As mentioned above, the clusters identified are de-
lowing consultation of the sales staff and the purchase of
scribed using the MCCS (centroid) typical for them (see
the product in the store were of highest importance to the
Tab. 1). The typical representative of cluster 1 has reali-
customers of cluster 3 and evaluated as very important
sed the lowest number of customer contacts across the
contacts.
purchase process. After two very important contacts
with newspaper and TV advertising in the pre-purchase The centroid of cluster 4 shows that these customers rea-
phase, which were used for price comparison and selec- lised the highest number of customer contacts across the
Multidimensional Centroid Sequences

Cluster 1 (n = 115)
Newspaper
Contacts TV advertising Store
advertising
Functions1 PC > GI > P
Importance2 6 6 4
Cluster 2 (n = 75)
Retailer’s
Contacts Store Sales staff Store
homepage
Functions GI > SI > SI & A > P
Importance 5 5 6 6
Cluster 3 (n = 74)
Newspaper Advertising at
Contacts TV advertising Sales staff Store
advertising the PoS
Functions GI > GI > SI > A > P
Importance 5 5 5 6 6
Cluster 4 (n = 40)
Advertising Advertising
Contacts Sales staff Store Store Sales staff
at the PoS at the PoS
Functions GI > GI > A > A > P > A
Importance 5 5 4 6 6 6
1
GI = general information, SI = selective information, PC = price comparison, P = purchase, A = advisory; 2 examined on a six-step rating scale
ranging from 1 = entirely unimportant to 6 = very important.
Tab. 1: Description of the clusters by centroid sequences

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4

Number of Customer Contacts in the entire
5.19 (2.4) 6.64 (2.9) 7.26 (2.5) 7.83 (2.3) ***
Purchase Process M (SD)1
Pre-Purchase Phase
Contacts realised? 89.72 90.9 73.4 100 ns
Number of Contacts M (SD) 3.46 (1.9) 2.81 (1.8) 3.02 (2.1) 4.17 (1.8) **
Retailer’s advertising 88.93 83.6 89.1 100 ns
TV advertising 50.3 32.7 54.1 66.7 *
Newspaper advertising 48.3 43.6 62.2 83.3 **
Retailer’s homepage 24.1 20.0 20.3 30.0 ns
Other websites 30.3 36.4 28.4 30.0 ns
Store 31.7 47.3 54.1 43.3 **
Sales staff 2.8 30.9 24.3 16.7 ***
Purchase Phase
Contacts realised? 100 100 100 100 ns
Number of Contacts M (SD) 2.18 (1.1) 3.00 (1.2) 3.10 (1.1) 2.73 (1.1) ***
Advertising at the point-of-sale 39.3 34.5 31.1 40.0 *
Store 100 100 100 100 ns
Sales staff 31.0 96.4 85.1 86.7 ***
Service staff 3.4 10.9 6.8 3.3 ns
Post-Purchase Phase
Contacts realised? 7.6 23.6 23.0 43.3 ***
Number of Contacts M (SD) 2.00 (0.8) 2.31 (1.1) 2.50 (1.2) 2.15 (0.6) ns
Store 5.5 18.2 18.9 40.0 ***
Sales staff 3.4 10.9 14.9 30.0 ***
Service staff 5.5 18.2 10.8 20.0 *
*** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05, † p < .1, ns = not significant; 1 Mean (Standard deviation); 2 100 % corresponds to the total number of persons in the
cluster; all significant differences amongst the four clusters were calculated with a chi2 adaptation test or the F-Test; 3 Means that 88.9 % of the customers
in cluster 1 realised a contact with the retailer’s advertising in the pre-purchase phase (multiple selections possible).
Tab. 2: Cluster description using selected contact points
entire purchase process and in the pre-purchase phase. purchase phase). Furthermore, the clusters are described
Furthermore, the customer contacts in this multidimen- by the percentage of realised contacts with the different
sional centroid sequence cover all phases of the purchase contact points of the retailer in each process phase.
process. One can observe that all of the contacts prior to
Overall, the customers in the first cluster realised the
the purchase were realised in the store. After two con-
lowest number of contacts with regard to the entire pur-
tacts with different types of advertising at the point-of-
chase process and concerning the proportion of contacts
sale for obtaining general information, these customers
in the post-purchase phase compared to the other clus-
sought contact with the sales staff, followed by two cus-
ters. Furthermore, the findings show significant differ-
tomer contacts in the store for advisory functions. With
ences concerning the proportion of selected customer
regard to these findings, one may conclude that the op-
contacts in the different phases of the purchase process.
portunity of direct product contacts in the store is of spe-
Additionally, we obtained significant differences con-
cific relevance to the customers in cluster 4. In the pur-
cerning the average number of contacts with specific
chase phase, the product was purchased in the store. In
contact points across the purchase process.
the post-purchase phase, a contact with the sales staff
was used for advisory functions. The customers evaluat- As expected, the customers of the fourth cluster realised
ed this contact as very important. the highest number of contacts with the sales staff and
with the store during the purchase process (contacts with
4.2. Description of the clusters using the realised the store: CL1: M = 1.37, SD = 0.51; CL2: M = 1.79, SD
customer contacts = 0.76; CL3: M = 1.74, SD = 0.75; CL4: M = 1.89, SD =
0.74; F = 9.35, p < .001; contacts with the sales staff:
For the description of the cluster solutions within the
CL1: M = 1.16, SD = 0.43; CL2: M = 1.48, SD = 0.77;
four clusters, differences regarding the realised customer
CL3: M = 1.41, SD = 0.58; CL4: M = 1.54, SD = 0.58; F
contacts are of particular interest. The results in Tab. 2
= 3.09, p < .05).
describe the clusters by way of the number of different
customer contacts realised in the entire purchase process In addition, our findings show significant differences
as well as by the number of different customer contacts amongst the four clusters concerning the number of reali-
in each process phase (pre-purchase, purchase, and post- sed contacts in the pre-purchase phase (F = 5.124, p <

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
.01) and the purchase phase (F = 13.770, p < .001). Fur- tacts with the sales staff. For the customers in cluster 1,
thermore, with regard to the differences in the number of the latter was of considerably less importance compared
customer contacts amongst the different process phases to the other clusters. During the purchase phase, contacts
within each cluster, we only obtained significant results with the sales staff were most important to cluster 2. Sur-
for cluster 4 (Hotelling’s Trace F = 6.599, p < .05). prisingly, during the post-purchase phase, our results
show no significant differences in the importance of the
4.3. Description of the clusters using the contact customer contacts. In this phase, contacts with the ser-
functions vice staff were of great importance to all customers, most
likely because this contact point was mostly used for ad-
An analysis of the functions of the realised customer
vice and for complaining. Interestingly, the findings do
contacts will provide important insights into the inten-
not show significant differences concerning the impor-
tions and motives of the customers for using the different
tance of customer contacts between the phases of the
contact points of the retailer. The findings in Tab. 3 show
purchase process within each cluster.
differences regarding the number of the contact functions
and concerning the proportion of the functions of differ-
4.5. Discriminatory power of contact sequences
ent contact points. With regard to the number of contact
functions in the entire purchase process, the findings We used a multinomial logistic regression (Hosmer and
show significant differences amongst the four clusters (F Lemeshow 2000) on the cluster level to test if cluster
= 25.331, p < .001). membership can be satisfactorily explained and predict-
ed by the sequencing of customer contacts. With regard
The customers of the fourth cluster used the contact to the differences in the number of realised contacts and
points for the most different functions, whereas the cus- the number of realised customer contact points, we used
tomers in cluster 1 used the contacts the least differenti- the number of the ten most frequently realised transitions
ated manner. Furthermore, our findings show significant in the MCCS consisting of two consecutive customer
differences concerning the number of contact functions contacts as independent variables in a first multinomial
between the different process phases for the customers of logistic regression model with the cluster membership as
the first, the second, and the third cluster (CL1: Hotel- the dependent variable. In the second logistic regression
ling’s Trace F = 17.669, p < .001; CL2: Hotelling’s Trace model, we additionally controlled for the influence of the
F (2, 22) = 30.561, p < .001; CL3: Hotelling’s Trace F (2, potential determinants that could be associated with clus-
30) = 26.176, p < .001; CL4: Hotelling’s Trace F = ter membership namely, age and gender. Therefore, the
2.259, p = .144). second model included product-related and socio-demo-
Moreover, concerning the average number of specific graphic variables (see Tab. 7).
contact functions, the results show significant differences As model 1 in Tab. 5 indicates, the sequence information
for the selective information and advisory functions is strongly associated with segment membership and pro-
amongst the clusters. In particular, the customers of clus- vides a correct classification of 74.6 % of the customers
ter 4 used the contacts to obtain selective information in our sample. The statistical association between the
during the purchase process (CL1: M = 2.15, SD = 1.09; substrings and cluster membership remains generally ro-
CL2: M = 2.65, SD = 1.55; CL3: M = 2.88, SD = 1.67; bust, although the significance level of the parameters
CL4: M = 3.23, SD = 1.77; F = 5.807, p < .001). The ad- decreases and the correct classification increases slightly
visory functions were mostly obtained by the customers (81.4 %) when the control variables are included in mod-
of the third cluster (CL1: M = 1.24, SD = 0.73; CL2: M = el 2.
1.81, SD = 1.39; CL3: M = 1.89, SD = 1.60; CL4: M =
1.66, SD = 0.87; F = 2.408, p < .05). In particular, substrings including contacts with the store,
contacts with the retailer’s different types of advertising,
4.4. Description of the clusters using the customer contacts with the sales staff, the price of the
importance of the customer contacts product and internet affinity are contributing factors in
explaining cluster membership. The results of the likeli-
Tab. 4 summarises our findings with regard to the aver- hood ratio test show an overall good fit for both models
age importance of the realised customer contacts in the (model 1: χ 2 (30) = 163.368, p < .001; model 2: χ 2 (51) =
entire purchase process as well as with regard to the con- 129.094, p < .001) and the statistics provided in Tab. 7
tact importance in each phase of the purchase process. (Hosmer and Lemeshow 2000).
Overall, the customers of cluster 2 evaluated the contacts
as most important compared to the other clusters. Inter- 4.6. Determinants of the multidimensional
estingly, in each cluster, the contacts in the post-purchase customer contact sequence clusters
phase were evaluated as the most important contacts (F =
6.538, p <. 001). The findings of the multinomial logistic regression anal-
yses indicate that the complexity of the purchased prod-
In the pre-purchase phase, our findings show significant uct, the product price, as well as the participant’s average
differences with regard to the importance of the retailer’s internet usage might act as predictor variables for cluster
advertising, the contacts in the store and customer con- membership and hence, they might also influence the

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
different dimensions of the multidimensional customer slightly significant positively influenced by product com-
contact sequence. In H1a–H1c it was surmised that in- plexity (β = .323, p < .1), while the realisation of contacts
creasing product complexity would have a positive influ- prior and after the purchase is not affected. We obtained
ence on the number of realised customer contacts, on the empirical support for the hypothesised relationships in
number of different contact functions, and on the average H1b and H1c. With an increasing product complexity, the
importance of the customer contacts across all phases of contact points were used for more different functions (β =
the purchase process. We applied several multiple regres- .116, p < .05) and will be evaluated on average as more
sion analyses with the potential determinants as predictor important (β = .155, p < .01). Interestingly, with regard to
variables and the number of realised customer contacts, the single process phases, product complexity has posi-
the number of contact functions, and the average contact tively influenced the differentiated use of the contact
importance as dependent variables. Contrary to our expec- points in the pre-purchase (β = .159, p < .05) and post-
tations, the findings show no significant impact of the purchase phase (β = .237, p < .01). A plausible reason for
product complexity on the number of customer contacts these results might be that complex products have a higher
across all stages of the purchase process, rejecting H1a. need for explanation, especially prior and after the pur-
But, the findings of an additional regression analysis with chase, and hence, the customers’ use the contact points for
the number of realised contacts in the different process more differentiated functions, when they are seeking for
phases as dependent variables show, that especially the product-related information prior to the purchase or for
number of realised contacts in the purchase phase is using several after-sales services of the retailer.

Number of Different Contact Functions in the
3.83 (1.2) 4.96 (1.4) 5.09 (1.5) 5.50 (1.3) ***
Purchase Process M (SD)1
Pre-Purchase Phase
Number of Different Contact Functions M (SD) 3.01 (2.3) 3.09 (2.0) 3.70 (2.4) 3.27 (2.1) ns
Retailer’s Advertising
General information 77.92 65.5 75.7 100 **
Selective information 11.0 22.0 28.4 33.3 **
Price comparison 37.9 38.2 58.1 76.7 ***
Store
General information 39.1 46.2 47.5 30.8 *
Selective information 60.9 57.7 79.6 84.6 *
Price comparison 56.5 50.0 60.0 76.9 *
Advisory 2.2 3.8 17.5 15.4 *
Sales Staff
General information 0.7 3.8 22.2 15.4 **
Purchase 25.0 11.8 5.6 20.0 *
Advisory 25.0 52.9 72.2 60.0 ***
Purchase Phase
Advertising at the PoS
General information 36.4 85.7 56.5 50.0 *
Sales Staff
General information 31.0 96.4 85.1 86.7 ***
Selective information 21.8 73.6 80.4 57.7 ***
Advisory 25.4 79.9 88.9 69.2 ***
Post-Purchase Phase
Store
Advisory 75.0 50.0 85.7 58.3 **
Sales Staff
Advisory 23.0 63.3 90.9 77.8 *
Complaining 8.7 16.7 36.4 66.7 *
Service Staff
Advisory 75.0 20.0 100 66.7 **
1 2
*** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05, † p < .1, ns = not significant; Mean (Standard deviation); 100 % corresponds to the customers in cluster 1 who
realised an advertising contact; all significant differences amongst the four clusters were calculated with a chi2 adaptation test or the F-Test.
Tab. 3: Cluster description by the functions of selected contact points

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
In H2a–H2c, we assumed that the price of the purchased sis show a slightly significant impact of the product price
product would have a positive impact on the three di- on the number of realised customer contacts across all
mensions of the multidimensional customer contact se- stages of the purchase process (β = .146, p < .1). More-
quence. The results of several multiple regression analy- over, the price of the purchased product has also a posi-

Importance of Customer Contacts in the
4.21 (1.1) 2 4.94 (1.3) 4.91 (1.1) 4.02 (0.8) ***
entire Purchase Process M (SD)1
Pre-Purchase Phase
Contact Importance M (SD) 4.17 (1.5) 3.28 (1.6) 3.43 (1.2) 3.43 (1.2) ***
Retailer’s advertising 4.41 (0.9) 3.49 (1.1) 3.88 (1.0) 3.76 (0.9) ***
Retailer’s homepage 4.61 (1.7) 3.73 (2.1) 4.25 (1.8) 4.89 (1.3) ns
Other websites 4.00 (1.8) 4.75 (1.5) 4.53 (1.6) 5.00 (1.4) ns
Store 4.39 (1.8) 4.88 (1.4) 4.74 (1.2) 4.92 (.0,8) **
Sales staff 3.49 (1.9) 5.35 (1.1) 4.67 (1.2) 4.80 (1.1) *
Purchase Phase
Contact Importance M (SD) 4.37 (1.4) 5.09 (0.8) 4.59 (0.9) 4.24 (1.1) ***
Retailer’s advertising 3.59 (1.8) 4.00 (1.3) 3.65 (1.6) 3.17 (1.8) *
Store 4.84 (1.5) 5.27 (1.3) 5.04 (1.1) 4.37 (1.5) *
Sales staff 3.94 (1.8) 5.45 (0.7) 5.03 (1.2) 4.58 (1.3) ***
Post-purchase Phase
Contact Importance M (SD) 5.27 (0.9) 5.75 (0.4) 5.02 (0.8) 5.18 (1.0) ns
Store 5.13 (1.1) 5.60 (0.5) 5.24 (0.9) 5.17 (1.5) ns
Sales staff 5.80 (0.4) 5.67 (0.5) 4.90 (0.8) 5.22 (1.1) ns
Service staff 5.62 (0.7) 5.80 (0.6) 5.25 (0.8) 5.67 (0.5) ns
*** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05, † p < .1, ns = not significant; 1 Mean (Standard deviation); 2 examined on a six-step rating scale ranging from 1
= entirely unimportant to 6 = very important.
Tab. 4: Cluster description by the importance of customer contacts
Multinomial Logistic Regression

Model 1 Model 2
Substring Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4
Store ĺ Sales staff 2.416*** 2.430*** 1.914** 3.144*** 2.499** 2.576**
Store ĺ Retailer’s advertising -.098ns 1.210* -.354ns .984ns 1.067ns .130ns
Retailer’s advertising ĺ Store -.266ns .313ns .210ns -.142ns .346ns .171ns
Retailer’s advertising ĺ Retailer’s
.689† .718† 1.317** .746ns .682ns 1.652**
advertising
Retailer’s advertising ĺ Sales staff 2.638*** 2.208*** 2.935*** 2.808** 2.471** 3.251***
Sales staff ĺ Store .700ns .476ns .133ns -.705ns -.183ns .142ns
Store ĺ Store -.357ns .081ns .491ns .042ns .365 ns .821ns
Retailer‘s advertising ĺ Retailer’s
-.345ns .482ns .663ns -.350ns .740ns .553ns
homepage
Other websites ĺ Store -.154ns -.359ns -.666ns -.415ns -.303ns -.096ns
Selected Determinants
Age .065** .033† .00 ns
Average Internet Usage1 .372† -.449* -.266ns
Product Complexity2 .132ns .618† -.798†
Product Price3 .005** .001ns .004ns
Constant -3.078*** -3.575*** -4.181*** -6.178*** -5.398*** -4.465***
Correctly Classified 74.6 % 81.4 %
-2LL 417.091 101.219
Cox & Snell R2 .416 .729
Nagelkerke R2 .454 .807
*** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05, † p < .1, ns = not significant; 1 Average Internet Usage: ranges from 1 = less than once a week to 5 = several
times a day; 2 product complexity: ranges from 1 = low to 3 = high; 3 Product price in Euros.
Tab. 5: Discriminatory Power: Multinomial Logistic Regression Estimates (Reference Category = Cluster 1)

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tive impact on the number of different contact functions customer loyalty, we obtained no significant impact of
(β = .056, p < .01) as well as on the average importance the number of customer contacts, the number of different
of the customer contacts (β = .040, p < .05), supporting contact functions, and the average importance of the con-
H2b and H2c. In particular, the findings of an additional tacts across the purchase process neither on the likeli-
analysis have shown that the price of the purchased prod- hood for repeat purchases nor on the intent to recom-
uct will influence the average importance of personal mend the retailer.
contacts with e. g., the sales staff in the stationary store
of the retailer (β = .079, p < .05).
5. Discussion and conclusions
With regard to the potential impact of the average Inter-
net usage, we proposed an impact of this variable on the
5.1. Summary
number realised customer contacts, the number of differ-
ent functions, and the average importance of the custom- The results of our exploratory study demonstrate that
er contacts (H3a–H3c). The findings of several regres- customers can successfully be classified with regard to
sion analyses have shown that average Internet usage has their MCCS. Based on the dimensions of the multidi-
a slightly positive impact on the number of realised cus- mensional customer contact sequence, we identified four
tomer contacts in the multidimensional contact sequence clusters of customers with different channel strategies
(β = .079, p < .1) and that this is especially the case in across the different stages of the purchase process. The
the pre-purchase phase (β = .285, p < .1). As expected, multidimensional sequences indicate differences in the
average Internet usage has further positively influenced purchasing process; for example, our results with regard
the realisation of contacts with the retailer’s website (β = to the differences in customers’ behaviour concerning
.585, p < .001). Contrary to our expectations, average In- the usage and functions of the different contact points
ternet usage had no significant impact on the number of across the purchase process suggest amongst the custom-
different contact functions as well as on the average im- er clusters identified. Customer segmentation based on
portance of the realised customer contacts across the pur- demographic or psychographic variables would not have
chase process, rejecting H3b and H3c. Not surprisingly, been able to enrich the customer knowledge of the retail-
with regard to the importance of specific contact points, er in this manner. Moreover, the results of the logistic re-
average internet usage had a positive impact on the im- gression show that a few types of sequential information
portance of contacts with the retailer’s website. of the sequence of all customer contacts already provide
a highly satisfactorily classification of the customers.
4.7. Effects of the multidimensional customer The findings of our analyses regarding the potential de-
contact sequence clusters terminants have shown that the realisation of customer
contacts, the contacts functions, and the importance of
In addition to the determinants, the impact of specific the contacts are mainly influenced by the complexity and
facets of the dimensions of the multidimensional custom- the price of the purchased product. In this context, we are
er contact sequences on final variables such as customer in line with previous studies in the context of customer
satisfaction, perceived risk, trust, and different facets of behaviour in multichannel systems that have addressed
customer loyalty (H4) were also examined by applying the impact of the product price on consumer behaviour
multiple regression analyses. (e. g., Gupta et al. 2004; Steinmann and Silberer 2010).
With regard to the effects of the MCCS, our findings in-
The results show that perceived risk was only influenced
dicate that perceived risk is affected by the number of
by the number of different contact functions across the
different contact functions across the purchase process.
purchase process, supporting H4b1. We obtained a posi-
Furthermore, especially output-related aspects of cus-
tive impact of this variable on risk perception (β = .184,
tomer satisfaction were influenced by the number of dif-
p < .05), meaning that perceived risk increases when a
ferent contact functions as well as the average impor-
customer had to use the contact points in a more differen-
tance of the customer contacts across the purchase pro-
tiated way to satisfy specific information needs at differ-
cess.
ent stages of the purchase process. Moreover, we identi-
fied no significant impact of the predictor variables on
5.2. Implications for management
trust towards the retailer. Interestingly, the findings of
multiple regression analyses have shown that output-re- An analysis of MCCS provides a retailer with detailed
lated aspects of customer satisfaction were positively in- information on the differences regarding the behaviour
fluenced by the number of different contact functions (β as well as the preferences and requirements of customers
= .123, p < .1) as well as by the average importance of segments in multichannel environments across the whole
the customer contacts across the whole purchase process purchase process. By tracking multidimensional custom-
(β = .142, p < .05), partially supporting H4b3 and H4c3. er behaviour across channels, firms can improve their
In this context, contrary to our expectations, we obtained understanding of their customers’ decision-making and
no significant impact of the different aspects of the cus- develop a basis for creating strong relationships and im-
tomer contacts in the MCCS on process-related customer proving retention (Dholakia et al. 2005). Hence, investi-
satisfaction. Finally, regarding the proposed impact on gating multidimensional contact sequences will strength-

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
en the understanding of the customers’ behaviour across cover the broad variety of online channels or new media
the whole purchase process and hence, foster the retail- channels, which nowadays enable customers to realise
er’s knowledge about the actual customers. This new contacts with retail companies via a broad range of onli-
type of information puts retailers in a position to adapt ne channels as well as online touchpoints (Hennig-Thu-
the establishment of individual customer contact points rau et al. 2010; for a comprehensive overview see Wag-
to the different customer segments and to guide custom- ner 2015). At the time of the study, most of nowadays-
ers via contacts in the purchase process. Knowing these common devices or the related Internet-enabled channels
segments and their sequences enables the retailer to an- were not introduced to the market or were only used by a
ticipate further contacts and to offer suitable measures. If small portion of consumers. Furthermore, the website
the retailer pursues a particular strategy with regard to was the only online channel that was integrated into the
the sequence of the contacts, then these results provide retailer’s multichannel system. However, one aim of our
information on the proportion of the customers who be- exploratory study was to investigate if an analysis of
have accordingly. Therefore, the balance between the as- multidimensional customer contact sequences could pro-
pired and actual sequence of the customer contacts can vide insights into customer behaviour across the pur-
be used to monitor the marketing communication and the chase process as well as in different customer segments
entire marketing strategy. Moreover, clustering custom- that are of relevance for the configuration and coordina-
ers according to their MCCS can form the basis of seg- tion of a multichannel system. In nowadays the results
mented marketing approach. As the multidimensional se- derived with the used approach potentially will lead to
quence was not only related to the use of different chan- different results and different customer segments. Hence,
nels across the purchase process, but also to the pur- future research should apply the method used in the pre-
chased product and other final variables, it seems to be sent manuscript to identify how customer channel strate-
important to recognise the different customer channel gies have evolved over time and to further explore the
strategies with regard to the phases of the purchase pro- role of online channels and new media channels in con-
cess. Furthermore, our analysis also illustrates differ- sumer behaviour in off- and online multichannel systems
ences in the usage frequency, the contact functions, and over a period of time.
the contact importance of single channels in the purchase
Furthermore, we did not include the problem of show-
process. Such information could be considered for allo-
rooming (Zimmerman 2012) in our study. Hence, future
cating marketing budgets across the several channels of a
research should investigate this phenomenon by applying
multichannel system (Li and Kannan 2014).
sequence analytical methods to identify critical inci-
The multidimensional contact sequences can also pro- dents, which will trigger such behaviour. In this context,
vide crucial insights into potentially existing cross-chan- future research should address how retailers can collect
nel synergies. Furthermore, in applying probabilistic and consolidate data from all of the (relevant) channel
models an analysis of the sequential behaviour of cus- touchpoints that consumers utilise during their purchase
tomers will also support the identification of carryover processes to better understand and predict customer be-
and spillover effects across the channels of a multichan- haviour and to personalise and enrich the customer expe-
nel marketing system (Li and Kannan 2014). Such in- rience across channels (Wagner 2015). Another relevant
sights will contribute to an approach to optimal multi- area for research would be to examine how retailers can
channel integration and an optimal multichannel mix and keep the brand experience consistent across the several
to a successful customer relationship management, channels of their multichannel system (Carlson and
which will increase customer satisfaction and lead to O’Cass 2011).
profitable and long-term customer relationships. There-
Furthermore, in future research the impact of the poten-
fore, on the one hand, retailers must exploit advantages
tial determinants on and the effects of the MCCS should
from every individual channel through adapted and cus-
be investigated in more detail. In the present paper, we
tomer-centric touchpoints; on the other hand, channels
especially used single-item measures to operationalize
must be integrated and tied together to create a holistic
the dependent variables under study. To cover the impact
multichannel retailing system that provides paths for a
of the customer contacts, their functions and importance
seamless customer journey (Wagner 2015; Zhang et al.
on perceived risk, trust, customer satisfaction, and cus-
2010). From a retailer’s perspective, channel integration,
tomer loyalty in a more comprehensive manner, future
today especially offline-online channel integration,
research is advised to use established multi-item scales
seems to be of crucial relevance for the overall success of
when investigating the impact of consumer behaviour in
single channels as well as of the whole multichannel sys-
multichannel environments on the mentioned consumer
tem (Herhausen et al. 2015).
responses. Moreover, customer behaviour in multichan-
nel environments might also be influenced by demo-
5.3. Limitations and future research
graphic variables e. g., age and gender (Kumar and Ven-
Because we conducted the exploratory analysis of the katesan 2005). For example, the findings of Inman et al.
multidimensional customer contact sequences with sur- (2004) have shown that the age of a customer will have
vey data, which was collected in 2008/2009, a strong an impact on the kind and number of the realised custom-
limitation of the present manuscript is the data does not er contacts with different touchpoints. In addition, the re-

141.101.226.178 on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:45:23 +00:00
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Steinmann ExploratoryInvestigationMultidimensional 2016

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An Exploratory Investigation of Multidimensional Customer Contact Sequences –

Insights into Customer Behaviour in Multichannel Retailing

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26426809

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An Exploratory Investigation of Multidimensional

MARKETING · ZFP · 38. Jg. · 2/2016 · S. 75 – 91 75

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Multidimensional Centroid Sequences

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Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4

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Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4

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Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4

Multinomial Logistic Regression

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