Web care Lecture 1
What is Web care?
The act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) customers, by actively
searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns and
complains)
Goals of Webcare
Webcare for consumer care
Signal consumer problems and solve them
Meet or exceed the expectations of consumers
Consumer’s NeWOM, recommendations
Webcare for public relations
Others are watching too
eWOM can influence people’s impression of the organization (e.g., trust)
organization’s webcare demonstrates customer’s comments are taken seriously
prevent (Ne)eWOM crisis
reputation & relationship management
Webcare for marketing
creating a good image
enhancing brand evaluation
message could go viral
could convince others to purchase
valuable feedback to improve their business
WebCare social media campaigns
Development of Webcare
, Amount of customer social media messages per week) 60.000
Customer service chatbots
Increasing adoption of automated responses in webcare / customer care
Lecture 1b
What is Web care?
The act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) customers, by actively
searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns and
complains)
Considering
1. Block: making it impossible to post on a company’s (social media) page
- What are the advantages of this strategy?
- What are the disadvantages of this strategy?
- Under which circumstances is blocking permitted?
- Does this strategy prevent consumers from sharing negative experiences about the
organization?
2. Sensor/delete: at a minimum, 48% (of the sampled corporations, n=12) are likely to
delete negative comments
- How do detect censorship?
Customer references to previous comments that are not available (anymore)
Corporate pages only contain positive comments
Organization publicly announces that negative (or obscene, etc.) comments
will not be published
Or that postings that are not directly related to main topic are not permitted
Or that customer postings are not allowed at all
What are the advantages of this strategy?
What are the disadvantages of this strategy?
Under which circumstances is blocking permitted?
Does this strategy prevent consumers from sharing negative experiences
about the organization?
3. Respond: organizations should respond, various studies indicated that people are
more satisfied after receiving a response in reply to NeWOM
- But, several factors come into play
What’s the consumer intent?
What are the consumer’s desires?
What are the motives?
What gratifications is the consumer looking for?
Complaints with different desires
Good, bad and ugly complaints
- Difference between whether a customer asks for help, or tries to damage the
organization
, Good: directness & boasting
Bad: badmouthing & tattling
Ugly: spite & feeding the vultures
Effects of proactive versus reactive webcare
- What to respond?
, Findings
Responding to NeWOM by means of webcare increases brand evaluations
No main difference between reactive/proactive approach
But, depends on platform type, such that {
Reactive: no platform difference on brand evaluations nor perceptions of
human voice
Proactive: more positive brand evaluations on a brand-generated platform (in
contrast to a consumer-generated platform)
Also, people perceived the brand as demonstrating more human voice on this
platform
Try to estimate whether the consumer desires a reply or not
Constructive and vindictive complaints
- Complaining goals can only be achieved by receiving a response from the company
- Receptive to webcare
- Seek for redress to restore relationship with brand
- Use social media to increase public pressure to find a solution
- (act of constructive feedback to help the brand to improve its performance)
Uses and gratifications
When and what to respond?
Congruence approach
Response strategies (derived from Coombs´ SCCT)
- Accommodative response
- Defensive response
- No response
Finding constructive complaints
Accommodative: CCs respond most positively to ACCs because they are congruent
with their individual desires (e.g., redress seeking)
What is Web care?
The act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) customers, by actively
searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns and
complains)
Goals of Webcare
Webcare for consumer care
Signal consumer problems and solve them
Meet or exceed the expectations of consumers
Consumer’s NeWOM, recommendations
Webcare for public relations
Others are watching too
eWOM can influence people’s impression of the organization (e.g., trust)
organization’s webcare demonstrates customer’s comments are taken seriously
prevent (Ne)eWOM crisis
reputation & relationship management
Webcare for marketing
creating a good image
enhancing brand evaluation
message could go viral
could convince others to purchase
valuable feedback to improve their business
WebCare social media campaigns
Development of Webcare
, Amount of customer social media messages per week) 60.000
Customer service chatbots
Increasing adoption of automated responses in webcare / customer care
Lecture 1b
What is Web care?
The act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) customers, by actively
searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns and
complains)
Considering
1. Block: making it impossible to post on a company’s (social media) page
- What are the advantages of this strategy?
- What are the disadvantages of this strategy?
- Under which circumstances is blocking permitted?
- Does this strategy prevent consumers from sharing negative experiences about the
organization?
2. Sensor/delete: at a minimum, 48% (of the sampled corporations, n=12) are likely to
delete negative comments
- How do detect censorship?
Customer references to previous comments that are not available (anymore)
Corporate pages only contain positive comments
Organization publicly announces that negative (or obscene, etc.) comments
will not be published
Or that postings that are not directly related to main topic are not permitted
Or that customer postings are not allowed at all
What are the advantages of this strategy?
What are the disadvantages of this strategy?
Under which circumstances is blocking permitted?
Does this strategy prevent consumers from sharing negative experiences
about the organization?
3. Respond: organizations should respond, various studies indicated that people are
more satisfied after receiving a response in reply to NeWOM
- But, several factors come into play
What’s the consumer intent?
What are the consumer’s desires?
What are the motives?
What gratifications is the consumer looking for?
Complaints with different desires
Good, bad and ugly complaints
- Difference between whether a customer asks for help, or tries to damage the
organization
, Good: directness & boasting
Bad: badmouthing & tattling
Ugly: spite & feeding the vultures
Effects of proactive versus reactive webcare
- What to respond?
, Findings
Responding to NeWOM by means of webcare increases brand evaluations
No main difference between reactive/proactive approach
But, depends on platform type, such that {
Reactive: no platform difference on brand evaluations nor perceptions of
human voice
Proactive: more positive brand evaluations on a brand-generated platform (in
contrast to a consumer-generated platform)
Also, people perceived the brand as demonstrating more human voice on this
platform
Try to estimate whether the consumer desires a reply or not
Constructive and vindictive complaints
- Complaining goals can only be achieved by receiving a response from the company
- Receptive to webcare
- Seek for redress to restore relationship with brand
- Use social media to increase public pressure to find a solution
- (act of constructive feedback to help the brand to improve its performance)
Uses and gratifications
When and what to respond?
Congruence approach
Response strategies (derived from Coombs´ SCCT)
- Accommodative response
- Defensive response
- No response
Finding constructive complaints
Accommodative: CCs respond most positively to ACCs because they are congruent
with their individual desires (e.g., redress seeking)
