Summary Summaries for Digital Marketing Fundamentals

Digital Marketing Fundamentals
Chapter 3: Market sensing
Internet usage
 rise of internet changed purchasing behaviour of consumers
 all competitors collected in one place, consumers consider alternatives in short time

State of the internet
 early 1900s invention of www by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, idea: build network of
connected computers based on internet using common standard language
 4.5 billion internet users, 60% of world population online

Buying on the internet
 potential growth can now be found in online purchase of foods, cosmetics, cleaning
products, pharmaceuticals, resources digital education and learning
 most important reasons that impede companies from selling via a website:
unsustainability of product, logistical problems, costs, payment issues, security
issues, legal difficulties

Online shopping behaviour
 What determines whether someone shops online?
 Lim (2015), depends on attitude towards online shopping
 Factors: value they expect from online shopping, expected ease of use,
experience, social factors (do they worry about what others say about online shopping?),
entertainment gratification (fun shopping online or not), Internet irritation (find web
disorganised and annoying), emotional state

Channel switch
 convenience and efficiency very important to buyers, want to make best possible
choice
 Webrooming  use internet to do research online before visiting physical store to
purchase
 smart move, because online research allows you to compare product prices/details
before visiting physical store where you can see and try on the products, leads to sense
of confidence feeling like a ‘smart shopper’
 Always good idea to make online buyer feel like smart buyer; placing emphasis on
value for money or giving feeling of being in control by providing insight into
progression of ordering process
 Webrooming is phenomenon, provide as much product information online as
possible
 Showrooming this is where customers visit physical store for orientation purposes
before ordering online, want to see and hold product and receive personalised advice
 On ecommerce sites may encounter lower prices etc. leading them to make their
purchase there
 Showrooming problematic for retailers who don’t have own online store
 Have to convince customers that their products are good value for money and
outweighs advantages of buying online
 Retailers who have online store can encourage customers to place order online while
they are in physical store

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,  People not only switch between online and offline, also switch devices during
orientation and buying process

Five types of shoppers
1. Store-focused shoppers
2. Pragmatic online shoppers
3. Thorough online shoppers
4. Multiple touchpoint shoppers
5. Online-to-offline shoppers




Online buying process and the Digital Marketing funnel

Purchasing process (Engel, Blackwell & Miniard, 1990)
1. Acknowledgement of needs
2. Seeking information
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase
5. Result




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, Online shopping two decisions: the choice of product to be purchased and choice of online
store, additional step is channel selection
1. Acknowledgement of needs
 consumer becomes aware that current situation can be improved before deciding to
buy product/service

2. Seeking information
 consumer seeks out which products/services meet their wishes as best as possible;
they collect and process information; two classifications ‘internal research’ and external
research’; if they have experience in buying a particular product, are satisfied and don’t
feel a risk it is called routine purchasing behaviour
 when consumers search extensively the process consists of two phases (Payne
1993) a) screening of possible alternatives by looking for product that match their
preference, b) searching for more detailed information about the alternatives that were
found
 extent wo which people are motivated to search for detailed information in depth of
search depends on their involvement in purchase decision, Mittal and Lee (1989) define
this as ‘the extent of interest and importance that a customer attaches to a careful
purchase decision’
 consumers select am information source based on information provided,
convenience, range of products that are presented, perceived risks, enjoyment of using
the channel (Vroomen 2006)
 the more alternatives the consumer is considering, the better (in theory) the quality of
decision
 appreciation of website leads to lower price sensitivity and increasingly higher-ticket
purchases (Teo and Yeong, 2003)

3. Evaluation of alternatives and product selection
 to decide which product fits wishes best, consumer must decide on evaluation criteria
 perceived value is combination of all benefits that consumer will receive when
purchasing the product, offset by size of their investment
 individual customer greatly influence people’s attitude towards a product (reviews),
emotions play a major role

4. Choice of sales channel
 consumer found product that best suits their needs, either buy product through
channel they found it or elsewhere
 during purchase phase, range of products, perceived risk and after sales service of
store are most important criteria for consumer, are also indicators that decision to
purchase via internet or in physical store is related to complexity of purchasing problem
for consumer as well as experience with that type of product
 choice of channel highly personal and situational
 consumers choose between online and offline stores based on perceived value;
consumer evaluate possible time savings, wider range/more choice, delivery etc against
money, time and risk; if consumer feels that he gets ‘best’ value on website he’s less
likely to look for alternatives (Anderson & Srinavasan, 2003); website crucial determinant
of sales volume


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