Your receipt is in the bag: Service and temporal effects as factors of customer engagement formation during acquisition. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Harman, David M.; Porter, Michael C.
• Is Part Of: Journal of retailing and consumer services. Volume 62(2022)
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Customer engagement -- Customer acquisition -- Customer value creation -- Recency -- Critical incident; Retail trade -- Periodicals; Service industries -- Periodicals; Customer services -- Periodicals; Commerce de détail -- Périodiques; Service à la clientèle -- Périodiques; Customer services; Retail trade; Periodicals; 658.87
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102603
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0969-6989

Abstract

Abstract: The current study examines how customer engagement initially develops during customer acquisition. The study utilizes a factorial design with videos to represent positive/negative experiences over the course of a potential acquisition. Findings suggest a positive acquisition experience leads to positive customer engagement. Findings also reflect a strong recency effect in that the last interaction of the service encounter provides the strongest impact on customer engagement. As a result, analysis leads to the recommendation that managers focus more on specific events and less on a cumulative impact in order to develop positive customer engagement during acquisition.