19_perception of value e-crm features

SCMS Journal of Indian Management , Apr i l - June, 2011. 106

A Quarterly Journal

Perception of Value

E-CRM FeaturesD. Sureshkumar and P. Palanivelu

T

Abstract

T h e p u r p o s e o f t h i s r e s e a r c h s t u d y i s t o g i v e a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f c u s t o m e r s 'p e r c e p t i o n o f v a l u e f r o m e -C R M f e a t u r e s o n a i r l i n e e - t i c k e t i n g We b s i t e s . M u l t i p l e c a s es t u d y s t r a t e g y w a s c h o s e n a n d e m p i r i c a l d a t a w a s c o l l e c t e d f r o m s e v e n c a s e s t h r o u g hi n - d e p t h i n t e r v i e w s . E a c h c u s t o m e r w h o w a s a b u s i n e s s m a n a n d u s e d t o b u y a i r l i n e e -t i c k e t s , w a s t r e a t e d a s a s i n g l e c a s e . C u s t o m e r s ' r e s p o n s e s w e r e t a k e n b o t h a f t e r t h ea d o p t i o n o f a f e a t u r e ( p o s t - a d o p t i o n ) a n d b e f o r e t h e a d o p t i o n o f a f e a t u r e ( p r e -a d o p t i o n ) t o f i n d t h e o v e r a l l p e r c e p t i o n s o f c u s t o m e r s . F i n d i n g s o f t h e s t u d y s h o wt h a t a l l t h e f e a t u r e s w e r e n o t i m p o r t a n t f o r c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i o n , a t t h e s a m e t i m e ,a n d w e b s i t e s w e r e n o t p r o v i d i n g a l l t h e f e a t u r e s d i s c u s s e d b y t h e t h e o r y w h e r e a sc u s t o m e r s s h o w e d t h e i r w i l l i n g n e s s t o u s e t h o s e f e a t u r e s i f p r o v i d e d .

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D. Sureshkumar, Lecturer, Department of Commerce, KarpagamUnivers i ty, Coimbatore , e-mai l :[email protected]. in .

Dr. P. Palanivelu, The Controller of Examination, Karpagam university,Pollachi Main Road, Eachanari Post, Coimbatore - 641021, Email Id:[email protected]

here is a strong competition among businesses todaytherefore managers and marketers are agreed ondeveloping long term relationships with their customers

for the development and survival of the companies. Zineldin (2006)states that companies with stronger relationship with customersare in the best position to retaintheir customers. According tohim CRM is an effective methodto maintain customer databaseand by that company can bestunderstand the customers’ needsand more precisely theirrelationship need better than theother competitors. He stressedthat stronger relationship withthe customers is moreimportant than low prices, bigpromotion offers, and advancedtechnology. Yaeckel et al. (2002,p. 245-246) believe that CRMis not a new concept; it is a

process not a software product or technology. This processmanages interactions between a company and its customers.Hardware, software, and service are one of the componentsfor supporting the strategy of CRM. CRM can be beneficialin two ways (Foss et al., 2004, p. 90), firstly it improves

cus tomer re ten t ion andloyal ty and secondly thehigher customer profitabilitybecause of less customerrecruiting costs and reducedcosts of sales. According toRomano et al . (2004) thelatest technique which thecompanies are using now adays for increas ing andenhancing their marketingskills is electronic customerrelationship management (e-CRM). This In t roduct ionpart shows that CRM.


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Objectives of the Study

To know the customers perceive value from pre-purchase features of e-CRM on airline E-ticketingwebsites

To study the customers perceive value from at-purchasefeatures of eCRM on airline E-ticketing websites

To analysis the customers perceive value from post-purchase features of eCRM on airline E-ticketingwebsites

Research Purpose

Purpose of our research is exploratory because we are going togive a better understanding of customers’ perception of valuefrom e-CRM features on airline e-ticketing websites. Theexploratory research provides a way into consumer perceptions,behaviours, and needs. Moreover better understanding of customercauses better decision making power and better recognition ofmarket opportunities for companies.

Research methodologySelection of Cases

We have chosen multiple case study in order to give a betterunderstanding of customers’ perception of value from differentfeatures of eCRM on airline e-ticketing websites. States thatmultiple cases provide more robust evidence than a single casestudy and evidences can be compared and generalizations can bedone.

The target population of this research study is all those customersof airline companies who are business men at Coimbatore districtand used to buy tickets online. Business men has been the subject

matter of research in consumer behavior studies which havecontributed valuable results. Each business man will be treated asone case. We have selected seven cases for our study.

Data Collection

We can use different data collection methods includingquestionnaires, interview in case-study approach. He mentionedthree types of interviews namely structured interviews, semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews. In structuredinterviews, according to him, predetermined or standardized setof questions are asked, whereas semi-structured interviews orderof questions can be varied depending on the flow of conversation,additional questions may be required to explore the researchquestion and objectives.

Data Analysis

The unit of analysis will be an individual interviewee. Each case(an individual) will be compared independently with the theoreticalframework and the cases will also be compared with each other(Cross-case analysis) in order to highlight the similarities anddifference. Categorization will be done within each case. Theneach case will be compared with the frame of reference, categoryby category. At the end, all cases will be compared with eachother on the basis of the same categorization.

Cross-Case Analysis

There are three categories namely pre-purchase, at-purchase andpost-purchase e-CRM feature in which empirical evidence wascollected from seven different cases. Empirical data was comparedwith theory. In this section the analyzed responses from the sevencases are compared with each other. A summary is presented inTable 1. Certain symbols and letters are used in which are explainedbelow.

Table: 1

Symbol Meaninga Case has actually utilized the feature and response is based onafter adoption of the service/feature

(post-adoption).b (pre-adoption)

Case has never used or experienced the feature because:• The Case could not found this feature on website or Thisfeature was not important

for him/her, or


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• The Case does not fall in any situation so that he/she could use that feature,In the later casequestions were asked in the context of use, for example What if he/she falls in that situation whatwill case do in that case and if that feature is provided to her/him what will be the response.

+ Shows that the response from a case about a variable is the same as frame of reference hasspecified (or what theory says). A situation of full agreement and the respondent perceives valuefrom this feature in case of ‘a’ or can perceive value from this feature in case of ‘b.’

- Shows that the response from a case about a variable is not the same as frame of reference hasspecified (or what theory says). A situation of full disagreement and respondent perceives novalue from this feature in case of ‘a’ or not intended to perceive any value from this feature infuture in case of ‘b.’

+/- Shows that the response from a case about a variable is supporting some aspects and notsupporting other. A situation of partial agreement.

Data Analysis - Table: 2 Cross-Cases Analysis

Pre-

Purc

hase

e C

RM

At-

Purc

hase

e C

RM

Variables Case-1 Case-2 Case-3 Case-4 Case-5 Case-6 Case-7Permission Marketing + + - + - + +

a b b a b a aSite Customization - - - - - - -

b b b b b b bAlternative Channels + + + + + + +

a a b b a a aLocal Search engine + + + + + + +

a a a a a a aMembership + - + - - - +/-

a a a b b b aSite information - - - - - +/- -

b b b b b b bOnline Forums + + - + + + +

b b b b a a BLoyalty program + + - + + + +

a b b b b b AExtended buying experience + + + + + + +

a a a a a a AInformation about services + + + + + + +

a a a a a a AService customization + + + + + + +

a a a a a a APurchase conditions + - + - +/- + +

a a a a a a APayment methods + + + + + + +

a a a a a a a


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Post

-pur

chas

e eC

RM

FAQs + + - + + + +a a b a a a a

Problem solving + + + + + + +b b a b b a b

Complaining ability + + + + + + +b b b b b b b

Order tracking + + + + + + +b b b b b b b

Feedback channels + + - + + + +b b b b b b a

Result and Discussion

Pre-purchase e-CRM Features

The response analysis in Table 1 reveals that the most adoptedfeature (entries marked with ‘a’ in Table 1) experienced bythe respondents from pre-purchase e-CRM is ‘local searchengine.’ ‘Permission marketing,’ ‘alternative channels’ wereused by more than half of the cases. Whereas half of therespondents got the opportunity to utilize ‘membership’feature. The most important (+) feature for respondents onthe basis of ‘post adoption’ is ‘local search engine.’ When wetake into consideration the ‘pre-adoption’ responses (allentries marked with ‘b’ in Table 1) as well the picture becomesclearer. ‘Alternative channels,’ ‘local search engines’ and‘online forums ’are perceived as the most valuable featuresby all of the respondents whereas five of the respondentsperceived value from ‘permission marketing’ as well makingi t as the second important feature. Only two of therespondents perceive ‘membership’ feature as valuable forthem and one considered it as partially important for him. Allof the respondents were not agreed on (-) for the importanceof ‘site customization’ and ‘site information’ features andhence making them least important features for them. Overall this part of the table shows that customers perceive valuefrom most of the adopted features except case-2 when sheadopted a ‘membership feature’ but did not like it afterwards.Regarding pre-adoption, their answers to future perceiveduse of the feature were alternative. Sometimes they thinkthey can perceive value (+) from the future use of the featureand sometimes they think opposite.

At-purchase e-CRM Features

At-purchase e-CRM features are the most adopted features bythe respondents as shown in Table 1 (entries marked with ‘b’).Only the least used feature in this category is ‘loyalty programme’which is used by two respondents only. ‘Extended buyingexperience,’ ‘information about services,’ ‘service customization,’‘payment methods,’ and ‘comparative shopping’ features are themost utilized and valued features by all of the respondents. Almostall of the respondents believe the importance of ‘loyaltyprogrammes’ in certain situation although they do not use it atpresent stage. Two of the respondents do not perceive any valuefrom ‘purchase conditions’ whereas remaining cases perceive valuefrom this feature.

Over all this part of the table shows that customers perceive valuefrom most of the adopted features except ‘purchase conditions’where two cases dislike reading these conditions after adoption.Regarding pre-adoption their answers to future perceived use ofthe feature were alternative. Sometimes they think they canperceive value (+) from the future use of a feature and for othersthey do not perceive any value.

Post-purchase e-CRM features

Post-purchase features were the least adopted features in 1 (entriesmarked with ‘b’). Here the most adopted (a) feature is ‘FAQs.’All of the respondents, except the case-3, uses to read ‘FAQs’ andperceive value from it. All of the respondents were agreed to have‘problem solving’ feature on travel websites where they couldchange their booked flight schedule or cancel their tickets in case


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of need and they can perceive value from this feature in futuresubject to their needs. Although most of the respondents neverhad to complain against the travel websites, yet all of them perceiveit to be important for them in case they have to complain infuture. ‘Order tracking’ feature where customer can track his/here-ticket or flight schedule was also perceived useful, in pre-adoption scenario, from all of the respondents. ‘Feed back’ incertain cases can also be valuable for all of the cases according totheir response in pre-adoption (b) scenarios. Over all this part ofthe table shows that customers perceive value from all of theadopted features where as their responses to pre-adoption offeatures were also positive except case-3 who does not like toread ‘FAQs’ and to give ‘feed back.’

Conclusion

The Study reveals the fact that for customers almost ever websitewas easy to browse and the features which they were using werealso common on all the websites, the primary thing which inducesthe customer to purchase from certain travel website was ‘cheaperfares.’ At the same time customers wanted to read other customersexperiences with the travel company on ‘online forums’ to get thebetter understanding of real time situation hence this could effecton their purchase decisions. Customers do believe that ‘loyaltyprogrammes’ are beneficial for those travelers who travel moretherefore customers prefer to buy cheaper tickets and do notwant to be a member of ‘loyalty programmes.’ All these pointsshow that there is a great competition online among travelcompanies because for the customers presence of e-CRM featuresis the same on each website and they are searching for cheapertickets. But on the other hand when customers could not solvetheir problems after purchasing tickets they become dissatisfiedand this dissatisfaction can cause customer defection. Thereforeimportance of providing efficient post-purchase features is alsoobserved in this study.

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19_perception of value e-crm features

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