Channel Choice
Citizens’ Channel Behavior
Drs. Willem Pieterson
March 26th, 2009
Channel Behavior
Influencing behavior
Experience
Channel Choice
Channel Usage
Channel Evaluation
Experience
• Channel choice: the picking of the channel at a certain moment
• Channel usage: the aggregated use (long term)
Background
• Why study channel choice?
– ICT’s (technological evolution)
• 1990’s Internet/WWW/
• Dot-com hype
– e-Commerce
– e-Government
• Focus of
e-Government
shifts to:
– Internet
(technology)
– The external side
Background
• Optimism about the e-Channels:
• “The explosive entry of technology into every aspect
of life has changed how people live, how they work,
how companies do business – and how
governments serve their people. For the first time
since the creation of the modern welfare state, there
is now a real opportunity to ‘reinvent’ government”
• (Silcock, 2001)
Background: Channel Usage
• Channel Usage after the hype
Tax and Customs Administration
18000
Numbers (x1000)
16000
14000
12000
10000
Telephone
Front Desk
Website
Total
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2002
2003
2004
Background: Channel Usage
• Channel usage in 2008
Channels used for last contacts
50,00%
47,22%
45,00%
41,15%
40,00%
35,00%
31,77%
30,19%
30,00%
25,00%
20,00%
15,85%
13,49%
15,00%
10,00%
5,38%
4,38%
5,84%4,72%
Last contact
5,00%
Before last
Po
s
t
l
Em
ai
e
eb
sit
W
ep
ho
ne
Te
l
Fr
on
tD
es
k
0,00%
Background: Channel Usage
• Differences in Age and Education (not gender)
Contacts with government
Preferred channel
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
Low
Middle
High
5.00%
W
ri t
te
n
Em
ai
l
W
eb
si t
e
Te
lep
ho
ne
Fr
on
tD
es
k
0.00%
Background: Channel Usage
Channel last contact
Municipality vs. Tax Administration
60,00%
50,00%
40,00%
30,00%
20,00%
10,00%
Tax Administration
Municipality
Po
st
Em
ai
l
W
eb
si t
e
Te
lep
ho
ne
Fr
on
tD
es
k
0,00%
Background
• The Internet is a succes
– Use of the web has ‘exploded’ (e.g. number of hits)
– The Internet does in some cases replace other channels:
• Electronic taxation
• Books, Online banking, Travel
• However:
Especially when it comes to customer service, the
traditional channels remain important and use
doesn’t decline.
• So, what factors determine the choice of channels
by citizens?
The literature
• Several fields of research have addressed the
issue:
– e-Government / Citizen Initiated Contacts
• Citizen’s channel choice
– Communication
• Media use and choice
– Marketing
• Channel choice (mainly for shopping)
– Human-Computer interaction
• Information source selection / usability
– Technology Adoption/Acceptance research
• Comparing Internet/New media choice with traditional
media
The literature
• Possible Determinants:
Information need,
Having a problem,
Transaction/Informa
tion,
Task uncertainty,
Task equivocality,
Race,
Income,
Education,
Gender,
Age,
‘Emotional form’
Trust,
‘Channel
Satisfaction’,
Time,
Effort,
Motivation,
Media Richness,
Social influences,
Channel Experience,
Perceived risk,
Propensity,
Convenience,
Transaction Costs,
Ease of Use,
Perceived
Usefulness,
Personal contact,
Safety concerns,
Complexity,
Flexibility,
Interactivity,
Channel preference,
Perceived fit
(channel/task),
Marital status,
Homeownership,
Perceived accessibility,
Values about channels,
Views of peers,
Situational demands,
Perceived competence,
Quality of
information sources,
Symbolic Values,
Distance,
ETC…
The Theory
• Some Channel (media) Choice Theories Exist
– Media Richness Theory
•
•
•
•
Tasks & Channels have different characteristics,
Tasks: Uncertainty and Ambiguity
Media: Varying Richness
Best communication when task & channels match
– Social Influence Model
• Task & Channel Characteristics are not ‘fixed’ but
perceptions
• These perceptions are socially constructed
– Channel Expansion Theory
• Perceptions are shaped by experiences
The Theory
• Theories share the same rational
assumptions about behavior
Channel
Elaboration
Citizen
Task
Many Critiques on this perspective
Now what?
Channel Choice
(question/problem/etc..)
But no solutions
The Research
• General Decision Making Literature
• Qualitative study among Dutch Citizens
• Results:
– Two choice processes exist in channel choices:
• The rational process of ‘matching’
• Habitual decision making through experiences
– These processes are influenced by
•
•
•
•
Task Characteristics
Channel Characteristics
Personal Characteristics
Situational and Emotional Constraints
The Model
Situational
constraints
Emotional
constraints
Perceived
task & channel
characteristics
Personal
Characteristics
Habits
Experiences
Task-Channel
Elaboration
Channel
Choice
Sequential &
causal relation
Causal relation
The Research
• Survey among 2461 Dutch Citizens
• Questions regarding the influence of the
factors
• Questions regarding the decision strategies
• Scenario’s for (additional) interaction effects
• Results:
– All four groups of factors are of importance for
channel choices:
Results
• Channel Characteristics
(Perceived) Channel Characteristics
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
Post/Written
E-mail
Website
Telephone
Front Desk
30%
20%
10%
of
u
se
e
Ea
se
Pr
ic
on
al
fo
cu
s
U
se
fu
ln
La
es
ng
s
ua
Im
ge
m
va
ed
ri e
ia
ty
cy
of
fe
ed
ba
ck
C
on
ta
ct
sp
ee
d
Ex
pe
rie
nc
es
ic
e
Pe
rs
Se
rv
M
ul
tip
le
cu
es
0%
Results
• Task Characteristics
Complexity
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
Front Desk
Telephone
Website
E-mail
Post
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Low
High
Ambiguity
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
Front Desk
Telephone
Website
E-mail
Post
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Low
High
• Task Characteristics
Channel Choice for products
Front Desk
Website
Post
Telephone
E-mail
90,00%
80,00%
70,00%
60,00%
50,00%
40,00%
30,00%
20,00%
10,00%
ag
e
m
or
tg
Ge
ta
er
m
on
ey
Tr
an
sf
p
tri
or
ld
W
Su
n
va
ca
tio
n
0,00%
Results
• Personal Characteristics
100.0%
OPLEIDING
100.0%
Lower
Middle
Higher
< 26
26 - 55
> 55
80.0%
80.0%
60.0%
60.0%
Percent
Percent
Education
Age
40.0%
40.0%
20.0%
20.0%
0.0%
0.0%
traditional
electronic
trad_elec
Cases weighted by WEEGFACTORENTOTAAL
traditional
electronic
trad_elec
Cases weighted by WEEGFACTORENTOTAAL
o
c e Be
rt a h in
d
in
P
ty
ne C
N
N
e
o
te ot i de
d
m
le
ph po
rt
o
W ne ant
i th ne
ar
o
Si ut th by
m
pl ink
e
i
qu ng
O es t
io
ut
n
o
Pr
fh
ob
a
l e bi t
m
Ea
cl
ea
rl i
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N
r
er
ui
de
ex o ru
d
s
by peri h
G
ex en
ui
c
de per es
ie
d
n
Pr
b
ob y e ces
m
le
o
m
am tion
bi s
gu
Em ous
C Fas otio
er
n
ta t an s
in
ty swe
im
r
po
r
C
om Im tan
pl po t
ex
rta
n
Q
ue t
st
io
n
N
Results
• Situational Constraints (& tasks)
Channel Choice & Situations
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Written
Telephone
Front Desk
E-mail
Website
Results
• In first instance, people are guided by habits
• In second instance, people start reasoning
• In first instance, factors as the situational and
emotional constraints are more important
• In second instance, task and channel
characteristics are more important
• This turns channel choice more in an emotional
and (inter)subjective than a rational process
• However, all factors are of importance
• Our model ‘fits’ very well!
Conclusions
• Whereas rationality is often assumed in
channel choices in both theory and practice,
– channel choices in reality are more complex
– more factors play a role and
– different factors play a role in different situations
– and personal differences play a role.
• Situational and emotional factors are very
important and often ignored
• The influence of habits was a surprise!
• Implications for channel strategies (Jan)
• Implications for channel marketing (Marije)
Finally