Touchpoint

A touchpoint can be defined as any way a consumer can interact with a business, whether it be person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication (“Touchpoint Glossary”, n.d.). When consumers come in contact with these touchpoints it gives them the opportunity to compare their prior perceptions of the business and form an opinion (Stein, & Ramaseshan, 2016). A touchpoint can be defined as any way a consumer can interact with a business, whether it be person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication (“Touchpoint Glossary”, n.d.). When consumers come in contact with these touchpoints it gives them the opportunity to compare their prior perceptions of the business and form an opinion (Stein, & Ramaseshan, 2016). Touchpoints in marketing communications are the varying ways that a brand interacts and displays information to prospective customers and current customers. Touchpoints allow customers to have experiences every time they “touch’ any part of the product, service, brand or organization, across multiple channels and various points in time (Pantano and Viassone, 2015 and Zomerdijk and Voss, 2010). Customers opinions and perceptions are largely influenced by the contact that is made with these touchpoints, which can be positive or negative depending wholly on the individual person (Meyer, & Schwager, 2007). Touchpoints have the ability to influence a consumers buying or intent to purchase, all throughout the five stages of the buyer purchasing decision-making process: Problem recognition, information search, the evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviour (Kotler, Burton, Deans, Brown, Armstrong, 2013). Touchpoints can happen in both a Business-to-Business setting and a Business-to-Consumer setting (Lemke, Clark, & Wilson, 2010). A touchpoint is a message or way a brand reaches out to their target market providing engagement as it allows the brand to be seen by the prospective customer in a favorable way. The goal effective touch points is that it will create opportunity for the purchaser to choose their brand over another competitor. Touchpoints are an element in the IMC (integrated marketing communications), which portray the willingness on behalf of the brand communicators to use specific communication motives to reach the appropriate target audience. This is used to engage customers in the pre- and post-purchase experience when they purchase a good or service. Touch points allow prospective customers to become knowledgeable on the brand and the benefits offered and allow them to make a decision to whether they will buy the product or service. An example of a brand using effective touchpoints in their marketing communications is Toyota selling the Yaris car model to the youth segment. The way in which Toyota did this was firstly advertising the Yaris in television programs such as Prison Break, whose viewers are typically in the age bracket they were targeting. Toyota hosted an Internet contest where consumers could create their own three-minute television commercials. This method engaged the youth segment as it was interactive and let the prospect consumers experience the brand. Toyota also knew that the youth age group were social and would likely attend social functions; this meant that Yaris cars were featured in many sponsored events. They were also integrated into television comedy programs, which attracted their target segmentation during adverts. (Shimp, 2005, c2009)Touchpoints in after sales market are Reception, service desk, Service manager, Dialogue inspection, workshops, Rental car. The consumer decision-making process is highly influenced by brand touch-points. In saying this, touch-points influence the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase stages of the decision making process. This is because they are constantly in contact with the consumer by way of consumer experiences with a brand or service, advertising (all forms), contact with employees, social media and many other ways. Each stage of the decision making process is also an opportunity for the brand to influence the consumer's decisions, regardless of whether or not the consumer has made a decision to purchase. There are many ways in which touch-points can influence the pre-purchase stage of the consumer's decision making process. The pre-purchase stage can be said to be one of the most important stages of the consumer decision making process as it is where the consumer recognizes that they have a need for a product or a service. It is at this point of realization that pre-purchase touch-points are crucial, because of the fact that this is the stage where the consumer actively searches for information about a certain product. Such a search for information can be conducted via advertising, social media, internet search, word-of-mouth and family and friends’ experiences etc. It is important that during this stage, in order for consumers to consider purchasing from a brand, that they create relevant touch-points that increase brand appeal. To further reiterate such a statement, in the present day, consumers have access to multiple electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets and television and are sometimes connected to all such devices simultaneously. As a result, brands may not acquire the desired amount of exposure because of the consumer's tendency to frequently switch from one device to another and from one task to another task. Therefore, brands must create short and engaging advertisements in order to capture the attention of the consumer during the pre-purchase stage of his or her decision making process. Such action will ensure that the consumer will be able to relate to a brand and will instil the belief that the brand has their interests at heart. Although brands or companies cannot precisely manage the touch-points at the pre-purchase stage to work in their favour, they can only do so much as to make sure that they monitor the channels by which consumers search for product/service information to make sure they are readily accessible. Touchpoints for the ‘purchase’ stage of the decision making process are somewhat more direct, whereby the consumer evaluates the information they searched for in the pre-purchase stage. Evaluation in this sense is when the consumer has selected a set of brands from their information search and compares them to one another. At this point of the consumer's decision making process, brand touch-points become the difference between a decision to buy or a decision not to buy. Touch-points during the purchase stage, as mentioned earlier, are more direct. The reason is that touch-points during the purchase stage can be found in store (or office if looking for a service) as store layout, through the sales team and staff, the point of sale and many other elements. The store layout is a whole touch-point in itself as it includes all types of atmospherics that help influence consumers. Such atmospherics involve using the senses to relate to consumers on a more personal level through the use of store scents, visual appearance, music and the ability to touch products. This can be further explained using the concept of ‘The Consumer’s Culture’ where the psychological core of the consumer determines the effectiveness of brand touch-points and influence. When consumers are exposed to such elements of a brand, it is at that point where they make the decision to buy or even the decision not to buy. To reduce the chance of having the consumer turn away from buying a particular brand, there is a need to ensure that staff are properly trained in product knowledge and also in interpersonal skills. The reason for this is because the staff touchpoints are a physical and human representation of what brands are all about. Therefore, it is important to note that in order for the customer to have a sense of trust in the brand or the company, the staff need to build rapport with the customer to retain such trust. This can further be established at the point of sale where the customer purchases a product and feels that the product they have chosen may serve their needs. Moreover, emphasizing the fact that touchpoints are any point in which the brand communicates with the consumer, the post-purchase stage of the decision making process is where the retention of consumers becomes vital. In saying this, examples of post-purchase touchpoints are, customer satisfaction surveys, product warranties, post-purchase customer service and support, loyalty programs and even billing processes. All such touchpoints enable brands or companies to retain customers and nurture the relationship between consumer and brand. These touchpoints also provide brands with a sense of being able to control the post-purchase element of a consumer's decision making process in a more effective manner. This is done in the hope that customers can relate to the brand on a positive level. To further highlight the importance of the post-purchase touchpoints, there is a need for brands to be readily available to and accessible by customers in order for them to remain trusting of the brand, rather than being perceived by the customer as a quick opportunity to make a sale with no post-purchase care. A brand touchpoint, also known as a brand encounter is formed when a consumer is exposed to a brand. This exposure can occur in many different forms such as an advertisement featured on television, radio, in a newspaper or magazine. Other forms of advertising could include a display on a billboard located on the roadside, discussions regarding the product on talkback radio, a product in a window display or a verbal discussion between friends and family, all giving exposure to the brand. All of these touchpoints create a “brand experience” for the consumer . Touch points are the first association that a customer has with a product or service offered by a company or individual and are the contact points between a customer and said provider of services (Clatworthy, 2011). The touch point offers a link between the customer and the service, acting as a go between of what the customers wants and what the service provider is offering, providing a central service in the communication between customer and supplier (2011: 16). The touch point is the first interaction that a customer has with a company and that interaction is considered as the starting point of a customer journey (2011:15). The customer journey/experience is the full involvement that a customer has with a particular brand, starting at the first connection between customer and service, and ending with the purchasing of a product or service and the advocacy of said product or service to others (Richardson, 2010). Touch points provide the basis and foundations for information gathering techniques used by customers.