Lecture 8/9: Webcare

Question 1

Webcare: two-pronged approach

Answer 1

1. create brand generated content
   - in the brand’s own page
   - through influencers
   - Managing within the realm of advertising
2. managing conversation with consumers online
   - public relations

Question 2

Why is webcare so important?

Answer 2

it is observed by the crowd!

Question 3

The role of the bystander: Those observing base their judgement on the communication exchange that is visible online because that is all the information they have available. Which theory fits with this?

Answer 3

Signalling theory: people rely on specific signal in order to reduce the uncertainty about their decisions

Question 4

Defintions of Webcare

Answer 4

“The online interactions between organizations and consumers about consumer questions, complaints, and experiences with regard to the organization’s products or services”
- Kerkhof & Dijkmans, 2019

“Webcare is the act of engaging in online communication to participate in online conversation with consumers and to respond to consumer reviews”
- Casado-Díaz, Andreu, Beckmann, & Miller, 2020

Question 5

What is webcare?

Answer 5

replying to comments on social media
- on consumers’ own page
- on the pages of the organization

replying to online reviews
- on review platfotms
- on sales websites
- on brands’ own page

Question 6

What do studies say about responding to eWOM?

Answer 6

Most studies suggest a positive effect of responding to eWOM: when businesses have the necessary means, providing webcare is, by default, the best way to manage eWOM

Question 7

What do studies say about responding to positive and/or negative eWOM?

Answer 7

Responding to negative eWOM =positive effect, including on financial performance

Responding to positive WOM = negative effect, on sales revenue: we advise managers to leave positive reviews unanswered, especially in the case of scares resources to reply in a personalized manner

Question 8

WHO should respond?

Answer 8

There are benefits of having other consumers replying to eWOM; businesses could think of setting up ambassadorship programs or other ways to encourage satisfied customers to join the conversation

Webcare (especially towards negative review) should have a high level of ownership (i.e. signed with the name of the person responding)

There is a negative effect on financial performance when managers reply and no difference in attitude towards the brand between answers from managers and staff members

Question 9

WHEN to respond?

Answer 9

As fast as possible: webcare given within a short time frame leads to the most favourable outcomes

Question 10

WHERE to respond?

Answer 10

Reply to eWOM regardless of the platform, but bear in mind that responding can sometimes lead to privacy infringement feelings
Firms should publicly contact complaints and invite them to engage in a private conversation, especially when the interaction is in an early stage

Question 11

HOW to response?

Answer 11

• In a tailored/personalized manner
• Using a conversation human tone (but not too informal) and showing empathy
• Long and detailed replies, especially to negative revies
• Accommodative webcare (e.g. apologizing, offering compensation)
  -> positive outcomes (compared to defensive webcare) when managing NWOM
  -A combination of accommodative strategies (for instance, apologizing, explaining and, when possible, offering compensation)
  ->most positive outcomes
• Defensiveness is preferable when the reviews mention mismatched preferences, unrealistic expectations or occasionally unreasonableness

Question 12

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: What is the focus on in this paper?

Answer 12

• How do airline companies offer apologies to complaining customers on Twitter?
• How does offering an apology with and without a defensive and/or accommodative strategy affect passengers’ perception of the airline’s reputation?

Question 13

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: What is the accommodative webcare strategy?

Answer 13

apology and corrective action: indicating that the risk of service failure would be reduced in the near future
e.g. “a new baggage basement will open soon which reduces the risk of lost luggage”

Question 14

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: What is the defensive webcare strategy?

Answer 14

justification: giving more information about the cause of the service failure
e.g. “Due to a fault in the baggage handling system at Schiphol your suitcase remained behind”

Question 15

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: Who is to blame when using a accommodative response?

Answer 15

Accommodative responses are used to communicate a high degree of responsibility

Question 16

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: Who is to blame when using a defensive response?

Answer 16

Defensive responses are used to express a low a degree of responsibility for a service failure

Question 17

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: How was brand reputation measured?

Answer 17

Credibility: organization is believed to deliver what it has promised

Responsibility: how at blame is the organization for what has occurred

Question 18

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: What was the design?

Answer 18

Corpus study/content analysis English conversations on airlines’ Twitter pages; total of 1,426 tweets

Experimental design 2 x 2 x 2 between subjects design with Apology (present vs. absent), Defensive strategy (present vs. absent), and Accommodative strategy (present vs. absent)

Question 19

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: What were the results?

Answer 19

Apologies are quite often present in webcare (H1 not supported)

Apolgoies are more used with accommodative strategies than defensive strategies (H2 supported)

The wording ‘sorry’ was used most often by airline companies, ‘regret’ hardly occured (H3 supported)

No significant difference between the presence and absence of an apology on both brand reputation cosntructs (credibility and responsibility) (H4 not supported)

The airline’s credibility was evaluated more positively when the webcare response contained a justification and a corrective action than a response with a justification but without a corrective action (H5 partially supported)

The airline was perceived as more responsible when responding without a justification and without a corrective action than responding without justification but with a corrective action (H5 partially supported)

Webcare without an apology, but with a justification and a corrective action was perceived as more credible than a response without a corrective action (H5 partially supported)

Corrective action = accommodative strategy
Justification = defensive stratefy

Question 20

Apologies and Webcare | van Hooijdonk & Liebrecht, 2021: Main takeaways

Answer 20

Apologies do not enhance brand reputation

Overall, no differences in the perceived credibility and responsibility were found when a defensive strategy was used (i.e., no apology) or an accommodative strategy was used (i.e., an apology)

The combination of a defensive (i.e., justification) and accommodative (i.e., corrective action) strategy enhance a company’s reputation: the airline is seen as more credible and less responsible for the service failure

Question 21

Conversational human voice | Javornik et al. 2020: What was studies in this paper?

Answer 21

Two studies test whether organizational responses to customer complaints on social media conveyed through high (vs. low) conversational human voice (CHV) and lengthy (vs. short) replies influence observer satisfaction with complaint handling and, ultimately, corporate image and word-of-mouth intention

In light of the Justice perception theory

Question 22

Conversational human voice | Javornik et al. 2020: What is the Justice perception theory?

Answer 22

It is the subjective evaluation of how an individual or an entity is treated with regard to interactional, procedural and distributive justice

Interactional = the perception of how a customer is treated during service recovery. This can be realized by favorable employee behavior such as providing explanations or being friendly, showing respect, interest, and empathy

Procedural = the process of handling the complaint and includes the fairness and flexibility of the procedures

Distributive justice = the fairness of the offered compensation or resolution to offset the loss experiences by the service failure

Question 23

Conversational human voice | Javornik et al. 2020: Design

Answer 23

Study 1:
- Experimental design with 3 conditions: high CHV, low CHV and no response
- Stimuli based on complaints on an airline’s Facebook page

Study 2:
- 2 (high vs low CHV) x 2 (short vs long reply) experimental design
- Stimuli based on complaints on a car rental’s Facebook page

Question 24

Conversational human voice | Javornik et al. 2020: Results study 1

Answer 24

H1(High CHV -> High satisfaction): not supported
H2a (mediated by interactional): supported
H2b (mediated by procedural): partially supported
H2c (mediated by distributive): not supported
H3a (interactional -> procedural): supported
H3b (interactional -> distributive): supported
H5a (satisfaction -> corporate image): supported
H5b (satisfaction -> WOM intention): not supported

Question 25

Conversational human voice | Javornik et al. 2020: Results study 2

Answer 25

H4a (CHV moderates reply length -> interactional): supported
H4b (CHV moderates reply length -> procedural): not supported
H4c(CHV moderates reply length -> distributive): partially supported
Among observers such that long (vs short) replies in low CHV lead to higher justice dimension, but the length does not affect the justice dimensions for high CHV (supported when looking at high CHV)
H5a (satisfaction -> corporate image): supported
H5b (satisfaction -> WOM intention): not supported
- (same as study 1)

Question 26

Conversational human voice | Javornik et al. 2020: Main takeaways

Answer 26

A high CHV -> more positive justice perceptions by observers, thanks to the effect of CHV on interactional justice

Not all justice dimensions are affected in the same manner—
CHV has a negative direct effect on distributive and procedural justice: an informal tone can decrease the perception of how fair the applied procedure and outcome of the complaint handling would be
Reply length significantly changes justice perceptions when the company replies with a corporate tone, but not when responses are in high CHV

So:
The tone of voice and reply length that are employed in public response to a complaint (webcare) can, therefore, significantly shift the perception of those observing the exchange.