Generation Y multichannel behaviour for complex services: the need for human contact embodied through a distance relationship

Ilaria Dalla Pozza, Sandrine Heitz-Spahn () and Lionel Texier
Additional contact information
Ilaria Dalla Pozza: IPAG Business School
Sandrine Heitz-Spahn: CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This paper investigates Generation Y's channel choice decisions and influencers in the service sector from the pre-purchase to the post-purchase phase. Qualitative interviews conducted with 56 respondents show that, contrary to expectations, a large majority of Generation Y members still need human contact for information searching and purchasing, and does not rely on social media for purchasing complex service products, such as insurance policies. We identify three profiles according to the channel path. Human contact seekers heavily depend on parents in their decision process, they look for a personalized relationship and they need to interact with a salesperson whether in an agency or via distance relationship channels. Independent and parental advice seekers rarely visit a store but show the need to develop a distance relationship with the salesperson. Human interaction with the salesperson can be embodied through a distance relationship with traditional communication tools (e.g. telephone) and new digital communication tools (e.g. videoconference; chat).

Date: 2017-03-24
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2017, 25 (3), pp.226-239. ⟨10.1080/0965254X.2017.1299785⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02512675

DOI: 10.1080/0965254X.2017.1299785

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().