Branding on the Web
The role of interactivity and trust in building strong e-brands
A strong e-brand is one that enjoys a high level of loyalty from consumers. That loyalty is earned through interactivity and trust. As stated in Chapter 8, Branding on the Web, of Internet Retailing and Future Perspectives interactivity and trust are themes that feature heavily in works on e-branding (Pantano, et al., 2017). The authors go on to say that e-retailers are experiential brands, or that brand perception is derived from consumers’ total experience of the brand on the internet. That experience has been increasingly an interactive one. In other words, brands can no longer rely on one-way communication with their customers, where the brand releases the information they want their customer to know. Customers now expect communication to flow both ways, and they expect the brands they interact with to be responsive, transparent, and authentic.
Interactivity and trust are the foundation of consumer resource management in e-business, according the Faed, et al. (2010). Loyalty to e-brands, or e-loyalty, Faed, et al. go on to say, starts with smooth navigation to and on a brand’s website or e-store, and continues with personalization of the shopping process. Moving further along the customer journey, brands have come to understand that consumers have a vast array of choices, literally at their fingertips, and that competition is not limited by geography. To earn consumer loyalty, brands must be trustworthy and authentic. If a brand doesn’t do what they say they do, or otherwise fails to follow up on a promise to customers, that trust is broken, and customer loyalty disappears, as it should.
In order to maintain the back-and-forth of trust and loyalty, a brand must be responsive to its customers. Reciprocal communication fosters a sense of connection on the part of consumers between them and brands. That sense of connection helps a brand build trust. Reliability, integrity, and being a good corporate neighbor are also pillars of that trust relationship between consumers and brands. Loyalty in e-commerce is frequently perceived as something which can be bought through discounts and ‘freebies’, but the research done by Faed, et al. shows that customer loyalty is due to a CRM plan that is based solidly on interactivity or a brand’s responsiveness to their customers, and the customer loyalty that rises from trust that consumers have in brands’ authenticity, integrity, transparency, and responsibility to the communities in which those brands exist.
Sources:
Faed, A., Ashouri, A. and Wu, C. (2010). The impact of trust and interactivity on intensifying customer loyalty for CRM. Proceedings of the International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing (KMIS-2010), pages 113-120. DOI: 10.5220/0003048501130120
Pantano, E., Nguyen, B., Dennis, C., & Gerlach, S. (2017). Internet Retailing and Future Perspectives: 2nd Ed. Routledge.