Báo cáo thực tập PHÂN TÍCH HÀNH TRÌNH KHÁCH HÀNG tại đại lý ADDO của CÔNG TY cổ phần CONANDO Đà Nẵng 2020

DA NANG UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS
-----------------------------

BACHELOR’S THESIS
TOPIC:

THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY ANALYSIS AT ADDO
AGENCY OF CONANDO TECHNOLOGY AND
COMMUNICATION JOINT-STOCK COMPANY

Student

: Le Thi Thu

Class

: 42K02.4-CLC

Instructor : Prof. Nguyen Truong Son

Da Nang 2020
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To complete this bachelor’s thesis, first of all, I would like to thank the teachers of
Faculty of Business Administration at Da Nang University of Economics. Especially, I
would like to express my thanks to Professor Nguyen Truong Son who enthusiastically
helped and accompanied me to complete the thesis during the last internship.
I sincerely send thanks to the board of directors, the departments of the company,

the brothers and sisters at Conando Technology and Communication joint-stock
company has facilitated me to have the opportunity to be an internship, work, learning
experience and have helped me to complete the thesis in the best way. In addition, I
would like to thank all of you at the ADDO agency for creating the most friendly
working environment so that I have the opportunity to work and improve my skills.
Finally, I would like to thank the university for giving me the opportunity to work in a
practical environment, to give me the opportunity to interact and apply the knowledge
that my teachers taught me when I was still sitting in a university.
Because of my limited time and knowledge, this thesis report still has many errors
and wishes to receive valuable contributions from teachers. I wish teachers always
good health and success in teaching!

Da Nang, 2020
STUDENT
LE THI THU

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CONTENTS

3


LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS
B2B
CRM
IMC
SMEs
HR

C&B
CEO
KOLs
WOM
eWOM

Business To Business
Customer Relationship Management
Integrated Marketing Communications
Small and Medium Enterprises
Human Resources
Compensation and Benefits
Chief Executive Officer
Key Opinions Leaders
Word Of Mouth
Electronic Word-Of-Mouth

4


LIST OF TABLES

5


LIST OF FIGURES

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OVERVIEW
1. Research backgrounds and motivations
Today, according to Følstad & Kvale (2018) The customer journey has become an
increasingly important topic in service management and design. Moreover, the
customer journey plays an important role in helping the company grow sustainably. It
is important to help ensure an optimal experience for customers, thereby creating
loyalty and a long-term relationship between customers and brands.
The current, thanks to the development of the information network, so customers
have more choices and power. Many companies may give customers the right to
register, try, or choose to buy some product features. With the increasing number of
communication channels and the increasing number of consumers, understanding the
next action for each customer journey at a specific time seems difficult. It can be
difficult to track every interaction across all channels and predict the next step to
increase customer satisfaction, improve conversion rates, and increase sales or speed
and time to handle. Therefore, measuring experience is often complicated by
subjective factors. Lemon & Verhoef (2016) believe that over time, customer
experience has become more familiar as customers can interact with companies
through multiple contact points across multiple channels. Many studies show that there
is a need to strengthen theory, understanding, and knowledge in this important
marketing area.
Especially, according to Følstad & Kvale (2018) within the service field, the
processual and experiential aspects of services are very important. For Verhoef,
Lemon, Parasuraman, Roggeveen, Tsiros, & Schlesinger, (2009) a customer journey
means that customers are reactive, aware and associates for a company and it is an
important competitive advantage in a range of service areas. The notion that the
customer journey are formed in (as well as before and after) interactions between
customers and service providers, therefore generated numerous customer journey
studies (Carreira et al., 2013; Verhoef et al., 2009). So how does the customer journey
develop throughout the service process? (Baron & Harris, 2010; Johnston & Kong,
2011; Walter et al., 2010).

For having several methods such as detailed planning and service design have been
proposed to manage the customer service process and experience (Verhoef et al.,
2009). However, how to improve and manage customer experience across channels
and interact with customers is a matter of concern. According to Lemon & Verhoef
(2016), companies should understand both their views and customers about the buying
journey by identifying key issues, touchpoints, and specific events that cause
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customers to continue or stop the journey. In today's business, it is a good customer
journey that leads brands to succeed, not only in quality but also in the value of the
products or services that the company brings to its customers (Edelman, David, and
Marc Singer, 2015). Successful companies in delivering great customer journeys tend
to win the market (Rawson, Duncan & Jones, 2013).
In addition, according to Norton & Pine (2013) the customer journey, in essence,
means the sequence of events (whether designed or not) that the customer undergoes
to learn, buy and interact with products and services of the company. Many companies
realize that if they want to be customer-centric, they need to understand and define the
sequence of events that their customers may meet. However, it would be
counterproductive to approach the customer journey as if it were a marketing issue.
The customer journey must be the final result of implementing the strategic plan.
Journey by a chain of events where the company provides value to customers, seeking
profit for the company and the difference from the competition. Properly
implementing and managing customer journey, so the company can improve better the
current services, can help the company innovate, allocate resources and switch from
the old business model to the new business model based on new jobs that customers
want the company to do. Customer journey management helps solve complex
problems in business strategies such as how to create a customer-focused vision in the
future and implement a strategy that will bring benefits to the company. The strategy is
about how the company can create the best economical value for customers, so every

strategy needs to consider the fundamental change occurring in the economy means
that in many industries commodities and services quickly become essential goods. In
such industries, success ultimately depends on the experience that companies create
for their customers, even if their main business activity is still goods or services.
The customer journey describes the important stages from the beginning to the end
of the experience (Rawson, Duncan & Jones, 2013). The relationship between the
customer journey and company strategy provides a coherent structure for the business
model. By understanding the milestones and designing the delivery channels on those
milestones, companies can better understand the management of what customers need,
value proposition, resource allocation, channel, revenue allocation, and cost structure.
In today's experience economy, value is measured by whether or not customers want to
spend time engaging in a transaction and do it multiple times. When a company
focuses on the customer journey, design an experience for the customer. Or a company
is offering a series of events, in which there will be what customers want to do and
what the company wants customers to do. Creating a balance between customers and
the company is the essence of the experience.
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According to Temkin (2010) in the past few years, about 90% of executives have
told us that customer journeys are very important to their business operations. It is not
surprising that most organizations will fail if they do not treat their customers well.
Although the importance of customer experience is well understood, sometimes it does
not translate into great experiences. Moreover, customer journey analysis helps
marketers understand the behavior and emotions of potential customers before they
make a purchase decision. Thereby, it is possible to choose the appropriate impact
method, accelerate the purchasing process, and create a deep impression on the brand
and product. Understanding the customer journey on each customer, marketers can
visualize the problems and factors affecting the purchase behavior, so they may have
reasonable marketing solutions to attract potential customers and satisfy the

customer’s needs.
According to Hạnh, T. T. H. (2009), understanding the customer journey will
provide the basis for marketing strategies, such as product positioning, market
segmentation, new product development, new market applications, global marketing,
and marketing mix decisions. These key marketing activities will be more effective
when based on customer journey understanding. Moreover, marketers need to research
carefully on the customer journey to meet the needs, interests, habits of customers to
build appropriate marketing strategies, thereby promoting customers to buy products
and services.
So in the current, what is the customer journey at Addo agency of Conando
company like? How are customers’ expectations and need in each stage of Addo’s
customer journey and how do Addo Agency meet those customers’ expectations and
need?
In the current, having little research on customer journeys for technology and
communications companies. Therefore, I chose the topic " The customer journey
analysis at Addo agency of Conando Technology and Communication joint-stock
company "
2. Research objectives
-

Synthesis of Customer Journey theory
Determine customers' expectations and need in each stage of the customer
journey
Identify and analyze the activities the company has carried out to meet
customers' expectations and need.
Proposing some solutions to better satisfy customers' needs step by step from the
customer journey.
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3. Research object and scope
-

The object of this research is the customer journey at Addo agency of Conando
Company
Space scope: Addo Agency of Conand company.
Time range: The research is implemented from December 2019 to May 2020.

4. Research methodology
Qualitative research:
-

Synthesis of Customer Journey theory
Identify customer journey framework used for research
Perform by observation and interview method to identify the activities of the
Addo division carried out in the customer journey.

5. Report structure
Overview
Chapter 1: Literature review of Customer Journey
Chapter 2: Customer journey analysis at Addo agency of Conando Technology and
Communication joint-stock company.
Chapter 3: Solutions to satisfy customers' needs step by step from the customer
journey.

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CHAPTER 1:

LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. The customer journey
Since the 1990s the customer journey concepts have been widely used. According
to Følstad & Kvale (2018), the customer journey is considered the process by which
the customer goes through to achieve a special goal involving one or more service
providers. The customer journey is often detailed as touchpoints or interaction between
the customer and the service provider (Clatworthy, 2011; Stickdorn & Zehrer, 2009).
According to Nenonen, Rasila, Junnonen, & Kärnä (2008), the customer journey is the
cycle of the relationship, the purchase interaction between the customer and the
organization. A customer journey means the transition from a non-customer to a
customer of a company. The importance of the customer journey perspective increases
when the complexity of service delivery increases, for example when services involve
multiple touchpoints that different organizational units are responsible for (Wechsler,
2012). According to Norton & Pine (2013), the customer journey is considered as a
strategic document describing how the company plans to create important stages to
maximize user data and help the company grow.
The customer journey is interpreted in various ways in the document, such as an
"engaging story" about user interaction with a service or as an illustration of how the
customer "feel and experience of service along the timeline "(Stickdorn & Schneider,
2011). The customer journey is also described as a series of interconnected touchpoints (Koivisto & Revonsuo, 2009). In addition, the customer journey is defined as
customer interaction with one or more service providers to achieve specific goals. It is
often used as a visual view of the customer's view of the service process. A customer
journey is modeled as a series of consecutive touch-points. By the time it can be short
(hours) or long (weeks), depending on the service being implemented. Moreover, the
customer journey is a visual depiction of the customer journey and experience of using
a product or service (Marquez & Downey, 2015; Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011). An
overview of the mission from the customer journey from start to finish to be able to
understand each stage, step by step, the touchpoints with customers so that the
company can provide products or services to customers.

The customer journey is also known as the customer decision journey or consumer
purchase journey. According to Lemon & Verhoef (2016), the customer journey is a
process where customers go through all stages and touch-points, creating the customer
experience. Edelman (2010) said that the decision journey of a customer describes
how people move from reviewing a product or service to buying it and engaging with

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the brand. In each stage, customers experience touch-points that are only under the
control of companies (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).
In short, from the concepts of different researchers, the customer journey is
considered the process customers experience when buying products or services of the
company. It is a series of customer interactions with the company that creates a
purchasing experience for customers.
1.2. The customer journey framework
1.2.1. The concept and role of the customer journey framework
According to Richardson (2010), the customer journey framework is simply
understood as a diagram that illustrates the steps customers go through when engaging
with the organization whether it's a product, online experience, retail experience,
service, or any combination. Moreover, the customer journey framework also
understands the full and detailed process of the experiences that customers have with a
business. The customer journey framework is used to understand customer behavior
and ultimately serve them better. This new method is used in many fields for a
different purpose. According to Bernard & Andritsos (2017), the customer journey is a
technique that allows professionals to better understand customer experience when
they interact with service-related steps. These interactions called touchpoints.
Therefore, being able to use the customer journey framework is becoming increasingly
important for companies and it is widely used for sales. According to Rosenbaum,
Otalora & Ramírez (2017), the concept of customer journey framework is relatively

simple and it is a visual description of the series of events that customers can contact
with the organization providing the product or service during the entire purchase
process. The customer journey diagram lists all possible organizational touchpoints
that the customer may encounter during the exchange service. By understanding
customer touch-points, senior management can work with cross-functional team
members to use strategies that drive innovation for products and services. The goal of
these strategies is to enhance the interactions of product vendors, customer service by
improving the customer experience related to each touchpoint.
The customer journey framework is used to comprehensively simulate the buying
process of customers based on their behaviors and emotions. According to Nenonen,
Rasila, Junnonen & Kärnä (2008) the customer journey framework is a systematic
approach designed to help organizations understand potential and current customers.
How customers use different channels and touchpoints, how they perceive the
organization at each touchpoint, and how they experience their organization's products
or services. This knowledge can be used to design an optimal experience that meets
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the expectations of large customer groups, gain a competitive advantage, and support
the achievement of desired customer experience goals. Specifically, in the framework,
businesses acquire the entire experience of each customer from the beginning of
contact with the business until making them loyal customers.
According to Marquez, Downey& Clement (2015), the customer journey
framework is a tool to help service providers understand the requirements of the steps
to complete a task. The customer journey map provides value for each customer step.
The organization uses the customer journey framework to highlight the difficulties that
consumers face so that the organization can reduce customer frustration or confusion.
In addition, the role of the customer journey framework helps the organization to
understand the real experience from the perspective of consumers. Based on the
complexity of the customer journey, the framework can highlight opportunities, pain

points, and calls to action. The framework can help an organization have a visual view
of the customer who uses the service and provide an opportunity to understand the
customer experience.
1.2.2. Stage of customer journey framework
Over the years, researchers have divided the customer journey into different stages,
usually from 3 to 5 stages. According to Engel, Blackwell & Kollat, (1968), the
customer journey is divided into 5 stages: need recognition, information search,
evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, post-purchase behavior. Another study of
(Frambach, Roest & Krishnan, 2007; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016) the customer journey is
divided into 3 stages: pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase. Wolny &
Charoensuksai (2014) presented five stages as they divided the pre-purchase stage into
orientation, information search, and evaluation. (Figure 1.1)

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The customer
journey

3 stage

5 stage

• Engel et al. (1986)
• Frambach et al.
• Wolney &
(2007)
• Lemon &
Charoensuksai (2014)
Verhoef(2016)

• Kannan & Li (2017)
Figure 1.1: The division of the customer journey into stages by different
scholars (Source: Rahikainen, 2019))
In this thesis, the five-stage model of the customer journey is used as a base for the
study (Figure 1.2). The division into different stages is useful, so customers may seek
different benefits and prefer different channels before, during, and after purchase
(Wolny & Charoensuksai, 2014). All customers do not go through all of these stages
every time they want to purchase products or services. However, it is good that the
company understands what to do in each stage to provide products or services to
customers. In this study, the customer journey framework consists of five stages to
analyze and understand the actions that the company carries out to meet customer
expectations and needs. Therefore, analyzing this customer journey framework is
based on the aspect of the company that provides the product or service, not on the
customer side.

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1.2.2.1.

Figure 1.2: The Theoretical framework of the study
(Source: Rahikainen, 2019)
Need recognition

Need recognition is the first stage of the decision journey. The customer journey
begins when the buyer is aware of a problem or they discover that they need after their
interest is captured (Clark, 2013) by internal or external stimulation. This stage where
customers are aware of the needs and need to find solutions to satisfy that demand.
According to Bruner & Pomazal (1988) divided the problem recognition into two
scenarios: “Selective problem recognition” refers to the situation where only a specific

brand will meet the need. Besides, “Generic problem recognition” means that a
customer perceives a need that can be satisfied with a variety of products.
In this stage, customers might be consciously, or unconsciously scanning market
information or reflecting on their own experience (Wolny & Charoensuksai, 2014).
Information about products or services that customers can know through advertising,
trends, information from friends, or social media. According to Bruner & Pomazal,
(1988), sometimes customers are aware of their needs when a product or service has
run out and it satisfies the needs of customers in the past. Besides, the customer wants
new things. Although they are satisfied with the current plan, they expect a new
solution so it can lead to a change in brand.
According to (Philip Kotler & Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing Management
Book) marketers need to identify situations that cause a specific need by collecting
15


information from a consumer. They can then develop strategies that attract the interest
of consumers. Bruner &Pomazal (1988) believe that the first purchasing decision can
lead to a new need. For example, when buying a product, the customer can be
rewarded with or discounted for another product from which the customer can arise or
discover a new issue. Moreover, many authors also claim that the initial experience
influences the customer's future decision because they may feel satisfied or
dissatisfied.
To sum up, during this period customers can be aware of their needs or be
stimulated by external factors such as advertising, information from friends, social
media networks.
1.2.2.2.

Information search

In this stage, the consumer familiarizes with the offering call this “search effort”

(Frambach, Roest & Krishnan, 2007). According to Clark (2013), in this stage,
consumers understand better the mechanisms for learning about products or services.
The consumer has now developed an intention and is trying to get more information
using different channels (Wolny & Charoensuksai, 2014).
According to (Philip Kotler & Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing Management
Book) buyers try to identify the most suitable provider of products or services through
catalogs, commercial contact numbers, commercial advertisements, trade shows, and
the Internet. Moreover, the surprise is that customers often search for a limited amount
of information. Surveys show that in the long run, half of the customers only look for
information at one supplier, and only 30% of customers look for information from two
or more brands for the same product or service. There are two levels of search:
moderate search status is called heightened attention. At this level, customers are only
more aware of information about a product. Customer’s attention is enhanced, they
become familiar with the various products and services that can fit their needs and pay
attention to advertisements or conversations about the topic they are interested in. In
the next level, a person may be in a state of active information research, the client is
more actively engaged in conversations and finds more and more information. They
can search for information through search books, call friends, surf the web, and visit
shops or call vendors to learn about products or services. According to (Schmidt &
Spreng, 1996) believes that customer’s abilities and motivation affect the search for
information and that they are different among buying situations. Moreover, if the
purchase is repeated or if it is an essential product or service, the need for information
will be much smaller.

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The information can be gathered both from external (for example discussions or
sales promotions) or internal sources (memory) (Butler & Peppard, 1998). An external
search is needed when a consumer has not previously acquired the required

information or cannot recall it from the memory (Schmidt & Spreng 1996). Clark
(2013) argues that in this stage, consumers begin to listen to others’ opinions and
previous experiences. The main sources of information that customers use: Individuals
(Family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances), advertising (advertisements, websites,
salespeople, agents, packaging) presentation), public (mass media, consumer rating
organizations), experience (hold, test, use of the product). The impact of these sources
varies according to the buyer's portfolio of products, services, and characteristics. In
general, although customers receive the most information from advertising sources
controlled by the seller, the most effective information usually comes from personal
sources, experience sources, or sources. Each source information has different
functions that influence purchasing decisions. Advertising sources have informational
functions, while individual sources perform legalization or evaluation functions. By
gathering information, customers learn about competing brands and their unique
characteristics and then aggregate existing brands according to the existing scheme.
Customers will learn about the subset of brands, the awareness set of several brands
and the considered set will meet the purchase list. When customers collect a lot of
information, of which only a few information, the choice set is still competitive,
customers make the final choice from this number.
According to (Philip Kotler & Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing management
book) during this period, marketers need to determine the rank of the attributes that
influence consumer decision making to understand different sources of competition.
This level of determination is called the market partitioning (Figure 1.3). For example,
a few years ago, most car buyers decided to choose the manufacturer and then decided
to sort the vehicle (the brand dominated-brand-dominant hierarchy). In this set, a buyer
may prefer General Motor than the Chevrolet car. Nowadays, many buyers decide
which countries produce cars they wish to purchase in advance (the dominant national
rank – nation-dominant hierarchy). Buyers can decide to buy the German car first, then
the Audi, and then the Audi model A4. Buyers choosing the first price are those who
are dominated by dominant prices. The people who decide on the first type of vehicle
to be the dominant vehicle. Those who choose the first brand are dominated by the

brand. Consumers are dominated by the category/price/brand that makes up one
segment. One buys quality/service/category into another. Each segment may have
different demographics, psychology, media, different reviews, and options.

17


A company must strategize to incorporate company information into potential
customers' perceptions, reviews, and choices. The company must also identify other
brands in the consumer choice set so that it can plan an appropriate competitive
method. Moreover, marketers should identify consumers' sources of information and
evaluate their relative importance. An interview about the initial information
customers hear about the brand and the relative importance between different sources
will help the company prepare effective communication for the target market.
Decision
Choice set
Consider
set
Figure 1.3: Customer information synthesis diagram (Source: Philip Kotler &
Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing management book)

General

Recognize

To sum up, after being aware of a problem or need, customers can make an effort to
find information from external or internal sources. They can search for information
through media networks, friends, ads... The search for information can be dominated
by preferences such as price, country, brand, feature ... of a good product or service.
1.2.2.3.

Evaluation of alternatives

According to Teo & Yeong (2003), customers seek information to create a set of
preferred alternatives. During this period, customers begin to systematically consider
these alternatives (Clark, 2013). In line with the previous stage call this “evaluation
effort”. Butler & Peppard (1998) list experience, consumer groups, research
organizations, marketing communications, and word of mouth as traditional sources of
information for this period. In addition, the author explains that the Internet allows the
use of more clearly defined evaluation criteria. The information search will continue
and customers will find relevant information such as price, availability, physical
attributes, quality, purchase channels, and brands (Wolny & Charoensuksai, 2014).
Customers can search for input from colleagues, from different reviews, competitors...
They download demos, watch videos, try the products, listen based on different
conversations around the brand (Clark 2013). Teo & Yeong (2003) reveal that
consumers use both information stored in memory and information obtained from
external sources to develop these criteria to help them compare alternatives. Comegys,
Hannula & Väisänen, (2006) show that the consumers can set acceptable minimum
standards for products or services to be included in their consideration. In a B2B
context, the purchasing process can be strictly specified and suppliers are chosen based
on evaluation criteria created specifically for each product or service to be bought
(Lindberg & Nordin, 2008). According to McGaughey & Mason (1998), there are
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different rules in the evaluation of alternative products or services: With compensatory
rules, consumers decide on the importance of a set of attributes and then evaluate each
product or service selection with these attributes to determine the product, the highest
value service. The dictionary rule defines which attributes are most important to the
customer, and the highest product ratings among them are the winner of the selection.

Finally, a combination rule can be used to remove products with poor proportions on
selected attributes.
According to (Philip Kotler & Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing management
book), how do customers handle competitive brand information and perform final
value assessment? There is no single process used by all consumers or one consumer
for all purchase situations. Consumers pay the most attention to the attributes that
distribute after-sales benefits. We may segment a product or service according to the
importance of attributes and benefits to different consumer groups. Through
experience and learning, people shape beliefs and attitudes which in turn affect buying
behavior. A belief is a thought that describes something of a person. Equally important
are attitudes that review customers’ favorite and dislike, feelings, and long-term trends
in action for a few objects or ideas of a person. Therefore, to develop compelling value
proposals, marketers need to understand how buyers make their reviews to come up
with a value for customer purchases. Customers can negotiate with your preferred
supplier for better pricing and terms before making a final selection. Although the next
steps are to find strategic sourcing, find partners, and participate in multi-functional
groups, buyers have to spend time bargaining with suppliers. The number of buyers
focusing on prices may differ by country, depending on customer preference for
different products and services. Marketing professionals may reject the requirements
for providing low prices in many ways. They can give evidence that the lifecycle costs
of using the product are lower than competitors’ products. The provider of the product
or service can cite the value of the service that the current buyer receives, especially if
their product or service is better than the competitor. Court (2009) emphasizes that
clients can actively seek information and evaluate their choices. Some companies may
be able to resolve the buyers' price focus status by giving a low price but establishing a
limited condition: (1) limited quantities, (2) non-refundable, (3) Non-adjustment, (4)
No service. However Comegys, Hannula,& Väisänen, (2006) have concluded that the
consumer has a limited processing time so that at some point the evaluation must be
stopped and the consumer must move on to the actual decision-making phase.
Edelman (2010) advocates the view that the Internet has changed the competition of

brands and consumers are using more and more channels that are not in the control of
the company or even knowledge. Gupta et al. (2004) argue that with physical products,
19


consumers may be difficult to evaluate some attributes, such as style or color, online,
characteristics. Therefore, they claim that in some cases, online channels can delay
part of the evaluation process.
In summary, customers search for information to form a selection set. Customers
will process competitive brand information and conduct reviews to select brands of
products and services that suit their needs.
1.2.2.4.

Purchase decision

According to Lemon & Verhoef (2016), the purchase stage includes all customer
interactions with the service and products of the company in the actual buying event.
During this period, (Frambach et al., 2007; Wolny & Charoensuksai, 2014) the
decision relating to the final purchase was made. Revella (2011) argued that
purchasing decisions were driven by emotional factors and were subsequently
demonstrated by reasonable factors in terms of products and prices. In the B2B
context, the company may consider different things with more value depending on the
necessary product or service (Lindberg & Nordin, 2008). Comegys, Hannula, &
Väisänen, 2006) believe that consumers may have ranked brands in their selections
based on information collected during the evaluation stage, but this information is not
guaranteed to be decisive. For example, the opinions of others or unexpected
situations, such as the sudden urge to some other purchases, may affect the final
decision.
According to Butler & Peppard (1998), this stage consists of decisions about where
and how the question is: where conclusions are made about the seller and concerns

about the nature of transactions and contracts. There are three specific actions for this
period: selection, order, and payment (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). According to
McGaughey and Mason (1998) designate this list with decisions about purchase
quantity, payment methods, and time of purchase. (Gupta, Bo-Chiuan, & Walter, 2004)
assume that the customer puts a different value into fast delivery and it can affect
customer satisfaction. Moreover, all core interactions, including employees, customers,
and technology can also influence satisfaction (Voorhees et al., 2017)
According to (Philip Kotler & Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing management
book), during the evaluation stage, consumers formulate preferences among brands in
a set of options and may form the intention of buying the most preferred brand. While
making a purchase intent, consumers can make five types of sub-decisions: brand,
agent, quantity, time, and payment method. But when consumers have formed brand
reviews, there are still two common factors that can interfere with the intention and the
decision to make a purchase. The first factor is the attitude of others. The influence of
20


the individual depends on two things: (1) The intensity of the negative attitude of
others with respect to our preference and (2) The motivation that we perform in the
desire of others. As the negative intensity of others is higher and the more the person is
close to the client, the customer will adjust the purchase attitude. The opposite
situation is also true. The level of cognitive risk varies with the amount of money lost,
the level of instability of the property, and the user's confidence level. Consumers
develop habits to minimize instability and negative risk chains, such as avoiding
decision-making, gathering information from friends, and developing priorities for
national brand names and warranties. Marketing professionals must understand the
factors that cause the psychological risk of consumers and provide support information
to mitigate them.
In summary, during this period, customers decide to make a purchase. The buying
decision is driven by emotional factors and then it is justified by psychological factors

about the product and price. Moreover, customers may be influenced by the opinions
of others or unexpected situations that affect purchasing decisions.
1.2.2.5.

Post-purchase behavior

According to Lemon & Verhoef (2016), the post-purchase stage covers all aspects
of the after purchase customer experience related to the brand, product, or service.
This stage includes the use and consumption of the purchased product, or service, the
post-purchase commitment, and service request. Moreover, reviews, customer
feedback, and recommendations are included in this stage. According to Lindberg &
Nordin (2008), the soft skills of suppliers, such as creativity, flexibility, cooperation,
and communication skills, are especially important in this period. Court (2009) has
said that during this period “the task of the marketer has just begun” because what
happens after the buying will form the customer's opinion about every purchase
decision in the product portfolio in the future. According to Frambach, Roest, &
Krishnan (2007) mention that customers decide whether to continue using and make a
repurchase. Teo & Yeong (2003) explain that the after purchase review is to help make
future decisions. A great experience can lead customers to the same brand when there
is a similar need and bad experience will lead to disappointment after purchasing. This
result is in line with Lindberg and Nordin (2008), who show that post-purchase
reviews and customer tracking are important to suppliers.
Gilly & Gelb (1982) view post-purchase behavior is a method for consumers to
compare their expectations against reality. So that customers can experience
satisfaction or dissatisfaction and how to act when affected by satisfaction or
dissatisfaction. If the resulting status is unhappy, the client may decide to complain
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and feel frustrated. The company response and resolution to these complaints also lead

to satisfaction or dissatisfaction because the customer can hope on what they think can
be achieved after they complain. This will affect the ability of customers to return to
use the company's products or services (Gilly & Gelb, 1982). However, when
customers are satisfied with a product or service, it is not the single cause of customer
decision repurchase (Geva & Goldman, 1991). Satisfaction must reflect past customer
buying behavior and intention to buy back when the customer has experienced about
product or service. Therefore, in some cases, they are suitable for different functions
and cannot be considered as a causal relationship. Vivek, Beatty, & Morgan (2012)
mention that customer involvement can occur in every stage of the customer journey
from the need to recognize the after purchase. The discussion of this issue during this
period is quite natural and the author has listed that the customer's involvement can
lead to successful marketing results, such as loyalty, value, beliefs. Participating
customers are more likely to introduce products or services to others, reference, giving
feedback, and delivering corporate messages on social media (Sashi, 2012; Kumar &
Pansari, 2016).
According to (Philip Kotler & Kevin Laue Keller (1967). Marketing management
book) after purchase, consumers can experience disagreement from the identification
of disturbing characteristics of hearing bad things about other products and will doubt
the information that has supported its purchase decision. Marketing communications
should bring trust and assessments to reinforce consumer decisions, and help them feel
good about the brand. Therefore, the marketing expert's task is still not over when the
customer has made a purchase. Marketing professionals must monitor satisfaction after
providing products or services, actions after purchase, use, and disposal after purchase.
Satisfaction level after purchase: Satisfaction level is a function of the equivalent level
of expectation and perceived effectiveness of the product. If efficiency does not meet
expectations, consumers will be disappointed. If it meets expectations, consumers will
be satisfied. If it exceeds expectations, consumers will be happy. These emotions make
a difference in whether customers buy the product or not and will say good or bad
about the product to others. The bigger the gap between expectations and efficiency,
the bigger the frustration. Here, consumer response is a factor to focus on. Some

consumers pay a lot of attention to the disparity when buying an imperfect product and
extremely disappointing, others don't put the problem too much and are less frustrated.
In summary, after purchase consumers may be satisfied and dissatisfied with the
product or service purchased. If customers feel dissatisfied, they can complain to the
company or feel disappointed.
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1.2.2.6.

Channels and touch-points

Channels: Channels are the ways customers choose to interact with touchpoints
such as customers using social media to communicate with organizations (Marquez,
Downey & Clement, (2015). Channels operate differently in different stages of the
buying process: they differ in benefits and costs, customers have interests and
motivation (Lemon & Verhoef 2016; Frambach, Roest, & Krishnan, (2007). On
average, a B2B customer uses six different interactive channels in their decision
journey lists six key determinants for channel selection: marketing efforts, channel
attributes, channel integration, social impact, situation variables, and individual
differences (Lindberg & Nordin, 2008). Neslin, Grewal, Leghorn, & Shankar (2006)
give examples of channel attributes such as easy to use, price, search convenience,
service, risk, privacy, enjoyment, security, information quality, and aesthetics. With
channel integration, they mention that it's easy to move from channel to channel.
Nicholson, Clarke, & Blakemore (2002) reveal that situational factors can be divide
into physical environments (e.g. weather), social environments (shopping with
friends), temporary issues (urgent of a purchase), a task definition (a product category)
and a prerequisite (mood) mode.
Touch-points: Touch-points are usually described horizontally on the customer
journey framework along the process timeline. According to Andrews& Eade (2013),

Touch-points is the interaction between the customer and the products or services such
as searching for the product, the arrangement of possible points in a cycle. A customer
may repeat several times on the same touch-point. In addition, the arrangement is nonlinear, most customers will not go through all existing contact points. Customers may
miss a point of contact, or they may unexpectedly leave the journey.
According to Lemon & Verhoef (2016), identifies four types of customer
experience touch-points that are brand-owned, partner-owned, customer-owned, and
social/external. Customers can interact with each of these types of touch-points during
each experience period. Depending on the nature of the product, service, or individual
customer journey, the strength or importance of each type of touch-point may vary
from time to time.
Brand-owned touch-points: These touch-points are customer interactions during the
experience designed, managed and under the control of the company including all
brand-owned media (e.g. advertising, web site, programs) and any elements controlled
by the brand of the marketing program (e.g. product attributes, packaging, service,
price, convenience, salesforce). The impact of awareness of product and service
attributes on satisfaction has received significant attention. In addition, advertising and
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promotions also affect the attitude and interests of customers. The impact of more
direct brand touch-points, such as loyalty programs and direct deals, has received
significant attention in CRM documents. The impact of these programs on customer
attitudes (for example Dorotic, Bijmolt & Verhoef 2012; Venkatesan & Kumar 2004;
Verhoef 2003). Search engine advertising has also been extensively researched.
Researchers are primarily concerned with the sales effect and aim to optimize the use
of search terms (e.g. Skiera & Nabout 2013)
Partner-owned touch-points: These touch-points are customer interactions during an
experience designed jointly, managed, or controlled by the company and one or more
of their partners. Partner-owned contact points are not entirely under the control of the
company, they are designed and managed jointly with a partner, such as a marketing

agency or distribution partner. Partners may include marketing companies, multichannel distribution partners, multi-level loyalty program partners, and media channel
partners.
Customer-owned touch-points: These touch-points are customer action and are part
of the customer experience. So the company, its partners are not involved or in control.
This may also be called a search facility that includes customer-generated channels
and communities (Edelman 2010). For example, when a customer is thinking of
buying a product or service. During the purchase process, the customer's choice of
payment method is a touch-point owned by the customer. The customer-owned touchpoint is the most important and common part after purchase when consumption and
personal use occupy the central position. One might argue that this type of contact
point is the classic role the customer plays in purchasing process models. However,
this role has been expanded because customers may be valuable people, independent,
or joining the company.
Social/external touch-point: These touch-points refer to the important role of others
to the customer, all aspects surrounding the customer, such as other customers, peers,
and environmental influencers. Throughout the customer experience process
surrounded by external contacts. The social environment may also affect customer
experience such as review sites, social media. Sometimes such sources are
independent, sometimes they are closely linked together.
According to research by Rahikainen (2019), Adapted from Clark 2013; Kannan &
Li 2017; Rosenbaum et al. 2017; Stein & Ramaseshan 2016; Voorhees et al. 2017,
offer customers online and offline channels and touchpoints (Figure 1.4). Depending
on the customer, channels and touch-points are used for each stage of the customer

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journey framework. The following channels and touchpoints online, offline are shown
as follows:

Offline

Channels

Touch-points

Television, direct WOM,
radio, in-store, face to
face

Traditional ad, visiting
the store, engaging with
employee

Channels

Touch-points

Website, media, blog,
social, email, điện thoại,
podcast, ebook, mobile
map.

Search ad, display ad,
online reviews,
recommedations, , social
media interactions,
eWOM.

Online

Figure 1.4: Channels and Touch-points.

(Source: Rahikainen, 2019)
1.3. Marketing activities of businesses follow customer journeys
According to Rahikainen (2019) in today's modern consumer society, companies
and organizations should understand why, when customers decide to spend. The
company should obtain detailed information about customers' consumer behavior to
select the appropriate access channel to operate effectively. This means when these
companies have the expertise and knowledge to enable them to do business in the
market to apply the most effective marketing communications tools. Marketing
communications show a personal link between consumers and products or services.
The company should use the tools and components of marketing communications
wisely and effectively, which can affect customer behavior and branding so that
customers trust.
Furthermore, According to Clow, Baack, Villarreal, de Los Ángeles Ramos, &
Eychenbaum (2010) in a global market characterized by high dynamism and
competition, organizations try to find the most effective way to let customers
understand the benefits that can be obtained when consuming or using a product or
service. Therefore, Communication marketing has become a fundamental aspect of
marketing, business vision, and essential element in successful marketing
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