Internet currency

Citation

(2013), "Internet currency", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2013.07730caa.001

Internet currency

Article Type: Internet currency From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 30, Issue 3

Edited by Dennis A. Pitta, University of Baltimore

Social and online media are changing the face of consumer behavior

One of the keys to marketing success is connection with consumers. Previously we focused on brand engagement. Engagement’s importance is that it is instrumental in developing a relationship between a customer and a brand. That relationship is vital, since the customer is in control and chooses the company and product/service bundle.

In the past, marketers drove the relationship using the Awareness to Action process, variously known as the sales funnel, or the consideration cycle (Evans, 2005). That model worked in predicting what needed to be done to promote some consumer behavior. Today, the internet and mobile technology have both changed so much that the model is no longer useful.

The changing nature of consumption

Today’s consumers connect with others online seeking their experience to aid them in decision making. One version of the sales funnel incorporates their experience sharing as:

Awareness →Consideration →Purchasing →Sharing

It is called the Social Feedback Cycle (Evans, 2012). However, recent research questions the accuracy of that linear process. Google released a free e-book called the Zero Moment of Truth Handbook as well as a survey concept piece called the “Zero Moment of Truth” (Google, 2012a, b). Both reflect Google’s broad interest in understanding consumers’ use of non-traditional media. That interest supports Google’s plan to refine knowledge of how each consumer proceeds from awareness to purchase. With its ability to accumulate data on individuals, the possibility of tracking their behavior in order to predict future behavior increases.

Google’s research quantified the amount of online search that went into consumer purchase and found that:70 percent of Americans look at product reviews before making a purchase (Penn Schoen Berland, 2009);79 percent of consumers use a smartphone to help with shopping (Google/Ipsos OTX MediaCT, 2011); and83 percent of moms do online research after seeing TV commercials for products that interest them (Google, 2009).Instead of selecting products and services from those they see in advertisements, internet-era shoppers are motivated to find solutions to their own lives. In that context their search for product information includes thinking about how products can enhance their lives in terms that they value. They are skilled and empowered to research extensively to understand the nature of product benefits and the conditions that may reduce or increase them. To accomplish their goals, they need more than just information; they need the clarity that interactivity with others brings. Thus they seek out others with whom to connect to learn not just basic information such as whether a hotel offers an airport shuttle but whether it runs seven days a week and the hours it runs each day. Moreover, they learn how to use the service including whether a reservation or a request call is necessary. The search for information in the detail they need tends to foster relationships with their information sources. They are motivated by a desire to take charge of their own identities and the well-being of their families (Google 2012a, b).

The zero moment of truth

Meeting those shopper needs begins at the “Zero Moment of Truth”. The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) is based on a Procter & Gamble concept called the First Moment of Truth (FMOT), which expresses the importance of the critical first moment the consumer encounters a product at the retail shelf. I remember standing with a Nestlé product manager in an upscale supermarket in Chile while he instructed me to watch customers choose a container of ice cream. I asked why and he said, “estimate the First Moment of Truth”. He was really interested in the first few seconds in which a customer encounters a product on the shelf. Without really knowing what we were observing, he pointed to one customer after another and timed the duration of each of their choices. It sometimes took a minute or two before they picked a brand and a flavor. He then took me to the coffee aisle. Proudly, he observed customers choosing Nestlé in ten to fifteen seconds. He, as product manager, had done his job well and continued to win the battle for the consumer. In fact, chosen brands win two FMOTs. One is at the time of choice, and the second is when a customer tries it and hopefully adopts it (Lafley, 2011).

The FMOT is still valuable but a bit outdated. When it applied, near instantaneous intricate information search was not possible. In today’s environment, consumers are experts before they reach the shelf. Using multiple sources, they have remarkable information about the brands that are relevant to them. More important, they process the details in depth, considering the impact on their lives, leisure, work, family and friends.

The Zero Moment of Truth determines a customer’s shopping list along with his or her preferred vendors. Perhaps as important, it determines with whom they share the results. Marketers may be completely shut out of the process and be reduced to the relatively weak position of trying to offer a better mousetrap. To have any influence at all, marketers must find a way to be present at the ZMOT and to provide whatever information that shoppers want in the form that they want it.

Being present at the zero moment of truth

Google’s research stresses that marketers must be present at each customer’s ZMOT. It is an imperative, not a suggestion. In the past, companies could put representatives near the shelf to offer information or inducements to buy. But where is the shelf? Since the shelf is virtual, customers can reach their ZMOT anywhere. The ability to do so is not easy but companies can prepare and build vectors to intercept customers. Their e-books convey hard truths that represent the challenges of competing today. They begin with the realization that every shopper is unique and marketers should be prepared to “meet shoppers in their way at their preferred time”. Another challenge is that the internet is like a Star Trek transporter that allows customers to leave stores instantly. A third one deals with the online shopping cart. Google reports that “seven out of every 10 shoppers who added items to an online cart didn’t actually make the purchase” (Google, 2012b).

In the future, we’ll examine suggested strategies for overcoming these three obstacles. Without succeeding, marketers will become irrelevant and succumb to competitors who can.

In our next issue, we will investigate further aspects of brand engagement and invite readers to submit their favorite examples for our consideration.

Reader requests

Please forward all requests and queries to: Dr. Dennis Pitta, University of Baltimore, 1420 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-5779, USA. Alternatively, please send e-mail to: dpitta@ubalt.edu for prompt attention.