Essays on multichannel customer management

The main goal of this dissertation is to gain a greater understanding of multichannel customer behavior and how firms can manage their multichannel marketing activities. The first study reveals that three customer segments can be identified based on their orientation towards using multiple channels for search and purchase: Multichannel Enthusiasts, Store-Focused Customers and Uninvolved Shoppers. The results show that psychographic covariates such as: shopping enjoyment, brand loyalty and innovativeness are important predictors of multi-channel segment membership. The second study on forced channel migration reveals that forcing customers into another channel leads to customer reactance, which negatively affects satisfaction. This study shows that an incentive-based, reinforced channel migration strategy can alleviate the negative consequences of forced migration. Finally, the third study focuses on the consequences of channel elimination and reveals that the elimination of a print catalog decreases the purchase probability in both the telephone and the online purchase channels. As a management strategy e-mail marketing communications could help offset the negative effects of eliminating the print catalog on purchase probability.