Web Systems Design and Online Consumer Behavior [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Managerial Implications and Future Trends

Consistent with
prior research, customer satisfaction should remain a primary strategic focus of service providers
due to its strong impact on customer retention. The practical implications of switching costs may,
however, not be so straightforward. One possible conclusion is that online firms should build up
various switching costs (following possible guidelines stemming from 5Ps analysis) through their
Web sites’ elements so as to retain existing customers. Such a recommendation seems most fitting
for firms who generally satisfy their customers but want some sort of “insurance” against possible
defections (Tax, Brown, & Chandrashekaran, 1998). We have not to forget that in digital economy
every supplier is a “click away.” Such “negative” barriers may do more harm than good in the long
run. Positive switching costs through Web site usability provide intrinsic benefits may be less
likely to create feelings of entrapment and, therefore, less likely to result in sabotage-type
behaviors. We have argued in this chapter that customer switching costs play a key role in
competitive strategy for online firms, aiming at changing simple Web surfers into strongly loyal
customers. Of course the role of switching costs is changing in important ways as a result of the
increasingly networked environment. We also claim that managing switching costs on a Web site is
much more complex than simply raising switching costs. We know that they are a very dynamic force
and that managing them involves many difficult challenges: managers need to understand what types
of switching cost opportunities are available through their Web sites’ elements. They need to try
and understand the potential strength, or degree, of the different switching cost opportunities
they plan to pursue; they need to recognize how switching costs are changing as a result of the
increasingly networked environment; they need a long-term strategic approach (focused mainly on
cognitive lock-in than on behavioural ones) for developing switching costs; they need to innovate
or quickly adapt to changes to ensure the maintenance of switching costs over time. While these new
switching costs do not arise solely due to the characteristics of the networked economy, we argue
that they are definitely more prominent because of this changing environment. Furthermore we argue
that the changing environment is affecting almost all switching costs in important ways that must
be recognized. Whether or not firms can or want to capitalize on these changes, at least they need
to be aware of them. Finally, the idea of different kinds of online switching costs goes well
beyond the classic case of “lock-in.” Lock-in may be what all firms are striving for, but in
reality it is a situation few firms still achieve.

Finally, our chapter, by choosing the online environment as an example, tries to react to the
matter that switching costs are still often viewed in the literature as an abusive or opportunistic
behavior on the part of suppliers and as a problem for captive customers, not distinguishing
between positive and negative switching barriers. Obviously the potential for suppliers to behave
opportunistically towards customers with high switching costs will always exist. However, the rapid
pace and scope of change in today’s competitive environment increase the opportunities for
revolutions to occur that can unlock customers. As a result, today’s opportunistic firms run the
risk of being lockedout by customers in the future.