Reinforcement of brand relationships in an omnichannel environment : a qualitative study on clothing shopping

Abstract
Today’s brands operate in an omnichannel environment consisting of different online and offline channels where the brand can be experienced. This qualitative study investigates brand relationship reinforcement in the omnichannel environment among customers of a Finnish clothing brand, R-Collection. The data collection was conducted in 2021 by interviewing ten customers of R-Collection. We examined the brand relationship reinforcement in four channels: brick-and-mortar (B&M), online store, social media, and second hand. The findings show that brand relationships can be rein-forced differently in these channels. In B&M stores, sensing the quality of clothing, a customer experience that meets expectations, and store atmosphere worth visiting are essential for strengthening the brand relationship. In online stores, finding the best online deal, browsing clothes for entertainment, testing and considering before purchase decision, and feeling of exclusivity after purchase affirmed the brand relationship. Other peoples’ admiration, staying informed by following the pleasant brand, well-targeted sponsored ads that provide information, and inspiring brand ambassador strengthen the brand relationship on the social media channel. Finally, in the second-hand channel, ‘treasure hunting’, an opportunity to resell at a reasonable price and contribution to a sustainable lifestyle reinforce shoppers’ brand relationships. The omnichannel brand relationships needs more research from different perspectives.
Main Authors
Format
Conferences Conference paper
Published
2022
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
Association for Information Systems
Original source
https://aisel.aisnet.org/mcis2022/11/
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202303292313Use this for linking
Parent publication ISBN
978-88-87173-05-5
Review status
Peer reviewed
Conference
Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems
Language
English
Is part of publication
MCIS 2022 : Proceedings of the 14th Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems
Citation
  • Paananen, T., Kemppainen, T., Frank, L., Holkkola, M., & Mali, E. (2022). Reinforcement of brand relationships in an omnichannel environment : a qualitative study on clothing shopping. In MCIS 2022 : Proceedings of the 14th Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (Article 11). Association for Information Systems. https://aisel.aisnet.org/mcis2022/11/
License
In CopyrightOpen Access
Funder(s)
Business Finland
Funding program(s)
Others, Business Finland
Muut, Business Finland
Copyright© Association for Information Systems 2022

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