B Development of Hypotheses

Abstract

In a multichannel context, customers are very likely to be experienced and proficient in multiple channels. They choose between different channels depending on situational factors and their specific preferences in each stage of the purchase process. Each purchase channel excels in specific characteristics that make it especially suitable for certain purchase situations and product categories. Especially customers who use multiple channel formats combine the different channels according to their needs arising from a certain purchase task and their situational preferences (Montoya-Weiss et al. 2003). Thus, previous research suggests that customer service satisfaction is inherently different across online and offline channels, but not necessarily always lower online (Shankar et al. 2003).