Behaviors: Communication and Persuasive Message

E-tailing Behaviors and Persuasive Message
COMM 470 Monday, May 28, 2013 Annjela Hynes-Porter

Transacting goods and services via the Internet, better known as E-tailing is as popular as traditional shopping, and steadily becoming more popular globally; countless options are available to consumers via this method of shopping. Specifically, this method of shopping is increasing in popularity in part to attractive benefits, such as availability, pricing, time savings, and personal exertion. Theses benefits are causing the E-commerce market to become extremely competitive, resulting in retailers giving constant attention to marketing; acquiring new customers and retaining fixtured customers. Analysis of consumer behavior is vital to the existence of electronic retailers because they need to understand the consumers thought processes prior to a customer making a purchase, so the E-retailer can assist them with any needs in regard to purchasing, retuning, and exchanging or inquiring about goods and services.

The purpose of this paper is to identify three behaviors inherent in E-tailing. It will discuss the communications medium in which each behavior occurs and explain how each medium enables E-commerce. Each behavior will be analyzed by using the communication process; purpose, encode, decode, message, environment, noise, technology, and feedback. Additionally, a sample persuasive message aimed at the virtual audience will be authored.

Common E-tailing Processes Often, consumers who buy products and services via E-tailing remain loyal to products and services they are familiar with because of the relationship, and trust developed prior to E-tailing. The consumers thought process when making purchases via E-tailing consist of three categories; interest, transactions and check-out, and consumer care. E-retailers promote one-to-one marketing, and aspire to support consumers continually to ensure total customer satisfaction, and retain relationships that will yield return visit to the website for more purchases (Turban et al, 2008).
Behaviors
Interest, is the consumer inquiring about a product or service and what is his or her need for it. This interest; need for knowledge can is satisfied through various mediums, such as virtual catalogs, pricing, and advertising via the Internet; more specifically the continual promotion of brand names (intervening variables). The E-retailer is depending on these mediums collectively to inspire consumers to make purchases. In the communications model, the encoder (consumer) is in search or a product or service (purpose/message/inquire), the Internet (technology), executes the search for pricing and other information needed by the encoder to make a purchase. The decoder (receiver) researches information needed by the encoder, the decoder becomes the encoder, and enters search results (feedback) to the Internet (technology) for the decoder (consumer) to view (Turban et al, 2008).

This interest in influenced by consumer characteristics, such as age, gender, education and preferences (independent and uncontrollable variables/environmental variables). The receiver uses pricing, promotions, branding, displays in stores, logistics support, and social influence (intervening variables/environmental variables) to peak the senders interest. This medium enables E-commerce by linking consumers to websites to find more information about the products and services. This behavior leads the consumer to the next behavior.

Transactions and Check-Out, is when the consumer exercises product brokering (decision on what to buy), merchant brokering (decision on who to buy from), apply negotiation methods, ask questions, check consumer reports and reviews, make final decision to buy, and arrange payment and delivery (Turban et al, 2008).

This behavior is predominantly influenced by special deals from the E-retailer, such as free product testing for limited amounts of time, interpersonal exchanges to help customers make the right choices, discounts or free delivery, and online payments. There are a variety of communication mediums used for this; secure websites, live chat, telephone, or e-mail, it simply depends on what suits the situation the best. In this behavior, the communication process is starts over with the decoder (receiver/merchant), becoming the encoder, and the encoder (sender/consumer) becoming the decoder, this transaction is where the merchant offers a variety of ways to purchase goods and service, and advocate to the consumer to take advantage of all the customer service features (purpose). Noise will be none-existent because the merchant will want to ensure total consumer satisfaction, which may result in a return visit. At this point, the consumer to merchant relationship is present, resulting in the development the next behavior, customer care (Turban et al, 2008).

Customer care is the E-tailer’s complementary service to the consumer in hopes that it will develop the consumer to merchant relationship, which may result in further purchases of merchandise and service. The E-tailer may use several types of marketing tools, such as E-mail, feedback surveys, and discount coupons, to gain the loyalty and of new consumers and make future visits as convenient as possible with tools such as transaction logs, cookies, web bugs, spyware, and web analytics. These tools help the E-tailer to store and use personal information that would be a repetitive task to enter into the system every time the consumer visits the website. This medium enables E-commerce because the e-mails normally provide links to the E-commerce site for easy access of purchases (Turban et al, 2008)
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Using the communication model, the vendor (sender) would transmit the message to the consumer (receiver) to incite a repeat purchase (purpose). The technology is the e-mail with the link to their site. The noise is minimal, and the feedback will be when the consumer opens the link. The behaviors inherent to E-tailing enable the E-commerce world and allow consumers to become more comfortable with using these new shopping mediums (Turban et al, 2008)

Persuasive Messages According to Sample Persuasive Message (n.d.), Persuasive writing requires writers to persuade others to see the benefit in a suggestion or course of action. In order for a persuasive message to be effective the sender must have a degree of credibility. The sender should have an expertise in the area, be trustworthy, and appear excited about the proposal. An effective, persuasive message should contain a few key components. It should grab the attention of the recipient. It should maintain interest by stating a benefit or filling a known need. It should generate a desire in the recipient by using emotional or logical appeal. The final component is to end with an action statement; it must be clear, and specific about what it requires the recipient to do.

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According to Sample Persuasive Message (n.d.), Electronic retailers have implemented strategic measures into their websites and other communication mediums to generate customer loyalty and locate new customers. This paper discussed the three behaviors inherent in E-tailing; it also discussed the communication mediums used when each behavior occurs. It made the connection to how this enables E-commerce, it used the communication model to analyze the behavior and how it fits into the model, it described the components of a persuasive message, it developed a persuasive message using these components and demonstrated how it would enable E-commerce, and used the combinations of e-mail and other virtual mediums. E-tailing is a boundless source for retailers.
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References
Roebuck, D.B., & McKenney, M.A. (2006). mproving Business Communication Skills (4th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database
Sample Persuasive Message . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QkledWM0PxcJ:www.studentoffortune.com/question/384271/Please-help-me-understand-this-persuasive-message-paper
Turban, E., King, D., & McKay, J., Marshall P., Lee, J., Vieland, D. (2008). Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective (5th ed.). Upper Sadddle, NJ: Pearson Prentice

References: Roebuck, D.B., & McKenney, M.A. (2006). mproving Business Communication Skills (4th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database Sample Persuasive Message . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QkledWM0PxcJ:www.studentoffortune.com/question/384271/Please-help-me-understand-this-persuasive-message-paper Turban, E., King, D., & McKay, J., Marshall P., Lee, J., Vieland, D. (2008). Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective (5th ed.). Upper Sadddle, NJ: Pearson Prentice