Measuring Awareness, Brand & Competitive Standing

Transcription

1 Measuring Awareness, Brand & Competitive Standing Using Trust Indicators Alex Todd What is it we are not doing in measuring awareness, brand and competitive standing that can help customers have more trust and confidence that they will get what they want? 1

2 A B Marketers are tasked with two overriding objectives: align their value propositions with what customers want; and help customers attain sufficient trust and confidence that they will get what they want. 2

3 Discovery Identity Value of goods/services Vendor reliability Rules of engagement Credit worthiness Authorization to commit Settlement & Compliance Governing laws Agreement Payment method Non-compliance protection Disputes Recourse Transaction reversal Negotiation & Order Product fit Negotiation criteria Cultural issues Quality assurance Viability of seller Applicable exchange rate Order placement and verification Fulfillment Customer services Shipper reliability Transfer of responsibility Quality control Applicable standards Tariffs & customs Customers must attain sufficient trust and confidence in a specific bundle of value propositions / information / promises in each phase of their purchase transaction before moving to the next phase. For example, a Longwoods International study found that the most important consideration for customers considering a ski vacation in Vail was excitement in the discovery phase, and affordability in the order phase. 3

4 Trust = Vulnerability Source: That may be true, but trust is so intangible. For web analytics purposes, how can we identify and measure customer trust? If trust is a person s willingness to make him/herself vulnerable, then what what would be good indicators of a peron s willingness or un-willingness to make themselves vulnerable? 4

5 Trust Indicators based on the Trust Enablement Framework Developing Trust Protecting Trust Experiential Sources (for Consideration)? Observing/Sampling? Customer feedback Motive Forces (for Advocacy)? Introducing? Promoting Trust Interpretive Sources (for Awareness)? Brands? Testimonials? Expert Reviews Proficiency (for Recommendation)? Demonstrating? Endorsing? Using Vulnerability Empowerment (for Discovery)? Searching for new sources? Selecting preferred sources Risk Transference (for Purchase)? Guarantees/Warranties? Inducements An analytical framework for trust can help us understand where to look for trust indicators and the factors that affect trust. Our Trust Enablement Framework depicted here distinguishes between two overriding trust objectives: Developing Trust; Protecting Trust; and overcoming distrust. For example, on ebay if a customer checks the customer feedback forum before proceeding with a bid or purchase, the Experiential Sources of Trust category of the Framework tells us s/he is trying to attain high trust. Whereas, if the customer foregoes the option of verifying customer feedback, that indicates they have sufficient trust to make themselves vulnerable by committing to the purchase. Similarly, if the customer purchases or seeks to purchase a warranty, that tells us that they were unable to attain sufficient trust and seek ways to transfer risk in order to make the purchase, i.e. not willing to make themselves vulnerable. As I could easily spend all morning describing the dynamics of the framework, I d be happy to refer back to it and elaborate when answering your questions. 5

6 Comparative Trust Assessment - ClientRx.com Proficiencies Interpretive Sources Risk Transference Motive Forces Experiential Sources Empowerment Drugstore.com thedoctorspharmacy.com ClientRx.com Trust analytics can help us optimize conditions for online trust. This chart compares the conditions for trust found on three online pharmacy web sites, with each spoke representing one of the categories of the Trust Enablement Framework. Even an untrained eye can see that two patterns look similar. They are much smaller and different in shape from the third one. The latter clearly has a very different profile. One therefore can infer that the similar two are likely direct competitors, while the third is not. 6

7 Alex Todd Trust Enablement Incorporated 7

8 Extra Slides 8

9 3 Types of Trust Indicators Assertions - perception indicators for trust Actions outcome indicators for trust Conditions affecting indicators for trust 9

10 Insights Our Trust Enablement Assessment findings suggest that: 1. drugstore.com is by far the most Trust Enabled 2. clientrx.com is slightly more Trust Enabled of the three web sites; than thedoctorspharmacy.com; 3. thedoctorspharmacy.com employs Trust Enabling mechanisms that allow customers to make a purchase decision faster than clientrx.com; and 4. clientrx.com provides more comprehensive Trust Enablement mechanisms for building customer relationships than thedoctorspharmacy.com In our opinion, the implications are that: 1. drugstore.com is likely an indirect competitor that is able to sell at a higher price point; 2. clientrx.com and thedoctorspharmacy.com may be direct competitors; 3. all else being equal, thedoctorspharmacy.com is likely to experience higher traffic conversion rates than clientrx.com; and 4. all else being equal, clientrx.com is more likely to retain customers than thedoctorspharmacy.com 10

11 Trust Enablement on ebay Develop Trust Experiential Sources Feedback Forum Tradenable escrow Product authentication Interpretive Sources ID Verify from Equifax Product Opinions & Grading Product Appraisals Privacy Policy TRUSTe seal Trust Empowerment Identify reliable providers of feedback Protect Trust Motive Forces Policies (comprehensive) SafeHarbor investigations Disallowed products SquareTrade dispute resolution VeRO notice of IP infringement Proficiencies Industry practices (SSL, etc.) Risk Transference User Agreement Fraud Protection Insurance PayPal Buyer Protection Risk Transfer mechanisms ie. Agreements, contracts, warrantees, guarantees and insurance serve to ebay Fraud Protection Insurance & PayPal Buyer Protection of $1,000 free. ebay balance approach?how DO OTHER ONLINE BUSINESSES COMPARE 11