GLOBALIZACIÓN, INTERDEPENDENCIA Y

The consumer journey is very important when making a purchase, even more so when buying a car as it represents a certain investment. This journey represents the different stages the consumer goes through and therefore understanding where it is more impactful for them to see the message. Moreover, it is imperative for marketers to understand where the different touchpoints are in order to properly target the consumer and push him towards a purchase.

Out of the three interviewees talking about digital tools being impactful during the consumer journey, Mrs. Roth and Mr. Rattaz mention the importance of online configuration and Mrs. Rehmann talks about social media. Suzan Roth from Jan-Auto and Philippe Rattaz from VW discuss about the importance of online configurators that are available to customers on different brand websites. Mrs. Roth agrees that if the online configurator of a brand is well done (meaning that the images are clear and smooth, and has no lag), then it will increase the chances that a customer who has configured his car

online will lead to a visit to the dealership. On the other hand, if the configurator is slow and not fluid enough, chances are that the customers will visit a different configurator, hence choosing a different brand. The online configuration plays an important role as it replaces the first encounter which customers have with the brand in a dealership. Mr. Rattaz also stresses the importance of the online configurator from a sales perspective again, by saying that these configurators often lead to a follow-up from the customers, which pushes them into the dealership. The reason according to him is, that the configurators are sometimes confusing, and that the customer cannot always have access to all the options or see the true product that he has chosen. The sales representative argues that there might be a positive aspect to these configurators not working at their best. He says that this might actually bring more people in. But as discussed earlier, Mr. Rattaz mentioned that there was a certain lack of digitalization in the showrooms. He says that the configurator should be a tool that the sales representatives can use for sales in the dealership and should therefore be very precise. Nevertheless, Mr. Rattaz says that online configurators are good as they allow him to follow up on his customer’s creation using a generated QR code. He does however mention that through the different marketing actions taken in the process, that in the end, the customers should not be overwhelmed with information.

Mrs. Rehmann, highlights the importance of a brand to be present in the customer’s mind at all times. She adds that this has been made much easier with digital marketing. Mrs. Sabina Rehmann says that today “Communication does not happen face-to-face

anymore” and stresses the importance of social media and being present throughout the

entire consumer journey. The more the will to buy a car becomes tangible, the more the customer will seek professional advice. Mrs. Rehmann argues that it is very important to be in consumer’s minds in a digital way during the early stages, but that the post purchase phase is even more important. Online Q&As on social media are very important for customers who have just purchased a vehicle and can at the same time be the starting point for a potential new customer. The Facchinetti marketing manager states that this is where the loop closes. Meaning that the Q&A creates a fusion between the last and the first stage of the consumer journey. It is very interesting to see that these professionals in the industry believe that digital marketing does have an impact on the journey a consumer goes through. They believe that digital tools help them touch the consumers in their different stages.

The consumer journey does not stop once the product has been sold, and the ultimate aim of any manufacturer is to retain the customer by creating customer loyalty. On this note, Mr. Stöckli mentions that for him it is very difficult to measure customers loyalty as

it is a very demanding task and that it strongly depends on the size of the dealership. He adds to this that there are different types of customers and that some are very sensitive to contact and will feel valued when receiving emails, messages and various types of updates. Some customers on the other hand might not like this very much and will be annoyed by it. Mrs. Rehmann argues that customers are today in general less loyal as there is a much wider range of offerings on the market. She says that price is often an incentive for customers to change. Some might eventually come back because of poorer service. To her, digital marketing is not very impactful on customer loyalty. On the other hand, Mr. Claude, commercial manager believes that digital marketing clearly increases customers loyalty. In a neutral opinion, Mr. Rattaz mentions that for him, customer loyalty has not been much affected and that it will probably not increase it. Here again it is very interesting to see the very divergent opinions about the potential impact of digital marketing on the customer loyalty.