A Conceptual Analysis of the e-Channel’s Multifaceted Nature in the 21st Century

Nowadays, Internet is widely used for conducting business. For companies, the question is not anymore whether they are online or not, but only which stage(s) of the buying cycle they cover with their website. Accordingly, here is a large body of academic contributions on online consumer behaviour, e.g. online shopping or information search. Yet, research on the nature of the e-channel with respect to the evolving multimedia capabilities is scarce. The different forms of computer-mediated communication, e.g. chat, have hardly been examined in depth. For an effective and efficient use in customer-company interactions, however, it is imperative to know the basic properties of the communication channels. It is a necessary condition for goal-directed channel management. This paper provides an overview of the current state of research on the nature of the e-channel in a context of c2b communication. It contributes to the theoretical foundations of channel research by suggesting a framework for channel analysis. Knowing the nature of the different forms of online communication will support scholars and practioners alike in appropriate channel design. The channel analysis in this paper is relevant for all fields where customers communicate with companies, e.g. for complaining....