Title
Prof. em. Dr.
Last Name
Maas
First name
Peter
Email
peter.maas@unisg.ch
ORCID
1 - 10 of 187
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PublicationThe Effects of Cultural Differences on Consumers’ Willingness to Share Personal Information(Sage Publishing, 2023-02-28)
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PublicationUnderstanding the Omnichannel Customer Journey: Determinants of Interaction ChoiceThrough the proliferation of channels and ways to engage in these channels, customers today have an unprecedented range of options to individualize their customer journeys. This study attends to the resulting complexity by investigating the overt and underlying reasons for customers’ interaction choices along the omnichannel customer journey. Data collected from focus groups, expert interviews, and laddering interviews with motor insurance customers illustrate that omnichannel customer journeys are inherently individualistic but driven by three types of effects. Some effects apply to singular interaction choices and are hence journey independent, while the strength of inertia between subsequent interactions depends on customers’ satisfaction with the interaction. Customer journey patterns, which pertain to specific portions of the journey, include research shopping and the novel impersonalization/ interactivity reduction effect. Our findings further provide additional explanations for these customer journey patterns and customers’ limited motor insurance search efforts. Based on the ultimate underlying motives for interaction choice, the four types of value-in-use customers seek in their interactions, a segmentation approach that is more effective than predominant efforts using observable interaction behavior is suggested.Type:Journal:Volume:
Scopus© Citations 141 -
PublicationConsumer empowerment in insurance: Effects on performance risk perceptions in decision makingAbstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of consumer empowerment in the relationship between consumers and service providers. It draws on self-efficacy theory to conceptualize consumer empowerment and explain the impact on perceived performance risk in insurance decision making. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs data collected from an online survey involving 487 consumers in Switzerland, who recently decided on an insurance service. A structural equation model quantifies both the psychological effects on consumers’ perception of insurance services and behavioral effects on their decision-making process. Findings – Perceived consumer empowerment is conceptualized by perceived self-efficacy and perceived controllability. Both have a significant impact on perceived performance risk, while the former is partially mediated by the preference to delegate the decision to a surrogate. Moreover, customers’ involvement in the purchase process moderates both the direct and indirect effect of perceived self-efficacy on perceived performance risk. Research limitations/implications – The results are based on consumers’ perceptions from a single country. Furthermore, consumers’ perceptions were surveyed with a time lag after the decision-making process. To increase rigor, perceptions should be collected during decision making. Practical implications – Results show that consumer empowerment can be employed as a risk reduction strategy. Consumers with self-efficacy and controllability beliefs perceive significantly less performance risk; however, practitioners should consider that consumers are also motivated to make decisions independently rather than delegating their decisions. Furthermore, consumer empowerment depends on consumer will. For largely indifferent consumers, empowerment does not affect risk or decision delegation preference. Originality/value – The study is among the few empirical works to examine the effects of consumer empowerment on the consumer-service provider relationship on an individual level. Furthermore, applying consumer empowerment in relationship marketing implies a shift in research focus to the question of how consumers construe decision-making situations rather than objectively measuring the state of consumer relationship.Type:Journal:Volume:Issue:
Scopus© Citations 19 -
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Scopus© Citations 2 -
PublicationWhen customers are willing to disclose information in the insurance industry: A multi-group analysis comparing ten countriesPurpose The purpose of this paper is to show antecedents of customers’ information disclosure in the insurance industry and demonstrate central levers that foster customers’ information disclosure to companies in the insurance sector. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model is presented, which is empirically tested with 3,494 insurance customers from ten counties with structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis. Findings Customer value in the insurance industry consists of three factors (customer value provided by the company, the agent, and the product) and affects information disclosure directly and indirectly (via satisfaction and trust). Research limitations/implications Antecedents of customers’ information disclosure in the insurance industry were identified. Moreover, the authors show that, in line with resource exchange theory, customers are willing to disclose personal and behavioral data to an insurance company in exchange for lower premiums or additional services. Practical implications Customers expect benefits in exchange for their personal data. In combination with new technologies (e.g. smartphones or wearables), companies can offer tailored products to their customers and can create a win -win situation for customers as well as insurance companies. Originality/value The paper identifies the antecedents of customers’ information disclosure in the insurance industry with a conceptual model. This model is tested in ten countries and offers insights in established (e.g. USA) as well as emergent markets (e.g. Brazil).Type:Journal:Volume:Issue:
Scopus© Citations 14 -
PublicationSharing intangibles: Uncovering individual motives for engagement in a sharing service settingThe sharing economy has shifted the way in which goods and services are consumed - from exclusive ownership toward collective usage with economic benefits. Current literature addresses consumer motives to participate in commercial sharing of goods and services with a physical manifestation. In contrast, this study shows the relevance of intangibility for sharing services and empirically examines consumers' motives, perceptions, and experiences in the context of a new insurance model. A qualitative investigation reveals three main characteristics of intangible service sharing: financial benefits as a main motivator for participation, emerging weak social and symbolic values in a controlled environment, and a network of strangers as a crucial precondition for sharing. The work contributes to research on the sharing economy as well as to managerial considerations for the design of sharing services. In particular, managers need to balance between community development and the preservation of anonymity when promoting sharing services based on intangible elements.Type:Journal:Volume:
Scopus© Citations 125 -