Consumer Empowerment and Well-Being in the Omni-Channel System(1/2)

As the line between online and physical channels is blurred, a new approach to service, the omni-channel marketing, is emerging. The integration of channel and touchpoints that aims to deliver a seamless customer experience makes consumers move freely among channels and devices. Channels are used interchangeably and seamlessly during the search, evaluation, purchase, and post-purchase stages and consumers become self-motivated information and resource integrators. Therefore, this study uses the empowerment theory to investigate how an omni-channel may contribute to consumers’ well-being. Based on the empowerment theory, the antecedents of psychological empowerment are the empowerment structure, including the high-performance system, social support and work design; and individual characteristics. These factors are used in discussing the design factor of the omni-channel service system. The consequences of psychological empowerment can be categorized into attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. This study therefore proposes that consumer empowerment is positively related to perceived consumption value, strain (the attitudinal consequences), consumer in-role and extra-role behaviors (behavioral outcomes); and well-being.Finally, consumer perceived vulnerability of their personal data may be a major concern when using an integrated omni-channel system. We will use two-group structural equation modeling to test differences between the consumers with high and low perceived vulnerability.