For Customer Experience Professionals (Length: 9 pages)

March 31, 2008

How Consumers Research, Buy, And Get Service

Preferences For Channels Differ Across Generations

by Bruce D. Temkin

with Olga Melnikova, Harley Manning, Steven Geller

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Forrester asked consumers about the channels they use when researching, buying, and getting customer service. In-person interactions, both phone and store, dominated these activities. But consumers were not very satisfied with most interactions. Our research also looked at channel preferences across generations. No surprise: Older consumers prefer to research in a store while younger consumers prefer the Web. It turns out, however, that Gen X showed the most preferences for buying online. Firms should improve all of these interactions by examining the experience from the customer's viewpoint, using personas, and tapping into Forrester's self-help evaluation tools.

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