Customers Relations Tools Preferences from Young Urban Digital Natives in Different Cultures — An Explorative Study

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine if cultural differences indicate user preferences for customer service tools, therefore providing insights about publics communication channels and tools preferences. Through this research, any trends that might imply changes in user preferences of digital tools over traditional communication tools for customer relations are aimed to be identified. In order to research it, a quantitative questionnaire with participants from two metropolitan cities in Germany and India has been conducted. The cities Mumbai and Berlin were chosen as an appropriate representation of two comparable urban locations. The paper reports a current overview for users of customer service tools in their respective cities. The research found that culture does indeed influence user preferences and satisfaction for different communication tools. Users from Germany were more likely to prefer online customer service solutions while users from India were more likely to prefer in-person customer service solutions. The practical implications are to provide insights related to those preferences while doing customer care and associated communication plans and public relations strategies. As there has been very little research in this area, this study aims to fill the research gap in this context, especially by contributing with insights about the influence on cultural aspects of user preferences on customer service communication tools. This is considered an exploratory study that can after be applied in different context and circumstances, as well as in relationships dimensions across the public relations portfolio of planned communications.