Multichannel marketing : An experiment on leading citizens to online public services

1. Multichannel marketing : An experiment on leading citizens to online public services Marije Teerling Telematica Instituut Marije.Teerling@telin.nl Willem Pieterson University of Twente W.J.Pieterson@utwente.nl www.kanaleninbalans.nl

2. Channels in Balance | Research background • Government Multichannel management • Partners: national government agencies, ministries, local government, universities • Basic principle: • Citizens’ are able to choose their preferred channel • Key topics • Channel synchronization: how to realize consistent information for customers across channels and services • Channel marketing: how to entice customers into using the most cost efficient channel given their problem (usually the electronic channel)

3. Multichannel marketing| Trends & developments • ’90  introduction new (digital) service channels • Digital channels  efficiency, lower costs • Citizens still mainly use the traditional channels! • How can governments lead citizens to the online public services?

4. Multi-channel marketing | Examples of instruments Municipal Rescricted access to the front desk Singapore eCitizen helpers Land registry (office) Online prices lower than offline prices

5. Multichannel marketing instruments | Citizens’ preferences Communication web service (CWS) • Four categories of instruments • Citizens prefer soft instruments, like communication and web service offering • Strong correlations between ‘positive’ instruments • Citizens do not favor compulsory or discriminatory instruments • Effectiveness instruments is unclear .39 .62 .05 Web Service Offering (WSO) .03 .34 Price Web services (PWS) Legal / Distribution (LED) .26 Teerling and Pieterson (2008)

6. Objective So: • Citizens continue to use digital channels. • Service provision through digital channels can be more cost efficient. • Citizens & governments seem to favor softer instruments like communication. • Lack of clarity on the effectiveness of multichannel marketing instruments. Our objective: • To determine the effectiveness of communication – specifically through a personal letter – in • influencing citizens’ choice of channel and • its effects on citizens’ perceptions of service delivery

7. Multichannel marketing | Field experiment with the SVB • Field experiment with Dutch government agency responsible for pensions and child benefit (SVB) • First time a citizen submits a claim for child benefit • 2nd – xth childfully automated process • Goal: ensure all citizens who are entitled to child benefit receive it as soon as possible • 2x2 field experiment • Procedure • Current • Experimental • Group • Experimental branch offices • Control branch offices

8. Experiment | Apllication procedure for child benefit • Standard procedure: • Citizens receive a letter and a pre-completed form • Experimental procedure: • Citizens receive a letter indicating them to go online Citizen MBR (1) System filled Internet application is online Internet form SVB (6) (2) Inform citizen by mail Bi-weekly mailing (3000 ex.) Application of DigiD SVB judges application (3) (7) (8) (9) Letter & form Form send by mail Mailing company (4) (5)

9. Experiment | Data collection • Data collection period: June 2008 during two bi-weekly periods

10. Experiment | Data collection | Measurements Measurement before experiment • Average number of claims through each channel (post versus website) • Number of letters sent June 2007 Measurement during/after experiment • Number of claims through each channel for each group • Number of citizens in the experimental group that call for a form • Survey amongst citizens in both groups measuring their perceptions with respect to the SVB and the procedure for claiming child benefits

11. Experiment | Results | Channel of application • Channel of application before the experiment: • 63% applied through post (equal for control and experimental offices) • 37% applied through the website

12. Experiment | Results | Forms requested by phone • 333 citizens in the experimental group contacted the SVB to request a form • Reasons to request a form: • About 40% did not have access to the internet • 33.8% have no access at all • 7.7% temporarily did not have access • DigiD • 15% did not have a DigiD • 20% got stuck using it • Other obstacles • Clumsiness in using the internet • Language problems • Technical problems on the website

13. Experiment | Results | Citizens’ perceptions | The letter • Respondents are similar in their view of the letter, regardless of which they received. • In both conditions respondents were equally pleased with their choice of channels.

14. Experiment | Results | Citizens’ perceptions | The procedure

15. Experiment | Results | Citizens’ perceptions | Satisfaction

16. Experiment | Results | Demographics • Average age is 31.89 • Is the approximate average in the Netherlands for women to have their first child • Gender • Women are more likely to apply through post than men • Experimental group: 16.4% versus 10.7% • Control group: 26.2% versus 20.8% • Men are more likely to apply through the website than women • Experimental group: 49% versus 39.8% • Control group: 19.5% versus 17.6% • Education • % of elementary or high school educated citizens is highest in the experimental group applying through phone & post (resp. 26% and 46%) • % of college educated citizens is highest in the control group and experimental group applying through the website (resp. 47% and 42%)

17. Experiment | Conclusions • Adoption literature indicates the following crucial aspects for adoption: • a well-functioning web service • increasing awareness of e-services • showing that the e-services provide more value than services offered through the traditional channels • building trust • Citizens who called for a form: • Lacked trust (in themselves and DigiD) • Got stuck  well-functioning web service • By increasing awareness of the e-service through a simple letter • Advantage of the web over the other channels was reached by leaving out the pre-completed form • Usage was practically doubled • Respondents still felt they had a sufficient choice of channels

18. Experiment | Conclusions • Customer groups • Digital divide (based on education level) still needs attention • Governments should carefully consider • Implementing a recall mailing possibly with the pre-completed form • Keep website functioning at all times • Make e-services as simple as possible • Improve the identification procedure (DigiD) • SVB management was advised to implement the experimental procedure as the standard.

19. Multichannel Marketing| Future research • Communication as information or as propaganda • Effectiveness of the other instruments / combinations of instruments • Removing barriers to internet use • Further research within the project Kanalen in Balans • Qualitative study for the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs • New smart forms of communication @ SVB • Training & self-service technology @ IBG • From channel choice research to defining a multichannel marketing plan @ 3 Dutch municipalities • Improving the web channel (chat function) @ UWV

20. HICSS – 42 January 5 – 8, 2009 Q