Online customer experience in
service settings
Analysing the customer expectations gap: a focus on the food delivery sector
BACHELOR THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ECTS
PROGRAMME OF STUDY: KEDGE, Bachelor Double Degree AUTHORS: Inès Poncin & Julie Walter-Malcurat
Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration
Title: Online customer experience in service settings: Analysing the customer expectations gap, a focus on the food delivery sector.
Authors: Inès Poncin & Julie Walter-Malcurat Tutor: Jasna Pocek
Date: May, 2021
Key terms: Customer experience, Customer Expectations Gap, Online Food Service
ABSTRACT
Background: As the result of the constant business evolution and in addition to the 2020 worldwide sanitary crisis, online services demand has significantly increased. Shifting from a physical-based customer experience to an online customer-focused service providing. Multiple studies investigated the online customer experience and customer expectations related to the products industry. However, there seems to have a lack of recent research focusing on online customer experience in service settings.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the customer experience in online service settings, focusing on the food delivery sector in France. The aim is to highlight a customer expectations gap between the customer expected service and the actual perceived service provided by the company. To fulfil this purpose, three research questions have been established. The authors aim to provide a new conceptual model to contribute to the theory. Method: For the purpose of this study, the research philosophy adopted key elements of interpretivism. A qualitative research design is used, combined with an exploratory case study method. Data were collected through 8 semi-structured interviews using a purposive sampling method and were analysed inductively.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the customer expectations gap in the online food service delivery, focusing in UberEats case study, is built upon two main factors: the customer expectations design and the online process, together enabling service improvements identification. The authors have thereby designed a new conceptual model in order to provide online food service providers such as UberEats sustainable solutions to reduce the customer expectations gap while using their app.
Keywords: Customer Experience, Customer Expectations, Customer Expectations Gap, Service Quality, Food Delivery Sector, UberEats
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who supported us during the process of writing our bachelor thesis.
We would like to thank all participants for their precious time and knowledge to this research. A special thanks to UberEats France specialists who provided us with so much professional insights.
Furthermore, we would like to thank our thesis tutor Jasna Pocek, Postdoctoral researcher in entrepreneurship at Sten K Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship at Lund University, for her feedback, advice and guidance during the thesis writing process. Finally, we would like to thank all the members of our seminar group for their constructive and stimulating comments during the seminar sessions.
_________________________ _________________________ Inès Poncin Julie Walter-Malcurat
Jönköping International Business School May, 2021
Table of figures and tables
Table 1: Overview of studies on Customer Experience, Customer Expectations, Customer
Expectations Gap, Service Design and Perception of Service Quality. ... 10
Figure 1: Process Model for Customer Journey and Experience ... 13
Figure 2: E-customer journey map ... 15
Figure 3: The expectations model ... 18
Figure 4: SERVQUAL Model ... 19
Figure 5: Conceptual model of service quality ... 20
Figure 6: Nature and determinants of customer expectation of service ... 22
Table 2: Interviews summary ... 30
Table 3: Thematic analysis ... 37
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ... ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ... iii
Table of figures and tables ... iv
1. INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1. Background ... 1
1.2. Problem discussion ... 3
1.3. Purpose and research questions ... 4
1.3.1. Purpose ... 4
1.3.2. Research questions ... 5
1.4. Methodology ... 5
1.5. Limitations and delimitations ... 5
1.5.1. Limitations ... 6 1.5.2. Delimitations ... 6 1.6. Contribution ... 7 1.6.1. Theoretical contribution ... 7 1.6.2. Company-focus contribution ... 7 1.7. Key words ... 7 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 9
2.1. Literature review method ... 9
2.2. The customer journey ... 13
2.2.1. The customer journey: an introduction ... 13
2.2.2. The e-customer journey ... 14
2.3. The customer experience ... 15
2.3.1. The customer experience: an introduction ... 15
2.3.2. The customer experience: a challenge ... 16
2.3.3. Customer experience management ... 17
2.4. Customer Expectations and Service Quality ... 17
2.4.1. Customer Expectations ... 17
2.4.2. Service Quality ... 18
2.4.2.1. Service quality measurements ... 18
2.4.2.2. Service delivery process analysis ... 19
3. METHODOLOGY AND METHOD ... 23
3.1. Research philosophy ... 23
3.1.1. What is research philosophy? ... 23
3.1.2. Research philosophy justification ... 23
3.2. Research approach ... 24
3.2.1. What is research approach? ... 24
3.2.2. Research approach justification ... 24
3.3. Research design and purpose ... 25
3.3.1. Research design ... 25
3.3.2. Research design purpose ... 26
3.4. Case study: UberEats ... 26
3.5. Sampling ... 27
3.5.1. Population 1: Customer sampling ... 28
3.5.2. Population 2: Company sampling ... 29
3.6. Group focus and semi-structured interviews ... 31
3.6.1. Population 1: group focus ... 31
3.6.2. Population 2: semi-structured interviews ... 32
3.7. Interview design ... 32
3.7.1. Interview design: Population 1 ... 32
3.7.2. Interview design: Population 2 ... 33
3.8. Data analysis ... 33 3.9. Trustworthiness ... 34 3.9.1. Transferability ... 34 3.9.2. Dependability ... 34 3.9.3. Confirmability ... 35 3.9.4. Credibility ... 35 4. Ethical considerations ... 36 5. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ... 37
5.1. Online service delivery ... 38
5.2. Customer expectations gap ... 41
5.3. Service improvements ... 44
6. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ... 48
6.1. RQ1: What do customers expect from an online food access experience? ... 49
6.1.2. Motivations to use the service ... 49
6.1.3. Previous experiences ... 50
6.2. RQ2: What are the factors of the online service process that lead to a customer expectations gap? ... 51
6.2.1. UberEats and the logistics service providers ... 51
6.2.2. The online customer experience ... 52
6.2.3. The geographical location ... 53
6.3. RQ3: How can companies improve their customer experience management to reduce the customer expectations gap? ... 54
6.3.1. Improve feedback through the evaluation process ... 54
6.3.2. Improving communication between the logistics service providers ... 55
7. CONCLUSION ... 56 8. DISCUSSION ... 58 8.1. Managerial implications ... 58 8.2. Limitations ... 58 8.3. Future research ... 59 9. REFERENCES ... 60 10. APPENDICES ... 67
10.1. Interview guide: Population 1 ... 67
10.1.1. English version ... 67
10.1.2. Version française ... 70
10.2. Interview guide: Population 2 ... 73
10.2.1. English version ... 73
10.2.2. Version française ... 76
1. INTRODUCTION
In this introduction section, the authors will provide insights about the background of the subject and discuss the problem. Followed by a clear definition of the purpose, the research questions will be exposed as well as the related key concepts which structure the paper. Furthermore, limitations, delimitations, and contributions will be highlighted.
1.1. Background
This paper focuses on the online customer experience in the food delivery sector. The study conducted by Klein et al. (2020) on the impact of cross-media exposure on customer’s purchase decisions, underlines the challenges for managing customer journey that result from the increasing usage of peer-driven media in the digital age. Klein et al. (2020) advise to conduct deeper research on the customer experience in online services. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the research conducted on these evolving challenges, by focusing on the online customer experience in service settings, particularly in the food delivery sector, and by highlighting a customer expectations gap that exists in this sector.
The continuously growing place of the Internet in our society pushed people to become technology-dependent in various aspects of their lives. Smartphones play one of the main roles in this process and have allowed the Internet to get a central place in user’s lives (Zhitomirsky-Geffet & Blau, 2016). Companies have seen the Internet as an undeniable opportunity for development, and a way of responding to drastically changing consumer needs (Lumpkin & Dress, 2004). The digitalisation of companies’ activities has led to an online commercialisation of products and services, and to an evolution of customers’ needs and desires (McLean & Wilson, 2016).
In addition to the phenomenon of businesses digitalisation, the emergence of online media and especially social networks in the late 1990s, almost ten years after the birth of the Internet (May, 2017), gave a new dimension and a new use of the Internet (Lomborg, 2016). As online media have become more and more popular over the years, it has led companies to review their business model and the way they sell their products and services (Liang & Turban, 2011; Mergel et al., 2019). This new development in e-commerce generated by the use of social media
to empower customers to interact on the Internet is referred to as Social Commerce (Hajli, 2015). Therefore, the way consumers interact with brands has changed. Online media channels enable customers to take an active role in the way they are reached, and the way they can interact with the brands (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010). They are actively involved in the firm’s value creation process (Hoffman & Novak, 1997; Maklan & Klaus, 2011). With this new customer position, the customer experience has evolved (Peterson et al., 1997). Nowadays, getting any product or service just in a few clicks, with home delivery services available, or having 24/7 customer service; has become essential factors to evaluate the customer experience (Jain et al., 2017; Michalowska et al., 2015; Rigby, 2011).
Moreover, the access to food has evolved in the past years with the digitisation of services (Peterson et al., 1997). In fact, this new offer possibility has invited food brands, restaurants, but also food retailers to be opened to these new ways of proposing their services, and rethink their business model (De Kervenoael et al., 2014; Peterson et al., 1997; Rigby, 2011).
Over the last decades, the food industry has undergone rapid changes (Rigby, 2011). One of the major changes that can be observed is the deployment of drive-ins developed by most of the major food retail brands in France (Lapoule, 2014). These new outlets combine online and offline experiences, as customers pre-order their products online through a digital device (smartphone, computer, tablet), and collect their order physically from a drive-in point (Lapoule, 2014). These innovations have changed the way food is accessed, which was previously only possible for consumers by going directly to a physical store. With just a few clicks, customers can decide what they want in their trolley, without having to push it between the different shelves. Thus, the customer experience is drastically altered, and customers' efforts are reduced thanks to this online pre-ordering. These innovations seem to have changed the whole customer experience in the food access sector and mark the beginning of the transition to online consumption in the food sector (Lapoule, 2014).
In addition, food delivery platforms such as UberEats, Deliveroo or Foodora have drastically impacted the ease of access to food. The concept of these marketplaces is that customers can order food online through an app freely downloadable on their smartphones. These apps gather multiple restaurants. The order is made online, and restaurants receive the details. A delivery person is in charge of picking up the order and delivering it directly to the customer. With these
experience is through the people involved in the production and delivery process (Monty, 2018; UberEats, 2021).
Besides, the Covid-19 worldwide sanitary crisis in 2020 has drastically changed the way people consume and has accelerated the digitalisation of businesses even further, pushing online media channels on top priority. The various health restrictions, lockdowns, and curfews put in place in France have forced the French citizens to stay at home and have turned the national business system upside down (Gourvernement Français, 2021). Nevertheless, companies have digitised their businesses if they have not already and means such as click & collect and home delivery have become more important than ever in consumers' lives. Therefore, Covid-19 has been a lever for increasing the overall service demand (Cloyne et al., 2020). In fact, health restrictions in France have forced the closure of bars and restaurants (Gourvernement Français, 2021). As a result, the latter had to find solutions in order to maintain their activity while respecting the legal restrictions. Thus, food delivery platforms such as UberEats were one of the best solutions for restaurants to continue offering their services without selling their products directly on site.
Finally, the customer experience that offline businesses provide differs from online customer experience. In fact, Puccinelli et al. (2009) assert that a key atmospheric element of the customer experience management that can shape a customer satisfaction is the “interaction between the customer and employee”. However, with online media channels customers are now able to live new kinds of experiences, and this interaction between customers and employees is reduced. Customers are now able to live new customer experiences through online channels and have a new kind of relationship with brands as they are directly involved in the process from the beginning to the final step of the experience (Klein et al., 2020).
1.2. Problem discussion
The marketing scene is changing. Digital channels play one of the main roles in this scenario of virtualisation of activities (Klein et al., 2020). The digitalisation of businesses modifies how brands interact with customers. Modern customers are directly involved in the process from the beginning and during all steps (Holmild & Evenson, 2008). These evolutions invite service companies to analyse customer journeys to understand how to create superior customer experience (Homburg et al., 2017). Customer experience management is considered as one of the most promising management approaches for meeting these new challenges, and as one of
the leading management objectives for companies (Homburg et al., 2017; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).
The problem addressed in this research is the fact that the customer experience has evolved with the digitalisation of business activities, and especially customer expectations and the perception of service quality have changed (Klein et al., 2020).
A considerable amount of research has been conducted on the online customer experience in the products area (Klein et al., 2020), and on the implication of the Internet on the consumer experience (Kawaf & Tagg, 2017; Liang & Turban, 2011; Peterson et al., 1997; Wali et al., 2020). However, there seems to have a lack of research on the customer experience in service settings through online channels (Bueno et al., 2019; Klein et al., 2020).
The study conducted by Klein et al. (2020) stated previously, focuses on the impact of cross-media exposure on customer’s purchase decisions, and underlines the challenges for managing customer journey that result from the increasing usage of peer-driven media in the digital age. To meet these evolving challenges, Klein et al. (2020) recommend further research into online media channels at the level of the individual customer journey, particularly in the service sector.
Thus, the objective of this paper is to respond to this recommendation, by focusing on the customer expectations part of the customer journey, in the food delivery sector.
1.3. Purpose and research questions
1.3.1. Purpose
The aim of this research is to provide a new conceptual framework of the gap between customer expectations on the online customer experience, and the customer experience that brands actually provide through digital channels in the service sector.
The purpose of this research is to analyse the customer experience in online service settings through digital channels, in order to determine if a customer expectations gap exists. As the service sector is very broad, the authors chose to orientate this research in focusing on the food delivery sector, especially in the French service market. The relevance of the population and geographical location selections will be discussed consequently in paragraph 3.5.
This research recalls both sides of the customer experience process: the service provider and the service experiencer. From the customer perspective, the study focuses on the customer expectations in online food delivery experience. Also, it entails the company perspective because the authors aim to analyse various components implemented by the service provider regarding their customer-focus online service management. Therefore, both customer and company perspectives are part of this research and are used in order to develop a new conceptual framework highlighting a customer expectations gap in online service settings.
1.3.2. Research questions
Based on the aim for determining if a customer expectations gap exists in the food delivery sector, the authors have formulated the three following research questions that are structuring this paper:
RQ1: What do customers expect from an online food access experience?
RQ2: What are the factors of the online service process that lead to a customer expectations gap?
RQ3: How can companies improve their customer experience management to reduce the customer expectations gap?
1.4. Methodology
The methodology in this paper follows the concept of a qualitative exploratory approach, with the purpose of answering the three research questions established previously. The authors chose to conduct semi-structured interviews; relevancy of this method linked with the choice of research design and purpose; inductivism (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The use of purposive sampling strategy is justified by the need of highlighting a customer experience gap, therefore the need of understanding both perspectives, from the company side as well as the customers side.
1.5. Limitations and delimitations
Based on reflections about the study, there are some limitations and delimitations that the authors would like to highlight to show transparency.
1.5.1. Limitations
Firstly, this research was limited by time, as undertaking qualitative research (collecting, coding and analysing data) is time-consuming (Saunders et al., 2016). Indeed, the short timeframe delimited to collect and analyse data was the main constraint the authors faced while conducting this research. Therefore, to ensure reliability and quality, the authors aimed to provide a consequent literature review and a significant data collection. Thus, the authors chose quality over quantity regarding the data collected, in order to enable a deep, rigorous and relevant data analysis and interpretation.
1.5.2. Delimitations
Secondly, this research does not intend to cover the different aspects that influence customer expectations, such as emotions or behavioural characteristics. In fact, many research have already been conducted regarding the factors that influence the customer journey, especially about the role of emotions during the customer journey (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982; Kawaf & Tagg, 2017; Palmer, 2010; Thompson et al., 1989). It has been demonstrated that personal history, emotions, social and economic contexts, feelings, and many other elements have an impact on how and why a customer decides to purchase or not a product or a service (Palmer, 2010). This research is not focusing on these aspects of the customer expectations gap, as it is very likely that these expectations are built upon the same factors influencing the customer journey (as the construction of customer expectations is part of the customer journey) (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).
The authors also decided that this research will not aim to compare the difference between online and offline customer experience in the food service sector. It seems very tempting to compare the activity of online and offline sectors, as these areas are different, and many offline businesses have transformed their business model to propose an online activity in the past years. However, the researchers decided not to compare online and offline activities as it is a different direction on the subject, and a complete research could be conducted on the evolution of the customer experience because of the digitalisation of activities.
Finally, this research does not intend to generalise consumer desires for online customer experiences but will only focus on the expectations of a specific sample regarding the food-related services available online. In fact, as detailed in the first paragraph regarding the limitations of this research, the time was limited to collect data. The researchers decided to focus on a specific sample and on a specific sector. These aspects mean that we cannot analyse
all sectors the same way based on a generalisation of the results of this research. Previous research also showed that consumer desires are very personal even if common points and factors can be found (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). However, this paper does not invite generalising consumer desires for all the different online customer experiences that exist.
1.6. Contribution
1.6.1. Theoretical contribution
This paper aims to contribute to filling a lack of research that exists on the online customer experience in the service sector (Klein et al., 2020). Moreover, many authors have recently called for research on the enhancement of service experiences (Gustafsson et al., 2015; Ostrom et al., 2015). Indeed, no existing research is focusing on the online food access service, especially on the food delivery sector in the French market. Therefore, a new perspective will be added to the already established one, in order to contribute enriching the business community research content.
1.6.2. Company-focus contribution
Moreover, the authors will aim to provide recommendations to firms inside the food delivery industry in France, with the purpose of improving their customer experience service management. In fact, the literature review, combined with the data collection and analysis, aims to help design recommendations and improvements regarding companies’ online customer experience management.
1.7. Key words
Customer Experience: A diversity of definitions exists to characterise the customer experience. De Keyser et al. (2015) state that “The customer experience is comprised of the cognitive, emotional, physical, sensorial, and social elements that mark the customer’s direct or indirect interaction with a (set of) market actor(s)”. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the customer experience as “the way someone feels at all stages of doing business with a company or organisation”.
Online Customer Experience: Online customer experience is defined as “The degree of ease with which customers can conduct their search, content, engagement, or purchase on websites and e-commerce platforms” (Doyle, 2016).
Customer Expectations: Customer expectations can be defined as “pretrial beliefs about a product or service” (Olson & Dover, 1979) that “serve a standard or reference points against which a product or service performance is judged” (Zeithaml et al., 1993).
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Collis & Hussey (2014) state that “A literature review is a critical evaluation of the existing body of knowledge on a topic, which guides the research and demonstrates that the relevant literature has been located and analysed.” The purpose of a literature review is to reflect the main findings of the field, how they are related or dissimilar to each other, and highlight the main methodological and informational problems of the research. Therefore, the authors have carried a systematic style for reviewing the relevant literature already existing regarding the topic studied.
2.1. Literature review method
To construct the literature review, the authors based the research on Primo Library and Google Scholar browsers, as they represent two of the most relevant and deep search engines with numerous academic references available. Then, for narrowing down the articles, books and journals selection, filters such as “Peer-reviewed journals”, “Articles”, “Course Books” were used, as well as including criteria and excluding criteria.
Moreover, authors used eleven main key words: customer journey, customer experience, customer experience management, customer satisfaction, customer expectations, customer expectations gap, service design, service management, service quality, service quality management, digital media. These keywords have been chosen by the authors according to the suitability and relevance to the research topic. These keywords represent the main subjects that require a deep understanding in order to have a good overview of what has already been conducted and researched inside the research area.
Based on the structure of a model presented by Whiteman et al. (2013) showing an overview of the studies that have already been conducted regarding their subject research, the authors have summarised the literature review in Table 1. The researchers have redesigned the original table template from Whiteman et al. (2013) to fit the subject, dividing it into different categories for analysing and highlighting the main concepts of the articles studied in this section. The reviewed articles are structured around six key categories: Customer Journey, Customer Experience, Service Design, Service Quality, Service Quality Perception and Customer
Expectations. These categories were chosen because they best correspond to the aspects of the research topic and allow the authors to classify the articles in the literature review.
Moreover, this table template, implemented by the Whiteman et al. (2013), is integrated because the researchers found it a useful tool to facilitate the paper's reading and understanding. The table has different columns to sort and organise the reviewed articles according to their sources and key words used, their main topics and themes, and their contribution to the literature review. The articles are divided into six different categories.
Table 1: Overview of studies on Customer Experience, Customer Expectations, Customer Expectations Gap,Service Design and Perception of Service Quality.
2.2. The customer journey
2.2.1. The customer journey: an introduction
The concept of “Customer Journey” has inspired many researchers (Halvorsrud et al., 2016; Holmild & Evenson, 2008; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016), with the aim of following a customer during a service delivery process (Holmild & Evenson, 2008). Despite the multi-faceted nature of service schemes, the customer journey approach has come to represent a complementary, customer-centred perspective on service delivery (Halvorsrud et al., 2016).
Customer journeys, and customer journey maps, are visual representations of events or touch points described chronologically, often with emotional indicators. Customer journey maps are one of the most widely used visualisation techniques in service design (Halvorsrud et al., 2016; Segelström, 2013). A traditional representation of a customer journey includes five steps: need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase evaluation, post-purchase evaluation (Patti et al., 2020). However, perspectives based on the rise of value co-creation and new mobile technologies (Faulds et al., 2018), suggest that the customer decision process is becoming more holistic and interactive and can be represented by three stages: pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase (Bueno et al., 2019; Tynan & McKechnie, 2009).
Figure 1: Process Model for Customer Journey and Experience
The authors of this research consider the process model developed by Lemon & Verhoef (2016), mapping the customer experience throughout the customer journey as an interesting and relevant starting point to introduce this literature review, as it explains in a visual way one of the most important dimensions of this research: the customer experience. In fact, it is necessary to consider the customer journey as a whole to understand the customer experience (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).
Indeed, the customer experience has a complete and major place during the consumer journey (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). Lemon & Verhoef (2016) state that understanding the customer experience and the customer journey over time is critical for firms, especially with the evolution of how consumers interact with firms through myriads of touch points on multiple channels and media. Due to touch points’ significant role to create high-quality customer experience (McLean & Wilson, 2016), specifically in the service industry (Meyer & Schwager, 2007; Teixeira et al., 2012), companies have to carefully develop and map their customer experience using and managing the critical touch points (Duncan & Hollenberg, 2019) to overcome this challenge. The expansion of potential customer touch points and reduced control over the experience require companies to integrate multiple new business functions, including information technology (IT), service operations, logistics, marketing, human resources and even external partners, to create and deliver positive customer experiences (Dhanapal et al., 2015; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). The evolution of these touch points leads to more complex customer journeys, which invites a better understanding of this subject (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).
2.2.2. The e-customer journey
Moreover, considering that this research focuses on the online services, and therefore on the online customer experience, the authors found relevant to deepen the existing knowledge on the e-customer journey.
As customer journeys in service settings became more complex with the digitalisation of activities, researchers studied the evolution of these customer journeys and especially Vakulenko et al. (2019) researched the service innovation in commerce and mapped the e-customer journey in services (Figure 2).
Figure 2: E-customer journey map
Source: Vakulenko et al., 2019, p. 466.
Note: Dashed lines and italic text represent optional customer choices and practices
In fact, the digitalisation has increased the types of touch points that occur during the customer journey, by moving it from four types: brand-owned, partner-owned, customer-owned, and social/external (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016); to more complex ones involving new actors such as retailers and logistics service providers. This invites companies to take control of the service delivery network for better management of the e-customer journey (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Vakulenko et al., 2019). The understanding of this aspect is critical to highlight the challenge that firms face regarding customer journey management, and in the end regarding the customer experience that they can offer on the market.
2.3. The customer experience
2.3.1. The customer experience: an introduction
Abbott (1955) states that “what people really desire are not products but satisfying experiences''. Over the years, many researchers have developed their own definition of customer experience, and have integrated factors influencing it, such as emotions which have been the subject of many research (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982; Palmer, 2010). This dimension was followed by Pine & Gilmour (1999) who described
a successful experience as those that “a customer finds unique, memorable and sustainable over time”. Schmitt (1999) defined five types of customer experiences: sensory (sense), affective (feel), cognitive (think), physical (act), and social-identity (relate) experiences. With the identifications, Schmitt (1999) states a multi-dimensional view which encompasses a multiplicity of factors and aspects of the customer experience and shows that each customer experience is unique. De Keyser et al. (2015) support this multi-dimensional perception and define the customer experience as “multidimensional by nature, including both cognitive and emotional aspects that mark the customer-firm interaction”. Many research have been conducted to show the place and impacts of feelings on the customer experience (Alnawas & Hemsley-Brown, 2018; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Palmer, 2010). Lemon & Verhoef (2016), from a theoretical perspective, stand that the customer experience is built upon five types of responses: cognitive, emotional, behavioural, sensorial and social responses. Together they form a holistic understanding based on all the direct and indirect interactions with the firm.
2.3.2. The customer experience: a challenge
First of all, the definition of customer experience can be ambiguous for firms, and Palmer (2010) explained: “The ambiguity for marketers is that on one hand, experience is a learned outcome that is associated with predictable behaviours, whereas on the other it has come to be associated with processes whose novelty may result in unpredictable response by consumers”. This challenge to understand the customer experience while taking into account all the behaviours and processes that happen during a customer experience explains why customer management is perceived as one of the most important challenges that today’s firms face (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).
Moreover, Pine & Gilmour (1999) indicated that service providers have to provide customers with appropriate service experiences in order to acquire high customer satisfaction in the era of the experience economy (Bueno et al., 2019; Hsieh & Yuan, 2019)
Meanwhile, customer experiences have become a differentiating factor between brands, and particularly a potential added value compared to competitors in the market (Teixeira et al., 2012). Service firms are paying more and more attention to the quality of the customer experiences they offer, as these have become real differentiators, and criteria for assessing the quality of service perceived by customers (Bueno et al., 2019).
2.3.3. Customer experience management
Knowing that the customer experience includes every point of customer contact with products, services, or businesses (Grewal et al., 2009), customer experience management represents a business strategy designed to manage the customer experience (Grewal et al., 2009). The design of the customer experience can be analysed from a firm side, as it is the one meeting the customer during the customer experience. Firms understood the importance of designing and managing the customer experience (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). In fact, customer experience management seems to be one of the main challenges of today’s companies’ activities (De Keyser et al., 2015; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Palmer, 2010). Palmer (2010) considers customer experience management as “an integrating framework that overcomes the theoretical and practical limitations of customer relationship management”.
Related to paragraph 2.3.2., the customer experience management is therefore a challenge for firms. Linked to the perception of the quality of the management of these customer experiences, and the comparison of these experiences with those offered by competitors, firms are now forced to offer properly managed experiences, so that the customer has quality final experience (Hsieh & Yuan, 2019).
2.4. Customer Expectations and Service Quality
Many researchers have demonstrated the relationship between customer expectations and perceived service quality (D’Ambra et al., 2018; O’Neil et al., 1998; Zeithaml et al., 1993). Understanding what customer expectations are, the challenge they pose to firms and the place they occupy in today's business management, as well as their relationship with perceived service quality, is essential for a complete overview of the research topic.
2.4.1. Customer Expectations
Customer expectations can be defined as pretrial beliefs about a product or service (Olson & Dover, 1979) that serve a standard or reference points against which a product or service performance is judged (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Each consumer has more or less precise and defined expectations when buying a product or experiencing a service. It has been shown that these expectations impact on the level of customer satisfaction (Hsieh & Yuan, 2019; Zeithaml et al., 1993). Thus, as companies want to satisfy consumers, understanding and managing their expectations is one of the most critical points in managing their business.
Moreover, Zeithaml et al. (1993) proposed a framework of service expectations and defined customer expectations based on eleven antecedent factors that can affect the desired and appropriate expectations of customers (Figure 6). Based on this framework, Hsieh & Yuan (2019) developed an Expectations Model, defining how service providers can use expectation drivers to influence customer expectations (Figure 3). Hsieh & Yuan (2019) made different propositions (P1, P2 and P3) about areas that can be used as levers of action to influence consumer expectations. It seems particularly relevant to consider this model in this study as it shows the power of the firm on building and managing the customer expectations, and also as it directly links the customer expectations with the customer emotions, the determinants of the expectations, the zone of tolerance, and the final satisfactory service experience.
Figure 3: The expectations model
Source: Hsieh & Yuan, 2019, p.515.
2.4.2. Service Quality
Service quality has been studied by many researchers (D’Ambra et al., 2018; Grönroos, 1984; O’Neil et al., 1998). Different models have been developed in order to measure the service quality and to analyse the service delivery process and will be introduced in the following paragraphs.
2.4.2.1. Service quality measurements
One of the pillars in modelling the perception of service quality is the model presented by Parasuraman et al. (1988). The SERVQUAL Model identifies different aspects that characterise the customer’s perceived quality about a service. These aspects are classified into five categories: tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, assurance and reliability (D’Ambra et al., 2019).
Figure 4: SERVQUAL Model
Source: Ghotbabadi et al., 2015, p.276.
Therefore, the focus is switching from measuring service quality to linking customer satisfaction as a critical aspect of customer experience (Maklan & Klaus, 2011).
2.4.2.2. Service delivery process analysis
Halvorsrud et al. (2016) state that “understanding the service delivery process from a customer’s perspective is the key to the successful design and management of services”. Many researchers have demonstrated how important this understanding is, especially as it is an interdisciplinary approach to the design and management of services anchored in human-centred and user-participatory methods (Halvorsrud et al., 2016; Polaine et al., 2013; Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011). Shostack (1982) is considered as a pioneer in the service delivery analyse, with her work on service blueprinting which helps to understand how the service delivery process is understood and analysed in service design (Halvorsrud et al., 2016). Service blueprinting is a method based on flowcharts that visually clarifies the steps involved in a service delivery process (Halvorsrud et al., 2016). In a blueprint, the process steps being encountered by the purchaser are visually separated from the backstage process steps, of which the customer can be unaware, but which can be critical for service delivery (Halvorsrud et al., 2016).
2.4.2.3. Service quality gap model
According to the Gaps Model of Service Quality (Figure 5) (Parasuraman et al., 1993), five gaps can appear in a service delivery process.
• Gap 1: Difference between consumers expectations and management perceptions of consumers expectations.
• Gap 2: Difference between management perceptions of consumers expectations and service quality specifications.
• Gap 3: Difference between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered.
• Gap 4: Difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to customers.
• Gap 5: Difference between consumers expectations and perceptions of the service delivery. This gap depends on four gaps associated with service quality delivered on the marketer side (Ghotbabadi et al., 2015)
Figure 5: Conceptual model of service quality
2.4.3. Customer Expectations Gap model
Customers' assessment of service quality is based on a comparison between their expectations and the actual performance delivered. In fact, service quality was originally conceptualised as “a gap between expectations and customers’ overall assessment of the service encounter” (Parasuraman et al., 1988). If there is a gap between these expectations and the perceived service, it is referred to as a “Customer Expectations Gap”.
The importance of expectations and customer satisfaction has been studied (Grönroos, 1984; Oliver, 1981), and the role of expectations in service evaluation has been proved (Zeithaml et al., 1993). The Customer Expectations Gap corresponds to Gap 5 in Figure 5. This gap occurs between the “Expected Service” and the “Perceived Service”. The perceived service depends on the four gaps that occur on the marketer side regarding different aspects, namely: the management perceptions of consumer expectations, the translation of perceptions into service quality specs, the service delivery and the external communications to consumers. Parasuraman et al., (1993) provided a model focusing specifically on this gap and on the different determinants impacting the expected service (Figure 6), more detailed than the components shown in their model developed in 1988 (Zeithaml et al., 1988).
Figure 6: Nature and determinants of customer expectation of service
Source: Parasuraman et al., 1993, p.5.
Through this model, Parasuraman et al. (1993) describe the expected service from a customer perspective. This model can be divided into four main sections: (1) the expected service components, (2) the desired service history, (3) the adequate service history, and (4) the expected and desired service history. The model proposes three levels of expectations against which service quality is assessed: the desired level of service, reflecting what the customer wants; the adequate service level, defined as the standard that customers are willing to accept; and the expected service level ‐ which they believe is most likely to actually occur (O’Neil et al., 1998).
3. METHODOLOGY AND METHOD
In this chapter, with the aim of fulfilling the research purpose, the methodology and the method are introduced. The authors will detail the process of gathering data, develop the chosen data analysis approach as well as the sample selection. Lastly, trustworthiness and ethical considerations will be discussed.
3.1. Research philosophy
3.1.1. What is research philosophy?
Research philosophy refers to the reflexive process of developing new knowledge by shaping a set of assumptions with the aim of fulfilling a research question (Saunders et al., 2016; Saunders & Lewis, 2012).
The five research philosophies established by Saunders et al. (2016) are positivism, critical realism, interpretivism, postmodernism and pragmatism (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Merriam, 2002). Firstly, positivism is related to the philosophical position of the natural scientist, which means working with an observable social reality, studying observable and measurable variables. Indeed, “At root of the positivism research philosophy is the law of cause and effect” (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). Secondly, critical realism focuses and relies on explaining and exploring historical analysis of the evolution of societal and organisational structures (Saunders et al., 2016). Thirdly, interpretivism is a subjective philosophy that provides a better understanding of organisational realities (Saunders et al., 2016) and which the core is to priorities understanding over scientific explanation (Daymon & Holloway, 2011). Fourthly, postmodernism philosophy challenges accepted ways of thinking and aims to give voice to alternatives that have been silenced by dominant perspectives (Saunders et al., 2016). Fifthly, pragmatism strives to combine both objectivism and interpretivism research philosophies (facts and values) (Saunders et al., 2016).
3.1.2. Research philosophy justification
Thus, after a deeper understanding of what research philosophy is, the authors chose to rely on the interpretivism philosophy style to guide this paper writing. Indeed, interpretivism seems for the researchers to be the most suitable among the five philosophies. This research philosophy fits the more accurately the purpose of this research, which aims to identify a
customer expectations gap in the online food delivery sector, as the interpretivism approach encompasses the analysis and interpretation of both study participants and authors themselves (Saunders et al., 2016). This dimension, added to the goal of undercovering a better understanding of the subject studied in this paper because of its lack of existing knowledge and research (Klein et al., 2020), are driving the authors’ choice to rely on interpretivism research philosophy.
3.2. Research approach
3.2.1. What is research approach?
According to Saunders et al. 2009, three research approaches are established: inductive approach, deductive approach and the combination of both inductive and deductive; abductive approach. The purpose of the deductive research approach is to review literature about the studied topic, for developing a conceptual framework and testing it by using data. The goal is therefore to design a research strategy to test a theory (Saunders et al., 2016). On the contrary, the inductive research approach aims to explore data in order to develop theories from them, that the authors will relate to the literature in subsequent discussion. Thus, the objective is to collect data to generate a theory (Saunders et al., 2016; Saunders & Lewis, 2012; Merriam, 2002). Finally, the mix of deductive and inductive is called abductive research approach (Saunders et al., 2016). This approach collects data to explore a phenomenon, identify themes and explain patterns, with the goal to generate a new or modified an existing theory, which the authors test through the data collection process (moving back and forth from deductive to inductive research approaches) (Saunders et al., 2016).
3.2.2. Research approach justification
In relation to the interpretivism research philosophy selected, the authors use the inductive research approach, by exploring the data collected. Indeed, one of the strengths of conducting inductive research relies on its flexibility as researchers build theories based on observations (Crowther & Lancaster, 2009; Saunders & Lewis, 2012). Moreover, according to Crowther & Lancaster (2009), [inductive] is particularly suited to study human behaviours. Therefore, as the authors focus on developing a new theory to help bridging the customer expectations gap in the online food delivery sector by analysing the collected data, and as it seems to have a lack of theory (Klein et al., 2020) regarding this paper’s subject, choosing an inductive research approach seemed to be relevant to fulfil the paper’s purpose.
3.3. Research design and purpose 3.3.1. Research design
Interpretivism philosophy is often associated with a qualitative research design (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Saunders et al., 2016). As opposed to the quantitative research design, commonly related to a positivism research philosophy (Saunders et al., 2012) which aims to use data to test an existing theory, by analysing numerical, statistical standard-collected data (Saunders et al., 2016). As Merriam (2002) highlights in the introduction to qualitative research, the researchers often undertake a qualitative study due to a lack of theory about a phenomenon. Therefore, in compliance with Merriam (2002) and Klein et al. (2020) the authors have chosen to conduct a qualitative research design, because data are used to develop a conceptual framework. Moreover, a qualitative research design usually seeks in-depth perspectives on how society is supposed to function and the related various influences that affect how decisions are made (Dharamsi & Scott, 2009). Thus, this research design fits the authors willingness to fulfil the study purpose and research questions associated.
Moreover, as a research design method, the authors have chosen to rely on a case study. A case study is a research design involving an intensive and holistic investigation of a single phenomenon within a social context, which is bounded with time and place; often associated with a location and/ or a set of people (Daymon & Holloway, 2011). Moreover, it is a research strategy involving a variety of different types of data gathered using multiple data collection methods (Blumberg et al., 2011; Daymon & Holloway, 2011; Saunders & Lewis, 2012); meaning gathering data through sources such as verbal reports (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010), unstructured, semi-structured interviews along with available secondary data (Blumberg et al., 2011). The choice of a single case (holistic) design is undertaken, as it offers the opportunity to engage a deep exploration of a particular phenomenon (Daymon & Holloway, 2011). Indeed, it is appropriate as the researchers aim to draw out a theory. And relevant as the authors are using an inductive research approach and aim to highlight a specific explanation (not a generalisation) (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010), and as this method is particularly suited to research areas for which there is a lack in existing theory (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010) such as Klein et al (2020) highlight in their paper.
3.3.2. Research design purpose
According to Saunders et al. 2016, there are four purposes of the research design that need to be highlighted: exploratory, descriptive, explanatory and evaluative purposes. The authors chose to follow the principles of the exploratory research design purpose. Exploratory research’s aim is to “seek new insights, ask questions and assess topics in a new light” (Saunders & Lewis, 2012), by starting with a broad focus, and narrowing itself as the research progresses (Saunders et al., 2016). Moreover, the most usual ways of conducting exploratory research are first a deep reviewing of significant and relevant literature about the topic, then conducting interviews among experts in the subject (Saunders & Lewis, 2012) and finally, conducting semi-structured individual interviews and/or conducting group focus interviews (Saunders et al., 2016). Thus, the authors followed these guidelines.
A broad understanding of the subject has been acquired beforehand by reviewing the literature already existing on the subject (refer to section 2.). Then, to increasingly narrow the focus, the authors have chosen to undertake a case study (detailed in the following section 3.4.) and conduct semi-structured interviews as a data collection method. Indeed, case studies are often associated with exploratory research (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010). Moreover, the group focus interviews are chosen by the researchers for two reasons. First, as it is considered as flexible and adaptable to change (Saunders et al., 2016) and secondly, because group focus interviews allow observing the interaction between the participants, enabling the expression of divergent points of view. Indeed, new insights can emerge from different contributions of participants and encourage further discussion that probably would not have occurred in a one-by-one conversation (Blumberg, 2011).
Thus, in regard to this paper research questions and purpose to fulfil, the research design employs an exploratory purpose.
3.4. Case study: UberEats
As the aim of a case study is to increase knowledge about a phenomenon in its specific context (Daymon & Holloway, 2011), the authors chose to study UberEats, leader of the French food delivery sector, to fulfil this paper’s purpose. Indeed, the authors’ reasons to select a single case study relies on two arguments: because the case has reasons of intrinsic interest and because it has useful instrumental reasons to provide a site for theory building and testing
of their personal interest for this brand as well as its convenience and accessibility for exploring the research topic of this paper (Daymon & Holloway, 2011). Thus, relying on the previous argumentation, the authors chose to study UberEats in the French market.
Uber Eats is a digital food service delivery platform that belongs to the Uber Group. To understand the activity of Uber Eats it is important to understand the concept of Uber in its globality. First, Uber was launched in 2010 in San Francisco (Uber, 2021) with the aim of solving a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? Therefore, Uber allows consumers to benefit from a ride shared service in a few clicks using only a smartphone (Uber, 2021). After developing this service in several cities such as Paris, New York and San Francisco, Uber decided in 2015 to take its concept a step further and launched UberEats in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York (Uber, 2021) and was implemented few years later in Paris (France) in 2016.
Moreover, Uber’s mission is to “create opportunity through movement” (Uber Technologies, Inc, 2021). Thus, the aim of UberEats is simple and similar to that of Uber: to be able to order food in a few clicks with a smartphone from nearby restaurants. Consumers use their smartphones to have access to the nearby restaurants thanks to a geographical location. The menu is accessible through the app. Consumers can review and order food for delivery directly through the app from participating restaurants. A delivery person collects the order from the restaurant and delivers the food to the address indicated by the consumer. Payment for the order and delivery is made through the app interface. In exchange for hosting the transaction and connecting consumers with restaurants, UberEats earns a commission on orders placed on the platform by restaurants and collects delivery fees from customers (Raj et al., 2020).
3.5. Sampling
The selection of a population sample is necessary in order to collect data, while excluding the obligation to look at the whole population (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Relying on Zikmund et al. (2010) and Ghauri & Grønheug (2010) sampling selection model, the authors first defined the targeted population, then selected the sample through non-probability sampling method followed by determining the samples sizes as detailed subsequently.
A population sampling can be done in two different ways. The authors selected the non-probability sampling technique as their sampling method, which fits the authors’ qualitative
research design approach (Saunders et al., 2016). As opposed to the probability sampling method, commonly associated with a quantitative approach (conducting surveys rather than interviews) (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010). For a non-probability sampling technique, the sample size should be between 5 and 25 people; for semi-structured interviews (Saunders et al., 2016). The will of studying a rather small sample is to enable the authors to capture interviewees’ specific responses and individual interpretations (Daymon & Holloway, 2011) as well as for achieving data saturation (meaning that new data no longer bring new insights to the researchers) (Bryman & Bell, 2015). In addition to the non-probability sampling technique, the authors selected the purposive sampling method to study the two populations. A purposive sample is composed of individuals or groups with special knowledge of a topic (Daymon & Holloway, 2011) and which are selected by the authors because of their relevance to the research questions (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Indeed, Population 1 has been selected in order to answer the authors’ RQ1, RQ2 and RQ3 and Population 2 interviews aim to help answering RQ2 and RQ3.
As previously mentioned in the paper’s research purpose section, the authors study both perspectives of the customer experience process: the service provider side and the service experiencer side. Thus, the sample is divided into two sub-samples that the researchers name Population 1: Customers sampling and Population 2: Company sampling; to clarify and simplify the reading process.
3.5.1. Population 1: Customer sampling
Firstly, to enable the recording of the customer’s perspective, the researchers conducted group focus interviews with the selected purposive sample of Generation Y and Generation Z populations, users of online food delivery services. Thanks to Mannheim (1952) Ground Theory about Generations (Conlon & Timonen, 2015), the authors have identified the Generation Y (also called Millennials, born between 1980 and 1996) and the Generation Z (population born between 1997 and 2015) as relevant populations to study. Indeed, they will represent 75% of the purchasing power in the near future (Pauliene & Sedneva, 2019); replacing their parents from Generation X (Pauliene & Sedneva, 2019) and therefore enhance companies for switching their targets from previous Generation X to the two more significant and important segments nowadays: Generations Y and Z.
for online media channels use (Tkalac Verčič & Verčič, 2013). These aspects of Generations Y and Z were deemed relevant by the authors regarding the research topic, as they add another dimension and future interest to the development of this research.
Then, to narrow down the sample, the researchers targeted more specifically students from Generations Y and Z. Indeed, the method of Student-Recruited Sampling (SRS) which involves soliciting students to collect data, has become increasingly widespread and valuable for designing research analysis (Hochwarter, 2013). Therefore, French students from Generations Y and Generations Z, users of UberEats services, are interviewed in this research to be consistent with the case study undertaken about services offered by UberEats France.
3.5.2. Population 2: Company sampling
Then, to enable the recording of the company’s perspective, the authors conduct semi-structured interviews among UberEats experts using a purposive sampling method.
Furthermore, according to Daymon & Holloway (2011), sampling a single case study requires a two levels process: the case itself and the participants. The justification of the case itself has been developed in part 3.4. Therefore, the authors will justify here about the participants. Regarding the chosen participants of the interviews, the authors are using a purposive sampling because the two experts selected have a deep and consistent knowledge about the research topic, enabling the authors to answer the paper’s research questions RQ2 and RQ3.
Table 2: Interviews summary
Source: Developed by the authors stemming from the recordings of 27 interviewees from Population 1 and from 2 interviewees from Population 2.
3.6. Group focus and semi-structured interviews
As the authors rely on the inductive research process, while using a qualitative research design with an exploratory purpose; it is commonly associated with interviews as primary-data collection method (Saunders et al., 2016). Indeed, semi-structured interviews are helpful in an exploratory study as they provide important background and contextual information (Saunders et al., 2016). As the authors chose to divide their sample in two distinct populations (developed previously in the section 5.2.), they selected two different interviews methods for each population: group focus and semi-structured interviews. Nevertheless, all the interviews are held in French, mother tongues of both samples. Moreover, the feasibility aspect of the research is carried by the authors. Indeed, regarding the current situation of Covid-19 and the sanitary restrictions the totality of the interviews is conducted online via Zoom meetings to ensure participants safety.
3.6.1. Population 1: group focus
First, regarding Population 1, the authors conduct group focus interviews. A group focus interview is an unstructured, free flowing interview which gathers a small group of participants (Zikmund et al., 2010), who, led by a moderator (the authors), exchange ideas, feelings and experiences about a topic (Blumberg et al., 2011). The group focus interviews are chosen by the researchers for several reasons.
First, group focus strength relies on its very rich and in-depth data collected from participants (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010), allowing the authors to analyse interviewees’ opinions, feelings, and reactions (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Then, it is considered as flexible and adaptable to change (Saunders et al., 2016; Zikmund et al., 2010), allowing authors to collect data quickly and easily. Indeed, it enables authors to interact directly with the participants and therefore react and build the discussion as it goes (Blumberg et al., 2011). Moreover, it is interesting for the researchers because group focus is not only about what participants say, but most likely how they respond (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Thirdly, group focus interviews are led by the interactions between the participants, enabling the expression of divergent points of view. Indeed, new insights can emerge from different contributions of participants and encourage further discussion that probably would not have occurred in a one-by-one conversation (Blumberg, 2011).
Lastly, in compliance with the sampling method highlighted in the section 5.2.1, the authors conduct six group focus interviews; each group sizes varying between 4 and 12 people, as recommended by Saunders et al. (2016).
3.6.2. Population 2: semi-structured interviews
Then, for Population 2, the researchers chose to conduct one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Indeed, the authors aim to collect data required to fulfil their topic and research questions (Saunders & Lewis, 2012) and they found relevant to conduct semi-structured interviews, as it allows the researchers to explore the perspectives and perceptions from the interviewees (Daymon & Holloway, 2011). Moreover, the advantage of semi-structured interviews is that the authors recall more accurate pictures of the interviewees position and behaviour (Ghauri & Grønheug, 2010) and provide deeper insights (Zikmund et al., 2010). This method allows flexibility for the authors to conduct and guide the interview, as well as flexibility for the interviewees who can freely express opinions and feelings in their own words (Saunders et al., 2016).
3.7. Interview design
By choosing to separate the interviews in two distinct samples, the researchers have designed two different interview forms.
3.7.1. Interview design: Population 1
A first interview guide is built to conduct the focus group interviews with Population 1. Open questions are used to discover insights about the topic from the customer's perspective (Saunders et al., 2016).
The interview is organised in different sections. Firstly, the interview starts with an introduction. This part is used to describe the aim of the research and explain the contribution of the interview to the research. A brief description of Uber Eats is given to set the scene and to put the interviewees in the context of the interview. Secondly, the interview is followed by a section focusing on the respondent's last experience with UberEats. The authors felt it necessary to invite respondents to recall their last experience, as this helps them to put themselves in the context of a previous customer experience. The third part of the interview is about the reasons the interviewees use Uber Eats. The goal of this section is to understand what factors motivate the interviewees to use UberEats. The fourth section of the interview is
narrowing down the interviewees' expectations and the factors that build their level of satisfaction. The next section of the interview is about the online platform of UberEats. The objective is to understand the interviewees' perception of the quality of the online platform. The sixth part of the interview is focusing on the customer service offered by UberEats. Finally, the interview ends with a section focusing on the customer expectations gap, and on improvements that the interviewees would like to see on the UberEats service offer.
3.7.2. Interview design: Population 2
A second interview guide is developed to conduct the interviews with Population 2. Open questions are used to discover insights about the topic from the company's perspective. Moreover, open-ended questions allow the respondents to have the freedom to answer and the opportunity to expand on that answer as much as they wish (Saunders et al., 2016). This allows the authors to collect coherent and detailed responses. The authors chose the questions according to the relevance the answers could provide to the research, while keeping a certain generality with some very broad questions and aiming for specific details by using more focused questions.
The interview is organised in different sections. The first part of the interview is the introduction. The authors decided to start the interview with an introduction, to help create an open climate between the participants and to set the scene of the interview context. The rest of the interview is organised according to the main themes of our research, i.e. online access to food, online media channels, customer experience, customer expectations, and finally a last part concerning the gap with customer expectations.
The interviews of Population 2 focus on the online customer experience offered by UberEats and pay particular attention to UberEats' perception of their customers' expectations.
3.8. Data analysis
As a data analysis method, the authors follow the process recommended by Saunders et al (2016). First, data are prepared for analysis: by a consistent transcription of the eight audio-recorded interviews. The authors transcribed word-to-word the interview content, as well as reported all non-verbal communications from participants that occurred during the interviews. Then, the authors have undertaken the coding process of the transcribed data, a time-consuming process (Saunders et al., 2016). The codes are presented in Table 3.
