The Versatile Touchpoint: User-generated content as a new touchpoint in the customer journey

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how a new touchpoint has emerged due to the customers or potential customers sharing their customer journeys on social media through user-generated content. Methodology: This paper takes a qualitative approach where netnography research has been conducted to collect data on the social media platform TikTok. After the collection process, the data was analyzed through the guidance of grounded theory. Findings: This study identified several practices characterizing the touchpoint that users employ on social media when sharing their customer journey, specifically in the pre-purchasing and post-purchasing stages. The characteristics identified were that the touchpoint presents itself as versatile and continues. The practices found in the pre-purchase stage include new in-store reviewing in-store and customer-driven marketing. While the post-purchase stage presents the reviewing, excitement, validating, and entertainment practices. Furthermore, the findings also present that this touchpoint has two ownerships as it is customer- and social or external-owned. Theoretical contribution: This study contributes to research in the marketing and retail field, more specifically the area of customer journey and social commerce research by applying the brand publics theory. It contributes with insights regarding how customers share their shopping, how the brand is used in a social media setting, and how the touchpoint takes form. Practical contributions: This research contributes to practitioners in the retail and marketing areas. It contributes to the understanding that marketing is changing due to new technologies such as social media platforms. In these networks, customers can now interact not only with brands but with one another resulting in user-generated content that is as important as posts generated by brands. This type of content should be regarded as a new way of word-of-mouth that can impact the ultimate decision of a potential customer. Hence, practitioners should also direct their attention to how the brand is being used by customers on social media