Summary | Webcare & Conversational AI | 880085-M-6 | Tilburg University
Week 1 Introduction to webcare and conversational AI
Week 2 Webcare for customer care
Week 3 Webcare for public relations (PR)
Week 4 Webcare for online marketing
Week 5 AI for customer care
Week 6 AI for reputation management and marketing purposes
Week 7 Future of webcare and conversational AI
Exam prep (last class)
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,Week 1 Introduction to webcare and conversational AI
Webcare as an integrative tool for customer care, reputation
management, and online marketing: a literature review. In:
Integrated communications in the postmodern era (pp. 77-99).
Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Van Noort, G., Willemsen, L. M., Kerkhof, P., & Verhoeven, J. W.
(2014).
Webcare = “the act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) consumers, by actively
searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns and complaints)”.
1. Monitoring: there are a lot of monitoring tools that can do research on all different
platforms. It often gives you the option to respond and do sentiment analysis as well.
2. Considering: are we going to respond? There are 3 different options:
Blocking making it impossible to post on a company’s (social media) page
strategy
Permitted? Does it really prevent people from posting negative comments?
Sensor/delete = removing negative comments
(censorship)
How to detect censorship?
● Customer references to previous comments that are not available
● Corporate pages only contain positive comments
● Organization publicly announces that negative (or obscene, etc)
comments will not be published
● Postings that are not directly related to main topic are not permitted
● Or that customer postings are not allowed at all
Respond organizations should respond, various studies indicated that people are
more satisfied after receiving a response in reply to NeWOM.
BUT: know the complainant! (intent, desires, motives)
3. Responding: generally people are satisfied after a response. But it’s important to
know the complainant. Webcare can be seen as an invasion of privacy and not everyone desires a
response. How will we respond, which tactics & what tone of voice will we use?
4. Measuring: measuring the effects. Did it help?
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,2010: Volcano eruption in Iceland. It was complicated to contact the airlines. People started
complaining and asking questions on social media. That was the first time KLM used social media
as a platform for webcare. They had one person working on social media, now a whole team.
Goals of webcare (Van Noort et al., 2014).
1. Customer care
Webcare serves the goals of customer care
● Signal customer problems and solve them
● Meet or exceed the expectations of customers
● Customer’s NeWOM → PeWOM, recommendations
Webcare signals customer problems with the organization’s service or product. By solving
problems quickly, companies can not only meet but exceed customer expectations. This can lead
to customers stopping negative comments or even sharing positive feedback about their
experience with webcare, which improves the company's reputation. Goal: NeWom -> PeWom,
recommendations
Example: KLM case (volcanic eruption on Iceland 2010)
2. Public Relations (PR)
Webcare can affect the reputation of an organization both directly and indirectly (PR)
● Others are watching too!
● eWOM can influence people’s impression of the organization (e.g., trust)
● Organization’s webcare demonstrates customers’ comments are taken seriously
● Prevent (N)eWOM → crisis
● When an complaint has the potential to reach a bigger audience and become a PR-crisis.
● = Reputation & Relationship management
Since webcare responses are visible to many online users, not just the person who complained,
they shape public perceptions of the company. By addressing concerns publicly, organizations show
they value customers, potentially preventing crises. From a PR perspective, webcare is a tool for
managing reputation and relationships with stakeholders (Coombs, 2002), helping organizations
track and resolve issues before negative comments escalate. And therefore helps to prevent
NeWom.
> Working on reputation by trying to avoid more NeWom (careful).
Example: KLM (search for: KLM fail)
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,3. Marketing
Webcare can be used as a marketing tool (Willemsen, Neijens, and Bronner, 2013).
● creating a good image
● enhancing brand evaluations
● message could go viral (e.g. response Ryanair (‘Adulting is hard’)
● could convince others to purchase at your company as well
● Valuable feedback to improve their business (Van Noort et al., 2014)
Example: KLM Surprise
Insights from monitoring online discussions can help improve products and services. By
participating in these discussions, webcare can influence online sentiment and improve
stakeholders' opinions of the organization.
Webcare serves multiple organizational goals and can be part of different departments. According
to a study by Upstream (2013), webcare is increasingly integrated into customer care, alongside
channels like phone, mail, or email. It’s also managed by multifunctional teams from PR,
communications, and marketing. Therefore, webcare spans multiple communication
subdisciplines.
Webcare monitoring services: e.g. Hootsuite, OBI4wan and Coosto
Should one engage in webcare?
When deciding whether to engage in webcare, organizations face a dilemma: responding to
negative comments may backfire if the response is poorly received, but not responding can give
the impression that the organization doesn't care, potentially worsening the situation. Studies
show that many organizations respond to only a small portion of negative comments, missing the
opportunity to improve customer satisfaction and positively influence potential consumers.
Research has demonstrated that responding to complaints can enhance public relations, customer
care, and marketing outcomes, though there are mixed results in some cases.
Effects of proactive versus reactive webcare (Van Noort & Willemsen, 2012)
When to respond to complaints (different desires)
The literature generally supports responding to complaints on social media, but not all comments
require a response. Survey results show that consumers (51%) want to talk (positive and
negative) about brands in social media (just venting), without them listening. And even think
(43%) that organizations intrude on privacy when monitoring what consumers talk about. Thus,
the general rule of thumb should be to only take action when it is explicitly asked for.
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,There are two main approaches:
1. Reactive Webcare: responding to complaints that explicitly or implicitly request a
response (e.g., @-mentions). Most studies and surveys suggest that consumers do not
always expect a response. Reactive responses are often more effective, as they align with
consumer expectations and can improve perceptions of the brand.
2. Proactive Webcare: responding to comments without a direct request. While proactive
responses are less common, studies show that reactive webcare is generally more effective
for both customer satisfaction and public perception. Observers tend to view reactive
responses more positively than proactive responses, and complainants are more satisfied
when their response was anticipated.
➔ the tweet does not mention the company directly (or tags them)
➔ the tweet does not include a question to the company, wanting an answer
While responding to online negative comments is usually beneficial, it is more effective to respond
only when explicitly requested. Organizations should use reactive webcare as their primary
strategy to avoid potential negative backlash and ensure they address complaints effectively.
Intrusive or unwelcome webcare interventions may harm the organization’s reputation rather than
help.
Finding (Van Noort & Willemsen, 2012)
● Responding to NeWOM by means of webcare increases brand evaluations (better to
respond than not to respond)
● No main difference between reactive / proactive approach
● But did find a distinction for platform types:
➔ Reactive: no platform difference on brand evaluations nor perceptions of human
voice (so always respond).
➔ Proactive: only respond on positive brand evaluations on a brand-generated
platform (in contrast to a consumer-generated platform). It might feel intrusive.
(Why? Someone takes the effort to find and to post on the brand-platform,
indicating that they expect or want a response from the brand).
● Also, people perceived the brand as demonstrating more a human voice on
this platform.
➔ try to estimate whether the
consumer desires a reply or not.
Hashtags might be used to increase
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, reach instead of to mention the company.
What to say in webcare
Webcare is a modern approach to managing customer complaints, but it builds on traditional
service recovery practices. The goal is to restore customer satisfaction after a negative experience
and reduce the risk of customer defection and negative word-of-mouth.
1. Justice Theory
Focuses on how customers perceive fairness in the way a company handles their complaints,
rather than the complaint's cause or event itself. It is concerned with how the company treats the
customer during the resolution process. In short: Customers assess complaint handling based on
fairness, which includes:
Distributive fairness of the outcome/result (e.g., quality, refunds, discounts, or other
Justice or compensation provided tangible benefits).
Procedural fairness of the processes or (e.g., transparency, response time, or how
Justice procedures used to resolve the easy it is to raise the complaint).
issue
Interactional quality of interpersonal (e.g., empathy, politeness, respect shown by
Justice treatment during the process the customer service representative).
Practical Recommendations:
● Respond promptly: Timeliness is crucial for maintaining positive perceptions.
● Apologize and correct: Offer apologies and corrective actions when justified.
● Be attentive and empathetic: Show genuine concern and respect in responses.
● Maintain public visibility: keep responses public to demonstrate transparency and
responsiveness.
Vindictive vs. constructive complaints
Webcare’s effect on constructive and vindictive complainants. Journal of Product & Brand
Management, 28(3), 330-347. DOI: 10.1108/JPBM-04-2018-1843. Weitzl, W. J. (2019).
Constructive
Complaining goals can only be achieved by receiving a
response from the company
● Receptive to webcare
● Seek for redress to restore relationship with brand
● Use social media to increase public pressure to find a solution
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