Clearness

The empirical results of the study suggest clearness as one of the most fundamental char-acteristics of creating appealing electronic insurance service experiences. Clearness is cer-tainly not a totally new concept in the context of Web-based electronic services. However, in earlier studies term “clearness”, or clarity (see e.g. Eighmey and McCord 1998), is used to characterize information quality (e.g. Eighmey 1997; DeLone and McLean 2003), as well as information relevance (see e.g. McKinney, Yoon, and Zahedi 2002).

In this study a different, more extensive, view on clearness is chosen. Clearness is per-ceived to have conceptual congruence with ease of use concept (see chapter 5.2) to some extent, which is defined as “the degree of which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort” (Davis 1989, 320). In this regard, clearness is determined as the extent of the electronic insurance service environment being easy to comprehend and operate in this study.

As “visual outlook” and “information” dimensions of the electronic insurance servic-escape play an essential role in characterizing the nature of clearness, visual informative-ness is suggested as one of the sub-categories for clearinformative-ness. Another sub-category refers to easy-to-use nature and fastness of electronic operations, and is therefore conceptualized as simplicity. The conceptual nature of clearness, as well as the connections with the dimen-sions of the electronic servicescape are depicted in Figure 33.

The connections between the sub-categories of the “clearness” and the dimensions of the electronic servicescape are depicted with bar graphics in Figure 33 according to the fol-lowing logic. First of all, the bars indicate, which dimensions of the electronic servicescape are related to which sub-category. As Figure 33 depicts, “visual outlook”, “information”, and “personal assistance” associate with “visual informativeness”. Similarly, “transactions”,

“interactive features” and “information” associate with “simplicity”. Further, in order to improve the illustration and indicate the connections between the categories and the elec-tronic servicescape model, the bars are in the same colors as they appear in the model of electronic insurance servicescape introduced in chapter 7.4 (see Figure 31).

Second, the bars also indicate the extent of how intensively the dimensions of the elec-tronic insurance servicescape are associated with each sub-category. For instance, in case of “visual informativeness” the bar that indicates “visual outlook” dimension is longest.

This means that visual outlook dimension of the electronic servicescape is the most cru-cial indicator of visual informativeness sub-category for “clearness”. Similarly, “informa-tion” dimension is perceived as the second dimension in terms of indicating the “visual informativeness”. At this point it is important to note that the size of the bars is not based on any quantitative measuring, but I am rather trying to simply illustrate the difference of the importance of distinct dimensions of the electronic servicescape in the context of each sub-category.

FIGURE 33. CONCEPTUALIZING “CLEARNESS”THROUGH THE DIMENSIONS OF ELECTRONIC SERVICESCAPE

Personal Assistance Information Visual Oulook Information Interactive Features TransactionsCLEARNESS

Visual

Informativeness Simplicity

Visual informativeness

Visual informativeness as a sub-characteristic for clearness refers to clarifying the electronic service environment with visual elements. From the perspective of the electronic servic-escape, term visual especially refers to the “visual outlook” dimension whereas term in-formativeness refers to the “information” dimension. In this regard, the empirical results reveal that the most crucial dimension of the electronic servicescape characterizing “vi-sual informativeness” is vi“vi-sual outlook (i.e. illustrative attributes). For instance, displaying symbols and icons clearly, and the fact that the displayed symbols are large enough was perceived important by the interviewees:

P14: … all of these symbols are pretty clear.

P17: … those small pictures too, even if they didn’t have anything to do with the is-sue, small pictures somehow make the matter clearer, like for example that there are three points here and there are big headings, which make it clear what is [underneath them].

In addition, used colors have a particular impact on making the electronic service environ-ment clear and visual for the customers, although service providers need to be aware of not using too many colors. Also using charts on the Web environment was perceived as a feasible solution in terms of clarifying the content by the research participants. The fol-lowing citations illustrated these insights:

P7: I think in this kind of thing where you progress from one phase to the next, colors bring clarity about which phase you are in and how many phases might be left, if you intend to finish it.

P15: … and often things are ruined with too much color.

P17: Those charts are also a fast and easy way to find the information you’re looking for. If the information is in a form of a chart, it’s always clear.

From the clearness point of view using animations on the Web sites was perceived a felici-tous solution in terms of making the (insurance) service environment more comprehen-sible for the customers. By this I am especially referring to the “insurance cover evaluator”

service concept suggesting that visual informativeness facilitates the absorbing of informa-tion that might be otherwise perceived complex by the customers. The following citainforma-tions support this insight:

P7: The thing with these [electronic insurance services] is also that information, what ever it’s about, should be in an understandable format, because for an ordinary person the text that is on these sites is often quite difficult.

P12: This is exactly what I meant… that by playing [referring to “insurance cover evalu-ator”], where you end up, it’s still the hard facts that you get in the end.

Information (i.e. organizing attributes) was perceived as the second relevant dimension of the electronic servicescape indicating “visual informativeness”. Especially organized structure (i.e. organizing attributes) was perceived as important from the clearness point of view by the interviewees. The empirical results reveal that organized structure might even facilitate and encourage customers in making a buying decision on the Web as the citation below indicates:

P11: … that’s more clear, because it’s structured and the presentation is clear that you can understand what these [things] are about. But if you are seriously considering tak-ing out insurance, you do in a way get a clear picture of that.

The other three dimensions of the electronic servicescape model (interactive features, transactions and personal assistance) also have influence on visual informativeness. How-ever, their influence is somewhat vicarious since all these three dimensions are reflected through visual outlook and information by the interviewees to some extent. For instance, in case of interactive features the empirical results suggest that links should be large and visible in order to be easy to find. In addition, long verbal links are not preferable. These insights are supported by the citations below:

P6: … those links are big and easy to find, like hey, there’s the car insurance and so forth. So those big, clear links are good.

P10: In general in that right one [traditional example] those headings are much too long.

Concerning transactions, displaying the content of the Web sites clearly and visually was perceived as a particularly important point by the respondents. The empirical results re-veal that the customers perceive it important that the length of the process is clearly indi-cated on the Web. The different phases of the transactions process(es) can be illustrated, for instance, through numbering and descriptive short wordings. In addition, colors and context-related pictures were suggested to facilitate clarifying the content:

P17: … that the [different phases of transaction] would be numbered and also, what is going to take place there, because on one hand it’s good that they have explained what the phases include.

P7: I think in this kind of thing where you progress from one phase to the next, colors bring clarity about which phase you are in and how many phases might be left, if you

intend to finish it… That picture of a key is smart, and that picture of a house because it has to do with the topic… probably there’s a car where they discuss car insurance and so forth, so those are nice.

When moving in the electronic service environment it naturally is important that the customers have a possibility to get personal assistance if it is needed. Although this matter is easy to be considered by a service provider, it is not, however, self-evident that it is taken care of on the Web. Therefore, it is essential to point out the importance of clearly and il-lustratively displaying the contact information for the customers on the Web:

P9: … if that page had a phone number on it, it would be good. When I enter that other site [traditional example], the first thing I think about is where to find the contact in-formation so that I can call there. So when there’s a simple little link there you can also go searching on the [website] [for example information].

P5: Again, no phone number to call. So what do I do now.

The importance of clearness was already emphasized while characterizing the novel ap-proach on designing the electronic insurance service environment in chapter 7.2. As the discussion above establishes, especially “illustrative attributer” referring to “visual out-look” (e.g. colors, pictures, and animations) as well as organized structure of the content (i.e. “information”) play key roles in making the electronic insurance servicescape clear for the customers.

Simplicity

According to the empirical results it is particularly important for the customers that they experience their operations to be easy, fast, and simple in the electronic insurance servic-escape. The above mentioned statement derived from the empirical data is conceptualized as simplicity, which refers to the extent of the electronic insurance service operations being fast and simple. From the perspective of the electronic servicescape, especially the transactions and interactive features are concerned. This means that when customers are performing electronic activities such as buying or reporting a claim online, the importance of “simplicity”

is emphasized. However, also searching for information can be considered as an activity.

Therefore, “information” dimension of the electronic servicescape is also related to the simplicity as is illustrated in Figure 33.

In addition to what the customers see on the screen, they perceived it important that they know what they are doing. Thus, the empirical results suggest that the awareness of being able to get through the desired tasks (e.g. electronic transactions) fast and easily is impor-tant to the customers. The following citations support the above presented insights:

P3: … I’d rather do the other one [novel example], it’s just somehow… looks easier.

P17: Well, in my opinion also that left one [novel example] much clearer and quicker, looks faster I mean.

P14: I agree completely that that one [novel example] seems easy.

P1 (+ P5): And the clarity. That you know what you’re doing.

Moreover, the empirical results suggest that expressing clearly that transaction process is fast to carry out, for instance, by illustrating the length of the transaction process(es) on the Web, is a crucial point to the customers. The interviews also stated that if the length and/or the phases of the transaction process are not (clearly) indicated it might be difficult for them to comprehend what they are actually doing (e.g. buying) in the electronic servic-escape as the latter citation below indicates:

P17: simple and you do see also that it’s quick to fill in the page and that there’s only one more page to go. So that detail is important, how many pages are there.

P12: … however, here you don’t know what you’re buying…

The possible confusion among the customers caused by, for instance, the above described phenomena might have critical consequences for a (insurance) service provider. The em-pirical results, namely, reveal that under above described circumstances the whole transac-tion process, or other activity, might well be cancelled:

P5: Probably if I were filling this in myself I would maybe still fill in these [points] and see what comes next in [the transaction process], but if nothing sensible came then it could be that I would not finish it.

Concerning “information” from the simplicity point of view, the customers desire it to be easily accessible. As the empirical results indicate, in that way it is easier for the customers to comprehend the essential content of what the customer is looking for:

P10: This left one [novel example] at least I get the feeling that it’s quicker to get into it, to find what you’re looking for, the information.

As becomes clear through the discussion on the simplicity, it mainly refers to the concrete activities by the customers performed in the electronic service environment. Accessibility of the information and fastness are more or less general attributes of the electronic service environment. However, in the context of complex services, such as insurance, the importance of the simplicity is even more emphasized. On the other hand, it is also a more challenging

task for the insurance service providers to consider since there is a need for delivering a great amount of information to the customers. This refers to the paradox of the appro-priate amount of information in the electronic insurance service environment discussed earlier (see chapter 7.3.2).