Interactive features

In electronic servicescape interactivity can be considered as a particularly important char-acteristic since physical service contact is lacking. From the usability point of view inter-activity generally refers to the ability of the environment to communicate with the customers as discussed in chapter 4.2.2. Further, in several studies (e.g. Palmer 2002; McKinney et al. 2002; Gounaris et al. 2005) interactivity is perceived to indicate the ability of the elec-tronic service environment to tailor and customize the (service) content for a customer.

In earlier studies navigation is determined as an individual usability attribute refer-ring to clear and easy structure of the Web site (e.g. De Wulf et al. 2006, 443). However, in studies by Scharl and Bauer (1999), and Benbunan-Fich (2001) navigation as a usability attribute is suggested to reflect customization of the (service) content. On the basis of the above said, this study takes a different point of view by suggesting that since the main fo-cus is not on identifying distinct usability variables, but model a structure of the electronic insurance servicescape as a whole, interactivity and navigation are considered to be inter-related to each other to some extent. In this sense, navigation is suggested to be included in the interactivity since it indicates customers’ (interactive) operations and activities in the electronic service environment, such as browsing, and accessing information and other services (see chapter 4.2.2).

Further, assistance can also be considered to be included in interactivity to the extent of electronic supporting elements directly available for the customers, such as calculators,

“FAQ:s”, and help windows. Other features of assistance, such as support via telephone or e-mail, are discussed more thoroughly in chapter 7.3.5.

In this regard the interactive features dimension of the electronic insurance servicescape refers to the elements that enable customers’ interactive and real-time communication with electronic services. As the discussion above establishes, the “interactive features” dimension is generated through interactivity/assistance and navigation attributes of the Web site us-ability. The essential conceptual nature of the interactive features dimension is depictedThe essential conceptual nature of the interactive features dimension is depicted in Figure 28.

As Figure 28 indicates, “interactive features” dimension has two conceptual sub-dimen-sions: navigational elements and supporting elements. Navigational elements refer to theNavigational elements refer to the ways and “tools” for moving in the electronic environment. From the service point of view I suggest that the navigation reflects elements that enable customers’ service activities, such as information acquisition and transactions (e.g. online buying). Activity, in turn, refers to operations or functions performed by the customers.

More concretely, the empirical results reveal that navigational elements refer to link-ing and search engine functions on the Web. Linklink-ing obviously refers to links and menus through which the customers are moving from one place to another in the electronic servic-escape. Large, illustrative, and easily distinguishable links facilitate the discovery of de-sired information or transaction process in the electronic servicescape. In addition, they improve customers’ effectiveness since operating in the electronic service environment is faster. This argument is supported by the following citations:

P2: … it’s like a big heading, big link… you can put text under it or if you [click] text opens up.

P14: Yes but in the left one [novel example] making a notification of claim, you only need to click on one link and that’s it.

P23: Well from the left one [novel example] at least you can move ahead a lot faster to where you want to go. So from that… you find the link quickly whatever it is you want to find about the home insurance.

Further, the empirical results reveal that links should be instructive, and thereby, they should lead the customers to the right place(s) in the electronic servicescape. The aware-ness of where one has come from, where one is and where one should go in order to com-plete the intended tasks in the electronic servicescape is an important feature of linking for the customers:

FIGURE 28. CONCEPTUAL NATURE OF “INTERACTIVE FEATURES” INTERACTIVE FEATURES

NAVIGATIONAL ELEMENTS SUPPORTING ELEMENTS

Linking Search Engine Help Menus

P12: especially if it’s something complicated, if you don’t know the issue, then at least you’ll know what you don’t need… you can sort of sense what might be the right path to continue on … [the links] guide you and then you’ll also know where you are at and where you are on your way to. And you can recognize how wrong you’ve gone.

Search engine, as the name indicates, refers to a tool of facilitating the discovery of the desired information or function in the electronic servicescape. It can be considered especially use-ful in the complex electronic service environment, such as insurance, in which there is a large amount of different kind of information available for the customers. However, the empirical results indicate that according to the interviewees’ experiences search engines on the Web sites of the (at least Finnish) insurance companies have not been completely functional:

P2: I wonder if I’ve ever visited any [insurance company’s] site that had a decent, work-ing search engine. They have them, and I think it’s a good idea. I’ve tried to find some-thing for some school work by using for example annual report as a search word. Some-times it does work, but they are quite some machines.

P1: … search engines, they can’t look in the whole site.

Supporting elements as a sub-dimension of the interactive features refer to the elements that facilitate customers’ operations in the electronic servicescape in order to ensure their fluency.

Through the supporting elements service providers aim at providing the customers with additional advisory service, and thereby, avoiding the situations in which the customers face such extensive difficulties that they have to exit the electronic service environment and contact the service provider either physically or via telephone.

According to the focus group results help menus are perceived as a feasible tool for facilitating the customers’ operations in the electronic servicescape. Help menus were perceived useful for both getting additional information and support if obscurity and/or problems occur as the following citation below indicates:

P2: … if the environment is not familiar, a help button, which opens a small link or a box, where it gives information even if just with four sentences… they’re surprisingly helpful.

At this point it has to be noted that the list of interactive features (both navigational elements and supporting elements) is not exhaustive (sure there are also other elements!).

However, linking and search engine as the indicators of “navigational elements”, and the help menus as an indicator of “supporting elements” emerged as the most crucial features on the basis of the empirical results of this study.

Under these circumstances search engine, linking, and help menus, if working proper-ly, can be considered as efficient elements facilitating the customers’ operations especially in the electronic service environment for complex services, such as insurance in which, due to the complexity of the service itself, even more facilitating and supporting elements are needed. Regarding this, my general opinion is that interactive features play an especially essential role in providing the customers with competent and supporting instruments for operating and moving in the electronic servicescape.