Abstract
Digital transformation is a reality in practically all business industries and has influenced the development of new marketing practices and, consequently, consumer experiences, particularly in the health sector. The aim of this research is to analyze the potential benefits that digital transformation and digital marketing may have in the customer's experiences with health service providers. This study allowed the confirmation of many of the aspects researched in previous academic works and reinforced the importance of using more technological solutions for current users, as well as the need to improve, namely in terms of service personalization, with greater speed and response, and quality of the service provided in an integrated way by the different touchpoints. Furthermore, it reinforced some important objections of users, namely related to the presumed greater difficulty of personal interaction, especially in cases of dissatisfaction and complaint, or in groups of patients with less digital training.
TopTheoretical Background
Digital transformation has been revolutionizing the interactions between organizations and their stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, and others. For organizations, the use of digital transformation can be seen as an important opportunity for improvement. It implies the rethinking of their business model, in search of greater efficiency gains, differentiation in the face of competition, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and diversification of touchpoints. There is a need to respond to increasingly higher consumer expectations and to create a mechanism to respond to competitors' practices.
Recently, there have been at least three phenomena that greatly influence interactions with customers and the way they relate to digital platforms and consumption: technological advances/digital transformation, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and machine; the COVID-19 pandemic period; and the implications of the War in Ukraine:
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Technological advances, particularly Artificial Intelligence technology is one of the foremost original innovations that has transformed numerous sectors (Tater et al., 2022). A neural network machine learning model, called GPT-3, was trained using internet data to produce any kind of text (Tater et al., 2022); Tools like ChatGPT can analyze large datasets to identify trends and patterns, consumer behaviors and changes in market demand (Alshater, 2023).
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COVID-19 pandemic times changed lifestyles due to severe mobility restrictions and that has dramatically changed the market’s position and size of the digital, leading to the need for a company's fast innovation and agility, as a means to improve customer experience (Lewnes, 2021).
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The war in Ukraine represents an unprecedented situation in recent decades, with numerous consequences regarding the increasing energy prices, cruelty, mass emigration, higher electricity bills, and the moral support for Ukraine (Palmié et al., 2023). Customer Behavior is unpredictable but shows higher emotional connections with reliable suppliers in their search for stability and value, which may include relevant business opportunities related to digital marketing tools (Zlatova, 2022).
The concept of digital transformation is present in all industries and involves the integration of technology and digital marketing in the cultural and customer interaction processes of the business (Hoffman et al., 2022; He et al., 2023; Radnan & Christin, 2023; Tariq, 2023). Digital transformation is a central component of the marketing performance of organizations, aiming to reach, engage and win consumers through increasing the use of digital actions and means (Akgün & Arslan, 2022; Kraus et al., 2022).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Touchpoint: A touchpoint is any time a potential customer or customer meets your brand–before, during, or after they purchase something from a company.
Digital Marketing: Strategy and tactics that are implemented by an organization or a brand to align with set objectives and goals to attract a specific type, or types, of customer using a combination of marketing techniques.
Data Protection: Process of safeguarding personal information from other entities to avoid activities as collecting, storing, retrieving, consulting, disclosing, or sharing with someone else. Companies also need to protect their data of safeguarding important information from corruption, compromise, or loss.
Customer Journey: Represents the entire experience that a customer has with an organization, including all customer interactions across all channels, devices, and touchpoints throughout every stage of the customer lifecycle.
Apps or Mobile Application: Is a software specific application developed to run mainly on smartphones and tablets, used to shopping, gathering information and other interactions.
Digital Transformation: Process of adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize, services and interactions, innovating, gaining efficiency and increasing customer experience.
Artificial Intelligence: Refers to the simulation of human intelligence by software-coded heuristics.