The role of perceived risk in customer experience and brand imageinteraction in omni channel marketing: An empirical study

Nowadays, consumers want to interact directly with brands through multiple channels, both offline and online. In environments with multiple communication channels, there are gaps between offline and online channels. It is believed that these gaps will be bridged with mobile technologies. This is because mobile devices fill the gap by bringing online capabilities to physical stores. Omni-channel customer experience, which encompasses all these processes and acts as if each touchpoint is a single channel, can meet consumer desires. Omni-channel customer experience is defined as a seamless process that covers the entire journey, including generating purchase intentions through online, physical, and mobile applications, along with the integration of many touchpoints, including post-purchase services. With the development of omni-channel customer experience, many brands can integrate their efforts across channels to inform consumers about their brands, create brand identity, facilitate purchases, and evoke brand associations. Brands that maintain consistency across each channel throughout the omni-channel customer experience have a positive impact on consumers. As a result of this interaction, a brand image is formed in the memories of consumers. When creating a brand image in omni-channel customer experience, attention must be paid to many factors, with perceived risks being foremost. Perceived risk is a prominent factor in omni-channel customer experience. Perceived risk by consumers generally includes financial, product, social, physical, and time risks. Concerns about the possible use of information such as credit cards, home addresses, and contact numbers for different purposes during online and mobile shopping highlight financial risk for consumers. Additionally, the possibility of the product not meeting expectations in online or mobile channels affects consumers in terms of product risk. The non-delivery of the product in the desired time after ordering creates time risk. In this regard, this study aims to determine the role of brand image and perceived risk in omni-channel customer experience. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of the experiences of customers using omni-channel marketing strategies on brand image and to determine the mediating role of perceived risk in this interaction. The analyses in the study are based on information collected from 507 participants. An online survey was conducted using the convenience sampling method, applied nationwide in Turkey. In the study, explanatory factor analysis was applied to the omni-channel customer experience scale. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was applied to the omni-channel customer experience, brand image, and perceived risk scales. The research results revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between omni-channel customer experience and its dimensions, both perceived risk and brand image. Furthermore, statistically significant effects of omni-channel customer experience and its dimensions on perceived risk and brand image were identified. In this context, the Sobel test results indicated that perceived risk partially mediates the impact of omni-channel customer experience on brand image. Key words: Omni Channel, Customer Experience, Brand Image, Perceived Risk