Purpose This paper aims to focus on customer engagement (CE) in the underexplored context of transactional retailing websites, providing insight into the drivers, manifestations and dimensionality of the construct. The website is viewed as a collection of environmental stimuli, and focus is placed on identifying the website environmental cues that promote CE. Design/methodology/approach This focussed study follows an exploratory research design. A total of 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with one segment group: over-55-year-old female online shoppers in the most commonly purchased product category online, clothing. The stimulus–organism–response model forms the theoretical framework. Findings The unique findings identify that product-related environmental cues drive CE on a website, suggesting that CE occurs at the level of the product, as opposed to the website. Research limitations/implications CE with websites exists beyond the customer–brand dyad, with the website forming the third node in a triadic relationship between customer, brand (at level of the product) and website (at level of the product-related cues). Practical implications This study reveals the relationship between website environmental cues and the manifestation of CE, providing managers with insight on how best to drive CE. Confirmation is provided that the website represents a vital touchpoint in the engagement journey of a retail customer. Originality/value Websites as a focal object for CE are markedly under-researched. This study empirically supports the relevance of considering CE in this context and reveals the influence online environments have on CE.

Today’s technology-enabled customer and their instant access to a global marketplace has led to firms facing intense competition from around the world. Resultantly, engaging customers has emerged as an important marketing strategy and for more than a decade has fuelled intense attention from academe and professionals on the construct of customer engagement (CE). However, despite this focus to date there is a paucity of research considering CE in a cross-cultural context. This exploratory study provides empirical clarification as to whether culture at a national level impacts the manifestation of specific customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) exhibited by customers engaged with a brand. A conceptualisation of CEBs for Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture is presented and a netnographic study focusing on an online brand community (OBC) reveals that whilst national culture exerts no impact on the behaviours of engaged customers, the culture associated with a brand does. These findings serve as a foundation for future academic inquiry and present the opportunity to managers to foster and nurture a brand culture that encourages CE.

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