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This article presents a scale to measure active empathetic listening (AEL) of salespeople. AEL is defined as a form of listening practiced by salespeople in which traditional active listening is combined with empathy to achieve a higher form of listening. The AEL scale is composed of three dimensions: sensing, processing, and responding. Itemgeneration procedures and the results of three empirical studies are presented. Study 1 establishes that the item set is suitable for differentiating between effective and ineffective listeners from the point of view of customers. Study 2 determines that the item set is suitable for use by self-report of salespeople, establishes that it conforms to the three theoretical dimensions, and that it possesses convergent validity. Study 3 further refines the item set, confirms the dimensionality of the scale, and establishes that the scale possesses construct validity in the form of discriminant and nomological validity.

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Multi-channel retailers that utilize an e-CRM approach stand to benefit in multiple arenas by providing targeted customer service as well as gaining operational and competitive advantages. To that end, it is inherent that multi-channel retailers better understand how satisfaction—a necessary condition for building customer loyalty—influences consumers’ decisions to shop in one retail channel or another. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of shopping experience on customers’ future purchase intentions, both for the retailer and for the channel. Using a controlled experimental design, U.S. and European subjects responded to a series of questions regarding the likelihood making a future purchase following either a positive or negative shopping encounter. Results suggest that shopping intentions vary based on the shopping channel as well as cultural differences.

Young consumers prefer to switch shopping channels freely for optimal shopping results and experiences. To meet these changing needs, retailers have begun implementing an omnichannel retail strategy that integrates their various shopping channels to create a consistent and seamless shopping environment. Thus, this study examines the effect of young consumers' perceptions of the retailer's channel consistency and seamlessness on their attitudes, intentions, and behaviors in the omnichannel retailing context. We incorporated the concept of channel consistency and seamlessness into the Theory of Reasoned Action to address the study objective. A consumer research firm was hired to recruit millennials and Gen Z consumers, and online surveys took place in the U.S. in 2019, and 430 usable surveys were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS. The results confirmed that consumers’ perception of channel seamlessness positively impacted their attitudes toward omnichannel shopping. Furthermore, these attitudes and subjective norms increased their intentions, leading to engagement in omnichannel shopping. The findings suggest that retailers must create smooth and uninterrupted shopping experiences across channels and proactively manage social components to create a customer’s omnichannel shopping experience