Intergrated Marketing Communication
The process of buyer initiated communication model
In the past, marketers have tried to establish several ways of communication between consumers and stakeholders. One-way communication was utilized as a communication tool to send the message across all individuals and groups who involved within the business. According to Wood (2005), this kind of communication models transmitted one-way message through the distance of traditional mediums such as broadcasts, press release or other print media materials which allowed marketers to control, manage or messaging about particular product or company. The problem with this model obviously occurs when both sender and receiver do not share the understanding of the language used. It can be in verbal, non-verbal or written channels. As a result, two-way communication model was developed and changed the way in which consumers and stakeholder communicated. Unlike traditional on-way model, this communication model enables consumer express their concerns to a specific product or service in both direct and in-direct ways, where effective communication channel is established and provided appropriate outcomes.
On the other hand, the customer initiated communication model by Duncan (2005) operates in a reverse cycle where customer is an attention of the overall processes.
Based on this model, customer is the initiator of the message (Duncan, 2005). In other word, customers serve as the source, sender and encoder of the message, unlike in traditional model where organizations send message to customers. Messages are encoded in different forms such as question, compliant, letters or compliment. These messages will be carried through a medium for instance call center social media, mobile Internet direct mail or email. Organization then decodes the message and responds with feedback (including responsiveness, recourse, recognition, respect, reinforcement). In this circumstance, organization that will be served as a recipient must take action and make appropriate respond to the customer.