A conceptual analysis of customer needs in the e commerce environment using the empathy map tool

• Autorzy: Ingaldi Manuela

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.2478/czoto-2025-0019

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

In an era of rapid e-commerce development and growing market competition, the ability to empathetically identify customer needs has become a crucial factor in building a competitive advantage - especially in sensitive industries such as children's products. The aim of this article is to conduct a conceptual analysis of customer needs in the e-commerce environment using the empathy map tool. The analysis is based on real customer opinions from a Polish online store specializing in children's products. A total of 120 customer statements were collected from opinion-forming platforms (Google Reviews, Ceneo.pl) and social media comments (Facebook) and subjected to qualitative content analysis. Based on this data, a customer profile (persona) and an empathy map were developed to capture key needs, concerns, frustrations, and positive experiences associated with online shopping. The findings revealed recurring issues in areas such as delivery time, quality of customer service, clarity of return procedures, and discrepancies between marketing communication and the actual offer. The developed empathy map served as a starting point for formulating practical recommendations for online stores, aimed at improving service quality and building customer trust and loyalty. The article highlights the value of the empathy map as a tool for supporting customer experience (CX) management, particularly in the context of micro and small enterprises that lack advanced analytical systems.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

e-service; empathy map; quality of e-services; e-store

PL

e-usługa; mapa empatii; jakość e-usług; e-sklep

• Wydawca: De Gruyter
• Czasopismo: System Safety : Human - Technical Facility - Environment
• Rocznik: 2025
• Tom: Vol. 7, iss. 1
• Strony: 194--210
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 34 poz., rys., tab.

Twórcy

autor

Ingaldi Manuela

• Czestochowa University of Technology, Faculty of Management, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9793-6299

Bibliografia

• 1.Ali, H.M., Simic, Vl., Charli S., Hassim, J.Z., Said, M.H. Md, Khalid, R. Md, Kaka, G. E., Ismail, R., 2023. Exploring public perceptions and disposal procedures in the development of a comprehensive end-of-life vehicle regulation in Malaysia: A pilot study, Sustainability, 15 (6), 4786. DOI: 10.3390/su15064786.
• 2.Amblee, N., Bui, T., 2011. Harnessing the influence of social proof in online shopping: The effect of electronic word of mouth on sales of digital microproducts, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 16 (2), 91-114. DOI: 10.2307/23106395.
• 3.Bernatowicz, A., Małyszko, J., 2014. Recenzje konsumenckie w Internecie. Społeczny kontekst publikowania opinii i analiza spójności różnych sposobów ich wyrażania,” In D. Appenzeller (Ed.), Matematyka i informatyka na usługach ekonomii. Teoria i zastosowania, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu, Poznań, 158-168.
• 4.Cairns, P., Pinker, I., Ward, A., Watson, E., Laidlaw, A., 2021. Empathy maps in communication skills training, Clinical Teacher, 18 (2), 142-146. DOI: 10.1111/tct.13270.
• 5.Campese, C., Vanegas, C.A.L., da Costa, J.M.H., 2018. Benefits of the empathy map method and the satisfaction of a company with the conducted experiment, Product: Management & Development, 16 (2), 104-113. DOI: 10.4322/pmd.2018.008.
• 6.Chevalier, J., Mayzlin, D., 2003. The effect of word of mouth on sales: Online book reviews. Working Paper, Yale School of Management.
• 7.Cieśla, J., 2024. Evaluating service quality in automotive outsourcing: Gaps between standards and practice, System Safety: Human - Technical Facility - Environment, 6 (1), 99-109. DOI: 10.2478/czoto-2024-0012.
• 8.Dellarocas, C., 2006.Strategic manipulation of internet opinion forums: Implications for consumers and firms, Management Science, 52 (10), 1577-1593. DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1060.0567.
• 9.Gibbons, S., 2018. Empathy mapping: The first step in design thinking, Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/empathy-mapping/ (Access 10.04.2025).
• 10.Godes, D., Mayzlin, D., 2004, Using online conversations to measure word of mouth communication, Marketing Science, 23 (4), 545-560. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.327841.
• 11.Gogoi, P., 2007. Retailers take a tip from Myspace, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2007/db20070213_626293_page_2.htm (Access 10.11.2021).
• 12.Grönroos, C., 2015. Service management and marketing, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., West Sussex.
• 13.Huang, H.-P., Tien, Y., Lin, Y.-C., Yu I.-C., N.-H., 2025. Effects of empathy mapping and mini-simulation on second-year nursing students' empathy and communication self-confidence: A quasi-experimental study, BMC Medical Education, 25 (1), 109. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-02506686-x.
• 14.Ingaldi, M., 2022. E-service quality assessment according to hierarchical service quality models, Management Systems in Production Engineering, 30 (4), 311-318. DOI: 10.2478/mspe-20220040.
• 15.Ingaldi, M., 2018. Overview of the main methods of service quality analysis, Production Engineering Archives, 18, 54-59, DOI:10.30657/pea.2018.18.10
• 16.Ingaldi, M., Ulewicz, R., 2025. The role of AI in digital leadership - new competencies of leaders. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 31(2), 106-122. DOI: 10.17512/pjms.2025.31.2.07
• 17.Knop, K. 2020. Indicating and analysis the interrelation between terms - visual: management, control, inspection and testing, Production Engineering Archives, 26(3), 110-121, DOI: 10.30657/pea.2020.26.22.
• 18.Krynke, M., Mazur, M., 2024. Innovative Work Order Planning with Process Optimization Using Computer Simulation in the Automotive Industry, in the Case of Repair Workshops, Periodica Polytechnica Transportation Engineering, 52(3), 292-300, DOI: 10.3311/PPtr.23546.
• 19.Kumar, V., Reinartz, W., 2016. Creating enduring customer value, Journal of Marketing, 80 (6), 36-68. DOI: 10.1509/jm.15.0414.
• 20.Li, X., Hitt, L.M., 2008. Self-selection and information role of online product reviews, Information Systems Research, 19 (4), 456-474. DOI: 10.1287/isre.1070.0154.
• 21.Mofokeng, T.E., Tan, A.W.K., 2021. The impact of online shopping attributes on customer satisfaction and loyalty: Moderating effects of e-commerce experience, Cogent Business & Management, 8(1), 1968206. DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2021.1968206.
• 22.Nieżurawski, L., Pawłowska, B., Witkowska, J., 2010. Satysfakcja klienta. Strategia - Pomiar - Zarządzenie. Koncepcja wewnętrznego urynkowienia współczesnej organizacji. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń. hotel industry,
• 23.Öğüt, H., B.K.O. 2012. The influence of internet customer reviews on the online sales and prices in the hotel industry, The Service Industries Journal, 32 (2), 197-214. DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2010.529436.
• 24.Peng, F., 2022. Design thinking: From empathy to evaluation, In Herath, D., St-Onge, D. (Eds.), Foundations of Robotics, Springer, Singapour. 63-81. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-19-1983-1_3.
• 25.Phuong, H.L.C., Anh, L.H., Ab Rashid, A.A., 2020. Factors influencing car purchasing intention: A study among Vietnamese consumers, Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers Malaysia, 4(2), 229-252. DOI: 10.56381/jsaem.v4i2.42.
• 26.Pigla, W., 2012. Webplemię - próba eksplikacji pojęcia, Kultura i Historia, 21. http://www.kulturaihistoria.umcs.lublin.pl/en/archives/3837 (Access 10.12.2020).
• 27.Pilarczyk, M., Ulewicz R., 2024. Sustainable Farm Management: Integrating Safety, Efficiency, and Environmental Practices, Materials Research Proceedings, 45, 185-194, DOI: 10.21741/9781644903315-22.
• 28.Prashar, P., 2023). See, believe, trust: Implementing transparency in e-commerce stores, CueForGood. https://www.cueforgood.com/blog/transparency-in-ecommerce/ 21.03.2025). (Access 21.03.2025).
• 29.Saxborn, M., Pan, Y., Said, A., 2024. Trust through recommendation in e-commerce, In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, 87-96. DOI: 10.1145/3627508.3638294.
• 30.Siwiec, D., Pacana, A., 2025. Improvement of renewable energy products by balancing quality, environmental, societal, and cost aspects, Energies, 18(18), 4840; Doi: 10.3390/en18184840.
• 31.Shaw, J., 2024. Empathy maps: A deep dive into visualizing customer experience, Kadence. https://kadence.com/en-us/empathy-maps-a-deep-dive-into-visualizing-customer-experience/ (Access 22.04.2025).
• 32.Sitinjak, C., Ober, J., 2025. Examining the impact of service quality and product innovation on willingness to buy electric vehicles: The mediating role of customer satisfaction, Production Engineering Archives, 31 (2), 163-172. DOI: 10.30657/pea.2025.31.16.
• 33.Sira, M., 2025. A gap analysis framework for enterprise AI implementation. Production Engineering Archives, 31(3), 291-310. DOI:10.30657/pea.2025.31.28
• 34.Yeung W.-L., Ng, O.-L., 2023. Using empathy maps to support design-thinking enhanced transdisciplinary STEM innovation in K-12 setting, International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 34, 1325-1350. DOI: 10.1007/s10798-023-09861-7.

Uwagi

Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr POPUL/SP/0154/2024/02 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki II" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki (2026).