Transactional Engagement

Transactional engagement considers the behavior of the brand and the behavior of a customer to occur in exchanges – if you do this, I will do that.  In its most basic sense, there are positive exchanges (if you do what I want you will be rewarded) and negative ones (if you fail to do what I want you will be punished) - along with a neutral middle ground (if you are doing neither good not bad I will ignore you).

The transactional model derives from primitive traditions such as the cultural mechanisms of power and control, in that the “provider” has the power to reward or punish those who depend upon his product, such that their only choice is to comply (and be rewarded) or refuse (and be punished) and they have no input otherwise.   The goal of transactional interaction is to make customers do the bidding of the firm, which is in a position of power as the only provider of a given product.

The flaw in this model should be obvious: power on the part of the provider rests on the assumption of being the sole provider, which is not the case in a competitive marketplace.   The customer is simply not required to accept the terms dictated by a brand for receiving its benefits when there are other brands that are serviceable to their needs and less imperious in making demands.

Even when transactional engagement is effective in getting customers to be obedient, it is highly effective in getting nothing more than that: and therein lies the problem.  The customers do not understand what they are doing, do not feel personally invested in the brand, and consider the engagement to be a one-time transaction done for convenience.   Eventually, they will recognize a more efficient or effective method of accomplishing their goal.   Should things go wrong, they are unconcerned – they are following their orders, and the outcome is not their responsibility.

Transactional engagement minimizes the amount of time a brand and a customer spend interacting with one another – which does provide the value of convenience.  So long as the terms dictated by the brand are acceptable, customers will interact with it on the assumption that their basic expectations will be met, and the knowledge that the brand cares for nothing more than that.   Sometimes, that is entirely sufficient.