Emergence of customer experience along a multilevel journey: A goal-hierarchical analysis (Esitys International Research Symposium on Advancing Service Research and Practice -konferenssissa, Karlstad 10.-13.6 2019)

Abstract

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</p><p>Customer experience (CX), usually defined as customer responses to the customer journey, has become one of the central focuses in marketing literature and practice. Current research focuses on the purchase journey, predominantly on firm-controlled touchpoints. We argue that this focus hinders the understanding of the emergence of CX in two ways: first, it anchors the journey to a specific purchase as opposed to the <i>value-in-use</i> the customer wants to achieve; and second, it overlooks the complexity of the journey as a holistic construct comprising various stimuli, resources and actors. </p><p>

</p><p>This paper proposes that a more holistic view of CX emergence can be gained by conceptualizing customer journeys as means to achieve a goal. Considering that goals are organized in a hierarchy (e.g., Powers, 1973), we propose the customer journey and the emergence CX can be portrayed in a hierarchical structure as well. Hence, the goal of this article is to propose a hierarchical view of the CX to answer two questions: 1) How does CX emerge at different levels of the customer journey? 2) How does CX contribute to value-in-use through goal attainment?</p><p>

</p><p>We integrate literature on CX and on goal hierarchies (e.g., Carver & Scheier, 1982) and the results of a phenomenological study with recovering alcoholics (using phenomenological interviews and diaries as data collection methods). This context offers several embedded journey levels, such as a higher-order journey towards sobriety and several customer journeys with service providers (e.g., psychologist) and other organizations (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous), thus offering insights into the phenomenon being investigated.</p><p>

</p><p>Our results showcase three key levels in the customer journey directed at different levels of goal abstraction: (a) touchpoints, (b) customer journey, and (c) consumer journey that each play a unique role in generating value-in-use. CX that emerges in lower-levels of the customer journey (i.e., directed at more concrete goals) has a more temporary nature than CX that emerges at higher-levels, which presents a more stable nature. Lower-level CX feeds higher-level stable CX. However, this relationship is not cumulative, as extant literature posits. Positive CX derived from specific processes in the consumer journey contributes to positive stable CX. However, negative CX at lower-order levels can also contribute to positive CX at higher-order levels because CX serves as input for behavior and, when compared to the goal, direct behavior towards the goal. It appears that stable, higher-order CX is more strongly associated with the goal achievement and therefore with value-in-use (cf. Macdonald et al., 2016).</p><p><br /></p><p>We contribute to CX literature by (a) presenting a new way of looking at CX, which integrates disparate research streams, (b) showing how CX emerges at different levels of the customer journey, and (c) showing how these levels of emergent CX relate to each other and the resulting value-in-use. This study highlights the importance of looking beyond the customer journey with a single firm to understand the customer’s processes at different <br /></p><p></p>