MKTG 556 | Session 4 | Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey - 2016

Katherine N. Lemon & Peter C. Verhoef

Introduction:

Understanding customer experience and the customer journey over time is essential for firms. Customers now engage with companies through numerous touch points across multiple channels and media, and their experiences are increasingly social. These shifts require firms to coordinate various business functions and external partners to create and deliver positive customer experiences. In this article, the authors seek to deepen the understanding of customer experience and the customer journey in this era of more complex customer behavior. To accomplish this, they review existing definitions and conceptualizations of customer experience as a construct and offer a historical perspective on its origins within marketing. Then, they synthesize current knowledge about customer experience, customer journeys, and customer experience management. Finally, they highlight critical areas for future research on this important topic.