Customer experience – a review and research agenda

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on customer experience to develop a better understanding of the concept and propose a research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a thorough review of 69 full-text articles, 12 books and one published dissertation related to customer experience.

Findings

The review describes the relevance of experiential perspective, service experience and customer experience to attract, delight and retain customers. Customer experience is regarded as a holistic interactive process, facilitated through cognitive and emotional clues, moderated by customer and contextual characteristics, resulting into unique and pleasurable/un-pleasurable memories. The study provides a deeper understanding of the concept and research issues for customer experience.

Research limitations/implications

It provides important insights into the emergence, development, management and measurement of customer experience-related issues for future research.

Practical implications

Customer experience needs to be considered and managed as a holistic strategic process for creating customer value, differentiation, customer satisfaction, loyalty and competitive advantage.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the understanding of customer experience and research agenda based on a thorough review of literature spanning 25 years.

Citation

Jain, R., Aagja, J. and Bagdare, S. (2017), "Customer experience – a review and research agenda", Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 642-662. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-03-2015-0064