ServiceFriday: Joining Different Views – How to Deliver a Holistic Customer Experience

In an article published in the Journal of Service Management, CSL Faculty Ruth Bolton with co-authors including CSL Faculty Network members, Janet McColl-Kennedy, Andrew Gallan, and Lars Witell,  presented a new take on the concept of customer experience and its connection to physical, digital and social realms. While past research mainly focused on the separate examination of different industries and their properties regarding these attributes, Bolton et al. now present a new approach that promises not only to prepare industries for the new challenges of the customer for the year 2050, but close the gaps in current research and propose a framework for further research around customer experience in the future. To do so, they introduce a framework that connects the hitherto isolated fields of physical, digital and social that gives companies a chance to locate themselves within that sphere. They then go on to illustrate characteristics, common challenges, and remedies for businesses operating in one of the particular areas. While being an interesting piece of research in itself, the article also provides a compelling blueprint for companies to evaluate their own place within those realms and to prepare for the potential challenges of the future.

To access the article, visit the Journal of Service Management at Emerald Insight at this link:
https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JOSM-04-2018-0113 (A fee to download may apply.)