The concept of customer experience journeys: a systematic review of the literature

The purpose of this study is to explore the emerging concept of the customer experience journey (CEJ) and put forward an alternative perspective of how the experiences of customers can be significantly enriched. The paper is discursive, based on analysis and synthesis of literature between 1840 and 2009. We find that markets are changing at a rapid rate, and so there has never been a better time for companies to put customer experience at the top of the marketing and business agenda. This outlook suggests that practitioners (and researchers) should pay closer attention to pleasure, not simply to motivate consumption, but to be translated into lifelong loyalty. The CEJ demands a fundamental transformation in both mindset and outlook of organisations. Although we find that the factors that determine the development of the CEJ are complex, CEJ represents a possible mindset that may lead to contradictions in the management and streamlining of services.