Lasitusyrityksen asiakaspolkuun vaikuttaminen

Customer journey is the process of actions and decisions the customer makes at each stage and touchpoint to arrive to a buying decision. The development of technology and changing consumer preferences have been driving a fundamental change in customer journeys in recent decades. The rapid increase in the number of digital channels and touchpoints has resulted in more complex customer journeys and has given the consumer more choice and power on crafting their own journey towards purchase. This means it’s increasingly important for companies to understand their customers’ journey, and how to influence it to give them a positive experience and ultimately guide their customers toward purchase. This master’s thesis studies the customer journeys of a Finnish glazing company’s customers and identifies important aspects during the journey the companies can influence, to guide the consumer towards purchase. The study answers the question “How can the case company influence its customers’ journey through their marketing actions?”. This study is a single case study, focusing on the customers of a Finnish glazing company. The research was conducted as qualitative research using the grounded theory approach, and the chosen data collection method was semi-structured interviews. Ten interviews were conducted in the span of a few months, which were then analysed using the open coding method. On top of this, a literature review was conducted regarding previous research in customer journeys as well as purchasing journeys before and after the interviewing process. The study identifies seven stages in the customer journey: Awareness, need recognition, need prioritization, first information search and evaluation stage, second information and evaluation stage, purchase, and after purchase. The awareness stage stood out as especially influential, as the associations created in the awareness stage affected decision-making throughout the journey. However, when trying to create favourable associations in the awareness stage, it’s also possible the brand creates unfavourable associations unintentionally that might have a negative effect on the customer’s journey and decision-making. Word of mouth seems like an especially influential channel, which coincides with previous research. Other channels that seem to have a strong effect on the consumer journey experience and decision-making were the company’s website and face-to-face interaction with the company representatives. The findings of this research provide insights for managers on how to manage their customers’journeys and what aspects are most influential for the consumer during the journey. This research also confirms previous research done on customer journeys, as well as provides topics for further research in the future