Customer experiences with brands: Literature review and research directions

Abstract

The concept of customer experience is evolving to an ever more imperative area of study within the marketing discipline. Despite its importance and the positive attention this concept is receiving in the literature, the explanation of customer experiences remains vague and a thorough theoretical foundation is lacking. This paper addresses this gap in the literature facilitating a brand-management understanding of the concept of customer experience and its antecedents and consequences. The paper examines the impact of customer experience on brand loyalty via a comprehensive review of existing literature on the concept of customer experience and service brand literature. In addition, twelve propositions describe and explain the antecedents of customer experience and impacts upon brand loyalty within a service-centred marketing logic. This paper contributes a novel customer-brand experience perspective and conceptual tools relevant for further theory development and for effectively managing customer-brand relationships.