Unravelling the customer journey: A conceptual framework and research agenda

Abstract

While customer journey (CJ) research proliferates, prior studies have adopted different CJ conceptualisations, theoretical perspectives, and methods, fostering fragmentation in CJ research. Addressing this literature-based tension or gap, we systematically map the corpus of CJ literature to uncover its intellectual structure, reducing the rising fragmentation observed in this topic area. Specifically, we chart the CJ literature's evolutionary path and central themes in the period of 2001–2023. Using bibliometric- and thematic analysis, we identify six main CJ themes, including the CJ-based customer experience, CJ-based customer behaviour, CJ-based design, CJ-based smart technology, CJ-based social media, and CJ mapping, which collectively depict the CJ's intellectual structure in the study period. We also develop a conceptual framework of the CJ, which includes the focal concept and its key antecedents, mediators, moderators, and consequences. We conclude by outlining important theoretical and practical implications that arise from our analyses, and by offering an agenda for further CJ research.