Customer Journey Value: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Though firms are making substantial investments in the customer journey (CJ), the return on these investments remains tenuous, yielding a critical need for enhanced CJ-related accountability. Addressing this gap, we develop the concept of ‘customer journey value’ (CJV), defined as the perceived value of a customer’s journey to the customer and the firm, which facilitates the development of accountability in this regard. We also develop a social exchange theory-informed framework of CJV, which proposes customer- and firm-based customer engagement value (CEV) as core CJV antecedents. In turn, CJV is predicted to yield the customer-based consequences of attitudinal and behavioural brand loyalty and the firm-based consequences of enhanced customer lifetime value, as formalized in a set of propositions based on the framework. We conclude by outlining pertinent implications that arise from our analyses.