Ethically meaningful customer experiences: satisfying an evolving desire for purpose through CSR

Abstract

Customers and society increasingly expect purpose from businesses, and the prevalent corporate social responsibility (CSR) approaches do not adequately respond to this demand. To address the situation, we conceptualize Ethically Meaningful Customer Experiences (EMCE) as a new type of customer-oriented responsibility that synthesizes the experience economy and CSR. EMCEs, unlike previous approaches, circumvent implicit or explicit expectation of sacrifice by transforming it into an ethical activity that customers enjoy. We analyze the differences between earlier approaches and our development and provide emerging industry examples that align with the new concept. In synthesizing ethical consumption and the experience economy, EMCEs contribute a new theoretical path to understanding CSR that builds on the role of experience as a fundamental tourism and hospitality industry element and, consequently, develops an approach endogenous to the industry. The concept also contributes to customer experience design by incorporating ethics as a new experience component. We argue that EMCEs allow hotels and resorts to respond to an emerging customer desire for purpose while also addressing concerns related to the societal role of the tourism and hospitality industry.