Trends and Future Research Directions in Online Customer Experience: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Companies perceive "customer experience" as a crucial differentiator in the current dynamic landscape. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the trends and create a comprehensive map to gain quantitative insights into the existing literature on "online customer experience". Methodology: This study is based on the bibliometric analysis of 176 documents selected from the Scopus database. The study analyzed the extant literature for the last 15 years, i.e., from 2007 to 2022, and the results using tables and co-occurrence plots are presented for the top journals, countries, authors, affiliations, subject area, and keywords. Content analysis for the top 20 most cited articles is also performed to provide a comprehensive picture of extant literature in this domain. Findings: Authors and Institution's from developed economies contributed significantly to this domain. The presence of developing countries, like India, brings out the importance being given to this research field. The analysis indicates the presence of multi-disciplinarity in this research domain with research areas such as Business Management, Accounting, Econometrics, Computer Science, and Social sciences. Bibliometric results showed that the year 2007, 2015, and 2020 are crucial years, representing three distinct phases. Originality/value: The study put forward that consumer in present times, across all geographies and demographics, seek out-of-the-box experiences; hence staging "memorable experiences" is of utmost importance for any organization to remain ahead of others; thus, as the world transcends towards "Experience Economy" researchers and industry practitioners must carry out further study in this domain.