The customer journey is a re-submerged subject which has become increasingly relevant. The focus derives from the increased focus on customer experience as touch points are increasing as well as becoming more accessible. This is creating problems for companies to allocate their resources in marketing. Previous literature on customer journeys are also limited, mostly originating from research on customer experience. This motivates research within the field with the purpose of exploring the customer journey and connected phenomena.    The basis of this thesis was the customer journey which derives from customer experience. Further, the theoretical framework presents theories about customer experience, consumer buying decisions, customer journey and its touch points. The theoretical framework also presents two conceptual models concerning customer journey and customer experience. Focus was here on exploring the formulation of the customer journey, its steps and components. But also, on investigating how customer experiences affects customer journeys. This thesis had a qualitative research strategy and empirical material was collected through interviews. The empirical findings and the analysis resulted in several conclusions as this was an exploratory study. Reason for use of route, use of different touch points, customer experience impact and were found. Furthermore, the customer journey itself was identified as a reason for conducting a purchase. The result of this thesis might help companies allocate their resources more efficiently between touch points. As well as understanding how to create positive customer experience and the importance of it.

El proyecto evalúa la factibilidad para implementar la consultora VOCX SAC que brindará servicios de mejora en experiencia de cliente en medianas y grandes empresas de Lima y Callao, de los sectores Banca y Seguros, Telecomunicaciones, Retail y Salud. El nombre de la consultora surge de la investigación realizada que identificó el mayor interés que tienen las empresas peruanas en construir u optimizar sus programas de voz del cliente, base para la gestión de la experiencia de cliente; cuya aplicación decanta en una ventaja competitiva esencial para la organización. La consultora pretende cubrir la brecha en conocimiento e implementación de proyectos relacionados a experiencia de cliente existente en el mercado local, a través del desempeño de su equipo profesional con experiencia multisectorial y sólidos conocimientos en gestión de experiencia de cliente y gestión del cambio. Por otro lado, se ha determinado una demanda insatisfecha de 170 servicios al año, que las empresas, de los sectores seleccionados, están dispuestas a contratar. Con base en la capacidad operativa de VOCX, la consultora podrá realizar 25 servicios al año. Los servicios principales estarán orientados a brindar diagnósticos de experiencia cliente e implementación de oportunidades de mejoras, donde como servicio diferencial se ofrecerá los programas de voz del cliente. Asimismo, se contará con servicios complementarios representados por capacitaciones presenciales y virtuales. Para la puesta en marcha se requerirá una inversión de US $ 36,870.00 Dólares Americanos, siendo financiado el 46% por aporte de los accionistas y el saldo mediante préstamo de una entidad financiera, se obtendrá un TIR de 22%. / The project aims to evaluate the feasibility of establishing VOCX SAC as a consulting company, to provide customer experience improvement services for medium and large companies of banking and insurance, telecommunications, retail and healthcare sectors in Lima and Callao. The company's name arises from the research that identified the greater interest Peruvian companies have in building or optimizing their client voice programs, the basis for managing the customer experience; and whose application decants into an essential competitive advantage for the organization. The consulting company intends to cover the gap in knowledge and implementation of projects related to customer experience in the local market, through the performance of its professional team with multisector experience and solid knowledge in customer experience and change management. On the other hand, there has been an unsatisfied demand for 170 services per year, and the companies of the selected sectors are ready to hire. Based on VOCX's operational capacity, the company will be able to perform 25 services per year. The main services will be oriented to provide customer experience diagnostics and improvement opportunities implementation; where the client voice programs will be offered as a differential service. Virtual and live training will be complementary services. Company's startup will require an investment of US $ 36,870.00 financed to 46% by contribution of the shareholders and the balance by means of a bank loan, will obtain a TIR of 22%. / Trabajo de investigación

Bakgrund Mjukvaruindustrin har vuxit och fortsätter växa i en hög takt och allt fler tjänster erbjuds som molnbaserade prenumerationer, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Forskning menar att produkterna som erbjuds mer eller mindre innehåller samma funktionalitet så leverantörer måste lägga fokus på kundupplevelsen för att fortsätta vara konkurrenskraftiga. Kundupplevelsen ses som ett multidimensionellt koncept där flera olika faktorer bidrar till den totala upplevelsen. Kund- och leverantörsrelationen, utformningen av kundresan och kundnöjdheten är tre huvuddimensioner som påverkar kundupplevelsen och det är viktigt för leverantörer att identifiera vilka faktorer inom dessa dimensioner som kunder värdesätter högst. Detta för att kunna skapa en kundupplevelse som uppskattas och som leder till långvariga partnerskap. Syfte Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur faktorer inom kund- och leverantörsrelationen, utformningen av kundresan och kundnöjdheten påverkar kundupplevelsen inom en SaaS-kontext. Vidare ämnar studien att undersöka diskrepansen mellan kunder och leverantörer gällande påverkan av kundupplevelsen. Metod Studien har tagit en explorativ form, fenomenologiskt tolkningsperspektiv och varit iterativ med induktiva tendenser. Studien är kvalitativ och den forskningsdesign som valts är ”små- N-studier”. Datainsamlingen bestod av 10 semistrukturerade intervjuer med 7 kunder och 3 leverantörer som valdes genom ett representativt urval. Den empiriska undersökningen baserades på två initiala intervjuer samt en grundlig litteraturgenomgång. Slutsats Faktorerna som påverkar kundupplevelsen inom SaaS skiljer sig från kund till kund. Leverantörernas uppfattningar skiljer sig inte nämnvärt från kundernas. Kommunikation och kundförståelse blir väsentligt för den individuella kundens upplevelse. / Background The software industry keeps growing in a high pace and more and more services are offered as cloud based subscriptions, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Research suggests that products more or less have the functionalities, suppliers need to focus on the customer experience to gain competitive advantages. Customer experience is a mulitdimensional concept where several differerent factors contribute to the experience as a whole. Customer and supplier relationships, the customer journey and customer satisfaction are three of the main dimensions of customer experience and it´s important for suppliers to identify which factors within these dimensions that the customers value most. This is in order to be able to create a customer experience that is appreciated and that leads to long- lasting partnerships. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how factors within the customer and supplier relationship, the customer journey and customer satisfaction impact customer experience of Software- as-a-Service. Furthermore the paper aims to explore the discrepancy between customers and suppliers regarding the impacts on customer experience. Completion The study is of an phenomenological, explorative form that is iterative with inductive tendencies, It is of a qualitative case study with focus on a phenomenon rather than the context. The datacollection consists of 10 semi-structured interviews with 7 customers and 3 suppliers that were chosen through representative selection. This empirical study was based on two initial interviews and a thorough literature study. Conclusion The factors that impact the customer experience vary from customer to customer. The suppliers perception isn´t substantially different from the customers´. Communication and understanding of the customer is important for the individual customers experience.

Este estudo apresenta e discute o conceito de experiência do cliente com especial enfoque para a gestão da experiência do cliente em empresas do setor automotivo no Brasil. Neste estudo, o termo \"experiência do cliente\" é referido pelo termo em inglês customer experience. Percebe-se que as limitações conceituais se referem a tratamentos parciais de customer experience, ora focando na visão do cliente, ora focando na visão da marca. Esses tratamentos conceituais parciais de customer experience são refletidos também nos principais modelos conceituais publicados, modelos estes que buscam, muitas vezes, representar a realidade do mercado. Nos últimos anos, o setor automotivo, influenciado por um novo perfil de consumidor, mais exigente e menos interessado na posse de veículos e por alterações na sua jornada, decorrentes da digitalização dos canais, vem buscando alternativas para reter seus clientes através do desenvolvimento de estratégias de customer experience. Dessa forma, a partir de limitações encontradas, este estudo levanta os principais conceitos e modelos de customer experience publicados e os confrontam com a aplicação dessa ferramenta em grandes marcas comercializadoras de veículos no Brasil, através da venda ou do aluguel. A partir dos dados coletados e do cruzamento com a teoria e os modelos teóricos, dois achados importantes derivam deste estudo: a definição de um novo conceito de customer experience, mais abrangente, respeitando a visão do cliente e das marcas, e a descoberta de um grupo de quinze elementos utilizados em customer experience, interpretados a partir dos modelos teóricos analisados e que são confrontados com a aplicação prática nas empresas do setor automotivo pesquisadas, demonstrando haver uma vasta e abrangente aplicação de customer experience no setor. Dessa forma, este estudo avalia a aplicação de customer experience no setor automotivo do Brasil, aprofunda o desenvolvimento conceitual do tema e orienta sua aplicação prática para os gestores e profissionais de marketing. / This study presents and discusses the concept of customer experience with a special focus on the management of customer experience in companies in the automotive sector in Brazil. It can be seen that the conceptual limitations refer to partial treatments of customer experience, sometimes focusing on the vision of the client, sometimes focusing on the vision of the brand. These partial conceptual treatments of customer experience are also reflected in the main published conceptual models, models that often seek to represent the reality of the market. In recent years, the automotive sector, influenced by a new consumer profile, more demanding and less interested in vehicle ownership and changes in the customer\'s journey, due to the digitization of the channels, have been seeking alternatives to retain the customer through the development of strategies of customer experience. Thus, based on limitations found, this study raises the main concepts and models of published customer experience and confronts them with the application of this tool in major brands that commercialize vehicles in Brazil, through their sale or rent. Based on the data collected and the intersection with theory and theoretical models, two important findings derive from this study: the definition of a new concept of customer experience, more comprehensive, respecting either the vision of the client and the brands and the discovery of a group of fifteen elements used in customer experience, interpreted from the theoretical models analyzed that are confronted with the practical application in the companies of the automotive sector researched, demonstrating a vast and comprehensive application of customer experience in the sector. Thus, this study evaluates the application of customer experience in the Brazilian automotive sector, deepens the conceptual development of the theme and guides its practical application for managers and marketers.

The main purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to investigate factors affecting B2B brand building by applying the brand equity perspective in the professional services context. Three peer-reviewed and published articles and one book chapter examine different aspects related to the enhancement of brand equity and brand building in the B2B context. The first paper entitled “Brand equity in the business-to-business context: Examining the structural composition” (Biedenbach 2012) investigates the structural composition of brand equity and the interrelationships between the dimensions of brand equity in the B2B context. By specifying the multidimensional model, which can be utilized for measuring and managing B2B brand equity, the paper provides initial knowledge on how the companies can build a strong B2B brand across four dimensions of brand equity. The second paper entitled “B2B brand equity: Investigating the impact of contextual factors” (Biedenbach 2010) examines the impact of contextual factors in the organizational decision making process on the formation of B2B brand equity. The book chapter expands knowledge on B2B brand building by portraying how such characteristics of customers as relative size of their company and its industry sector can affect B2B brand building. The third paper entitled “The impact of customer experience on brand equity in a business-to-business services setting” (Biedenbach and Marell 2010) investigates the impact of customer experience on brand equity in the professional services setting. The study clarifies how customer experience can be utilized for building a strong B2B brand. The fourth paper entitled “Brand equity in the professional service context: Analyzing the impact of employee role behavior and customer-employee rapport” (Biedenbach, Bengtsson, and Wincent 2011) examines whether factors related to customers’ perception of employees’ role behavior in terms of customer perceived role ambiguity, role overload, and customer-employee rapport influence the development of brand equity in the professional service context. The paper advances knowledge on B2B brand building by considering the potential role of the company employees and consequences that their behavior can lead to in this process. To conclude, the doctoral dissertation demonstrates that the brand equity perspective can serve as a valuable foundation for theoretically understanding and practically managing B2B brand building.

The importance of customer experience in the banking sector is steadily increasing due to product similarity, competition and the global expansion. Additionally, in the twenty-first century, the focus has shifted from a service-based to an experience-based economy where senses, feelings, impressions, perceptions and emotional connections have become central. The global expansion in the banking sector has created a need for cross-cultural studies of customer experience, because of the increase of success when the service delivery is in tune with the cultural differences of customers. Despite the scarcity of cross-cultural studies, the few existing studies have shown significant results. The purpose of this study is hence to compare the perceived customer experience in the banking sector in Sweden and the United States. These two countries are culturally different on the masculinity versus femininity dimension explained by Hofstede in the universally acknowledged study on cross-cultural dimensions. The study has a positivistic, deductive, cross-sectional approach. A questionnaire survey is used based on the three most critical factors affecting customer experience: convenience, employees and servicescape. The findings are significant, showing how culture is affecting customer experience. Swedish respondents have a more positive perception of the total customer experience despite scoring lower on the critical factors than their American counterparts. This can be linked to the high degree of femininity in Sweden, meaning that Swedish customers are putting emphasis on balance, care for others and the quality of life, rather than being materialistic, goal-oriented and competitive. The original value of this dissertation is a better understanding of the impact of cultural differences in customer experience in banks in two culturally different countries: Sweden and the United States.

Digital and mobile channels has dramatically changed the retailing environment. New technologies allow companies to integrate information between different channels, in order to create a seamless and personal shopping experience for its customers. This is termed omni-channel retail strategy. In previous research it is discussed that this is the only way for retail companies to survive in the new retail environment. Previous research has focused on customer attitudes and values ​​but not on their actual behaviour. Thus, more research is required on how customers combine different channels during their buying process and how they experience the interaction. The purpose of the thesis is to create an understanding of how the omni-channel customer experiences its interaction with retailing channels. The goal is for companies to be able to use this study to better understand their customers experiences, and thereby improve their omni-channel strategy. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, a theoretical model, S-O-U, has been designed based on the classical Stimulus-Organism-Response model, which  often is used to describe consumer behaviour. The theoretical model has been used as a basis for the study's implementation and analysis. The study has a qualitative research strategy, and the data has been collected through focus groups. The collected data has been analysed based on the theoretical framework of the study, and the result shows that the customer uses different channels during its buying process to maximize their exchange. Furthermore, it has been found that the customer has different needs during the phases of the buying process. At the beginning of the buying process the customer is primarily driven by utilitarian values, while at the end of the buying process it is rather driven by hedonic values. The selection of channel depends on how well the channel can meet the customer's needs. Although the customer is driven by different values during the buying process, the result has clearly shown that both utilitarian and hedonic values ​​are necessary for the customer to have a positive experience of the interaction with different channels.

The Swedish banking industry has long been at the forefront when it comes to digital leadership. Currently, this industry is starting to fall behind other industries, and a closer look at the industry reveals that niche banks are having less trouble with adapting new technologies than bigger banks. There are a lot of studies on specific digitalisation areas within banking but nothing comprehensive about the strategies required for digital transformation within the banking industry. As the research area is new, there is little previous research on digital transformation by today’s standards. Therefore, the centralquestion in this thesis is “What do respondents in the Swedish banking industry think that the most important factors of digitalisation for customer experience are and what the consequences of digitalisation might be?” to find out what affects the digital strategies of a sample of Swedish banks. To answer the research question, semi-structured interviews with relevant profiles in the banking industry dealing with digitalisation and strategy at a management level were conducted. The interviews were conducted with five respondents from four different banks. In combination of this research method, the research strategy Case Study was implemented. The results revealed that digitalisation is in high focus amongst all the responding banks, for various reasons. The reasons can be seen as roughly divided into two categories, internal reasons and external reasons. The internal reasons have to do with streamlining current internal processes and creating more available resources for other projects. The external reasons were all towards improving customer experience. To improve customer experience, personalisation of the digital products and services is a key factor. However, personalisation is not without risk, as it may fail to be personalised enough for the banks’ customers if the personalisation is attempted towards a too wide customer segment. Some of the banks are operating 100% digitally, meaning that they do not have any physical bank offices for customers to visit, and thus all their work then becomes in one way or another digital work. The banking and finance industry is continually changing, and legal factors play a significant role. Not only do these legal factors affect how banks work internally, they also affect the competitiveness of the various actors and with it, how much digitalisation can affect. The thesis concludes that digital transformation is heavily influencing the strategies of banks in the Swedish banking industry through customer needs, competition and legal factors. / Den svenska banksektorn har länge varit i framkant när det kommer till digitala ledarskap. Dock, så har denna sektor för närvarande börjat halka efter andra branscher, och en närmare titt på branschen visar att nischbanker har mindre utmaningar när det kommer till att anpassa efter ny teknologi än större banker. Det finns många studier om särskilda digitaliseringsområden inom banksektorn men inget omfattande om de strategier som krävs för digital transformation inom banksektorn. Eftersom att forskningsområdet är nytt, så finns det mindre tidigare forskning på digital transformation i dagens benämning. Därför är den centrala frågan i denna avhandling “Vad anser respondenter i den svenska banksektorn att deviktigaste faktorerna för digitalisering för kundupplevelse är och vilka konsekvenserna avdigitalisering kan vara?” för att ta reda på vad som påverkar digitala strategier hos ett urval av svenska banker. För att besvara forskningsfrågan, genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med relevanta profiler inom banksektorn som arbetar med digitalisering och strategi på en ledningsnivå. Intervjuerna var utförda med fem respondenter från fyra olika banker. I kombination med denna forskningsmetod, implementerades forskningsstrategin Fallstudie. Resultaten visade att digitalisering är i fokus bland de responderande bankerna, av olika skäl. Skälen kan ses som grovt indelat i två kategorier, interna skäl och externa skäl. De interna skälen har att göra med att effektivisera nuvarande interna processer och skapa mer tillgängliga resurser för andra projekt. De externa skälen var alla mot kunden, för att i ett eller annat sätt förbättra kundupplevelsen. För att förbättra kundupplevelsen så ligger fokus på personalisering av de digitala produkterna och tjänsterna. Dock har personalisering sina risker. Det kan misslyckas om organisationen försöker personalisera mot en större kundgrupp och därmed inte nå upp den nivå av personalisering som krävs av de olika kundsegmenten. Vissa banker bedrivs 100% digitalt, vilket innebär att de inte har några fysiska bankkontor för kunder att besöka, och därmed är deras arbete på ett sätt eller ett annat sätt digitalt arbete. Bank och finansbranschen förändras ständigt, och juridiska faktorer spelar en betydande roll i denna kontinuerliga förändring. Inte nog med att de juridiska faktorerna påverkar hur banker fungerar internt, så påverkar de även konkurrenskraften hos de olika aktörerna och med det, hur mycket digitaliseringen kan påverka. Studiens slutsats är att digital transformation påverkar kraftigt strategierna hos banker i Sverige genom kundbehov, konkurrens och juridiska faktorer.

L’objet de cette thèse est d’apporter une contribution à la fois théorique et opérationnelle concernant la mesure de l’expérience vécue comme élément clé d’un véritable management de l’expérience client.Partant de la pratique, la démarche prend appui sur des recherches provenant de différents champs disciplinaires : économie et gestion des services, qualité, stratégie, marketing, management de la performance et apprentissage organisationnel.Nous proposons un modèle du management de l’expérience client comportant quatre dimensions en interaction : l’expérience voulue (par les dirigeants), l’expérience attendue (par les clients), l’expérience proposée (par l’entreprise), l’expérience vécue (par les clients).Nos propositions de recherche s’intéressent à la mesure des écarts entre l’expérience vécue et les autres dimensions. L'enjeu ne réside pas uniquement dans une description des écarts pouvant exister entre les objectifs fixés renvoyant à la théorie professée en matière d’expérience client (e.g. quelle expérience souhaite-t-on faire vivre aux clients ?) et la perception par les clients des réalisations renvoyant à la théorie d’usage de l’entreprise (e.g. quelle est l’expérience réellement proposée et comment celle-ci est-elle perçue par les clients ?). Il s'agit aussi d'analyser comment les entreprises peuvent réduire les écarts en s’engageant dans une démarche d’apprentissage organisationnel conduisant à un management de l’expérience client réussi. / The purpose of this thesis is to make both a theoretical and operational contribution, concerning the measure of the lived experience as a key factor to an effective customer experience management.Based on practice, our approach relies on research from different academic fields: economics and service management, quality management, strategy, marketing, performance management and organizational learning.The customer experience management model we offer has four interacting dimension: intended experience (by the managers), expected experience (by the customers), offered experience (by the company), lived experience (by the customers).Our research proposals are concerned with measuring the differences between the lived experience and the other dimensions. The issue is not only a description of the gaps that may exist between the objectives, referring to the espoused theory in customer experience (eg what is the experience we want to create for our clients?) and the customer’s perception of the achievements, referring to the theory-in-use of the company (eg what is the experience actually offered and how do customers perceive it?). The intention is to also examine how companies can reduce such gaps by engaging in a process of organizational learning leading to a successful customer experience management.

A comunicação boca a boca está fortalecendo-se e popularizando-se, principalmente a partir do advento das mídias sociais. A cultura da população em buscar informações referentes a produtos e serviços está cada vez mais forte, uma vez que a dose de incerteza na compra é grande, em especial em serviços ou serviços aplicados a produtos, por sua intangibilidade. Dessa forma, a comunicação boca a boca tradicional ou via mídias sociais tem se intensificado, tanto na busca quanto na emissão de opiniões. Neste contexto de mercado, uma das formas de uma empresa se tornar competitiva no mercado é criando um relacionamento a longo prazo com seus clientes, facilitando a existência de uma identificação do consumidor com a empresa. Partindo do cenário de serviços, este estudo tem o objetivo de avaliar as relações simultâneas entre três conceitos: experiência do consumidor com o serviço, identificação do consumidor com a empresa e o comportamento de recomendação deste consumidor. Este estudo teve por propósito avaliar estas relações, e, para isso, validou escalas para mensuração destes conceitos no contexto brasileiro. Foi aplicado um questionário online com 500 respondentes, sendo que o pré-requisito era que o respondente escolhesse um estabelecimento (bar ou restaurante) com o qual se identificasse. A análise de dados incluiu uma análise fatorial exploratória e uma confirmatória, dando seguimento à modelagem de equações estruturais (MEE por meio do software LISREL) para analisar a relação entre os três conceitos. Como resultados, encontrouse que tanto a identificação do consumidor com a empresa quanto a experiência do consumidor com o serviço possuem impacto no comportamento de recomendação, neste estudo, representado pelas dimensões de frequência e motivação para recomendar. Entretanto, ambos possuem maior impacto na motivação de recomendação do que na frequência. Ao comparar a identificação do consumidor com a empresa e a experiência do consumidor com o serviço, o primeiro possui uma maior influência nos constructos de recomendação, indicando que ainda que ambos tenham impacto no comportamento de recomendação, a criação de um relacionamento forte e embasado na identificação do consumidor com a empresa se torna um diferencial para a mesma. Com relação à validação das escalas utilizadas no estudo, tem-se que uma das escalas utilizadas para mensurar o constructo de identificação não possuiu validade convergente nem divergente, indicando sua fragilidade para seu uso na academia. / Word of mouth communication is becoming stronger and more popular mainly from the advent of social media. The consume culture of seeking for information about products and services has become very popular, especially when it is about services or services applied to products. The main characteristic of the services is its intangibility, which leads to a higher amount of uncertainty prior to purchasing. Thus, word of mouth communication via traditional or social media has been growing significantly both in pursuit and in issuing opinions. In this context, in order to gain competition, companies should focus on creating and developing a long term relationship with their clients, facilitating the identification of the consumer with the company. Based on the service scenario, this study aims to assess the simultaneous relationships among three different concepts: customer experience with the service, consumer-company identification and the consumer recommendation behavior. Therefore, validating the scales to measure these concepts in the Brazilian context was necessary to achieve the goals of this study. 500 people participated in an online survey about those three concepts. In the beginning of the survey, the respondent had to choose an establishment (a bar or a restaurant) with which he/she identified. Data analysis included an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis, followed by the structural equation modeling (SEM using the LISREL software) in order to analyze the relationship between those three concepts. As a result, it was found that both concepts (consumer-company identification and consumer experience with the service) have a positive impact on the recommendation behavior of the consumer, represented on this study by the dimensions of frequency and motivation to recommend. However, both concepts had a greater impact on the motivation for recommending than on the frequency of recommendation. By comparing the performance of those two antecedents, consumer-company identification showed a greater influence on the dimensions of the recommendation behavior, indicating that although both concepts have an impact on this behavior, developing a strong relationship with the consumer becomes a differential for the establishment. Regarding the validation of the scales, one of the scales used to measure the construct of consumer-company identification did not possess convergent nor divergent validity, indicating its weakness to use it in other academic studies.