Personalized Customer Journeys in Omnichannel Marketing: A Qualitative Analysis of Consumers’ and Managers’ Perceptions
(A2023-112766)

AUTHORS

Marco Weippert, University of Stuttgart

ABSTRACT

Omnichannel retailers and brands are increasingly able to personalize entire customer journeys (CJ). However, current research has only examined personalization in the context of individual touchpoints. It is unclear, whether fully personalized customer journeys actually have positive consequences for both customers and companies. For this reason, the present research aims to shed light on the role of personalization for omnichannel customer journeys. For this purpose, a qualitative research approach was chosen and six focus groups with consumers and 24 expert interviews with managers were conducted. Based on qualitative data analysis, this study identifies two relevant design strategies (i.e., scope and intensity) based on which companies can structure the use of personalization in their customer journeys. In addition, we posit relevant company and customer factors that influence the use of personalization in customer journeys.