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Mapping Customer Experiences: the Role of Touchpoints in Determining Consumer Evaluations Mapping Customer Experiences: The Role of Touchpoints in Determining Consumer Evaluations Author Liu, Wei Published 2016 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith Business School DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1977 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367892 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Mapping customer experiences: The role of touchpoints in determining consumer evaluations Wei, Liu BA. MSc. Principal Supervisor: Professor Beverley Sparks Associate Supervisor: Dr Alexandra Coghlan Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith Business School, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University Submitted in the fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August, 2016 ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the customer experience (CEx) concept within the context of a food and wine event. Drawing on literature associated with service design (ecosystem, customer journey, touchpoint), appraisals/emotions, and tourism/service marketing (satisfaction, loyalty), this research seeks to investigate the more micro, momentary levels of experience and how these accumulate to an overall assessment. This is particularly important, as customer experience has become a key factor for businesses to build customer evaluations such satisfaction, recommendation and repeat visitation, yet relatively limited research has sought to measure the in situ momentary experiences of customers. Businesses within this service sector can manage customer experience through touchpoints (those times the customer comes into contact with the service offering). Previous research has demonstrated that touchpoints influence customers’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours and therefore form the focus of this research. In particular, this research is concerned with gaining an in depth knowledge about the role of touchpoints, how to manage touchpoints to improve overall customer experience and assess the flow-on effects on outcome variables. The research employed a mixed methods approach including methods such as focus group interviews (N = 20), participant-generated image (PGI) method (N = 25), experience based sampling (EBS) (N = 51), and recall survey (N = 599). The focus group built the foundation of this research project with participants who were attendees to the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show from previous years. The main data collection process involved three concurrent studies (i.e., PGI, EBS and recall survey) and the participants for each study were actual attendees to the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show in 2014. Main data analysis included qualitative approaches such as content analysis and thematic processes as well as quantitative analysis such as regression, ANOVA, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM). Results indicated that events like the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show presents a complex web of experience opportunities for event attendees within an event ecosystem. Once a customer enters the ecosystem, he/she encounters a set of communications and interactions including event visit companions, vendors exhibiting at the event, and fellow I customers attending the same event. The appraisal of any communications and interactions (either positive or negative) influences customers’ evaluation of the event experience. Thus, there is interaction between attendees and elements of the ecosystem, which give rise to a myriad of experiences. Additionally, this research project aimed to gain a better understanding of the customer journey as a way to understand customer experience and related evaluations. At the pre-consumption phase, the focus group, EBS and the recall research provided insights highlighting that customers interacted with the event company across multiple touchpoints and in multiple channels. At the consumption phase, the PGI and EBS research provided deeper insights to the in situ experiences of customers and illustrated variation in emotions across time, suggesting that there were many points in the journey that affected the emotions and overall evaluations of customers. When reporting on the post consumption phase, the focus group, EBS and the recall research generated deeper insights on customers’ post event reflections, including the level of satisfaction, memories of the event experiences, and future behavioural intentions. The results indicated that optimal experience appraisals lead to favourable behavioural intentions (i.e., recommendation and repeat visitation) through positive emotions and memories. This research has made a significant and unique contribution by employing a mixed methods approach to provide insights to the key concept of customer experience. By adopting different methodologies in this thesis research, there are insights that would not be evident if only one or two methods were used. This project also provides a number of practical and theoretical implications to the areas of event, tourism, leisure, consumer behaviour, marketing and service design. These implications include: a) a framework for event ecosystem; b) a co- created process of customer experience; c) insights into individual’s real-time appraisal, emotions and the impact on overall evaluations. Future research directions include increasing real-time data collection points to gain deeper insight of in situ experiences, the replication of the research with larger sample size and a longitudinal approach to understand customer experience across pre, during and post phases. Key words: Customer experience, in situ experience, ecosystem, customer journey, touchpoints, mixed methods, participant-generated image, experience based sampling, structural equation modelling (SEM), food and wine events II STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Signed: ___ _________ Date: ___August 28, 2016___________ Wei, Liu Griffith University August, 2016 III LIST OF PUBLICATIONS The following papers were produced to disseminate some concepts and results from the work undertaken by the author during the course of this PhD study. Refereed journal publications Liu, W., Sparks, B. A., & Coghlan, A. (Accepted 10 July, 2016). Capturing the co- creative process of customer experience through the lens of the customers. Event Management. Liu, W., Sparks, B. A., & Coghlan, A. (under 3rd review). Fun, inspiration and discovery: From momentary experiences to overall evaluations. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Liu, W., Sparks, B., & Coghlan, A. (under 3rd review). Measuring customer experience in situ: The link between appraisals and emotions. International Journal of Hospitality Management. Book chapters Wang, Y., Liu, W., & Sparks, B. A. (2017). Approaches to researching consumer experience: An evaluation and comparison. In J. Gao, J. Ma & N. Scott (Eds.), Visitor experience design. Oxford, UK: CABI. Refereed conference papers Liu, W., Sparks, B. A., & Coghlan, A. (2015). Discovery, inspiration and fun: A photo journey through the lens of the customer. Paper presented at the 14th International Research Symposium on Service Excellence in Management (QUIS14), Shanghai, China. Liu, W., Sparks, B. A., & Coghlan, A. (2014). Using photo elicitation to understand customer experiences - Some lessons learned. Paper presented at the ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference 2014, Sydney, Australia. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The PhD experience is a long journey of acquiring the skills required to become a capable and independent researcher. Throughout this journey, there have been many people who have influenced its outcome that I would like to personally acknowledge. First and foremost, I would like to forward my most sincere gratitude to my principal supervisor, Prof. Beverley Sparks. Prof. Sparks gave me the opportunity to apply for a PhD position and to undertake such a constructive life experience. She was always an enthusiastic supervisor, had countless ideas about how various different problems can be solved and how these solutions can lead to avenues for future research. Her relentless enthusiasm and spirit have been essential for my motivation during such a long journey, and her constant help and support went well beyond her academic duties. Undoubtedly, I have been lucky to have such a caring and competent supervisor. Dr. Alexandra Coghlan has been my associate supervisor from Griffith University. Her expertise was essential in guiding my development of this thesis. I am thankful for her continuous support; without it, I could not have achieved the same standard of outcomes. I am also indebted to Mr. Tom Scantlebury, my industry mentor. Mr. Scantlebury helped me identify pathways to my preferred career and recognise how my interests and skills can be matched with appropriate careers. Mr. Scantlebury also helped me explore features of successful job applications and interviews in my field. Notably, I was fortunate to share an office with supportive colleagues from around the world. I am grateful for their friendship and I wish them all the best. Similarly, I want to give special thanks to all my best friends, Dr. Anna Kwek, Mr. Barry Fraser, and Dr. Ying Wang, for supporting my study
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