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How consumer digital signals are reshaping the customer journey

  • Original Empirical Research
  • Published:
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Abstract

Marketers are adopting increasingly sophisticated ways to engage with customers throughout their journeys. We extend prior perspectives on the customer journey by introducing the role of digital signals that consumers emit throughout their activities. We argue that the ability to detect and act on consumer digital signals is a source of competitive advantage for firms. Technology enables firms to collect, interpret, and act on these signals to better manage the customer journey. While some consumers’ desire for privacy can restrict the opportunities technology provides marketers, other consumers’ desire for personalization can encourage the use of technology to inform marketing efforts. We posit that this difference in consumers’ willingness to emit observable signals may hinge on the strength of their relationship with the firm. We next discuss factors that may shift consumer preferences and consequently affect the technology-enabled opportunities available to firms. We conclude with a research agenda that focuses on consumers, firms, and regulators.

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Notes

  1. We use the term “technology” consistent with the Merriam-Webster definition of technology as “a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge.”

  2. Despite the fact that many consumers self-disclose more online than offline (Ho & McLeod, 2008; Postmes et al., 1998), revealing information about their lifestyle, cultural identity, beliefs, and sentiment toward firms (Rakic & Rakic, 2017), they overwhelmingly take steps to conceal their actions or identities while online (86% of Americans; Pew Research Center, 2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    David A. Schweidel, Michelle Andrews & Inyoung Chae

  2. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Yakov Bart

  3. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    J. Jeffrey Inman

  4. University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Andrew T. Stephen & Felipe Thomaz

  5. Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel

    Barak Libai

  6. University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Ana Babić Rosario

  7. University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA

    Zoey Chen

  8. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniella Kupor & Chiara Longoni

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Schweidel, D.A., Bart, Y., Inman, J.J. et al. How consumer digital signals are reshaping the customer journey. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 50, 1257–1276 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00839-w

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