Toward an understanding of consumer perspectives on experiences

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to offer a consumer‐centric perspective on experiences and interactions that is consistent with the foundational premises of the service‐dominant logic of marketing, and which incorporates an increased understanding of the value derived from consumer‐to‐consumer (C2C) interactions.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper offers a reoriented framework and process consumer experience modeling (CEM) for analyzing consumer interactions in experience domains. CEM uses qualitative analysis methods and software, underpinned by constructs relating to first‐, second‐ and third‐order interactions undertaken by consumers. It is illustrated with reference to the “gap year travel” experience domain.

Findings

– The approach offers a means for identifying value enhancers and inhibitors for consumers. It provides, for organizations, a representation of consumer perspectives on interactions, giving due regard to C2C interactions. The example of the gap year travel experience demonstrates how this information can be used to inform the nature and emphasis of future marketing initiatives of organizations that are operating within the experience domain.

Research limitations/implications

– The framework and some of its key concepts require verification in other experience domains to test their robustness. The increased availability of consumer “voice” data (via blogs, etc.) offers great opportunities for the development of consumer‐centric approaches to experience analysis.

Originality/value

– This work represents one of the first reported attempts to adopt an empirical approach to issues that have been raised by the foundational premises of the service‐dominant logic of marketing, and consider, and provide a structure to interactions and experiences from a consumer perspective.