How Technology Influences Customer Experience In Complex Service Settings

The holistic and contingent construct of customer experience is widely researched in
marketing. While we know that technology may impact customer experience, little is known
about how technology may create motivations, or conversely barriers for customers in
interacting with complex businesses. The aim of this paper is to identify the motivations and
barriers for technology adoption in the experience of complex service settings.
This research is based a literature review on customer
experience and technology adoption. The insurance industry is also taken as an industry focus,
because it epitomizes the uniqueness of complex service settings.
The exhaustive review of the literature allows developing a conceptual model
whereby technology has the potential to positively or negatively influence customer
experience, due to the motivation and barriers it generates for customers. The impact of these
motivations and barriers is shown to be further enhanced by industry-specific and contextual
factors present in complex service settings.
A conceptual model is proposed, evidencing technology-related
motivations and barriers, and context-specific industry factors, that are at play in customer
experiences. This model helps businesses directing their resources toward customer
experience optimization, and opens a new agenda to research interactions between different
constructs and antecedents.