Beyond customer experience models: identifying idiosyncratic perceptions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that a deeper analysis of customer experience (CE) can identify idiosyncratic and critical perceptions in the experiences of groups of customers. Design/methodology/approach The methodology that the authors used is made of three main steps: segmentation analysis, profiling and identification of idiosyncratic clusters’ profiles (i.e. those with a CE perception different respect to the whole sample) and among these idiosyncratic clusters, identification of those that may be critical for the business. Findings The authors identified clusters of customers showing significant differences in their perceived experience with respect to the holistic CE model. Nevertheless, a sample of bank managers assessed three cluster profiles among them to be critical signals a company. The identification of these idiosyncratic patterns provides managers with interesting additional insights that would be hidden in a holistic CE model. Practical implications Managers can gain valuable insights of CE from this analysis that should be added to those coming from an holistic CE model. Originality/value This paper contributes to the scientific research in that it extends the knowledge about CE by showing how personal factors can be identified and how drawing additional managerial insights.