Master_IS_Dissertation_Final Version_Aamir Ashraf_701867_2

Customer Experience Measurement:
Identify constructs (Parameters) and their indicators
(Dimensions) for Norwegian retail industry.
Aamir Ashraf &701867
A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of
Information Systems
Supervisor: Moataz Haddara
Restricted:  Yes  No
Westerdals – Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology
Schweigaardsgate 14
01185 Oslo
Norway
Tel: + 47 22059999
Master of Information Systems < Management and Innovation >

02.06.2015 Student number:701867 Title: Customer Experience Measurement Page 2 of 61
Abstract
In the present retail environment, the horizon of the customer experience is vast and has
vague boundaries, hence making its measurement far more complex. One of the factors of
complexity is that businesses are utilizing latest information systems such as touch points in
order to gain quality and efficiency. However, it is necessary for the researchers to identify
which type of constructs and their indictors are useful and closely related to the respective
industry. It is essential for the Norwegian retail industry to measure the customer reactions
and level of different constructs like satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth to gain
competitive advantage and get a step ahead of the customer’s expectations towards the
business or brand. The previous customer experience research has been important in the
understanding of the measurement strategies of customer experience.
This dissertation builds upon relevant theories, literature, conceptual frameworks, constructs
and measurement scales related to customer experience. In each of these areas, it is important
to identify the significant issues and create a basic sketch or steps to aid in a creating a
customer experience index for the Norwegian retail industry. In addition, the author has
investigated the Norwegian retail experts and practitioners’ perspectives to provide their
related expert opinions regarding the subject of understudy. This was done in alignment with
customer experience literature through conducting the qualitative exploratory study where the
author held interviews with two organizations; which have strong opinions and significant
presence in the Norwegian retail industry. The findings of this research present the constructs
identified for measuring customer experience in the Norwegian retail industry.
Furthermore, the author used several theoretical lenses to guide his chosen constructs
(satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth) and customer experience definitions that are
applicable for measuring customer experience. In the end, the author proposed a conceptual
framework for measuring the customer experience based on the comprehensive literature
review, data analysis and the general B-A-I (Belief-Attitude-Intension) model.
Keywords:
Customer Experience Management, Customer Experience, Touch points, Retail channel
Satisfaction, Loyalty, Word of mouth

Acknowledgements
After Allah, I am indebted to the many people who generously supported me through the
process of completing this dissertation. The contributors to my dissertation, Dr. Moutaz
Haddara, Dr Asle Fagerstrøm and Dr. Hanna Sørum, have all made significant contributions
to the present study in particular. I would like to specially thank Dr.Moutaz Mohamed
Haddara, the supervisor of this dissertation. Without his instructions, wise guidance,
encouragement, support, it would have been impossible to complete this dissertation.
I would also like to thank Eirik Norman Hansen, market director of Creuna and Dr. Hanna
Sørum, professor from Westerdal Oslo school of ACT, for introducing me to the topic and
their continuous guidance and support. In addition, I am thankful to all those individuals
whom I had interviewed to share their experiences and provided me with valuable
information as they took out precious time from their busy schedules.
Specially, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for my beloved mother, wife and
brother as they have always given me the encouragement, emotional support, motivation
and understanding . Without them, I would not be where I am today.
I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced
Signature:
Date: 01.06.2015
Total number of words: 16000

Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 7
1.1. Background and Motivation.................................................................................................... 7
1.2. Problem Statement ................................................................................................................. 8
1.3. Dissertation structure and Goals............................................................................................. 9
2. Literature Review .......................................................................................................................... 10
2.1. Customer Experience ............................................................................................................ 10
2.1.1. Overview........................................................................................................................ 10
2.1.2. Customer Experience Management.............................................................................. 11
2.2. Touch Points.......................................................................................................................... 13
2.2.1. Overview........................................................................................................................ 13
2.2.2. Types of Touch Points.................................................................................................... 14
2.3. Satisfaction............................................................................................................................ 15
2.3.1. Definition....................................................................................................................... 15
2.3.2. Explanation.................................................................................................................... 16
2.3.3. Indicators....................................................................................................................... 16
2.4. Loyalty ................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.1. Defination...................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.2. Nature............................................................................................................................ 17
2.4.3. Types of loyalty.............................................................................................................. 18
2.4.4. Indicators....................................................................................................................... 19
2.5. Word of Mouth...................................................................................................................... 19
2.5.1. Overview........................................................................................................................ 19
2.5.2. Electronic Word of Mouth............................................................................................. 20
2.5.3. Nature............................................................................................................................ 20
2.6. Important Indicators of CX Related to Retail ........................................................................ 21
2.6.1. Price............................................................................................................................... 21
2.6.2. Advertising..................................................................................................................... 21
2.6.3. Promotion...................................................................................................................... 22
2.7. Theories and Frame works (CXM) ......................................................................................... 22
2.7.1. Theory of Planned Behaviour........................................................................................ 22
2.7.2. Technology Acceptance Model ..................................................................................... 24
2.7.3. Customer Contact Theory ............................................................................................. 25
2.7.4. BAI Conceptual Framework........................................................................................... 25
3. Method & Research Design........................................................................................................... 27
3.1. Background of Methodoligies ............................................................................................... 27
3.2. Research Method .................................................................................................................. 28

3.3. Research Approach................................................................................................................ 28
3.4. Research Design .................................................................................................................... 29
3.5. Case selection and overview ................................................................................................. 31
3.6. Data gathering techniques .................................................................................................... 32
3.6.1. Data Collection .............................................................................................................. 33
3.6.2. Document Analysis........................................................................................................ 34
3.6.3. Limitations..................................................................................................................... 35
4. Findings ......................................................................................................................................... 36
4.1. Background information (General) ....................................................................................... 36
4.2. Turnover Trends of Norwegian Retail Industry..................................................................... 37
4.3. Touch points used by Retail Industry .................................................................................... 38
4.4. Constructs and Their indicators ............................................................................................ 41
5. Discussion...................................................................................................................................... 42
5.1. Summary of findings.............................................................................................................. 42
5.2. Proposed Conceptual framework for customer experience................................................. 42
5.2.1. Level of Belief ................................................................................................................ 43
5.2.2. Level of Attitude = Satisfaction ..................................................................................... 44
5.2.3. Level of intention........................................................................................................... 45
5.3. Proposed steps to measure Customer experience ............................................................... 46
6. Conclusion and Further Research Arena:...................................................................................... 47
7. References..................................................................................................................................... 49
8. Appendix........................................................................................................................................ 55
Appendix A: Statement of ethical approval ...................................................................................... 55
Appendix B: Consent form_Creuna................................................................................................... 56
Appendix C: Consent form_Org1....................................................................................................... 57
Appendix D: Consent form_Org1 ...................................................................................................... 58
Appendix E: Information sheet for all expected participants ........................................................... 59
Appendix F: Selection questions for interviews................................................................................ 60

Figures
Figure 1: What is Customer Experience, Adopted from Xeniosgroup, 2015 ........................................ 11
Figure 2: CEM versus CRM, Adapted from Meyer & Schwager 2007, p. 4. .......................................... 13
Figure 3: Modes of Face-to-face, Adapted from Froehle and Roth (2004)........................................... 14
Figure 4: Modes of face-to-Screen, Adapted from Froehle and Roth (2004) ....................................... 15
Figure 5: Customer Loyalty Measurement Framework, Adopted from Bob Hayes 2013..................... 18
Figure 6: Theory of Planned Behavior, Adopted from Azjer 1991 ........................................................ 23
Figure 7: Technology Acceptance Model Adopted from Davis, 1989................................................... 24
Figure 8: conceptual framework of customer service, Adopted from Forehle et al. 2004................... 26
Figure 9: Timeline of dissertation activities .......................................................................................... 30
Figure 10: Research Phases and Outcomes........................................................................................... 31
Figure 11: General Principles of Interview Session, Adopted from Runeson & Höst 2009, p. 22......... 34
Figure 12: Document Analysis, Adapted from Miles and Huberman 1994, p. 12................................. 35
Figure 13: Turnover Comparison of Norwegian retailers, Adopted from Statistisk Sentralbyrå 2015. 37
Figure 14: Primary Retail touch points for consumers, Adopted from Global PwC 2015..................... 39
Figure 15: Physical Retailing vs. Web Retailing data, Adapted from Statistisk Sentralbyrå 2015 ........ 40
Figure 16: Conceptual Framework of customer Experience Measurement (CXM) .............................. 43
Figure 17: Proposed steps to measure CX for any retail branch........................................................... 46
Tables
Table 1: Research Methodology Characteristics, Adopted from Runeson & Höst 2009, p. 9 .............. 28
Table 2: List of chosen Interviewees’ & Their Roles............................................................................. 33
Table 3: Pseudonyms............................................................................................................................. 36

1. Introduction
1.1. Background and Motivation
According to Schmitt et al. (2008), the customer experience management term
represents the methodology, discipline and/or process used to broadly manage a customer’s
cross channel experience, dealings and transaction with an organization, product, service or
brand. Gartner (2014) has also summed it up as the practice of designing and reacting to
customer interactions to meet or exceed customer expectations and thus increase customer
satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.
Customer experience management is about more than serving your customers. It's about
knowing your customers completely so that you can create and deliver personalized
experiences as a brand that will entice them to not only remain loyal to you, but also to
evangelize to others about you (Frow and Payne, 2007).Customer experience is the internal
and personal response by customers while having any direct or indirect contact with a
company (Garg et al., 2010; Verhoef et al., 2009). Mostly direct contact happens in line of
purchase, use and service, and it is commenced by the customer usually. While indirect
contacts more often involve impromptu encounters with representations of a company’s
products, brands or services. Indirect contacts are mostly in the form of positive or negative
word of mouth, news reports, advertising, blogs, reviews and so forth.
For better understanding of customer experience we need to grasp on different touch points
or multi channels where business or market can evaluate the customer experience artefacts
and measurement index. In a nutshell, a touch point is where a potential customer or
customer comes in contact with your product or service itself or with representations of it by
the company or third party; before, during or after the purchase of product or service from
you. Whether the consumer is being studied or the business, data about its experiences is
gathered at these various touch points. Identifying your touch points is the first step towards
forming a customer journey map and making sure your customers are satisfied on every step
of the way (Neslin et al. , 2006 ; Verhoef et al., 2007).
The present retail environment is expanding and leading towards a point where measuring it
has become important because businesses are utilizing various Information systems as touch
points in order to gain effectiveness and efficiency. There is a wide consensus that a basic
retailing strategy for creating competitive advantage is the delivery of high service quality
(Berry 1986; Hummel & Savitt 1988; Reichheld & Sasser 1990). It is very essential for any
retail business to measure customer reactions and level of different constructs like
satisfaction and loyalty to gain competitive advantage and be a step ahead of the customer’s
expectations towards business or brand as well as competitors.
Few researches have been done in this context in the past, hence becoming the inspiration
for me to research qualitatively in customer experience management specifically for

Norwegian retail market. The purpose of this research is to explore and identify the subject
of customer experience management, constructs and indicators for measuring customer
experience and updated patterns to be used practically, which could be used when
organizations are measuring their customer experience in a broader perspective and
creating customer experience index(CXI) for Norwegian retail industry. Furthermore, this
research aims at contributing to a better understanding of these themes under exploration.
1.2. Problem Statement
During the practice period, it was found that Norwegian retail industry is expanding
from year to year. Moreover the online retail is taking the big chunk of the turnover rapidly
but challenges are being faced when it comes to competing with international online
retailers. The retailers today must differentiate themselves by fulfilling the need of their
customers better than the competitors. Hence it has become vital for Norwegian retailers to
understand their customers’ expectations to compete with the foreign online retailers and
local competitors. In this context, very few research have been done previously which can
help identifying the different constructs and indicators related to Norwegian retail industry
and also a model which can measure the customer experience for Norwegian retailers. The
trigger for this research is the problem of measuring the customer experience and
identifying the constructs that can aid businesses in measuring their customer perception
and creating customer experience index (CXI) for the Norwegian retail industry. This problem
is perceived in practice as well as academia and it provided the motivation for formulating
this research effort.
This research investigated the importance and effectiveness of measuring customer
experience in terms of optimizing sales and customer satisfaction in retail industry. The
main aim was to explore and identify the various factors, which directly or indirectly
influence the customer experience as a whole; and how organizations can measure
these affecting factors to examine and enhance the customer experience for leading
edge in today’s competitive market. The author found relevant theoretical and
conceptual research as far as customer experience as a whole and measuring it is
concerned, which was beneficial, but very minimal research was found in context of
measuring customer experience in Norwegian retail industry. The retail structure
focuses on service quality at unsegregated level; there is a lack of discussion at the
factor (or dimension) level.
In order to find the answers to research questions, it’s salient to first probe into customer
experience theories, conceptual frameworks and models for a better understanding of the
bases for a practical customer experience strategy. This was found vital as the topic of this
research bases on the practical implications and measurement of customer experience in
current competitive retail market. For understanding the potential benefit of measuring and
implications of customer experience in retail industry, the following research question
serves as the guiding light for this dissertation:

 What is customer experience and how can the constructs and their indicators be
identified to develop customer experience index for Norwegian retail Industry?
It is imperative to explore the theoretical as well as practical understanding, implications,
constraints, formulations and segregations of customer experience to answer the research
question. To build upon that, in literature review, the following sub-questions are
investigated.
 What is the Customer Experience management?
 What are the Customer contacts (touch points) in modern retail industry?
 What are the important constructs (parameters) and indicators (Dimensions) to
measure customer experience in retail industry?
1.3. Dissertation structure and Goals
This dissertation describes what are the different constructs and indicators of customer
experience and how to measure them in reference to Norwegian retail industry. The thesis is
structured in seven parts where the author firstly, introduced the topic and motivation along
with research question. Secondly, carried out a literature study probing the customer
experience theories, conceptual frameworks and it’s practicalities in order to identify
measurement constructs and its indicators. Then to research methods and approaches used
to gather different types of data in coherence to the research topic. The author developed a
series of interview questions to be addressed to experts through individual face to face
interviews, or via Skype, phone, etc. Alternatively, the interview could be conducted in a
small focus group of experts. The ending part concludes the thesis and reflects the case
study and discussions linking the relevance of literature and the findings. In the end, the
author discussed the implications of the research along with the conclusion and future
research avenue. The interpretative research is conducted with the help of open and semi
structured interviews with in the Norwegian retails industry that reflects real life
requirements for measuring CX.

2. Literature Review
This chapter focuses on the customer experience management and its
implementation in organizations. The review also emphasizes on the difference between
Customer Experience Management and Customer Relationship Management. In addition,
this chapter highlights the customer satisfaction attributes and indicators. A brief review of
loyalty and its indicators, and word of mouth have also been discussed. There are numerous
domains of Customer Experience such as price, advertising and promotion that also have
been presented in this research. Finally, I have highlighted the existing models, theories and
frameworks CXM in details, which may be relevant to the research.
2.1. Customer Experience
2.1.1. Overview
In theory and practice customer experience (CX) is the internal and personal response
customers have while having any direct or indirect contact with a company (Garg et al.,
2010; Verhoef et al., 2009). Mostly direct contact happens in line of a purchase, use or
service, which are usually commenced by the customer. While indirect contacts more often
involve impromptu encounters with representations of a company’s products, brands or
services. Indirect contacts are mostly in the form of positive or negative word of mouth,
news reports, advertising, blogs, reviews and so forth.
Based on insights given, recent definitions of customer experience comprise that “The
customer experience instigates from a set of contacts between product or company and
customer, which incite a reaction. The experience is sternly personal and entails the
customer’s involvement at different levels” (Spiller et al. 2007, P. 397).
Arguments do lie in above cited definitions, as they are largely conjectural, but growing
academic consideration is being paid to whether and how the customer experience might go
beyond service only. One line of effort uses the allegory of the customer journey to explore
experience, defining experience as service acuities through each touch point with the firm
(Swinyard, 1993). While other researchers use the same allegory to argue that this journey
may both precede contact with the firm and continue after contact, to include, what Payne
et al (2008) terms the “communication encounter” and the “usage encounter” as well as the
“service encounter”. Where Verhof et al. 2009 further illustrate that customer may
recognize value process ally through any part of this journey, including those parts outside
the firm’s direct control.
In the last decade, four models of customer experience have been proposed (Voss et al.
2008, Payne et al. 2008, Verhoef et al. 2009 and Grewal et al. 2009). The common
perspective they share is that customers assess their journey with the firm comprehensively,
and all four agree on arguing that pragmatic research has to date focused on specific
elements of this journey in isolation instead. An overview of customer experience

management can be seen in figure 1, presenting overlapping connection of business,
customer and technology along with different constructs which are part of the process.
Figure 1: What is Customer Experience, Adopted from Xeniosgroup, 2015
According to Meyer & Schwager (2007), there are various ways by which a company can
monitor different patterns of interaction with customers to gain a better understanding of
the customer experience they are offering. Depending on the specific information a
company is seeking, it can opt to analyze the previous patterns, current patterns, potential
patterns, or a mixture. Each and every pattern requires a dissimilar method of prompting
and analyzing data and will give way different types of insights.
From the available academic and pragmatic research we can conclude that the customer
experience is a mean, not an end in itself. This point had to be made, as customer
experience sometimes is discussed from an overly hypothetical, romanticized and almost
emblematic perception. This may be a result of the inherent intangibility and subjective
quality of experience. Instead customer experience must be brought down from the welkin
of ideas and executed in concrete actions. These actions must be measured in terms of the
awareness that this planned bid requires investments; earnings and the results are not often
visible in the short term.
2.1.2. Customer Experience Management
Customer experience management is a business’s strategy to wangle the customer’s
experience in such a way where it creates value both to business as well as the customer.
Customer Experience Management term represents the methodology, discipline and/or
process used to broadly manage a customer’s cross channel experience, dealings and

transaction with an organization, product, service or brand as put by Bernd Schmitt (Schmitt
and Roger, 2008). Customer experience management is about more than serving your
customers. It's about knowing your customers so completely that you can create and deliver
personalized experiences as a brand that will entice them to not only remain loyal to you,
but also to evangelize to others about you (From and Payne, 2007).
The important thing to consider is the difference between customer experience
management (CXM) and customer relation management (CRM). I will begin by providing
some perspective and also a starting point by which to compare and contrast between the
two. The following briefly explains what are generally considered to be the shared
definitions of both CRM and CXM. CRM: Customer Relationship Management is a strategy
adopted by a business in lieu with understanding, foreseeing and responding to the needs of
the current and potential customers in order to cultivate the relationship value (Voss et al.
2008). CXM: Customer Experience Management comprise of both the individual experience
in a single experience as well as the sum of all the experiences across all touch points and
channels between the business and the customer over the duration of their relationship.
(Voss et al. 2008)
CXM tries to go beyond the CRM strategy by understanding how the customer views the
entirety of relations with the company and then how the company acts upon that
understanding to further take on the customer and improve the customer experience
(Meyer and Schwager, 2007). CRM strategy places a high value on customer service and
customer satisfaction, but it is still largely external-looking toward the customer and focused
on the enterprise. CXM strategy focuses more on the customer perspective, looking inward
toward the company and seeking to weight what the customer wants along with the nature
of the customer's interactions with the enterprise. CXM solutions make the customer the
centre of the goal and focus on meeting the customer's needs rather than just selling goods
or services (Meyer and Schwager, 2007).

Figure 2: CEM versus CRM, Adapted from Meyer & Schwager 2007, p. 4.
Figure 2 points out some differences between CXM and CRM and shows how they differ in
their subject matter, timing, monitoring, audience and purpose. Focusing on CXM in order to
increase customer satisfaction, sales, customer retention, loyalty and return on investment,
means having a strategy in place that concentrates on business operations and processes
around the needs of the individual consumer. Satisfied customers are more likely to remain
loyal and tell their family and friends about it.
Customer experience outstands as a reverberate concept in practitioner discussion, but it’s
also an imprecise one. One of the dangers is that experience simply becomes a rebranding of
service. Seddon (2007) has stressfully talked about the importance of touch points while
making a successful customer experience management strategy. He quotes that “Effective
management of the customer experience across all touch points is the key to building
customer commitment, retention, and sustained financial success. Only the companies that
deliver the right experience to customer will succeed in the global market place”(Seddon
and Sant 2007).
2.2. Touch Points
2.2.1. Overview
For a better understanding of customer experience we need to have a grasp on
different touch points or multi channels where the business or market can evaluate
customer experience artifacts and measurement index. Hank Brigman describes Touch-
Points as the initiated action which can influence through touching and sensory dealing.
Every Touch-Point delivered some message to customer and many Touch-Points create the
customer experience (Uhlig and Media, 2010).

Identifying your touch points is the first step towards creating a customer journey map and
making sure your customers are satisfied every step of the way (Neslin et al. 2006 ; Verhoef
et al., 2007). The term “Customer Corridor” is commonly used to depict the string of touch
points that the customer experiences (Meyer and Schwager, 2007).Through Touch-Points
collect the customers experience and then creates the better relationship between
customers and organization and that’s why it is important to understand the value of Touch-
Points which leads toward better results and it favors customer through increasing its loyalty
and company sales too (Brigman 2013).
2.2.2. Types of Touch Points
Touch-Points are considered as the backbone of any organization and considering all
types of touch points together, the customer experience can be formulated. The customer
experience then represents how the customers have perceived the decisions of the
organization and its offers. In relation to technology, conceptual archetypes of customer
contact consist of five modes as described by Froehle and Roth (2004).The model are
presented in figures 3 and 4.
 The first mode or archetype is known as technology free customer contact. In this
mode the customer and the human service provider (referred to as a service rep) are
interacting in physical propinquity and technology is not directly involved. This archetype
represents the traditional concept of face-to-face interactions or encounters (Chase, 1978).
A good example of this could be services provided by a sales person who assists customers in
choosing the right item for themselves or in an office consultation, which is provided. by a
psychiatrist.
 The second archetype has the same condition of being in a physical proximity but,
additionally, technology is employed by a service rep to assist the process in providing
services to the customer. But in this case the customer does not himself have direct access
to the technology. A good example is of the scenario that occurs during an airline check in,
where a service representative interrelates with a computer terminal in place of the
customer.
Figure 3: Modes of Face-to-face, Adapted from Froehle and Roth (2004)

 The third archetype is known as technology facilitated customer contact: this is
where, while being in physical proximity, both the service representative and customer has
access to the same technology. For example, when a marketing executive is giving a visual
presentation on a projector to the prospective customer.
 The fourth archetype, as shown in figure 4, is where both customer and the service
representative are not in physical proximity but instead rely upon technology based contact
for communication. For example, this contact could be in terms of a conversation by either
telephone call or an online chat.
Figure 4: Modes of face-to-Screen, Adapted from Froehle and Roth (2004)
 The fifth and last archetype is where the human customer service representation
factor of service encounter is totally substituted by technology, as in self-service kiosks,
banks ATMs, websites, blogs and apps.
2.3. Satisfaction
The different constructs for examining consumer experience includes overall satisfaction of
consumers, loyalty along with word of mouth. All these aspects help organizations to
examine the experience of consumers (Homburg et al, 2005).
2.3.1. Definition
Satisfaction refers to the fulfillment of the expectations and wishes of an individual
regarding a particular thing. Satisfaction through a product can be obtained if the product
consists of the attributes and features that the consumers want to have and enjoy in a
particular product. According to Homburg et al. (2005) customer satisfaction refers to the
extent regarding how much a product or services of a company are fulfilling the needs and
requirements of the customers. It is further stated that more the customers are satisfied
with a particular product the more they will stay and loyal towards that product.

2.3.2. Explanation
Organizations are adapting the new ways through which they can gain their more
market share and provide a unique customer experience to their consumers. According to
Forrester 3E’s framework, there are three main factors which help in satisfying the
customers’ experience. The three Es’ of customer experience include emotion, ease and
effectiveness (Burns et al., 2014). According to Fornel, et al (2006) customer satisfaction is
an important objective for any organization and is an essential element of the marketing
activities of every organization whether big or small. It is further stated that customer
satisfaction determines whether the company is performing efficiently or not and is an
important factor of achieving competitive advantage in the market over the rivals. According
to Chalmeta (2006) customer satisfaction can be obtained by an organization through
identifying and catering the needs and requirements of the consumers and providing them
what they want and desire.
According to Mithas et al. (2005) developing a reliable source of information is also an
important factor in achieving the objective of customer satisfaction. According to Roman
and Ruiz (2005) maintaining ethical standards is also an important factor of customer
satisfaction. It is further stated that maintenance of high ethical standards is important
because any lapse from the ethical side by an organization can create a trust deficit between
the organization and the consumers. According to Moliner et al. (2007) development of the
post purchase relationship is also an important factor and begins after the consumer has
purchased a product. It refers to the handling of the complaints of the consumers and issues
that they faced after purchasing that product.
2.3.3. Indicators
The important indicators of the customer satisfaction are customer experience as
compared to the ideal experience, customer expectation vs. the customer perception
regarding a product and affective/cognitive satisfaction that consumers derive from a
particular product. According to Verhoef et al. (2009) customer experience refers to the
overall experience that a customer has at different touch points with the buyer or supplier.
It is further stated that the experience includes factors such as attraction, interaction,
usability etc. An organization needs to make sure that they should provide its consumers
with as greater experience as possible and it should be as near as possible towards the ideal
experience that consumers perceive in their mind. The lesser the difference between ideal
and the actual consumer experience the greater will be the satisfaction level of the
consumers.
According to OsayaweEhigie (2006) customer expectations refer to the perceived or
expected value that the customers seek from the purchase of a particular product or service.
According to Karl and Peluchette (2006) customer perception refers to the way the
consumers see and feel about a particular product or service. It is the belief that a customer
has developed regarding a product and its attributes. Customer satisfaction is generally

affected by the factors such as advertising, public relation campaigns, personal experiences
and different social media campaigns. It is important for the organizations to develop a
positive customer perception in the mind of the consumers which can lead to the positive
expectation of the consumers and increase in the willingness to purchase that product. The
more the customers are satisfied the greater the expectations that they will have regarding
the purchase of that product in the future.
According to Homburg et al. (2006) effective and cognitive satisfaction are important factors
in the study of the process of customer satisfaction. It is further stated that cognitive
satisfaction is related with the rational and thinking side of the consumers whereas affective
satisfaction refers to the emotional and feeling side of the consumers. Affective satisfaction
is generally measured in the background of product attributes and benefits. Customer
satisfaction is highly impacted by the foreseen quality of products and services. Cognitive
satisfaction is related to the judgment of the consumers regarding the factors regarding the
usability of a product, its ability to fit the situation, its ability to exceed the requirements and
demands of the problem or whether it was an important part of the consumer experience or
not.
2.4. Loyalty
2.4.1. Defination
Loyalty refers to the commitment, dedication and the willingness to engage that is
shown by one party towards the other. According to Aydin et al. (2005) Customer loyalty
refers to the preference that a customer gives to a particular product or brand to another. It
is further stated that customer loyalty is both an attitudinal and social tendency to favor one
brand over all the other brands. According to Clottey et al. (2011) the reasons for the
preference could be the satisfaction that a particular brand provides, convenience of the use
of that product or the comfort that a consumer derives from that particular brand.
According to OsayaweEhigie (2006) consumer loyalty motivates consumers to purchase even
more and also to recommend that product to others which can lead to the increase sales
and profitability for the organization.
2.4.2. Nature
According to Peppers and Rogers (2004) the nature of customer loyalty includes
factors such as attitude loyalty and behavioral loyalty. It is further suggested that the loyalty
that is related to the attitude of the consumers include factors such as the preference and
liking of a consumer regarding a particular product or service whereas the behavioral loyalty
is related to the description of the actual conduct of a consumer. According to Leenheer et al
(2007) behavioral loyalty is of significant importance for a business as it reflects that
consumers are continuously buying the products which ensure continuous profitability.
According to Bandyopadhyay and Martell (2007) attitudinal loyal consumers on the other
hand are beneficial for businesses as they add strength to the brands, in addition to that the

word of mouth promotions that these consumers can conduct can be valuable for the
organizations in attracting greater number of consumers. If the attitudinally loyal consumers
do not actually put into practice their commitment with their organization then they will not
be of great importance.
2.4.3. Types of loyalty
The different types of loyalty are inertia loyalty, latent loyalty and premium loyalty.
Inertial loyalty is related to the spending and convenience that a consumer obtains from a
product. Customers that belong to this category purchase a product primarily for the reason
that it is easy and convenient to purchase that product or they have always been purchasing
that product (Uncles, Dowling & Hammond, 2003). Customer Loyalty Measurement
Framework is one of the key tools that can be used to measure customer loyalty as shown in
below figure.
Figure 5: Customer Loyalty Measurement Framework, Adopted from Bob Hayes 2013
These types of consumers would switch towards a new brand if the factor of convenience is
taken out from that product with which they have been loyal previously. Latent loyalty
refers to the types of consumers who do not make many purchases but whenever they make
or decide to make any purchases they prefer that particular brand whereas the premium
loyalty refers to the type of loyalty in which the customers who frequently purchase from
that brand (Uncles et al., 2003). The premium customers feel proud to represent that
particular brand. These kinds of consumers can also help organizations in the effective
promotion of the products of an organization through their word of mouth (Uncle et al.,
2003).

2.4.4. Indicators
According to Singh (2006) customer loyalty has a significantly positive relationship with
the satisfaction level of the consumers. The greater amount of loyalty will enable the
consumers to derive maximum satisfaction from the products and services that a company is
providing to the consumers. The important indicators of customer loyalty are the repeat
purchase intention and the likelihood that the consumers will recommend that product to
other people. Repeat purchase intention refers to the buying or purchasing of a product by a
consumer of the same product that he/she previously bought on some another occasion.
According to Morwitz et al. (2007), repeated purchase behavior is a symbol of loyalty
towards a brand by the customers and is an important aspect of the growth of the business.
It is further stated that repeat purchase intention of the consumers develop as a result of
the satisfaction and convenience that consumers obtain from the use of a particular product
or service. Recommending a product and the experience gained from it to the other
consumers is also an important indicator of the customer loyalty and it holds great value for
the organization as it increases goodwill and creates a positive image of the organization in
the outside world. The more the customers are satisfied with a product the more are the
possibilities that they will recommend that product to the other people.
2.5. Word of Mouth
2.5.1. Overview
According to Kozinets et al (2010) word of mouth refers to passing of the information
from one person to another through the means of oral communication. It is further stated
that word of mouth form of advertising is important for every business whether big or small.
It has become one of the most popular modes of advertisement in the recent years.
Organizations these days need to make efforts for the promotion of their products and
services through effective word of mouth campaign to drive their sales enhance their overall
image and profitability in the market. According to Park and Kim (2009) majority of the
consumers around the world believe the recommendation of their family members and
friends regarding a particular product or service.
One of the problems of the modern day marketers is that they are more focused on
collecting the benefits from the customers rather than developing long-term connections
with them. According to Mazzarol et al. (2007) some of the benefits of word of mouth
marketing are that it creates and enhances customer trust, increases long term value of the
organization and its products, lower cost of marketing and develops a strong brand value in
the minds of the consumers.
As far as the creation of the trust is concerned, buyers trust someone who provides them
with a referral regarding a particular product because they assume that the person who is
referring a particular product is happy with the benefit and the satisfaction that a particular
product is providing. Encouragement and facilitation of the word of mouth marketing helps

an organization overcome the trust barriers. Word of mouth marketing helps in the creation
of the long-term value in the way that consumers who are influenced by the referrals of
their family and friends are more likely to indulge in the buying of the products rather than
the traditional marketing.
2.5.2. Electronic Word of Mouth
Nowadays Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM) has also been introduced which is type
of a buzz marketing tool that would make a news viral if it is attractive and catchy for
people; it basically shows the strength of electronic media to make the news go viral on
internet through different social platforms (Goldsmith, 2006). Word of mouth is also a very
cost effective marketing activity compared to the millions and billions that a company
spends on different marketing activities and campaigns that are conducted on electronic and
print media. Building a strong brand image is critical for every organization but it can prove
to be a difficult task for smaller organizations who do not necessarily have the luxury of a
large budget to spend on advertising like the larger organizations so they can use word of
mouth campaigns to create a positive feeling and image about the products and services
that they are offering to the consumers. Word of mouth also provides the organizations with
valuable feedbacks regarding their products and services, which can help them in identifying
their weaknesses and improving their performance.
2.5.3. Nature
The concept of word of mouth advertisement has different nature and characteristics
that can have different benefits for an organization. According to a research there are three
kinds and nature of word of mouth such as news about the product, providing valuable and
useful information regarding the performance of a particular good or service and providing
information regarding the personal experience that that particular individual had regarding
that product or service (Park and Kim, 2009). Product news refers to the valuable
information regarding the features and attributes of a particular product. Product advice is
related to the views, opinions and expressions regarding a particular product whereas
personal experience refers to the causes and reasons that why a particular product should
be bought. All the three types and nature of word of mouth marketing are essential and of
significant importance in attracting the consumers towards a product and can be used
simultaneously to achieve the desired objectives with respect to the sales and marketing of
products (Schofer, 2002).
One of the primary indicators of word of mouth activity is the attractiveness of the content
and the message that is presented to the consumers or the potential consumers by the
organization. The measurement of the benefit that the word of mouth campaign can provide
to the organization largely depends upon the quality of the content. Another important
indicator of the word of mouth advertisement is the identity and image of the person who is
delivering that particular message. Not every individual is reliable and trustworthy because
of which personal characteristics of an individual is a strong indicator of the word of mouth

marketing activities. One of the most important indicators of the word of mouth campaign is
the environment where the word of mouth circulates. The recommendations that have been
passed within tight networks have a greater impact on the opinion building of the
consumers regarding the purchasing of a particular product (Park and Kim, 2009).
2.6. Important Indicators of CX Related to Retail
The products or services which companies offer to its customers are the tools, which
derived the customer experience. There are various domains of the customer experience
that play a vital role in the satisfaction of the customers. Some of the domains of customers’
experience are described below:
2.6.1. Price
The satisfaction of the customers is a major indicator which determining the financial
and operational performance of the retailing industry. Price is a major tool which
determines and shapes the behavior and experience of the customers. There is a lot of argue
that how the retailers should set its price (Fornell et al., 2006). Among all of the Ps of
marketing mix, pricing is a major source through which retailers can attract many of the
customers. The pricing element by the retailer set the satisfaction level of the customers. If
retailer set the high prices of the product then consumer will give low value and will avoid
buying that product due to the high prices (Kamaladevi, 2010). On the other hand, if the
consumers set the low process for the product then consumer perceived that the product is
of low quality (Ofir et al., 2008).
However, setting the appropriate price is a challenge for the retailers for satisfying the
customer (Wruuck, 2013). For dealing with the price challenges many retailing organizations
adopt the cost leadership strategy. For instance, Wal-Mart is a multinational retailing store,
which makes its brand image with the help of its core competency and strategy of cost
leadership (Stankeviciute et al., 2012).
2.6.2. Advertising
Advertising is another aspect which drives the customer experience. The input by the
company set the perception of the customers about a particular product or service
(Johnston and Clark, 2008). Advertising is major input and strategy which attracts the
customers to buy the products. There are many different ways of doing the advertising
which attract the customers. For instance, catalogue advertisement is known as an effective
way of advertisement in which the exposure about the brand is controlled by the customers
(Simester et al., 2009).
In this global era, the retailers are more inclined towards doing the online advertising
because of the increase in the usage of technology (Fortune, 2014). The advertisement of
brand has an impact on the long-term goodwill of the consumers. Retailers change the

advertising levels over the period of time in order to provide the customer experience (Lewis
and Reiley, 2008).
2.6.3. Promotion
Retailers do the promotion of product in different ways either it is pricing promotion
or in store displays. The retailers should try hard to identify what sorts of products are
usually preferable by their consumers. It has been argued that the national brands need to
be promoted more because it attracts the customers. Whereas, retailers promote the
private label brand more because they got the high profit margin by promoting their product
(Chu, 2002).
However, the promotional offer are not consider as effective until retailers do this for the
consumer experience rather than for their own profit. Retailers who provide high
satisfaction to its customers do the promotional offers which consumers accept easily and
the offers which consumers consider valuable and increase the profitability of consumers
make the retailers strong from those retailers who provide less valuable promotional offers
(Grewal et al., 2011).
2.7. Theories and Frame works (CXM)
2.7.1. Theory of Planned Behaviour
The theory of planned behavior was determined by the Icek Ajzen in 1985. According
to this theory, the behavior of an individual which is planned, is resulted from the intention
of accepting that behavior and the factors which influenced this action includes the attitude
of an individual towards the behavior, norms of the individual and the perception of an
individual about their power over the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). This theory helps in to forecast
the collection of behaviors (Stone et al., 2010).
This theory is further described as an individual act in a way because he has intention of
doing a particular behavior, this intention result in the attitude of an individual about the
behavior. The norms of an individual make him thinks that whether he should perform that
behavior or not and the perception of that individual about the control of that behavior
(Hansen and Jensen, 2007). This theory is further illustrated below:

Figure 6: Theory of Planned Behavior, Adopted from Azjer 1991
For making the consumers behave in a particular manner retailers are required to build a
strong relationship with the customers. For retaining the customers, retailers should give
rewards to the customers who are honest. However, it has been identified that most of the
customers tend to act responsible and avoid the behavior which can influenced their
relationship with the retailers.
On the basis of this model, the attitude of the consumers can be addressed by educating
about such as strict return procedures. Moreover, the behavior of most of the individuals is
influenced by the peer and the group in which they interact. Thus, the norms of the society
also provoke the costumer to act in a certain way (King and Dennis, 2006).
The theory of planned behavior is also implacable on the consumers at the time of taking
decision. When consumer wanted to take decision regarding to what sort of product they
should buy they follow a particular patterns of behavior (Abraham and Sheeran, 2003). This
theory assumes the consumers’ attitude in terms of the intention of behavior instead of
consumers’ attitude for a particular product. One of the elements of this theory is the
subjective norms which make the individual to develop intention of the behavior. For
instance, a consumer has a habit or attitude of ordering the drink before the dinner.
However, intention of having a drink might be influenced by the social norms that in a
particular situation like having meal with friends or at fun time or at the job interview
(Hawkins et al., 2001). Additionally, according to this theory by focusing on all these factors a
consumer build an attitude actively towards the behavior, which is considerable. For
example, a person passing through the petrol tank is more likely to go for the tank due to
the lower price of the petrol (Hansen, 2005).

2.7.2. Technology Acceptance Model
Another theory of understanding the behavior of the consumer is the technology
acceptance model. Technology acceptance model was founded by Davis in 1986. This model
helps in understanding the user behavior in term of information technology (Legris et al.
2003). This model was proposed to get the idea that why consumers accept or reject a
particular information technology. Moreover, this model set the basis that how the external
factors can impact the attitude, intentions and belief of the consumers in using the
technology. Further, two cognitive approaches are also been considered in this model such
as perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. These all elements of model tell that the
usage of technology is affected by the attitude, behavior intention and actual use, directly or
indirectly (Davis, 1986). To get the clear image of the model, technology acceptance model is
demonstrated below:
Figure 7: Technology Acceptance Model Adopted from Davis, 1989
The use of technology is also bringing the threats for the customer related to the safety of
information of the consumers (Milne et al. 2004). Retailers who sell product through online
keep in mind that for providing the better consumer experience, the information should be
keep safe and it should be keep in mind that consumers not only need the information but
they also seek for the experiential needs and services (Ha and Stoel, 2009). The acceptance
of the technology by the retailers helps in improving the services. Moreover, it helps
consumers in taking the decision about the purchases and improves the shopping
experience (Vieira, 2010). According to a research, for accepting the technology a consumer
perceived cost and safety of technology, pressure from social peers and personal skills.
These all factors have a huge influence on the attitude of consumers at the time of using the
new technology (Pantano and Pietro, 2012).

2.7.3. Customer Contact Theory
The services which retailers provide to its consumers give the experience to them
through which they remain the brand loyal. During the service operations consumers also
participate actively. One of the conceptual models, which help the retailers in making the
decision regarding the service design, is the customer contact theory. The term consumer
contact is defined as the presence of the consumer physically. This model suggests that the
task of the service design should be made when the consumer is present. This model divides
the service contact into two groups such as high-contact and low-contact services (Mersha,
1990).
According to this model the high contact service include the hotels, restaurants, schools,
public transporting etc. On the other hand, the low-contacts service includes the post
offices, wholesale houses etc. This theory also assume that there are some mixed service as
well which include both high-contact and low-contact services. These services include banks
and post offices. The retailing services on included in the mass service in which the degree of
customization and interaction is low but the labor intensity is high (Mersha, 1990).
This theory is applied to the service system in a wide range. This theory contains the
efficiency of the service system in terms of the customer contact for the creation of the
service product (Chase, 1981). However, this theory has been criticized, as it got failed in
differentiate between the service system that consist of the customization and high
interaction and accommodate of the customers.
2.7.4. BAI Conceptual Framework
When it comes to measurement artifacts, Forehle and Roth (2004) delivered a
conceptual framework for evaluating perceptions of the technology mediated customer
experience as depicted in the figure 8, it proposes that probably important psychological
constructs will drop into three broad domains belief, attitude and intentions.
 Belief domain, there are five constructs which are covered in this theoretical
framework. First being Information Richness, this belief build taps the customer’s
subjective assessment of the intricacy and vividness of the communication between the
provider and the customer. Learning part of belief is defined as the belief that customer
increased his/her own knowledge or understanding during the contact with the
provider. Customers will be more stimulated to use a service again when they profit or
gain value from it and therefore perceive it as useful, hence the belief. Latterly
customers believe a certain range in terms of duration of contact as most preferable for
a contact episode. The intimacy appropriateness belief relays to the level of mutual
confiding and trust established during the contact episode Forehle and Roth (2004).

Figure 8: conceptual framework of customer service, Adopted from Forehle et al. 2004
 Attitude domain, three instinctual constructs vary by the customer’s insight of the spur
or object of the attitude. Firstly attitude towards the contact medium reveals the instant
favourableness (or customer-perceived satisfaction) or unfavourableness
(dissatisfaction) shaped by using the communication medium employed during the
contact episode. In contrast to the first attitude construct above, which reflects
satisfaction with only the technology-related process element, this attitude toward the
contact construct reflects the customer’s overall approach towards the entire customer
contact episode (i.e., the total customer service experience). While the attitude towards
the service provider mirrors the level of general satisfaction or dissatisfaction the
customer has with the service provider at the end of the contact episode (Forehle and
Roth, 2004).
 Intention domain, there are two constructs constructing the Intention domain are
alternative variables for customer loyalty. Firstly be intention to use the medium again,
assesses the customer’s internally approximate probability that he/she will carry out
future contact with the service provider via the same communications medium as was
used for his/her most recent contact episode. Secondly Intention to use service provider
again, whereas assesses the customer’s internally estimated possibility that he will make
use of the firm’s services again at some time in the future (or continue the relationship
if on-going) (Forehle and Roth, 2004).

3. Method & Research Design
This chapter mainly focuses on the method and the process of the research i.e. in which
sequence the activities of research are undertaken in any research project (Oates 2006, p.
12). This chapter deals with the background of the methodology which I used, the research
design, case selection and overview, data collection, data analysis and limitations of the
research.
3.1. Background of Methodoligies
Methodology is a broader spectrum of the research and its strategies as compared to
method (Greener, 2008). Based on Robsen’s (2002) classification, Runeson and Höst (2009)
explains four types of research methodologies which can be used for different purposes.
Exploratory purpose is characterized by the urge of finding out undiscovered insights and
finding answers to questions that are not resolved before, and contributing in future
research through the formation of hypothesis. Descriptive research serves the purpose
when a particular kind of a situation or a particular phenomenon has to be studied.
Explanatory research is carried out for the sake of explaining a particular scenario or
addressing a specific problem. It may or may not be a causal relationship. Research
conducted for the purpose of improvement (improving) focuses on the attempt to improve
any particular characteristic or area of the situation taken up for study(Runeson & Höst
2009).
One type of exploratory methodology is the case study. Case study is normally understood
to be mostly used for exploratory research (Flyvbjerg, 2007) though they also are sometimes
used in descriptive and explanatory methodologies. Three types of case studies have been
defined by Klein and Mayers (1999) and based on the perspective of the research; they are
classified as positivist, critical and interpretive. Positivist case study is quantifiable, based on
testing the theory aims to study predictability. Critical case studies focus on pointing out
social, cultural or political hindrances that restrict the abilities of humans and the main idea
behind this to create improvement. An interpretive case study aims to study the given
phenomena from the participant point of view, how they think and feel about the particular
problem at hand (Runeson & Höst 2009).The table 1 describes the various types of
methodologies and their characteristics to provide a clear picture of the methodology
objectives.

Table 1: Research Methodology Characteristics, Adopted from Runeson & Höst 2009, p. 9
3.2. Research Method
It requires applicable methods, which generate data and establish the understanding
of the topic with the help of interviews, case study or questionnaire etc. (Oates 2006, p. 36),
in order to address the research problem and to achieve the goals of the study. I choose to
use empirical research method to develop scales for measuring the constructs examining in
research of customer experience. For creating measurement scales, reliable measures are
base for establishing the validity of scales (Churchill, 1995). In general, there are three
empirical research methods qualitative, quantitative and mixed research method.
Qualitative research methods collect data in the form of text, image or sound in order to
understand opinions, motivations and reasons. It provides more in-depth knowledge related
to chosen topic and unfold thoughts and trends to develop ideas for future statistical
analysis. The most common research methods like case study, field study and action
research, and there are some tools to collect qualitative data like Interviews, observations
and focus groups from generally small sample size (Oates, 2006).
In this dissertation qualitative approach is selected for construct building and enhancing the
internal validity. In terms of data analysis, qualitative data provided subjective knowledge to
identify constructs. In future work, after well define constructs for measuring customer
experience, quantitative methods may be more appropriate to testing and refinement of
constructs in terms of external validity in future work on top of this study. In terms of data
analysis, quantitative data analysis provides statistical knowledge to identify patterns and
relationship within constructs.
3.3. Research Approach
For my research, exploring the constructs and indicators for measuring CX in order to
develop CXI in Norwegian retail industry was suitable approach. A case study research
method is considered when the “how” and “why” questions are asked and when the aim
of the researcher focuses on a current phenomenon that occurs in a real-life context

(Yin,2009). Conducting a qualitative case study for measuring the CX in real-world setting
was the appropriate way to collect or gather data. Also for analyzing the case study, I was
interested in exploring the topic through relevant literature, company’s web sites,
documents, related case company and interviews because as Yin (2009) describes, case
study analysis “relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a
triangulating fashion.”
In addition, there are single case studies and multiple case studies to conduct research and
each of them has its own strengths. Single case study is useful when the researcher is
exploring a new phenomenon or there is a lack of theory (Eisenhardt, 1989). And multiple
cases studies are useful when the researcher is interested in analytical results within existing
phenomenon (Yin, 2009). During the course of this research, I decided to use multiple case
studies to achieve two or more case results and have the capacity to compare results in data
analysis.
The process of building up and implement of fieldwork is the basis of any interpretative
case study (Walsham, 2006). I used the semi structured interviews with open ended
questions as the main method in order to collect data. This type of interviews allow the
researcher to be prepared ahead of time, arrive efficiently during the interview and allows
the respondents more freedom to express their knowledge in their own style (Laforest,
2009). I created the questionnaire with three different themes to cover the topic which I
wanted to discuss with the respondents. In addition, the interview answers within specific
themes allowed me to build the discussion with the selected theory.
Walsham advises (2006) to the new researchers that they should opt for such theories which
are more astute to them, suggesting that the researchers should choose a theory which not
only benefits their research but also gives credibility to the research. On this basis I have:
Belief Attitude Intention model (BAI) and conceptual framework of customer service derived
by Froehle and Roth (2004) as core of my research study. This model explains how
psychological constructs are divided in three main domains and exploring further constructs
in each domain. In addition to that, I have also used theory of planned behavior, theory of
reasoned action, customer contact theory and Forrester framework to help comprehend the
roots of finding, assessing and measuring the constructs for retail industry. The theory used
in research is for steering the data collection methods, along with exploration and analyses
of the data collected by research (Greener 200; Oates 2006). Moreover, matching literature
is used by me to fortify my research and the conclusions I have drawn from the case studies.
3.4. Research Design
Oates (2006) describes research as the formation of new knowledge with the help of
suitable processes to contentment for the users of the research. For example, research is
not only confined to data collection and analysis, it is a complete process which embodies
planning, data collection, data analysis and presenting the research in writing or digitally.

The plan which can guide the researcher on how to execute research process is called the
research design, for example sample surveys, case studies, field studies, and experiments
etc. Ideal research designs do not exist in reality but the optimum design that fulfils the goal
of the research has to be selected from the alternatives available, for example, Case studies
provide high generalizability and “flexible” (Robson, 2002) design but is weak in precision
and existential whereas in experiment the existential realism is high and “fixed” (Robson
2002) design study but the precision and generalizability is low.
The hypothesis’s constructs guide us on which research design is to be adopted, depending
on the constructs. For example, if both the dependent and independent constructs can be
measured, the case study will be the appropriate research design in the given scenario
(Oates, 2006). To support our research design and data collection, this research was carried
out through combination of literature review, panel of experts, case study and data analysis.
The research design in this study consisted of several activities. An overview of the research
activities with timeline is mentioned in figure 10.
Timeline And Milestones
of my Dissertation
January
2015
February
2015
March
2015
April
2015
May
2015
Activities
Literature Review
Problem Defination
Data collection and
analsis
Comparison with
Earlier Research
Dissertation Write-
up
Figure 9: Timeline of dissertation activities
In the first phase, we examined existing constructs and their indicators with the help of
related articles, which were extracted in systematic paper searches. In addition, customer
experience theories and other related theoretical models and frameworks in the literature
analysis, were adopted in reviewed papers. Moreover, the literature review provided
guidance in the formation of the questionnaire in the data collection and towards refining
the problem definition used in this study.
Second phase, the data collection step was carried out with the help of empirical research
encompassed of multiple case study and an expert’s panel. The expert’s panel provided

guidance and knowledge as the starting point of data collection in order to design
questionnaire for semi structured interviews. A lot of time and serious dedication were
devoted to the process that lead to the formation of the questionnaire possessing
embedded strengths; to ensure a relevance to the research topic and to ensure the quality
that would get high response rate (qualitative). Following figure 11 shows the research
design in the shape of phases and their outcomes as well as future phase of my research
design.
Figure 10: Research Phases and Outcomes
Moreover, we used the questionnaire in face to face interviews as well as qualitative surveys
through email with the selective sample (practitioners). A thorough analysis of the
qualitative data helped us to refine the existing constructs and even adding more constructs
where such a possibility existed. It is important to gain reliability of the constructs before
testing them in an external context in order to achieve validity.
3.5. Case selection and overview
Retail Industry’s primary focus is to gain competitive advantage in advanced
technology based market by staying ahead of the rapidly changing customer trends due to
the impact of technology on multi-channel retailing points. After the advancement in
consumer based technologies, it is essential for retail industry to integrate it within their
business cycles and measure customer experiences and expectations constantly.

The primary criteria for case selection were that the organization is willing to adopt
customer experience measurements and has a relationship with the Norwegian retail
industry. I wished to include such kind of an organization, where we could gather data in
terms of knowledge and experience from different types of retail industry like grocery store,
gas station, tourism, fashion and electronic stores. Such variations could help to identify
different constructs and indicators for measuring CX from different customer perspectives.
For these criteria, I studied two organizations that were interested to develop CXI in future
and willing to help the study in order to identify different construct and its indicators for
measuring CX. One of the organizations requested to remain anonymous. In order to ensure
anonymity, I will be referring to them as Org1.
University College Westerdals and my supervisor had already been in touch with Creuna and
in fact the author was working with them for two months during the practice period as an
intern. I discovered this research area during that period and decided to work with Creuna.
The second case organization (Org2), was introduced by Creuna as a requirement of our
research process and to fulfill the need of different customer perspectives under one
umbrella for the sake of quick results. With the help of ideal coordination of these three
organizations (plus our University), it will be possible to identify customer experience
measurement constructs, reflecting the realism that interaction between the customers and
the business must be improved.
Creuna is one of Scandinavia’s largest digital agency, having over 300 employees in the
Nordic region (Creuna, n.d).The organization is providing strategic, creative, marketing and
technological expertise and their vision is to maximize value for customers and serve most
meaningful for users. They have a strong connection with the Norwegian retail industry
enabling assistance for improving businesses
Organization2 (Org2) represents over 18300 businesses in Norwegian retail industry like
trade, knowledge, technology, tourism, service, health care, education, culture and
volunteering. This organization is the second largest federation in private sector and has a
main job to connect particular business with rest of the retail industry in Norway. They are
involved in this project because their vision is to create value for member businesses
(retailers).
3.6. Data gathering techniques
This section will explain the approach through which I gathered the data and analyzed from
the case study. The four sources were used in this research to collect data: literature,
experts’ panel, interviews, and document analysis. Each of these techniques is presented
below in more detail.

3.6.1. Data Collection
In order to support the topic of the research paper, a number of concepts, theories
and methods were obtained from Google scholar, IEEE Digital library, given articles by
professors and searching the reference lists of the taken articles. The following terms have
been used to find relevant literature to the dissertation topic: Customer experience
management and measurement, customer relationship management, satisfaction, loyalty,
word of mouth, touch point, channels for retail industry, technology mediated touch points,
construct for retail industry, etc.
In order to determine the exact number of interviews required to be taken for the study
investigation, Laforest (2009, p.2) advises some areas which must be taken into account:
Range of viewpoints represented in the study investigation, available time and resources
and data saturation. For my study, I choose a wide group of participants from both case
organizations, with different positions on the basis of different branches of the retail
industry and experience of working with CXM as mentioned in table 2.
Organization Position Branch
Org2 Director Fashion and leisure
Org2 Director Construction Products
Org2 Director Grocery stores
Org2 Director Tourism
Org2 Director Head of trade
Org1 Director Marketing
Org1 Consultant Digital solutions
Table 2: List of chosen Interviewees’ & Their Roles
According to Runeson and Höst (2009), there are three general principals, which can be used
to stucture the interveiw sessions(or questionaaire).An overview of the general principals of
interview session is mentioned in figure 12. First principal(Funnel model) begins with the
open ended questions and in the end aims at specific questions related to topic. Second
Principal (Paramid model) begins with a number of specific questions and advances to open
ended questions during the process of interviews.The third principal has open ended
questions in the beginning, proceeds to structured questions aligning with the topic and
closes in open ended questions to expand the topic again. For my interview, the
questionnaire approach was aligning with the funnel model and I used the follow up
questions to keep to remain specific.

Figure 11: General Principles of Interview Session, Adopted from Runeson & Höst 2009, p. 22
The author developed a series of interview questions to be addressed to the interviewees
through individual face-to-face interviews, or via Skype, phone, etc. In addition, I delivered
the questionnaire for answers via email and used phone, if any question that needed the
clarifications or explanations. Estimated time frame was a maximum of 60 minutes for the
interview.
3.6.2. Document Analysis
Moreover, I used the document analysis procedure for collecting relevant data.
Because some of the interview questions derived towards sharing documents with the
author in order to explain participants work, research or thoughts related to topic.
Documents can be reports, intranet information, white papers and survey or questionnaire
results etc. In order to collect data from documents, firstly I identified that the given
material is relevant; secondly I created notes of relevant data and asked follow up questions
by email where needed; and thirdly I searched answers related to the topic.
Data analysis was the next step of my research process after collecting the data. As Miles
and Huberman (1994) states that the data analysis consists of three flows of actions (data
reduction, data display and conclusion). As also seen from Figure 13, that the these flows are
interconnected, where one cannot draw conclusions directly from the data collection phase,
one must condense and display their data ahead of conclusion.

Figure 12: Document Analysis, Adapted from Miles and Huberman 1994, p. 12
Data reduction is the process of selection, focusing, simplifying and transforming the
collected data (Miles and Huberman, 1994). In lies of this after ever interview, I recorded the
interviews in shape of useful information to examine it against the literature available. I
further developed a cluster of data to categorize the relevant themes and observed the
patterns that summarized the amount of data in the best way.
According to Miles and Huberman (1994), data display is an organized and condensed
assembly of information which allows the researchers to get to a conclusion. I opted to form
a display of the data as a word cloud. It was the result of putting the interview records into
an application calculating the word frequency in a text. In addition, this process was also
helpful in data reduction and aided in selecting out the themes. Conclusion drawing and
verification begins from early stages of data collection and develops over time (Miles and
Huberman, 1994). And final conclusion cannot appear before data collection is finished. For
my thesis I opted to follow this as fully, and mostly made my conclusions in writing after the
phases of data collection, reduction and display were done.
3.6.3. Limitations
The case study based off four interviews, related documents and observation,
performed using a Norwegian organization connected to local retail industry and a service
provider of digital services to retail industry. The results are limited due to the tight schedule
of the participants and it would have been ideal to obtain some more interviews from
different types of retail industries. Moreover, it was interesting to follow all the research
phases from the beginning to the end. The second step of this study which will be a
quantitative survey for validation and then testing the conceptual framework on customers
in order to create CXI but the time frame was beyond the scope of my dissertation.

4. Findings
The following are the finding developed by interviews, field observations and
documents provided by Org2 align with research topic. There are four interviews conducted
by the author: three from Org2 and one from Creuna. For anonymity reasons, the names of
the interviewees from Org2 were not shown in this research and therefore in order to make
it easier for the reader I referred to the following persons as these pseudonyms:
Organization Position Branch
Org1 Marketing Manager Eirik Norman Hansen
Org2 Director(Tourism) Ola
Org2 Director(Fashion and leisure) Roy
Org2 Director(store / gas station
/ service trade)
Anders
Table 3: Pseudonyms
Through analyzing the transcripts, I identified similarities, area of concerns, related work and
differences, which I consequently in order to develop categories. Moreover, theoretical
orientation and the kinds of questions in interviews, gave the opportunity to categorize
findings into following: Overview of Norwegian retail industry, related efforts, touch points
used by Retail Industry, constructs and their indicators. Within each category I will cover the
all types of findings from the interviews, related documents and the observation as following
the theme.
4.1. Background information (General)
My first interview was with Erik who is responsible for marketing of Creuna. His role in
the company is of lead generation and business development, while Creuna’s work
objectives are to help their clients (specifically retailers) in building their brands, grow their
businesses and connect them in the current global market. The type of initiative that Eirik
and his company need to create a basic framework with some important measurement and
to implement on some of the businesses in Norwegian retail industry in order to gain basic
results. And in the future enhance the multi-item measurement scales for measuring
businesses constructs in different dimensions. In order to explain CXM, he mentioned that:
”CXM to me is the framework we use to manage and measure how our customers
perceive and experience us.”
From the Org1, Roy is the director of Real Travel Global and said that some of his main
responsibilities are to act as a mouthpiece for the industry in the media and giving individual

assistance to their members (retailers) in industry-specific issues. In tourism, members of
Org1 represent approximately 85 percent of total travel agency sales, and 80 percent of total
tour revenues in Norway. When asked about the goals of Org1, Anders, director of shops
and gas service said “Our main goals are to increase member satisfaction and customers of
members” In order to explain CXM, Roy said that: “Costumer Experience Management
means for me to make, use of valuable customer experience in the development of their
business.”
4.2. Turnover Trends of Norwegian Retail Industry
According to statistics Norway (document given by Org1), during the fiscal year 2014,
total turnover of Norwegian retailers was about 447 billion NOK. In comparison to the
turnover of 443 billion NOK in fiscal year 2013, showing a positive trend, there was
considerable growth of 3.4 percent in total turnover of Norwegian retailers in 2014. As per
the data provided by SSB (2014), the highest growth rates in turnover were to be seen in
internet trade and grocery stores sectors of retail industry in Norway.
Figure 13: Turnover Comparison of Norwegian retailers, Adopted from Statistisk Sentralbyrå 2015
Some of the sub categories functioning in retail industry in Norway which were also assed
are (a) clothing shoes & accessories , (b) Photo and video softwares, apps, (c) Newspapers,
magazines, books, (d) Music, films, computer games, (e) House, home, garden, (f) Sports,
leisure, hobby, (g) Food, beverages, (h) Data, home electronics, appliances, (i) Mobile
telephony, (j) Personal care, health, (k) Baby equipment’s, toys, board games. If talking
about average monthly sales comparison, retailers had 3.3 percent of increase in turnover.

Total accumulative turnover of grocery stores was 160 billion in fiscal year 2014, incurring
4.4 percent growth from the previous year. While the turnover in retail stores accounted for
36 percent of total retailer’s turnover in 2013. Specifically the strongest growth is to be seen
for building warehouses and internet and mail order stores in 2014. Building department
stores had accumulative sales of more than 23 billion NOK in 2014, with increase of 6.1
percent as compared to 2013.
On the other hand if we look at the early monthly figures of retail sales in current (year), the
trend shows that the retail sales went up by 0.3 percent from February to March this year
(2015) as per seasonally adjusted figures. While there was 0.9 percent growth from January
to February 2015 in retail sales overall we can see that there is a downward trend starting in
early months of 2015 and need to be looked and scrutinized.
4.3. Touch points used by Retail Industry
Scrutinizing the statistics given by Org1, taken from PwC’s total retail customer survey
(2015), the break out of touch points used in retail industry around the world, gives us an
insight of most commonly and less used channels used by the customers. Channel and touch
point used most periodically and persistently in retail is in-store. Customers using the in-
store channel at least a month have the highest percentage of 34 percent, while 28 percent
of customers visited in-store weekly.
Trend to use online channel via PC is growing as 34 percent of customers using it on monthly
basis and 17 percent using it on weekly basis. Another channel which has become a frequent
touch point is online via mobile phone/smart phone. But still majority of 52 percent of
customers have not used this channel, so have the potential to grow in future. The channel
which is seeing the decline in usage over time is TV shopping with 68 percent of customers
never using this channel.

Figure 14: Primary Retail touch points for consumers, Adopted from Global PwC 2015.
Talking about Norwegian retail trends taken from statistics Norway, the usage of online
channel by customers is growing fast like web page, apps, forums, Facebook, Instagram and
others. But still physical stores remain the primary retail touch-point for customers. Online
shopping trend continues to grow as a convenience to customers in comparison of store
visits, the focus in future will be on creating exclusive, brand defining experiences that keep
the customers coming back through whichever the channel they are using. As it is important
to work around this trend in terms of Attitude construct of CXM, to gain from this trend.
If we compare the online retail trends with the physical retail we can see in figure 16, there
was 8.1 percent increase in online sales in comparison of 2.4 percent increase in physical
sales from 2012 to 2013 as per the statistics. In the first six months of the said period,
noticeable growth of five times is to be seen in online retail as compared to physical retail.
This trend indicates that online sales will grow considerably than trade in physical stores in
future.

Figure 15: Physical Retailing vs. Web Retailing data, Adapted from Statistisk Sentralbyrå 2015
If we compare the online retail trends with the physical retail, we can see there was 8.1
percent increase in online sales in comparison of 2.4 percent increase in physical sales from
2012 to 2013 as per the statistics. In the first six months of the said period, noticeable
growth of five times is to be seen in online retail as compared to physical retail. This trend
indicates that online sales will grow considerably than trade in physical stores in future.
Roy being the multi-channel director believes it’s vital to be successful in mastering the
digital platforms in the future and key to it is integrating it with other channels. “Mobile
apps, web pages, Facebook pages, Instagram and stores are inextricably linked”, says Roy.
He believes with substantially large network of outlets, the ability to think comprehensively
and launching new initiatives will enable the business being successful player in the market.
“Solutions we come up with are within customer service and e-commerce. As the future is of
digital market, we should focus on giving our customers a seamless online shopping
experience. While store formats are still very much existing, the need is to link the both
channels to satisfy the customer”, Roy.
When asked about different touch points and channels to be identified in reference to
customer experience, Ander tells, “ the line of business we are, despite much technology
based advancements especially in equipment’s we use, the touch points and channels have
not changed that much”. Customers still have to come to gas stations/stores to get services
and online advancements have no alternative to it yet. Further he elaborates on constructs,
“having less and constant touch points since long time, it makes it easy for us to keep track
of the constructs to measure the customer experience. But need is felt to also look into
constructs like loyalty and attitude of our customers to our brand”. Ander believes there is
need for an index and measuring of these constructs to judge and redefine the customer
experience they have to offer.
2%
8%
4%
16%
physical trade Web Trade
Growth in physical Retailing vs. Web Retailing
2012-2013 2013-2014

4.4. Constructs and Their indicators
When asked to define constructs and their indicators to measure customer experience,
Erik answered: “constructs are important variables which able us to measure customer
experience and by identifying them would help us measuring the CX quality and
benchmark”. Cruena was indeed using constructs like satisfaction and loyalty in assessing
the customers. Further Eric said, “It is important to assess where are the gaps and
differences between the customer’s expectations and the business”. Cruena having access
to different constructs and being able to use it, has shortened the gap between the
customer’s expectation and business, and the Cruena wishes to have further constructs to
measure to make the process more broader.
Moreover, Org1 are trying to help Norwegian retailers to retain their customer loyalty in
order to examining indicators those could help local retailers to compete with global online
retail. The head of retail in Org1 mentioned that
“We see that more and more of us are choosing to buy goods from foreign online
stores. Is the loyal customer death? We look here how Norwegian stores can meet
competition from global online stores, and on the use of beacons in the physical store
can be a way to go to make customer more loyal.”
From interviewing Ola it was clear that he has a keen eye looking in details and analyzing the
processes to comprehend it and work accordingly. He points out the importance of easiness,
effectiveness and content while satisfying his customers coming through web channel as he
believes:
“The webpage should be customer friendly. Means it is easy to navigate search and
compare different offers and finding the useful information while it provides easy
approach/contact to the business”.
Ola is director and responsible for Tourism, it was important task for him to identify and
measure the channels which are bringing more customers to business to focus on the key
areas. While he pinpoints that vast majority of his customers come through web and their
first point of contact with the business is its website, making it an important channel to
focus on, he feels constructs and indicators like ease ness, content, satisfaction and pricing
needs to be measured periodically.
Roy stated that “customers have access to different means and channels these days, and
priority is given by customers on the basis of ease and attitude towards touch point”. Roy
believes, to take the competitive edge in current fashion market, usage of multi channels is
the key. While providing customers with alternative ways to purchase, focus should be on
touch points and their effectiveness. Moreover, Anders is strongly convinced that customer
service provided by the in-store representative is still the key for gas station/stores, when he
says, “Even with the inclusion of technology, in-store representatives are the main touch

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