Customer experience is in crisis. Institutional Affiliation

Customer Experience
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Customer Experience
Customers are the most important part of a company, and they are the sole purpose of why a business is established (Gustafsson et al.,2005; Ngo, 2015). The question that every executive should ask themselves is; what do customers want? Unlike in the past, technology has evolved significantly, handing customers unparalleled control over the experience of buying products and services. In the current business world, the market is hypercompetitive across all industries. Some of the best performing corporates have massively improved their interaction with customers (Oh & Kim, 2017). Thus, customers in any sector expect high levels of satisfaction they receive from world-leading companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon. These companies are differentiating themselves from others through the effective use of technology. Modern analytic tools have given them relevant customer insights that help them move with unprecedented agility. Today, customers prefer transacting online rather than visiting a company’s stores. Offering services online is not enough because customers now expect to receive service within the shortest time possible. In addition, a considerable number of customers prefer a simple experience and the use of comparison apps while shopping. Apart from offering services on digital platforms, customers expect service providers to offer a social experience, an act that allows them to share their grievances and ideas (Ilieska, 2013).
Customer Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry
For the hospitality industry, delivering basics such as a clean suite, delicious meals, excellent transport, and comfortable rooms is not enough as far as customer satisfaction is concerned (Dominici & Guzzo, 2010; Margabandhu & Saravanaraj, 2014). Rather, it is crucial to investigate the basics of how to integrate data with important insights to improve customer experience in the hospitality industry. Like most other industries, technology is revolutionizing the hospitality industry. Activities such as booking and payments are now done online (Eshetie et al., 2016). Customers are also relying on reviews from other people to determine which company offers the best hospitality services (Amin, 2015; Park & Jeong, 2019). Improving how customers interact with various digital platforms will significantly improve customer experience. Research indicates that improving the customer experience slightly can enhance productivity, build retention and create espousal that translates into huge revenue gains. Without a doubt, happy customers improve hotel incomes and profits which are the reasons why customer experience is highly associated with loyalty. Customer loyalty greatly influences customers' retention rates in a company (Suchбnek & Krбlovб, 2019; Alghwery & Christian, 2014).
Stimulus-Response Model
Consumer’s decision-making behavior is influenced by several factors in which a company must investigate and provide products and services tailored to satisfy these factors. One of the commonly used models to understand the customer’s purchasing behavior is the stimulus-response model (Graa & Dani, 2012). The model suggests that environmental and marketing stimuli enter the customer’s consciousness, which is referred to as the black box as shown in fig 1. These stimuli are processed within an individual’s consciousness, and customer’s decision process and characteristics will result in certain buying decisions. The role of the marketer is to get a clear understanding of what happens in the customer’s consciousness between the time of the arrival of the stimulus and purchase decision (Khaniwale, 2015; Kanagal, 2016). Improved customer experience is one of the most effective ways of instilling a positive buying decision into customers. In the hospitality industry, purchasing behaviors are affected by technological, social, political, economic, cultural and personal factors. To improve customer experience, companies in the hospitality industry should enhance all these factors. For instance, the customer preference in lodging has shifted where a significant number now prefer private accommodations. Likewise, most consumers prefer ride-sharing brands instead of traditional cab and taxi brands. There are other several social factors affecting the hospitality industry, and it is important for companies to investigate what consumers prefer and provide goods and services that meet these preferences (Ramya & Mohamed Ali, 2016). Moreover, improving technology such as enhancing the communication, payment and booking processes is another effective way of elevating the customer experience. Search engine optimization is another technological aspect that companies in the hospitality industry should embrace. More customers now search for the best firms and deals before making the final booking. A hospitality company could be offering the best deals, but without optimized search, individuals cannot find such deals. If a customer can easily find goods and services of a particular corporate through the search, they are more likely to become loyal customers of that company (Ramya & Mohamed Ali, 2016). Technology is also shaping other areas of the hospitality industry, such as travel experience in the air and on the ground. Thus, the stimulus-response model is a crucial tool in examining the buyer’s behavior and establish what aspects of the business to improve to influence their purchasing decisions (Victor et al.,2018).
Fig 1 Stimulus-Response Model


5 Steps of the Decision-Making Process
The other important approach executives in the hospitality industry can use to improve the customer experience is referred to as the five steps of the decision-making process. The goal of every marketer is to get ahead of the consumer (Stankevich, 2016; Negulescu, 2014). Firms need to find out how customers make decisions and the way to get them make buy their products and services. There are 5 phases in the consumer decision-making process, which include problem recognition, information search process, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior (Karimi, 2013).
In the first stage, companies in the hospitality industry need to find out which aspects of the business operations should be improved (Karimi, 2013). Usually, customers...