Mapping Research on Customer Centricity and Sustainable Organizations

Abstract

Firms are increasingly organized around the client. At the same time, there is customer pressure on green and sustainable organizations. The purpose of this paper is to map the current state of the research in the domain of customer-centric organizations from a sustainable perspective. We conducted a bibliometric analysis from published documents between 1990 and 2020. Key findings indicate that research on customer centricity and sustainability has increased in recent years and that the topic is structured into 3 clusters: (1) Sustainability; (2) Customer-Centric Perspective, and Sustainable Development; and (3) Customer Experience and Sales. Moreover, new concepts and technologies have been introduced during the last three years. The implementation of a bibliometric methodology and the focus given to the definition, the relationships, and the evolution of the three main clusters within the topic are the characteristics that differentiate our study from other publications or reviews in the field of research. This paper is beneficial for practitioners who aim to deploy the customer centricity approach in their firms from a sustainable perspective.

Combining corporate environmental sustainability and customer experience management to build an integrated model for decision-making

“…It is possible to present the results of the two phases of the study: the first phasethe co-occurrence analysis of selected papersconsists in identifying the presence of studies at the theoretical level that combine CES with CEM. This phase allowed us to identify the main theoretical topics that appeared as clusters through VOSviewer software, namely "consumer behavior", "decision making", "business development" and "co-creation", which confirm and advance the exploratory study of Pardo-Jaramillo et al (2020). The qualitative MD 61,13 analysis in the case study within the food delivery industry (phase 2 of the study) has been used to validate the theoretical issues identified in the first phase.…”

“…In a nutshell, from the bibliometric analysis and the empirical case study emerges the potential for a new model that incorporates the attributes and characteristics of CEM and CES by integrating them to take advantage of the benefits of both (Pardo-Jaramillo et al, 2020). The new model, shown in Figure 5, summarizes and integrates the findings of the twophase analysis.…”

“…However, the concrete implementation of such an approach by companies is still a challenge, subject to management research. On a theoretical level, there is a broad agreement that both are key priorities for companies (Pardo-Jaramillo et al, 2020;Signori et al, 2019), especially since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has sensitized citizens, firms and governments to the importance of preserving the environmental ecosystem and changed consumers' decisions (Anderson et al, 2021). On the other hand, according to Fader (2020) and Peppers and Rogers (2016), among others, the increasingly competitive market combined with digitization imposes the need for companies to put the customer at the center of corporate decision-making and for new, better customer experiences (Cain, 2022;Santos and Gonçalves, 2021).…”

“…Within the current debate on environmental priorities and customer-centricity there is a call for research on why it is that the customer and the environment are so rarely, in practice, put at the heart of business (Signori et al, 2019). This study responds to calls to integrate CEM and CES to guarantee a long-term competitive advantage (Pardo-Jaramillo et al, 2020;Ceesay, 2020;Forrester, 2010).…”

“…However, the concrete implementation of such an approach by companies is still a challenge, subject to management research. On a theoretical level, there is a broad agreement that both are key priorities for companies (Pardo-Jaramillo et al ., 2020; Signori et al. , 2019), especially since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has sensitized citizens, firms and governments to the importance of preserving the environmental ecosystem and changed consumers' decisions (Anderson et al.…”