Recognition and Measurement of Emotions in Customer Experience Research

Abstract

The study of customer experience requires the development of methodologies which measure such experience and account for its complexity. One important component of customer experience is emotion, the recognition and measurement of which is still a challenge for researchers. The purpose of this article is to discuss methods and techniques used to recognise and measure emotions in customer experience research. Particular attention is paid to the use of techniques derived from consumer neuroscience, including the dilemmas associated with reaching for automatic analysis of facial expressions. The literature review is indicative of the ongoing discussion on the benefits and limitations of using the automatic analysis of facial expressions technique in measuring customer experience. Despite its limitations, such a technique can be an attractive complement to methods and techniques used to capture the emotional components of customer experience at different stages (before, during, and after consumption).