Designing a Customer Experience Management Course

Customer experience is the latest battleground for business. Not only is customer experience management (CXM) one of the most promising approaches to marketing, but some observers also contend it is the future of marketing. While practitioners have embraced CXM for its considerable promise, marketing academicians have lagged in developing and disseminating CXM knowledge. Indeed, considerable evidence suggests that customer experiences are falling far short of company aspirations and customer expectations. To further CXM understanding, we conducted a three-credit undergraduate marketing course on CXM. Given the inherent experiential nature of CXM, we enhanced student learning by including a field immersion component. Specifically, on-campus class sessions were supplemented with a weeklong field immersion at Walt Disney World Resort. Empirical and qualitative evidence indicates that our approach fosters CXM understanding. We conclude by offering potential adaptations to our approach, including teaching CXM within existing coursework, curtailing the field immersion component, and making modifications for a graduate-level course.