Designing a Customer Engagement Model in the Digital Customer Journey Using the Grounded Theory Approach

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim of designing a customer engagement model in the digital customer journey using the grounded theory approach (Case Study: Khanoumi Online Store). The research is applied in terms of purpose, qualitative in terms of method, and exploratory in nature. The statistical population consisted of theoretical (academic) experts and practical experts; a total of 14 participants from both groups—selected purposefully based on their knowledge and experience in the field of digital marketing—took part in the study. Semi-structured interviews served as the primary data-collection instrument. After consolidating the interviews, coding and concept analysis were performed. Based on the results, 145 concepts were coded into 266 open codes; after merging similar categories and removing irrelevant ones, the analysis resulted in 82 axial codes and 17 selective codes, accounting for 20.12% of all extracted concepts. The findings indicate that education and skills, local and community support, and policymaking and planning constitute the most influential causal factors affecting customer engagement in the digital customer journey. Customer satisfaction, commitment and responsibility, service delivery ease, and employee-related factors form the contextual factors influencing the strategies, which include customer knowledge, customer enthusiasm, and infrastructure development. The intervening conditions include customer experience enhancement and customization. The identified strategies comprise customer penetration, social interaction, accurate audience identification, the stages of customer journey mapping, and the improvement of marketing strategies. Finally, the identified outcomes consist of increased customer loyalty, word-of-mouth promotion, and purchase intention.