CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AS AN ECONOMIC CATEGORY: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS ACROSS TECHNO-ECONOMIC PARADIGMS

Abstract

The article investigates the essence of customer experience as an economic category and substantiates the regularity of customer experience management (CEM) emerging as an independent management instrument under the seventh technological paradigm. It is demonstrated that the emergence of CEM is a structurally determined phenomenon conditioned by the alignment of the analytical framework of the seventh technological paradigm with the normative principles of Industry 5.0, rather than a situational consequence of the internal evolution of marketing concepts or management trends. On the basis of a systematic literature review covering 1982–2024, cause-and-effect relationships between the technological paradigm, the dominant logic of competition, and the corresponding management toolkit are established; a qualitative shift in the object of management at the transition from customer relationship management to CEM is identified. A seven-paradigm matrix of producer–consumer relationship evolution is constructed, covering seven technological paradigms and recording for each the dominant competitive logic, the type of producer–consumer relationship, and the corresponding management instrument. Conceptual approaches to defining customer experience are systematised under three criteria – outcome-based, process-based, and systemic – and the conceptual superiority of the systemic approach under the human-centric competitive logic of Industry 5.0 is substantiated. The findings constitute an analytical framework for sector-level applications of CEM in contexts where the transition to the seventh technological paradigm and the implementation of Industry 5.0 principles remain incomplete, including the fashion industry of Ukraine.