Internet Learning Volume 5, Number 1, Fall 2016/Winter 2017 | Page 24

An Academy Customer Experience Benchmark Observation
In a separate SurveyMonkey
survey, two CLSER stakeholders were
asked a combined trio of questions. (i)
As a current primary stakeholder of the
CLSER website, before your knowledge
of this current study regarding customer
experience, what would you say
was your level of specific knowledge of
scholarly or best practice articles and
books published about customer experience
(CX) versus user experience
(UX) theory including the CX continuum,
personas, CX, UX communications
leading to customer advocates? (ii)
name current CX theory authors. Finally,
(iii) was your level of CX knowledge
used to develop any of the web pages in
the current CSLER website published
iteration?
Of the two responses received
(100 percent response rate), one agreed
that while they had some CX knowledge,
that knowledge was not purposefully
used in the first CLSER website
iteration, while a second response indicated
he/she was “fairly” knowledgeable.
But even when prompted for any
CX theory or CX well-known authors,
the responses were left blank. Thus, it is
not likely CX theory was purposefully
employed. Consequently, the hypothesis
that the CLSER website was published
in a default state was true. Was
it a coincidence that approximately 50
percent of affiliates agreed that promises
made were promises kept and could
that number rise if CX theory is purposely
applied?
The literature review showed that
there have been several ways that companies
used CX theory to measure it.
Ultimately, terms like loyalty and stickiness
are interchangeable with advocacy.
When customers such as the chairs
advocate more on behalf of CLSER, the
use of CX can more from its default
measure to a more purposeful one.
Methodology
A
late 2015 search of scholarly
articles regarding customer
experience use in the academy
showed no significant results. A literature
review using terms like customer
experience and schools, or institutions,
academics, school use and academy to
determine CX use in the academy was
initiated using the Elton B. Stephenson
Company database (EBSCO), ProQuest
Digital Dissertations and Theses, ERIC,
and Google Scholar. Upon examining
EBSCO one study from 2006 using customer
experience and schools was noted.
However, the study was about holiday
shoppers, not the academy.
When applying customer experience
with institutes, two studies appeared.
The first of which was focused
on credit unions and the second of
which was on the same topic only two
years prior. When paired with academics
hundreds of articles appeared, but
upon examining the first ten pages,
none referred to customer experience
together as one term. The term academics
was associated with the academics
known under the term customers only.
When paired with academy only two
articles appeared. The first discussed an
academy initiative to provide customer
experience qualifications to truck driv-
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