Enhancing playful customer experience with personalization

Retailers develop personalized websites with the aim of improving customer experience. However, we still have limited knowledge about the effect of personalization on customer experience and the underlying processes. With a lab experiment, this research specifically examines the effect of actual personalization and perceived personalization on playful customer experience using both subjective and objective measures, with the support of eye-tracking techniques. We show that personalization, regardless of whether it is perceived or not, enhance the playful customer experience of a retailing website. In addition, we highlight the presence of two concomitant processes. Content needs to be perceived as personalized to influence the subjective playful customer experience, but actual personalization does influence objective playful customer experience. Although customers spend the same time on the website, they focus more of their attention on their favorite products when content is personalized. Such focused attention leads them to select their favorite products for purchase.