Received: 2 5 Mey 2025 Revised: 1 5 J u l y 2025 Accepted: 2 0 July 2025 Published: 1 0 October 2025 E-ISSN: 2986-478X.
P-ISSN: 2986-1535 DOI: 10.
59431/ijer.
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Stimulus To Improve Customer Experience In Indonesia's Cargo Shipping Service Industry Yeremia Wijayanto 1* Prono Ardoko 2 1*, 2, 3 Faculty of Economics.
Universitas Semarang.
Semarang City.
Central Java Province.
Indonesia.
Correspondence 1* Faculty of Economics.
Universitas Semarang.
Semarang City.
Central Java Province.
Indonesia.
Email: ywijayanto@usm.
Funding information Universitas Semarang.
Pamungkas Hapsari 3 Abstract Studies on customer experience have many links between stimuli and customer responses: cognitive, affective, social, physical, and sensory.
Still, there have not been many in-depth studies on how these stimuli are obtained due to the limited empirical studies on stimuli that can affect customer This research was conducted to identify and assess the most potent stimulus influencing customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping service The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique evaluated the significance of the customer experience stimulus criteria and sub-criteria.
Nine senior managers with experience in the cargo shipping industry were asked to participate in this research.
The results show that the internal stimulus has the most decisive importance, followed by the dynamic interaction between the stimulus and the external stimulus.
Globally, the calculation results reveal that the elements of service quality, company capabilities, and communication processes have a high weight compared to other elements that make up the customer experience stimulus.
At the end of the study, the theoretical and managerial implications and recommendations for further research are Keywords Customer Experience.
Stimulus.
Cargo Shipping Services.
AHP.
Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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| INTRODUCTION
As marketing continues to evolve into an increasingly complex discipline, marketing studies face the challenge of analyzing data from a variety of sources.
The customer decision journey is a strategic marketing framework that guides marketing analytics practitioners towards contributions that generate real value for both customers and businesses.
Structuring the customer decision journey aids marketers in understanding customer needs and desires, and aligning these with the products or services designed to meet those demands.
This process helps define customer needs and expectations, inform content creation, and select the appropriate marketing channels (Vollrath & Villegas, 2.
The customer journey describes the experience at each touchpoint and the distinct characteristics of a customerAos interaction with a product, service, or brand.
These interactions are often not linear in nature.
The customer journey also spans multiple channels and reflects the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional responses involved in the process (Wolny & Charoensuksai, 2.
Research on customer experience is an emerging field that has garnered significant interest from scholars.
Previous studies have provided extensive literature reviews and proposed various concepts regarding customer experience, particularly concerning customer responsesAicognitive, affective, social, physical, and sensory toward stimuli designed by companies (Becker & Jaakkola, 2.
However, fewer studies have explored how the service ecosystem can foster the creation of such stimuli.
Given the limited empirical research on the relationship between service ecosystems and stimuli that influence customer experience, further investigation in this area is crucial.
This study aims to identify, examine, test, and empirically assess the most impactful stimuli influencing customer experience within Indonesia's cargo shipping service industry.
The study is designed to provide a framework for businesses in Indonesia's cargo shipping sector, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to assist shipping firms in developing customer experience stimuli.
Two research questions are posed to guide the achievement of the studyAos objectives.
What criteria underlie the creation of a customer experience stimulus? .
Which criteria and elements are essential in developing a customer experience stimulus that can be applied within Indonesia's cargo shipping industry? Theoretically, this study contributes to the development of marketing, particularly in helping businesses understand their position within the service ecosystem.
It also provides insight into the most effective stimuli for generating positive customer experiences.
| BACKGROUND THEORY
The term "experience" is often difficult to define precisely due to its dependence on various factors.
These factors include internal elements that a company can consciously control and manage, as well as external elements, such as customer characteristics and preferences, which are beyond the companyAos influence (Pekovic & Rolland, 2.
Customer experience is a holistic concept (Verhoef et al.
, 2.
, and some scholars divide it into multiple components for a clearer and more precise definition.
Gentile et al.
outlined six components of customer experience: cognitive, sensory, pragmatic, emotional, relational, and lifestyle.
Verhoef et al.
classified these components as affective, cognitive, social, emotional, and physical responses to retailers.
It is crucial for companies to capture relevant customer data related to these dimensions, such as emotional, cognitive, sensory, behavioral, and social responses.
This information enables companies to understand customer experiences throughout their journey (Voorhees et al.
, 2.
Homburg et al.
also identified sensory, affective, cognitive, relational, and behavioral dimensions.
According to McColl-Kennedy et al.
, customer experience encompasses value-creation elements .
esources, context, activities, customer roles, and interaction.
that elicit a variety of emotional and cognitive responses, serving as touchpoints throughout the customer Keiningham et al.
7, 2.
suggested that physical, cognitive, emotional, sensory, and social dimensions are critical for managers to better understand customer experience.
Expanding on Verhoef et al.
Pekovic and Rolland .
defined customer experience as a multifaceted concept that includes the cognitive, emotional, social, sensory, technical, and behavioral responses of customers.
In their study.
Becker and Jaakkola .
identified dualism in customer experience studies over the past decade.
Some scholars argue that experience is either a response to an offer .
Meyer & Schwager, 2.
or a judgment of the offeringAos quality .
Kumar et al.
, 2.
This perspective implies that customer experience and outcome variables, such as value or satisfaction, are intertwined in certain studies.
On the other hand, some researchers assert that customer experience is a distinct factor contributing to customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, some studies treat experience as a product characteristic, rather than a customer reaction .
Pine & Gilmore, 1.
, which contradicts the interpretative tradition that views experience as a subjective concept possessed by the user and often synonymous with the value derived (Holbrook & Addis, 2.
Following this.
Becker and Jaakkola .
proposed defining customer experience as an unintended, spontaneous response to specific stimuli.
This view distinguishes customer experience from the stimuli to which the customer's conscious judgment responds.
It rejects the notion that evaluative concepts, such as perceived Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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ET service quality or satisfaction, can be considered components of customer experience (Lemon & Verhoef, 2.
The concept of customer experience remains complex due to preconceived ideas about its nature.
As Cary and Cova .
noted, much marketing research assumes that a good experience is one that is memorable for the customer, if not Further research is likely to focus on distinguishing between ordinary and remarkable experiences as separate phenomena .
Arnold & Price, 1993.
Klaus & Maklan, 2.
However, such studies often emphasize the extraordinary or routine nature of an offer rather than the customer's reaction to stimuli.
Since customer feedback can range from insignificant to substantial (Brakus et al.
, 2.
Becker and Jaakkola .
suggest using the degree, intensity, or level of experience to differentiate between regular and extraordinary customer experiences.
This classification can be viewed as a continuum, with weaker customer responses and reactions indicating a more mundane experience (Cary & Cova, 2.
Consequently, a consumer may have an exceptional experience in response to a relatively mediocre offering.
From the perspective of Service-Dominant Logic (SDL).
Vink et al.
define a service ecosystem as a relatively autonomous system that adapts to actors integrating resources linked by shared institutional arrangements, thereby creating shared value through the exchange of services.
Service ecosystems emphasize complex, dynamic, and multi-actor value creation.
Bolton et al.
argue that service ecosystems must integrate an organizationAos digital, physical, and social domains, while customers often face trade-offs in their pursuit of an exceptional customer experience.
Given the critical role of customer experience, a key challenge in service ecosystems is designing and managing customer experiences that align all three domains.
To achieve this alignment, a companyAos resources and capabilities must be shaped to correspond with those of the customer.
This requires fostering connections across the three domains, ensuring consistency among components, maintaining thematic cohesiveness, and delivering excellent service design.
Source: Bolton et al.
, 2018
Figure 1.
Integrated Perspective of Customer Experience on Service Ecosystem The setting for this research is the cargo transportation service business.
In reference to Bolton's octane description of customer experience throughout digital, social, and physical environments, the cargo shipping service industry can be entered into an octane where digital intensity has a strong influence adopt various technological sophistications.
While its presence in the social realm, the cargo shipping service industry has a level that is not too high, the physical complexity of this industry has a high intensity.
The availability of containers and other supporting facilities such as space on vessels, equipment at ports, land transportation facilities to transport containers from the supplier of goods to the port is an essential requirement for running a business.
Bolton et al.
show the eight octanes in Figure 2 below.
Source: Bolton et al.
, 2018
Figure 2.
Eight Octane Customer Experience in Service Ecosystem The characteristic found in octane where the cargo shipping service industry is located in the implementation of standardization by the company but on the other hand, customer needs flexibility.
Customers also need a high level of troubleshooting skills from the service provider.
An organization's decision support system must excel at providing value when required.
Meanwhile, knowing customers and the company needs organizational learning from a corporate The duality of the cargo shipping service industry in Table 1 below is shown in the blue column.
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ET Low Social Attendance Base of Customer Scarcity of resources, values incompatibility Organizational perspective: fee vs free, potential solutions might network alliances Privacy vs transparency Organizational perceived risk.
Trust providers and customers is essential Source: Bolton et al.
, 2018
Table 1.
The Duality of Each Octane High Social Presence Low Physical Complexity Organizational bundles Customer perspective:
perceived control can choice, customers end up worse off Organizational perspective: requires customer data Standardization Customer perspective:
high coping abilities The organization's decision support system must be excellent to provide value in real time Autonomy .
vs interdependence .
Customer perspective: highly social experience that requires high trust to integrate social Organizational limited or no digital and physical touchpoints to create trust and customer/organizational Avoidance vs attraction Customer perspective.
Feedback and perceived control required High Physical Complexity Regulation by actor vs Requires a digital information sharing, a mechanism for risk Social presence could be delivered digitally Requires descriptive predictive analytics Capabilities Customer perspective:
and creativity through Local possible if services can be modularized.
| METHOD
The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), introduced by Saaty, is a method that breaks down multi-criteria decision-making problems into a hierarchical structure consisting of several levels, each with a clear objective at every level (Wind & Saaty, 1.
To simplify the decision-making process, the problem, decision criteria, and potential solutions can be divided into smaller, manageable components.
AHP is based on three fundamental principles: decomposition, pairwise comparison, and priority synthesis.
AHP has been widely applied across various decision-making fields due to its flexibility and practicality (Singh, 2.
In this study.
AHP was chosen as the method to determine the criteria and key elements that define the stimulus for improving customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping service industry for the following reasons: First.
AHP can efficiently handle multiple criteria and sub-criteria.
AHP allows both objective and subjective assessments and establishes priorities between them.
AHP can implement both tangible and intangible criteria based on the judgments of competent experts.
AHP has been used by numerous researchers and academics to solve complex problems, as documented in peer-reviewed journals.
AHP benefits stakeholders and management by enhancing service quality and operational efficiency.
and finally, by classifying issues into criterion and sub-criterion levels, systematic problem resolution becomes easier to achieve.
We involved a group of experts to review the criteria and sub-criteria used to analyze customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping service ecosystem and assess their relative weights in the AHP model.
Rahman et al.
stated that AHP does not require large samples for effective analysis.
Typically, studies using AHP involve a small number of respondents from senior managers and executives who have in-depth knowledge of the issue under A small sample size does not affect the validity of AHP-based analyses.
For this study, nine experts were selected based on their expertise in the cargo shipping service industry.
The experts were asked to perform pairwise evaluations of the criteria and sub-criteria developed through a comprehensive literature review.
Each participant has over ten years of management experience, holds senior positions in their companies, and possesses sufficient knowledge of marketing activities in Indonesia's cargo shipping industry.
With their expertise, they were able to Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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ET evaluate and assign weights to the criteria and sub-criteria influencing customer experience within the industry using the AHP model.
Details of the experts involved in this study are provided in Table 2.
Table 2.
Expert/Respondent Detailed Information Expert/Respondent Background Position Work Experience .
Expert 1 Shipping Industry Area Manager Expert 2 Shipping Industry Area Manager Expert 3 Shipping Industry Area Manager Expert 4 Shipping Industry Area Manager Expert 5 Shipping Industry Sales Manager Expert 6 Shipping Industry Area Manager Expert 7 Shipping Industry Commercial Manager Expert 8 Shipping Industry Sales Manager Expert 9 Shipping Industry Area Manager Source: results of research data processing In this research, the author refers to the AHP steps outlined by Selmer .
This study examines and categorizes the business boundaries that support total quality management using the multi-criteria decision-making technique, the AHP method.
The steps that will be followed in this research are as outlined below.
The first step is to define and state the goals.
The research in Indonesia's cargo shipping service ecosystem aims to identify and investigate the factors that influence customer experience.
Understanding the stimulus that determines customer experience is crucial for decision-makers and managers.
With sufficient knowledge of the customer experience stimulus, practitioners working in the cargo shipping service industry in Indonesia are expected to have a solid foundation for designing the most effective and efficient combination of elements to apply within their company.
The second step is to break down the goals into lower-level criteria or sub-criteria.
The purpose of this process is to discover and evaluate the factors that influence the customer experience stimulus in the service ecosystem of Indonesia's cargo shipping industry, which is divided into three categories: .
stimuli that the company can control, .
stimuli from outside the company, and .
dynamic interactions between stimuli (Becker & Jaakkola, 2.
, forming the second level of the hierarchical model.
Nine elements .
ub-criteri.
at the third level of the hierarchical model were distinguished from various literature to construct the hierarchical structure of this multifaceted issue.
The stimulus that the company can control consists of three elements: .
service quality, .
company capabilities, and .
company resources.
The stimulus from outside the company also consists of three elements: .
strong relationships with partners, .
digital innovation, and .
co-creation between companies and customers.
Meanwhile, dynamic interactions between stimuli consist of .
organizational culture, .
communication processes.
And .
connectivity between functions.
Main Criteria The stimulus that the company can The stimulus that the company can The stimulus that the company can Stimulus Stimulus Stimulus Table 3.
Main Criteria and Sub-criteria for Customer Experience Stimulus Label Sub-criteria Label Reference Internal Service Quality Service quality (Mbama et al.
, 2.
(Siqueira et Stimulus , 2.
Internal Stimulus Company Capability Capability (Actor, 2.
(Homburg et al.
Internal Stimulus Company Resources Resource (McColl-Kennedy et al.
, 2.
External Stimulus Digital Innovation Relation (Ciuchita et al.
, 2.
(Wasan, 2.
(Witell et al.
, 2.
Digital Innovation Co-Creation Customers Co-creation (Pencarelli et al.
, 2.
(Actor, 2.
(Bolton et al.
, 2.
(Ciuchita et al.
, 2.
(Hoyer et al.
(Amoako et al.
, 2.
(Bolton et al.
, 2.
(Jain et al.
External Stimulus External Stimulus Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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ET Dynamic Dynamic Organizational Interaction Interaction between Stimulus Dynamic Dynamic Communication Interaction Interaction Process between Stimulus Dynamic Dynamic Connectivity Inter Interaction Interaction Functions between Stimulus Source: results of research data processing Culture (Godovykh and Tasci, (Homburg et al.
, 2.
Communication (Manthiou et al.
, 2.
(Bonfanti et , 2.
Connectivity (Actor, 2.
(Manthiou et al.
(Witell et al.
, 2.
(McCollKennedy et al.
, 2.
After the goals related to identifying and studying the determinants of the customer experience stimulus in the service ecosystem in Indonesia's cargo shipping service industry have been completed, the pertinent and essential criteria and sub-criteria have been recognized through steps one and two.
These criteria and sub-criteria are grouped hierarchically according to the general aim, diverse stages, and associated sub-criteria.
As seen in Figure 3, the AHP framework was developed to aid the study.
The below graphic shows these criteria and sub-criteria in a four-tiered decision hierarchy.
Source: developed in this research Figure 3.
Framework of Customer Experience Stimulus in Indonesia's Cargo Shipping Service Industry After evolving the AHP framework, the next tread is data collection which involves organizing a proficient team and establishing comparative analyses for each AHP criteria and sub-criteria.
These proficients were selected from senior managers who have worked for more than ten years in Indonesia's cargo shipping service industry, as explained in section 3.
2 regarding samples and respondents.
When submitting the questionnaire, the researcher explains the AHP data collecting technique, such as the meaning of the integer priority score on a scale of 1-9 and how these scores should be considered when comparing the two criteria pairwise.
Degree Interest
2,4,6,8
The opposite Definition Table 4.
Pairwise Comparison Scale Description Both elements are equally important One element is slightly more important than the other One element is more important than the other elements One element is more important than the other elements One element is very important than the other The middle value between two adjacent If element x has one of the above values when compared to element y Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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Both elements have the same effect The assessment is slightly more in favor of one element than its partner The assessment is very biased in favor of one element over its partner One element is very influential, and its dominance is evident.
The evidence that one element is more important than the other is very clear This value is given if there is doubt between the two adjacent assessments Then element y has the opposite value when compared to element x Page 86 of 15 Yeremia Wijayanto.
ET Source: Wind and Saaty .
Following the identification of experts and the collection of relevant information and data, the next step is to evaluate the relative importance of the criteria and sub-criteria that influence customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping service ecosystem.
The AHP method determines the level of relevance through pairwise comparisons, and the findings are shown in a matrix format.
The expert team was asked to carefully compare the criteria for each hierarchy level by providing a relative scale in pairs to the model.
It is often the case that evaluators' judgments may be inconsistent.
As a result, the AHP technique needs to include these inconsistencies into the model via the consistency index (CI) and consistency ratio (CR).
CR is used to assess the consistency of pairwise comparisons and decision-making.
As a result of this connection.
CI and CR are derived.
The number of criteria and sub-criteria for each level of the matrix is n, where n is the matrix rank or the number of criteria and subIn step 7, the local and global weights of each criterion and sub-criterion are calculated based on the pairwise comparison process.
A distinction is made between local and global priority weights during the prioritization.
Local weights reflect the priority weights from preceding hierarchical levels, while global weights represent the priority weights of the overall AHP combines the priority weights of the criteria with the comparison ratings of the sub-criteria to rank the sub-criteria as a whole.
The global weight can be calculated using the formula.
Global weight =(Local weight for criterion iyLocal weight for sub-criterion j for category .
Step 8 involves determining the priority and rank of the criteria and sub-criteria.
As a result of the calculations performed in step 7, decision-makers and managers will be able to understand, prioritize, and rank the criteria and sub-criteria that define the stimulus for customer experience within Indonesia's cargo shipping service ecosystem.
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1 Results This study utilizes software provided by onlineoutput.
com to calculate local and global weights and criteria and subcriteria rankings, and a consistency index.
This software provides outputs in the form of .
displaying a hierarchical graph, .
the weight of the criteria, sub-criteria, for the objectives, .
the ratio of inconsistencies for each paired comparison matrix, so it is constructive in supporting decision-making studies.
Source: downloaded from results onlineoutput.
Figure 4.
Hierarchical Graphics Display Using onlineoutput.
com, the weighting of the three customer experience stimuli is presented in table 5.
The calculation results show that the internal stimulus is the main priority with a weight of 0.
529, followed by dynamic interactions between stimuli which weigh 0.
Meanwhile, the external stimulus was ranked last, with a weight of only The analysis also shows that the resulting consistency ratio is 0.
052, which means it can be accepted because according to Wind and Saaty .
consistency ratio limit is equal to or less than 10%.
Table 5.
Customer Experience Stimulus Priority Rank Name Internal Stimulus External Stimulus Dynamic Interaction Inconsistency ratio: 0.
052 (Consistent matri.
Source: downloaded from results onlineoutput.
Weight Table 6.
Internal Stimulus Priority Rank Name Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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ET Service Quality Capability Resource Inconsistency ratio: 0.
053 (Consistent matri.
Source: downloaded from results onlineoutput.
As shown in Table 6 above, service quality is ranked first with a weight of 0.
432, followed by company capabilities .
, and the last order is company resources .
While the consistency index shows the number 0.
053, which means the level of consistency of the matrix is still acceptable because it is below the required number of 0.
For external stimuli, the analysis results show that the relationship has the highest weight, 0.
469, which means that it becomes the main priority on the external stimulus criteria.
Next up are customer co-creation and digital innovation, with weights of 329 and 0.
202, respectively.
The consistency index is still within acceptable limits, although the figure shown is 0.
close to 0.
Table 7.
External Stimulus Priority Rank Name Relation Digital Innovation Co-creation Inconsistency ratio: 0.
09 (Consistent matri.
Source: downloaded from results onlineoutput.
Weight The results of the analysis of the last criteria, namely dynamic interactions between stimuli, show that communication has the highest weight .
, followed by connectivity .
and organizational culture .
The consistency index obtained is 0.
052, which means that the matrix presented meets the requirements, which are still acceptable because the number shown is below 0.
Table 8.
Priority of Dynamic Interaction between Stimulus Rank Name Weight Culture Communication Connectivity Inconsistency ratio: 0.
052 (Consistent matri.
Source: downloaded from results onlineoutput.
The analysis results for all three criteria and nine sub-criteria together obtained the following rankings: service quality is the number one priority with a weight of 0.
the next priority is the company's capability .
, communication .
, and company resources .
Connectivity, relationships, co-creation, organizational culture, and digital innovation, are in order of priority number 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 with the weight of each sub-criteria is 0.
Source: downloaded from results onlineoutput.
Figure 5.
Customer Experience Stimulus Priority This study aims to discover and investigate the determinants of the customer experience stimulus in the service Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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ET ecosystem in Indonesia's cargo shipping service industry.
Knowing the priorities of these essential elements will make it easier for business actors to design a service ecosystem that supports the creation of a positive customer experience.
Main criteria used in this study refer To Becker and Jaakkola .
that the stimulus to create a customer experience comes from a stimulus that can be controlled by the company, a stimulus from outside the company, and the dynamic interaction between stimuli.
Furthermore, each of the main criteria is translated into three sub-criteria so that a total of nine essential elements in the preparation of the customer experience stimulus are obtained.
AHP approach was applied by asking a team of experts consisting of nine people with experience in the cargo shipping industry to carefully compare the criteria for each level of the hierarchy by setting a relative scale in pairs.
AHP results show that the stimulus that the company can control is the main priority that supports the creation of a positive customer experience with a weight of 0.
These results confirm the Resource Advantage Theory of Competition (RATC), which states that the company is a heterogeneous and imperfectly moving combination of factors labeled When paired with heterogeneous demand, the heterogeneity of resources in motion is imperfect, meaning a significant variance of business size, scope, and profitability within the same industry.
The relevance of .
market segments, .
diverse corporate resources, .
comparative advantage in resources, and .
competitive advantage in market position is emphasized by RATC (Hunt and Arnett, 2.
As stated in premise RATC number eight: management's responsibility is to identify, comprehend, develop, select, implement, and adjust strategies.
Managers play a role in creating internal stimuli, namely stimuli that the company can control to lead customers to a positive customer experience throughout the customer journey stage.
In the main criteria of this internal stimulus, the results of the AHP show that service quality ranks first in elements that have a high level of importance.
Based on the five-dimensional SERVQUAL model.
Zeithaml et al.
measure the customer experience with the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy of the services provided by the company.
service quality is a global assessment, or attitude, which is related to service excellence.
Because it is related to service excellence, the company will always try to maintain the quality of its services.
Consistency in maintaining superior service quality is one of the stimuli that lead to a positive customer experience, especially when customers enjoy services from service providers.
An essential element that ranks second after service quality is its capability to manage its resources to gain a competitive advantage.
Meanwhile, the element with the last priority in the internal stimulus is the company's resources.
The resource-based view (RBV) is based on optimizing the company's internal resources.
Companies that can optimally exploit their internal resources can create a competitive advantage, and strategically managing these resources will ensure a sustainable competitive advantage.
Creating, integrating, and reconfiguring enterprise resources brings the firm to dynamic capabilities.
Because of their distinctiveness, dynamic capabilities are the fundamental source of long-term competitive advantage.
nevertheless, building and integrating resources takes time.
It demonstrates that the mix of resources is an essential component of a firm's dynamic capacities (Maiti et al.
, 2.
In particular, the perspective of the RBV depends on its ability to build, integrate, and utilize resources and capabilities (Eng et al.
, 2.
Therefore the first step that the company must take is to identify the resources that allow the realization of competitive advantage (Nagano.
Companies with a competitive advantage have a significant opportunity to win because customers choose this special offer.
In other words, within their competitive advantage, the company can continuously create a stimulus for realizing a positive customer experience.
The following main criterion that ranks second is the dynamic interaction between stimuli with a weight of 0.
The AHP results do not show that external stimuli originating from outside the company rank second after internal stimuli.
It indicates that the importance of the dynamic interaction criteria between stimuli is critical.
even the difference in weight between these two criteria has a significant value of 0.
278, far from the weight of the external stimulus itself, which only Moreover, when compared to the first rank of internal stimulus, the difference in weight reached 0.
their article.
Becker and Jaakkola .
stated that recent research developments on customer experience indicate the need for a more dynamic view.
The customer experience is based on an ongoing assessment of several touchpoints, the stimulus having multiple effects, and the connectivity of the stimulus across the touchpoints are essential drivers of the prerequisites for a positive customer experience.
It implies that the customer experience emerges dynamically and benefits multilevel analysis.
From the AHP calculation, the communication element has the highest weight .
compared to the other two factors, namely connectivity .
and culture .
According to Bonfanti et al.
, communication activities are critical in creating the customer experience.
Effective communication results in customers who are more aware of and compliant with the regulations and those that act on demand.
Additionally, communication efforts are essential to persuade .
Regarding the connectivity element.
Witell et al.
argue that touchpoints in a B2B context include all verbal and nonverbal events that customers experience, whether consciously or not, related to a supplying company.
Thus, touchpoints cover different forms of interaction involving other actors.
The point of contact incorporates several functional and organizational units and personnel functioning at various hierarchy levels within each There is no one individual actor active in the customer journey since numerous actors .
oth acting independently and on behalf of functional unit.
are involved in various touchpoints during the customer journey.
Each Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
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Customer experience management needs a multidisciplinary strategy including several functions and network partners.
In his studies.
Hamburg et al.
introduce three cultural mindsets that lead to customer experience, namely .
experience response orientation, .
touchpoint journey orientation, and .
alliance orientation.
Experiential response orientation broadens market orientation, notably in detailed understanding, detecting, and responding to customer needs beyond the focus on cognitive, affective, and customer relations responses involving sensory and customer behavior .
s a separate dimensio.
Second, alliance orientation expands market orientation, especially competitor orientation, in terms of acting more collaboratively with other .
competitors in the market.
Finally, touchpoint journey direction promotes cross-functional cooperation beyond market data as a collaboration object and towards realizing complex touchpoint As a design scheme, this emerging orientation may contribute to mapping interdependencies between different companies' touchpoints and developing market-network-oriented value propositions.
Finally, the AHP results place a stimulus from outside the company as the last criterion with a weight of 0.
The figures imply that these criteria are not meaningful enough to create a customer experience stimulus.
Of the three elements that build this external stimulus, relations have the highest weight, 0.
469, followed by co-creation .
and digital innovation .
The importance of relationships between customers and parties outside the company in delivering the customer experience is stated by Witell et al.
that suppliers need to build a portfolio of customer relationships to increase the benefits of those relationships.
The shift from a transactional to a relational exchange in the buyer-seller relationship will significantly influence the customer experience (Homburg et al.
, 2.
Compared to transactional relationships, long-term partnerships rely on administrative and bureaucratic constraints and collaboration between suppliers and consumers or partners.
Cooperation is developed in business interactions when many parties coordinate their activities to achieve goals with reciprocity on occasion.
Meanwhile, to truly understand the co-creation of value in customer experience, companies need a comprehensive perspective of consumer experience across time that encompasses all physical, digital, and social domains.
Organizations will face several customer experience issues in the marketplace if they lack cohesion.
Because consumers actively build shared experiences, especially in the social world, firms must support customer interactions with all players involved.
(Bolton et al.
, 2.
With its physically complex environment and high digital density in the cargo shipping industry, companies and consumers must collaborate to offer a great experience.
Typically, the desired level of customization is defined by the customer's .
ndividual or compan.
willingness to share data with the service provider.
On the other side, customers' concerns about data privacy and security may prevent them from utilizing the service system.
Due to the industry's minimal social presence, developing trust requires digital technologies safeguarding data privacy and security.
As a result, digital innovation is necessary to bridge a gap between a high level of physical complexity and a high level of digital density but a low level of social presence in the customer experience.
2 Discussion The findings from this study provide significant insights into the factors influencing customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping service industry.
By utilizing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology, the study identified and prioritized the stimuli that most significantly impact customer experience.
Using software from com, the study was able to calculate the weights of various criteria and sub-criteria, providing a clear picture of what matters most in shaping customer satisfaction.
Internal stimuli emerged as the top priority in shaping the customer experience, with a weight of 0.
This aligns with the Resource-Based View (RBV), which emphasizes the importance of internal resources and capabilities in gaining a competitive advantage (Barney, 1.
According to the RBV, companies that can effectively manage and utilize their internal resources create a sustainable competitive advantage, which directly influences their ability to deliver a positive customer experience.
The AHP analysis identified service quality as the most important element within the internal stimulus category, with a weight of 0.
This aligns with the SERVQUAL model, which asserts that consistently delivering high-quality service is essential for fostering customer loyalty and satisfaction (Zeithaml.
Berry, & Parasuraman, 1.
Service quality directly influences customersAo perceptions and contributes significantly to their overall experience.
Following service quality, company capability ranks second in importance with a weight of 0.
The ability of a company to leverage its resources effectively, adapt to market changes, and meet customer demands is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
Dynamic capabilities, which refer to a company's ability to adapt, integrate, and reconfigure resources to meet the challenges of a changing environment, are essential for maintaining a competitive advantage (Teece.
Pisano, & Shuen, 1.
In the cargo shipping industry, this means that companies need to continually innovate and improve their service offerings to meet evolving customer expectations.
Companies with strong dynamic capabilities can ensure that their service delivery is both efficient and adaptable, which is particularly important in an industry where customer demands and market conditions can fluctuate rapidly.
The third priority under internal stimuli is company resources, with a weight of 0.
While resources are necessary for a companyAos operations, they are less influential on customer experience compared to service quality and capabilities.
This finding aligns with the RBV, which suggests that having resources alone is not enough.
they must be utilized strategically to gain a competitive advantage Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
Vol.
No.
October, 2025, pp.
81Ae95.
DOI: https://doi.
org/10.
59431/ijer.
Page 90 of 15 Yeremia Wijayanto.
ET (Maiti et al.
, 2.
Companies in the cargo shipping industry must ensure that they not only possess the necessary resources, such as vessels and infrastructure, but also have the capabilities to utilize these resources in ways that enhance the customer experience.
The second main criterion, dynamic interaction between stimuli, is ranked second in importance, with a weight of This category includes the interaction between various service elements and customer touchpoints that influence the overall customer experience.
The analysis revealed that communication is the most significant factor within this category, with a weight of 0.
This result highlights the critical role that communication plays in creating a positive customer experience.
Effective communication helps ensure that customers are well-informed about the services provided and the status of their shipments, which leads to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Communication also plays a key role in managing customer expectations, resolving issues, and building trust between the company and its customers (Bonfanti.
Vigolo, & Yfantidou, 2.
Connectivity, with a weight of 0.
364, is the second most important factor within dynamic interactions.
This refers to the seamless integration of service touchpoints and channels throughout the customer Ensuring that customers have consistent and smooth interactions across all touchpoints whether digital, physical, or socialAiis essential for maintaining a positive experience.
According to Witell et al.
, a multi-channel approach to service delivery, where different touchpoints are connected and aligned, is crucial for providing a cohesive customer Organizational culture, with a weight of 0.
095, ranks third in this category.
While culture plays an important role in shaping the service environment and the behavior of employees, it was found to be relatively less influential in driving customer experience compared to communication and connectivity.
Nonetheless, a companyAos culture still impacts how employees interact with customers and influences the overall service quality.
A customer-oriented culture ensures that employees are aligned with customer satisfaction goals and are empowered to act in the best interest of the customer (Homburg.
JoziN, & Kuehnl, 2.
External stimuli, ranked third in priority with a weight of 0.
097, showed the least impact on customer experience compared to internal and dynamic stimuli.
Despite its lower weight, external stimuli such as relationships, co-creation, and digital innovation are still essential to consider in shaping the overall customer experience.
Relationships, with the highest weight of 0.
469, play a significant role in delivering value to customers.
Building long-term relationships based on trust and collaboration can help companies maintain customer loyalty and improve service delivery over time (Witell et al.
, 2.
Co-creation, with a weight of 0.
329, emphasizes the importance of involving customers in the service process.
When customers feel actively engaged and have a hand in shaping the service, they are more likely to have a positive experience.
Digital innovation, although gaining importance in many industries, had a relatively low weight of 0.
202 in this study.
This finding suggests that while digital innovation is important, it has not yet played a significant role in driving customer experience in the cargo shipping industry (Pencarelli et al.
, 2.
This gap highlights the need for the industry to invest more in digital transformation to enhance service delivery and meet evolving customer expectations.
The relatively low weight for digital innovation can also be attributed to the industry's slow adoption of technological advancements.
While some international cargo shipping companies have integrated digital platforms to improve customer experience, many companies in Indonesia have yet to fully embrace these technologies (Hoyer et al.
, 2.
This indicates an opportunity for the cargo shipping industry to further leverage digital tools to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The findings of this study emphasize the importance of internal stimuli particularly service quality and company capabilities in creating a positive customer experience in the cargo shipping industry.
The study also highlights the critical role of dynamic interactions, especially communication and connectivity, in shaping customer perceptions.
While external stimuli like relationships and digital innovation are important, they play a secondary role in comparison to the internal and dynamic factors.
Future research should explore how digital innovation can be better integrated into the customer experience strategy in the cargo shipping sector to bridge the gap between physical complexity and digital transformation (Bolton et al.
, 2.
| CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
This study outlines a method to identify and assess the key factors that influence customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping industry.
By utilizing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the research highlights which factors hold the most weight in shaping customer perceptions and satisfaction.
Findings indicate that internal stimuli, particularly service quality, are the most significant contributors to customer experience.
Dynamic interactions between various service factors also play a crucial rol e, while external stimuli, such as customer relationships and digital innovation, were less influential in comparison.
The research emphasizes the vital role of internal resources and capabilities in enhancing customer experiences.
Service quality was rank ed as the most important factor, underscoring the need for businesses to consistently deliver high standards of service to foster customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Company capabilities, along with effective communication both internally and externally, are also essential in meeting customer needs and ensuring operational efficiency.
The results suggest Indonesian Journal Economic Review (IJER).
Vol.
No.
October, 2025, pp.
81Ae95.
DOI: https://doi.
org/10.
59431/ijer.
Page 91 of 15 Yeremia Wijayanto.
ET that improving connectivity between different customer touchpoints can lead to a more seamless and consistent experience across all interactions.
The findings also offer a practical framework for cargo shipping companies in Indonesia to refine their customer experience strategies.
Understanding the relative importance of each factor can guide businesses in prioritizing actions and allocating resources more ef fectively.
By focusing on areas within their control, such as service quality and organizational capabilities, companies can improve their competitive positioning and enhance the overall customer experience.
There are several directions for future research based on the findings of this study.
First, further investigation into the role of digital innovation in customer experience within the cargo shipping industry is needed.
While this study found external stimuli, including digital innovation, to be less im pactful, the increasing adoption of technology across industries suggests that a deeper understanding of digital toolsAo influence could be valuable.
Exploring how digital platforms, mobile applications, and data analytics can enhance service delivery may r eveal opportunities for innovation in customer experience.
In addition, future studies could examine customer experience from the perspective of different market segments.
This study considered the cargo shipping industry as a whole, but customer needs and expectations may vary between business clients, individual shippers, and large corporations.
Understanding how different customer groups respond to service stimuli will help businesses tailor their strategies to meet the specific needs of each segment.
Finally, integrating qualitative methods, such as interviews or focus groups, could complement this quantitative approach and provide a more comprehensive understanding of customer experience.
Gathering in-depth feedback from customers can reveal how they emotionally and cognitively respond to various service stimuli, offering valuable insights for refining service offerings.
While this study provides a solid foundation for improving customer experience in Indonesia's cargo shipping industry, further research is needed to explore the dynamic nature of customer expectations and the role of emerging technologies in shaping customer journeys.
REFERENCES