The Two Faces of Customer Experience: Alignment and Divergence Between Sustainability Reports and Online Complaints

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to analyze the discourses on customer experience in the sustainability reports of commercial banks operating in Türkiye and to evaluate the extent to which these discourses align with customer feedback. In this context, the study critically examines the discourse–practice misalignment, a concept of critical importance in the marketing and corporate communication literature.
Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a qualitative research approach and applies a multi-layered analytical process that incorporates discourse analysis and content analysis. Customer experience discourses derived from banks’ sustainability reports within the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework were comparatively analyzed in relation to customer feedback on complaint management and service quality.
Results – The findings reveal that the positive customer experience discourses constructed by banks in their sustainability reports are not sufficiently supported by data on customer satisfaction, service quality, and complaint management. The idealized emphasis on customer experience in sustainability reports differs considerably from customer feedback, indicating a significant divergence between discourse and practice.
Discussion – The results suggest that customer experience discourses in sustainability reports are questionable in terms of transparency and credibility. Statements on customer experience appear to be constructed as an extension of marketing communication and reputation management strategies; however, these discourses are not sufficiently supported by customer feedback and complaint management data. Therefore, customer experience should be represented more transparently, holistically, and empirically in sustainability reports.