Decoding the feeling economy: a new lens on customer experience

Enterprises have more ways than ever to listen, learn, and adapt, yet many still struggle to realise the full value of their investments in Customer Experience (CX). At Beyond the Map 2025, the world’s first global Journey Management conference, PwC's Roger Gagnon, Lauren Pleydell-Pearce, and Christy Ho set out to close that gap with a keynote entitled: From Metrics to Meaning: Decoding the Feeling Economy.

PwC’s thesis: great experiences aren’t defined by what they do. They’re defined by how they make customers feel.

PwC shared findings on the psychology and economics behind what customers truly want - and what keeps them coming back. The shift is simple; it’s not about doing more, but feeling more. Customers don’t define “good” experience in functional terms; they define it by how it feels.

 “When customers feel more, they do more, which means they share and trust more”, said Lauren Pleydell-Pearce, Chief Creative Officer at PwC, to a packed audience at the Disseny Hub in Barcelona. Emotion is the driver of trust, loyalty, and growth.

PwC’s model: Growth Through Experience (GtX) —tuning for emotion and impact

PwC asked more than 3,400 UK consumers across four industries and journey types:

• What do you engage with?

• What do you trust?

• What do you come back for?

These questions surfaced the emotional and behavioural signals that drive action.

A few truths stood out from their findings; trust predicts growth as strongly as product and price; different journeys call for different emotional tones; and growth comes from tuning better - focusing on resonance in each moment.

Those insights shaped GtX. Originally developed in 2020 and refreshed with new research, GtX translates emotion into action - connecting what customers feel with what businesses value. It helps teams design for what actually moves people - what they remember, talk about, and return to.

PwC found that four behavioural dimensions underpin extraordinary experiences:

• Coherent: Does it make sense? Does it feel reliable and trustworthy?

• Personal: Is it respectful, relevant, designed for someone like me?

• Engaging: Does it make me feel something? Is it rewarding?

• Distinctive: Will I remember it? Could any other brand do it this way?

Together, these dimensions form a tuning system - dial emotion up or down based on context. Not every moment should surprise. Quiet reassurance often builds the deepest trust.

PwC's key message:  move from chasing metrics to designing for meaning.

GtX looks beyond NPS, satisfaction, or ease by asking human questions:

• Which moments shape memory, trust, and decisions?

• How does emotional context shift what customers value?

• Why does loyalty rise or erode even when things “work”?

What emotional undercurrents influence behaviour across journeys?

A distraction between meetings; a glance at a balance on the bus; A quick scroll while the kettle boils.

These moments aren’t predictable. They’re layered with emotion and context - charged with pressures no blueprint can fully anticipate.

No two journeys are the same. Each carries its own emotional signature - and that’s where trust is built.

• Crisis journeys: Unwanted, high-stakes moments. Success isn’t delight - it’s relief. Competence, coherence, and care turn fear into trust.

• Special journeys: Anticipated, significant experiences. Sincerity and small symbolic gestures beat grandeur; they become emotional anchors.

• Inconvenience journeys: Unexpected and draining. Clarity and ease show respect; flourishes feel dismissive.

• Day-to-day journeys: Routine with high expectations. When they work, they’re invisible; when they don’t, frustration flares. Consistency builds trust.

PwC’s key takeaway: from vibes to values to growth

What does this mean for service designers, journey managers, and leaders? According to PwC, great brands tune and fine-tune, aligning around a shared truth. Emotions drive hard results.

“For journey managers, that means finding the real moments that matter,” said Lauren Pleydell-Pearce. “For designers, it’s crafting with emotional intelligence, not just artificial intelligence. For strategists, it’s positioning trust as a commercial outcome. And for leaders, it’s bridging creative ambition and commercial reality.”

From a stage in Barcelona to global brands

The keynote was only the beginning. Through a new strategic collaboration, PwC UK is embedding a GtX lens directly into TheyDo’s AI-powered Journey Management Platform.

By combining PwC’s GtX model - linking CX investment to revenue, retention, and reputation - with TheyDo’s platform, leaders can translate customer insight into CX opportunities that drive growth.

Together, we’re turning emotion into evidence, insight into action, and vibes into measurable value. We are evolving how enterprises manage journeys, see customers, and decide through the most powerful intelligence of all ; experience intelligence.

For CX brands: design for meaning, not just metrics. Use GtX to tune emotional resonance across journeys, elevate trust as a commercial outcome, and align teams around the moments that matter. Embed this lens into platforms and practice to turn insight into growth.

For consumers: experiences that feel coherent, personal, engaging, and distinctive build trust. In crisis, relief; in special moments, sincerity; in inconvenience, respect; in the everyday, consistency. When experiences feel right, people return - and relationships strengthen.