Open Access

Tom Ferber, Daryoush Vaziri, Alexander Boden

• Interactions between consumers and companies are increasingly relying on technologies such as chatbots and voice assistants that are based on natural language processing (NLP) techniques. With the advent of more sophisticated technologies such as transformers and generative artificial intelligence, this trend will likely continue and further solidify. To our knowledge, this study is the first to systematically review the current scientific discourse on NLP-based technologies in the context of the customer journey and attempts to outline existing knowledge and identify gaps before the onset of a new era in NLP sophistication. Employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method and co-occurrence analysis, we offer new and nuanced insights into the prevailing discourse. From a sample of 734 articles, 41 studies were selected and analyzed. Our findings shed light on the current research focus, exploring various technologies, concepts, and challenges. We also offer a starting point for how emerging NLP-based technologies could impact the customer journey, as well as future research directions.