Engaging in times of COVID-19 and beyond: theorizing customer engagement through different paradigmatic lenses

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider a broadened suite of paradigmatic lenses to help better understand customer engagement during and beyond COVID-19. During this period of uncertainty and economic downturn, many customers are questioning their ways of living and being, and thus businesses are engaging customers in new and evolving ways. To appreciate this broadened realm of engagement requires researchers and businesses to embrace existential humanism as an alternative, yet complementary, paradigmatic lens. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper. The authors consider three distinct paradigmatic lenses on human (inter)action-economic rationalism, institutionalism and existential humanism-and apply these lenses to deepen the underlying theorizing of the customer engagement concept. Further, the authors illustrate how customers engage with businesses in distinct ways, seeking meaning congruent with the challenges faced during COVID-19. Findings The authors argue that the common tripartite model of cognitive, emotional and behavioral customer engagement, typically informed by reductionist and unilateral paradigmatic lenses, is insufficient to understand why customers seek to engage with businesses during and after COVID-19. Originality/value In providing a broader paradigmatic perspective, the authors make a plea for a stronger consideration and activation of spiritual engagement in marketing. The current COVID-19 environment challenges extant philosophical assumptions of engagement theorizing, which we address by way of existential humanism. The authors contribute through a more differentiated perspective of engagement, accounting for a broader spectrum of human experience. This enables more informed theorizing across levels of abstraction, while emphasizing diverse avenues for future engagement for a time even beyond COVID-19.