The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage

B. Joseph Pine, James H. Gilmore, B. Joseph Pine II (Harvard Business School Press, 1999)

This is an important account of how to move our thinking beyond products and services. What people want (and buy) are experiences. The authors suggest some key principles that make or break the quality of customer experience in any business context. Lots of ideas that resonate with our thinking about ambiance, the staging/production aspect of presenting services, and scripting of customer experience.