Journey research has primarily analyzed agentic, solo travelers making rational single-purchase decisions. In contrast, we examine a journey where consumers and their traveling companions are vulnerable and must navigate an unfamiliar service system. We explore how vulnerability shapes consumer journeys, how service and system factors impact vulnerability, and how traveling companions influence agency and vulnerability. Using data from an extensive study into end-of-life care, our results reveal novel insights into the role of consumer vulnerability throughout a journey. We show how the ebb and flow of consumer vulnerability shapes the journey, and how the journey shapes vulnerability. Traveling companions, themselves vulnerable, play a major role in influencing vulnerability and the journey itself. We offer managerial implications for organizations whose consumers are in vulnerable situations.

旅程研究主要分析了独立旅行者做出理性的单次购买决策的情况。相比之下，我们研究的旅程中，消费者及其旅伴很容易受到伤害，必须使用不熟悉的服务系统。我们探讨脆弱性如何影响消费者的旅程，服务和系统因素如何影响脆弱性，以及旅行同伴如何影响代理和脆弱性。利用对临终关怀的广泛研究的数据，我们的结果揭示了对消费者脆弱性在整个旅程中的作用的新颖见解。我们展示了消费者脆弱性的潮起潮落如何塑造旅程，以及旅程如何塑造脆弱性。旅伴本身就很脆弱，在影响脆弱性和旅程本身方面发挥着重要作用。我们为消费者处于弱势地位的组织提供管理建议。