In recent years, inspiration has been successfully applied to marketing, tourism management, and other fields, and has become a rapidly growing hot topic. However, the research conclusions in this field are still scattered, complex, and fragmented, and a systematic review is urgently needed. Therefore, this paper looks back to the research on inspiration in psychology, and sorts out and reviews the literature on customer inspiration, in terms of its definition, measurement, conceptual comparison, formation mechanisms, and effects. In addition, this paper proposes an integrated theoretical framework of the research in this field, and provides implications for marketing practitioners to better understand and use customer inspiration to improve marketing performance. Finally, this paper points out the shortcomings of the research in this field and provides directions and suggestions for scholars to carry out future research.