Role of affective forecasting in customers’ hotel service experiences

Purpose Research on the role of affective forecasting in hotel service experiences is in its infancy, and several crucial questions remain unanswered. This study aims to posit that affective forecasting is a significant antecedent of customers’ affective reactions during a hotel stay. The authors investigate how customers’ service quality expectations influence their affective forecasting and how customers’ affective forecasting before an upcoming hotel service experience influences their affective reactions during the hotel service experience. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data through online questionnaires distributed among 634 US adults who had stayed at a hotel within the past month. Findings The results show that: service quality expectations influence affective forecasting; affective forecasting influences affective reactions; service quality expectations influence perceived service quality, thereby influencing affective reactions and affective reactions and service quality perception influence electronic Word-Of-Mouth intentions. Practical implications The study suggests that hotel managers should identify what hotel performance attributes customers value most and depict how these attributes elicit positive affective reactions in advertising to influence customers’ purchase decisions. Originality/value This is one of the few studies to investigate the antecedents and consequences of affective forecasting in hotel service experiences.

New insights on satisfaction prototypes for segmentation: Focus on customer experience

This paper tests a conceptual segmentation using a criterion outlined by Oliver based on the satisfaction prototypes customers may follow. The empirical study was conducted with a sample of theme park visitors grouped into four satisfaction prototypes/segments. Results show the presence of important differences by groups in terms of both the effects of perceived value dimensions on satisfaction and the level of satisfaction by segment, supporting the proposed approach. The findings are valuable for a better identification of key drivers of segments’ satisfaction, which will be helpful to redesign service experiences to better fit the varying preferences of modern consumers.

Exploring the ecotourism service experience framework using the dimensions of motivation, expectation and ecotourism experience

This study explores the ecotourism service experience framework by analysing ecotourists’ motivations and expectations, as well as the dimensions of ecotourism experiences. A total of 51 ecotourists were interviewed in person at ecotourist lodges in Lower Kinabatangan, Malaysia. Interview responses were analysed using thematic analysis, and a multi-data triangulation was carried out to identify key service experience dimensions guided by the co-creation concept. Findings reveal that motivations and expectations of ecotourists are connected to the dimensions of ecotourism experiences. Several findings reveal that key dimensions include ‘wildlife’, ‘nature/environment’ and ‘experiences driven from ecotourism activities’ (such as riverboat cruises and jungle trekking). Based on the interviews, these dimensions can be further interpreted and conceptualised as ‘education’, ‘aesthetic’, ‘escape’ and ‘entertainment’, similar to the four realms of experience in the experience economy model by Pine and Gilmore (1998 , 1999) . Hence, an ecotourism service experience framework, comprising both tangible and intangible elements, is proposed as a sound and practical approach to understanding ecotourism service experiences. This study offers empirical evidence and an innovative approach by identifying the ecotourism service experience dimensions and exploring a relevant framework, which was previously neglected. Ecotourism operators should utilise the four identified service experience dimensions to stage unique ecotourism experiences and enhance destination attractiveness and competitiveness. Experiential marketing can capitalise on these dimensions as innovative selling points and attract ecotourists, thus providing practical value in marketing ecotourism destinations.

Introducing a sensemaking perspective to the service experience

PurposeMost recent service experience research considers customers as sensemakers and sensemaking as a focal process in experience construction. Despite this, the sensemaking theory engendered in organization studies has not been applied in the quest for an in-depth understanding of the service experience. This study introduces a sensemaking perspective to the service experience and develops a conceptualization of how customers construct their experiences cognitively through sensemaking.Design/methodology/approachThe service experience literature is dominated by a focus on firms implementing service experiences for customers. This study, in contrast, investigates service experience and its formation from the customers' viewpoint: how service experiences are formed as a part of customers' everyday life and sensemaking processes instead of under service providers' control.FindingsService experience is characterized as a mental picture – a collage of meanings created by a customer through the sensemaking processes. A sensemaking framework that characterizes service experience formation and its four seminal dimensions, including the self-related, sociomaterial, retrospective and prospective sensemaking, is introduced.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the service literature by introducing a new theoretical lens through which the service experience concept can be investigated and reframed.

Service inclusion: the role of disability identity in retail

Purpose The purpose of this research is to explore the role of identity for consumers with disabilities in a retail context. Understanding disability identity is critical to ensuring inclusion in service environments. Despite the growing call to understand the role of identity in consumer services, research on disability identity and the impacts of identity on service inclusion remains minimal. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology generated data through personal narratives from people with disabilities revealing deep insights into the complexity of identity in a fashion retail context. Findings Emergent themes detail five consumer disability identities – authentic unique self, integrated self, community self, expressive self and practical self – seen when viewing service experiences from the perspective of people with lived experience of disability. Individual and collective agency also emerged as key themes that enable people with disabilities to feel a sense of inclusion. Originality/value This research explores the service experiences of people with disabilities in a retail context through a disability identity lens. The authors contribute to service literature by identifying five consumer disability identities that people with a disability adopt through their service experience and present a typology that demonstrates how each identity impacts on agency, with implications for service inclusion.

Memoryscape: how managers can create lasting customer experiences

Purpose A detailed conceptualization of how service experiences are transformed into a memory and the circumstances surrounding a memorable experience is not available in the customer experience literature. This paper aims to address this gap using a multi-dimensional framework (memoryscape) to explain memory processes for service experiences. Design/methodology/approach The paper integrates psychology research, and particularly autobiographical memory, within customer experience management. Findings The paper proposes a comprehensive, multi-dimensional framework (memoryscape) of memory and highlights managerial implications. Research limitations/implications Marketers have yet to fully understand the role of memory in service experience consumption. In today’s service-dominant economy, understanding more about the memoryscape should be a managerial and research priority. Practical implications The authors present four managerial priorities for managing customer experience memories. Originality/value The authors assimilate theories and empirical research in psychology, particularly autobiographical memory, to propose an integrated conceptual framework of the service memory process (memoryscape), to provide insights for managers looking to create memorable customer experiences.

Effect of Robo-Taxi User Experience on User Acceptance: Field Test Data Analysis

With the advancement of self-driving technology, the commercialization of robot taxi (Robo-taxi) services is expected. However, there is some skepticism as to whether such taxi services will be successfully accepted by real customers because of perceived safety-related concerns; therefore, studies focused on user experience have become more crucial. Although many studies statistically analyze user experience data obtained by surveying individuals’ perceptions of Robo-taxis or indirectly through simulators, there is a lack of research that statistically analyzes data obtained directly from actual Robo-taxi service experiences. Accordingly, based on the user experience data obtained by implementing a Robo-taxi service in the downtown of Seoul and Daejeon in South Korea, this study quantitatively analyzes the effect of user experience on user acceptance through structural equation modeling and path analysis. Balanced and highly valid insights were also obtained by re-analyzing meaningful relationships obtained through statistical models based on the results of in-depth interviews. The results revealed that the experience of the traveling stage had the greatest effect on user acceptance, and the cutting-edge nature of the service and apprehension of technology were emotions that had a significant effect on user acceptance. Based on these findings, guidelines are suggested for the design and marketing of future Robo-taxi services.