International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Systems

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Designing Unique and Memorable Experiences: Co-creation and the "surprise" Factor.


Affiliations
1 Minho University, Campus Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga., Portugal
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The unique and memorable experience emerges as a strategic choice for tourism and event management organizations in order to capture an intangible differentiation. The paper proposes a theoretical framework of antecedents and outcomes of the salient experience memorizing and cocreation process. A survey was conducted with 80 post-graduate students who described a written narrative of their most memorable experiences. These experiences were classified within a grid (Pine and Gilmore, 1988): (un)controlled entertainment (D1/D2) versus (un)controlled exploring (D3/D4). Personnel's responsiveness, sympathy, professionalism and personalized and unexpected surprises are pointed out as potential competitive advantages. The experience-mix was at some extent predicted in terms of self-concept attributes (organized/disorganized, rugged/delicate, and common/unique) and ideal hotel preferences (good for shopping; promotions; and children friendly).

Keywords

Event Management, Experiential Marketing, Co-creation, Experience Mix, Experience Typology
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Abrahams, R.D., (1981), Ordinary and Extraordinary Experiences. In the Anthropology of Experience. Ed. Turner V., pp. 45-72, University of Illinois Press, Chicago.

  • Batra, R. and Athola, O., (1991) Measuring the Hedonic and Utilitarian Sources of Consumer Attitudes, Marketing Letters, vol.2, no.2, pp.159-170.

  • Beard, J. and Ragheb, M.G., (1983) Measuring Leisure Motivation, Journal of Leisure Research, vol.15, no.3, pp. 219-228.

  • Bigné, J.E., Matilla, A.S. and Andreu, L., (2008) The impact of experiential consumption cognitions and emotions on behavioural intentions, Journal of Services Marketing, vol.22. no.4, pp. 303–315.

  • Blichfeldt, Bodil S., (2007) A nice vacation: Variations in experience aspirations and travel careers, Journal of Vacation Marketing, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 149–164.

  • Bowen, D., (2002) Research through Participant Observation in Tourism: A Creative Solution to the Measurement of Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction(CS/D) among Tourists, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 41, August, pp.4-14.

  • Daengbuppha, J., Hemmington, J. and Wilkes, K., (2006) Using grounded theory to model visitor experiences at heritage sites: Methodological and practical issues, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 367-388.

  • Feakins, K. H and Zea, M., (2000) Designing the branded experience, Mercer Management Journal, vol. 12, pp. 48-59.

  • Fuchs, M. and Weiermair, K., (2004) Destination Benchmarking: An Indicator-System’s Potential for Exploring Guest Satisfaction, Journal of Travel Research, vol.42, pp. 212-225.

  • Grove, S.J. Fisk, R.P. and Bitner, M.J., (1992). Dramatising the service experience: a managerial approach, In T.A.Swartz, S. Brown, and D.Bowen (Eds.) Advances in Services Marketing and Management), Greenwich, CT. JAI Press Inc.

  • Harris, R., Harris, K. and Baron, S., (2003) Theatrical service experiences, International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 14, no. 2: pp. 184-199.

  • Kano, N. (1984) Attractive Quality and Must-Be Quality, Journal of the Japanese Society for Quality Control, vol.1, no.4, pp. 39–48.

  • Kylänen, M (ed.), (2006), Articles on Experiences, 2nd. Ed. Rovaniemi, University of Lapland Press.

  • Lenderman, M. (2006), Experience the message: how experiential marketing is changing the brand world, Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York.

  • Lynn, M., and Harris, J., (1997) The desire for unique consumer products. A new individual differences scale, Psychology and Marketing, vol.14, pp.601-616.

  • Malhotra, N., (1981) A scale to measure selfconcept, person concepts and product concepts, Journal of Marketing Research, vol.16, pp.456-464.

  • Mansfeldt, O., Vestager, E. and Iversen, M., (2007), Experience design in city tourism, Nordic Innovation Centre project number:06316, Wonderful Copenhagen.

  • Morgan, M. and Watson, P., (2007), Resource Guide in Extraordinary Experiences: Understanding and Managing the Consumer Experience in Hospitality, Leisure, Events, Sport and Tourism. Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network 2007.

  • Naylor, G. and Kleiser S.,(2002) Exploring the differences in perceptions of satisfaction across lifestyle segments, Journal of Vacation Marketing, vol. 8, pp. 343-351.

  • Oh, H., Kim, B. and Shin, J., (2004) Hospitality and tourism marketing: recent developments in research and future directions, Hospitality Management, vol.23, pp. 425–447.

  • Pearson, M. and Sullivan, S., (1995), Looking After Heritage Places The Basics of Heritage Planning for Managers,Landowners and Administrators, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

  • Pine, J. and Gilmore, J., (1998) Welcome to the experience economy, Harvard Business Review, vol. 76, July-August, pp. 97-105.

  • Pine, J., and Gilmore, J., (1999), The Experience Economy: Work is theater and every business a stage, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

  • Raman, N., Chattopadhyay, P., Hoyer, W., (1995). Do consumers seek emotional situations: the need for emotions scale”, in F.Kardes and M.Sujan (Eds.), Advances in Consumer Research (vol.22, pp.537-542), Association for Consumer Research, Provo, UT.

  • Richards, G. and Wilson, J. (2006) Developing creativity in tourist experiences: A solution to the serial reproduction of culture?, Tourism Management, vol. 27, pp. 1209–1223.

  • Schechner, R. (1988), Performance Theory. Routledge.

  • Schmitt, H., (1999) Experiential Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 15, pp. 53-67.

  • Schmitt, H., (2003), Customer Experience Management: a revolutionary approach to ©International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Systems Volume 3 Issue 1 2010 Online access @ www.publishingindia.com 51 connecting with your customers, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ,.

  • Scitovsky, T. (1976), The joyless economy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

  • Shaw, C. (2005), Revolutionize Your Customer Experience, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.

  • Sirgy, J.M. (1982) Self-concept in consumer behavior: a critical review, Journal of Consumer Research, vol.9, pp. 287-300.

  • Smith, S. and Wheeler, J. (2002), Managing the Customer Experience: turning customers into advocates, Prentice Hall, Harlow, FT.

  • Smith, W., (2005) Experiential tourism around the world and at home: definitions and standards”, International Journal of Services and Standards, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-14.

  • Stamboulis, Y. and Skayannis, P., (2003) Innovation strategies and technology for experience-based tourism, Tourism Management, vol.24, pp. 35–43.

  • Stockdale, R., (2007) Managing customer relationships in the self-service environment of e-tourism, Journal of Vacation Marketing, vol.13, pp.205-219.

  • Trapp-Fallon, J., (2003) Searching for rich narratives of tourism and leisure experience: how oral history could provide an answer, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol.4, no.4, pp.297-305.

  • Yüksel, A. and Yüksel, F., (2001) The Expectancy- Disconfirmation Paradigm: A Critique, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, vol.25; pp. 107-131.

  • Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation seeking: beyond the optimal level of arousal, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.


Abstract Views: 687

PDF Views: 0




  • Designing Unique and Memorable Experiences: Co-creation and the "surprise" Factor.

Abstract Views: 687  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Antonio Azevedo
Minho University, Campus Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga., Portugal

Abstract


The unique and memorable experience emerges as a strategic choice for tourism and event management organizations in order to capture an intangible differentiation. The paper proposes a theoretical framework of antecedents and outcomes of the salient experience memorizing and cocreation process. A survey was conducted with 80 post-graduate students who described a written narrative of their most memorable experiences. These experiences were classified within a grid (Pine and Gilmore, 1988): (un)controlled entertainment (D1/D2) versus (un)controlled exploring (D3/D4). Personnel's responsiveness, sympathy, professionalism and personalized and unexpected surprises are pointed out as potential competitive advantages. The experience-mix was at some extent predicted in terms of self-concept attributes (organized/disorganized, rugged/delicate, and common/unique) and ideal hotel preferences (good for shopping; promotions; and children friendly).

Keywords


Event Management, Experiential Marketing, Co-creation, Experience Mix, Experience Typology

References