Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 9.1
Variables used in traditional marketing theories compared to the experiential approach
Traditional approaches
Experiential approach
Stimuli
Verbal
Tangible
Non-verbal
Sensorial
Consumer objective
Maximize utility
Extrinsic objectives (to consume in
order to achieve an objective)
Utilitarian criteria
Experience lived
Intrinsic objective (product
consumed for itself)
Esthetical and symbolical criteria
Goal
Maximize utility and value
Maximize emotional benefits
Decision
Formulate preferences with multi
attributes comparisons
Holistic perception and difficulty
to elaborate concise expectations
Mediating variables
Attitudes
Emotions, feelings
Post-purchase evaluation
Satisfaction
Pleasure, memory
Involvement
Level of involvement (high/low)
Involvement type (portion of the
hedonic component)
Source
: Adapted from Bourgeon and Filser (1995)
Since the consumption experience extends over a period of time, Arnould and Price (1993)
have identifi ed four major stages:
• The pre-consumption experience, which involves searching for, planning, day-dreaming
about, foreseeing or imagining the experience.
• The purchase experience, which encompasses choice, payment, packaging, the encounter
with the service and the environment.
• The core consumption experience including sensation, satiety, satisfaction/dissatisfaction,
irritation or fl ow, and transformation.
• The remembered consumption experience and the nostalgia for previously lived experiences
that reactivates consumption through the use of photographs to re-live past experiences for
example. This is also based on accounts of stories and on discussions or arguments with
friends about the past, which contributes to the classifi cation of memories.
Thirty years later, the experiential perspective has gained ground to be recognized as an essential
approach in consumer behaviour. Pine and Gilmore (1998) argue that companies or destinations,
to achieve competitive advantages, should produce experiences, as a kind of new category of
offer that can be launched on the market. The staged experience is then the ultimate category
of the company's offer as opposed to the goods, services and ideas produced (Hetzel 2002;
Schmitt 1999).
Over the years the experience literature has taken two directions. On one side, practitioners
have produced a series of books that have become useful guides to assist managers in designing
the experience (Pine and Gilmore 1998; Schmitt 1999, etc.). Whilst those contributions are
valuable, they have also been criticized for their lack of consideration of value creation, especially
in the pre-purchase and post-purchase consumptions steps (Tynan and McKechnie 2009). They
also tend to lack theoretical grounding that would provide more power to the practical
applications they describe. On the other side, academics have produced theoretical contributions
that bring more depth to the understanding of the consumer experience such as the service
