Determinants and outcomes of tourists’ emotional responses - Tourism Marketing - page 453

shows that agency is linked to different coping strategies in response to product failures (Yi and
Baumgartner 2004).
Major outcomes on tourists' emotional responses
Investigating the effects of emotions on post-consumption behaviours is an important
development in consumer and tourism research (Mano and Oliver 1993; Gnoth 1997; Liljander
and Strandvik 1997; Bagozzi et al . 1999). Prior studies demonstrate emotions infl uence satisfaction
(e.g. del Bosque and San Martin 2008) and behavioural intentions (e.g. Ladhari 2007b). The next
section reviews the effects of emotion on satisfaction and loyalty intentions.
Effects of emotion on satisfaction
Emotions arising from consumption experiences deposit affective memory traces which
consumers process to form post-consumption evaluations of satisfaction (Westbrook and Oliver
1997). Satisfaction is a positive reaction resulting from a favourable appraisal of a consumption
experience (Babin and Griffi n 1998). The direct link between positive emotion and satisfaction
is well documented in the marketing literature (e.g. Mano and Oliver 1993; Liljander and
Strandvik 1997; Ladhari 2007a). Satisfaction is a key outcome of positive emotional responses
such as pleasure, interest and joy (Oliver 1997). However, mixed evidence exists about the
relationship between negative emotions and satisfaction. Previous research found a signifi cant
infl uence of negative emotion on customer satisfaction (e.g. Westbrook 1987). Other studies
establish that negative emotion has no effect on satisfaction (e.g. Westbrook and Oliver 1991; van
Dolen et al . 2004). A plausible explanation could be that satisfaction is an affective state and shares
common variance with positive emotions (Bagozzi et al . 1999). Consequently, compared to
negative emotions, a stronger link is expected between satisfaction and positive emotion (Dubé,
Bélanger and Trudeau 1996). Research in tourism also confi rms the direct infl uence of emotions
on satisfaction (e.g. Bigné et al . 2005; Yuksel and Yuksel 2007; Faullant et al . 2011).
Effects of emotion on behavioural intentions
Modelling customer loyalty remains an important area of research in marketing and tourism
literatures. Loyalty is conceptualized as a commitment to repurchase a brand or re-patronize a
preferred product/service (Dick and Basu 1994). Prior studies operationalize loyalty in terms of
three behavioural variables: intention to return, willingness to recommend and word-of-mouth
(e.g. Cronin et al . 2000; Soscia 2007). Research confi rms the relationship between positive emo-
tions and intention to return (e.g. Bloemer and de Ruyter 1999), willingness to recommend (Lee
et al . 2008; Jang and Namkung 2009); and word-of-mouth (Ladhari 2007b). In contrast, a rela-
tively small number of studies (e.g. Zeelenberg and Pieters 2004; Soscia 2007; Romani, Grappi
and Dali 2012) investigate the effects of negative emotions on behavioural outcomes. For example,
Zeelenberg and Pieters (2004) establish that regret and disappointment is related to negative
word-of-mouth. Soscia (2007) study further reveals that guilt inhibits negative word-of-mouth.
Conclusions and future research
This chapter establishes the relevance of emotion in tourism research. Based on a cross-
disciplinary review of the literature, determinants and outcomes of tourist emotional responses
toward destination brands are identifi ed and summarized in Figure 33.1 .