Theme Park Experiences in the Tourism Industry

Introduction

Today, price and functionality alone are not enough (Barners et al., 2009: 67). High product and service quality is no longer valid for consumers to choose them. Consumers look for one-of-a-kind experiences beyond services and products (Oh et al., 2007: 119). Experiences create unique value for customers, make it harder for competitors to imitate the firm, and can also heavily affect consumer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth (WOM). By focusing on this aspect of customer experience, many businesses have started to design experiences to differentiate themselves from their other competitors (Ali & Omar, 2014: 176).

The word experience comes from nous, which is the Greek word that means mind or understanding, and it means knowledge directly experienced with a feeling of certainty (Lindgreen et al., 2009: 180). Various authors have defined the concept of experience in various ways (Pine & Gilmore, 1999; Schmitt, 1999; Mossberg, 2007; Oh et al., 2007). Pine and Gilmore (1999: 12) stated that experience is a state that affects the individual emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally. Oh et al. (2007: 120) defined experiences as “enjoyable, engaging and memorable encounters for those consuming these events”.

Experiences are part of customer behaviour associated with consumer emotions, different perceptions of customers and fantasies (Cetin & Dincer, 2014: 183). An experience is extraordinary, under one's control, enjoyable, and a spontaneous process. The experience can be easily remembered even years later (Arnould & Price, 1993: 25). Also, experiences are personal. They include customer participation and perception, mobilize customers emotionally, are shared with other persons and are kept in memory for a while (Ali & Omar, 2014: 177). An experience dimension(s) or experience is a mixture of numerous personal dimensions that get together in the individual which can engage the customer, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally and remain in the consumer's mind. Since the experience dimensions are interpreted individually, two people do not have a similar experience. Dimension(s) of experience or experiences may involve the social environment (interaction with other consumers and employees) and physical environment (Walls et al., 2011a: 168). Customer experience includes each contact point in which the customer interacts with the service, product, and business (Grewal et al., 2009: 1).

Many authors have stated that customer experiences are closely related and important to the tourism industry (Ali & Omar, 2014: 176; Cetin & Dincer, 2014: 182-183). Tourism is a service sector with intense experience. Therefore, tourists are more active and open to new experiences during their travels. Tourism product is an experience in general. Customers not only buy products but also gain experience (Cetin & Dincer, 2014: 182-183).

The experiences of people in touristic environments can be directly affected by the social environment (e.g., other customers and personnel) as well as the physical environment (Mossberg, 2007: 64). In the hospitality and tourism industry, since services are inseparable, heterogeneous, and intangible, both social interactions and the physical environment gain more importance than products (Cetin & Dincer, 2014: 183). The most effective customer experiences in the hospitality industry are formed when physical cues (mechanical) are supported by desirable social interactions (Cetin & Walls, 2016: 417). Researchers state that high customer satisfaction will lead to high customer loyalty, purchase intention, WOM marketing, and market share (Yuan & Wu, 2008: 388). Therefore, companies operating in the tourism and hospitality industry need to effectively manage elements of physical and human interaction to increase their consumers' experience (Walls et al., 2011b: 18).