Recent research in consumer behavior has focused increasingly on the experience, emotion and hedonic value. This has been driven by the theory of 'Bounded Rationality' which explains how people irrationally seek satisfaction, in contrast to the conven...
Recent research in consumer behavior has focused increasingly on the experience, emotion and hedonic value. This has been driven by the theory of 'Bounded Rationality' which explains how people irrationally seek satisfaction, in contrast to the conventional presumption of maximizing utility. Consumers do more than simply process information to make buying choices. They also engage in imaginative, emotional and consumption experiences. From a consumers perspective, experiences are enjoyable, engaging, and memorable encounters for those consuming these events. Even though many studies in the field of experience have been conducted, there is a lack of restaurant industry related consumption experience research. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore consumption experiences of eating out in hotel restaurants about what restaurant customers really experience along with the relationship between consumption experiences, emotions, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention.
This study introduces conceptualized variables of hotel restaurant consumers' experiences such as playfulness, symbolic, variety, and sociability. A survey asking about participants's most recent hotel restaurant experiences was designed and conducted; and the data was analyzed using structural equation models (SEM). The results from this study supported several hypotheses, including: 1) symbolic experiences of hotel restaurants influence customers' positive emotions; 2) various experiences of hotel restaurants influence customers' negative emotions; 3) playful experiences of hotel restaurants influence customers' positive emotions as well as negative emotions; 4) social experiences of hotel restaurants influence customers' positive emotions as well as negative emotions; 5) positive emotions influence customer satisfaction as well as their intentions to repurchase a hotel restaurant.
The first contribution of this research is to adapt consumption experiences to the restaurant industry, which is meaningful to the body of knowledge. Second, new insights of understanding restaurant customers' needs and wants are suggested. Third, the relation between consumption experiences and emotions is supported; however, negative emotions are not related. The limitations of this study are: 1) the sampling method; 2) ignorance of the experience-involvement 3) sample is limited to hotel customers only.
Key Words : consumption experience, consumption emotion, satisfaction, repurchase intention, hotel restaurant, customers