The notion of experience entered the field of consumption and marketing with Holbrook and Hirschman's pioneering article of 1982. Twenty years later, this notion has become a key element in understanding consumer behaviour, and, in some views, a foundation for the economy and marketing of the future. In our view, however, this development is not without its risks, as the concept of experience is still illdefined or, worse, defined in ideological terms. To this end, the present paper looks 1) to give an overview of the different meanings ascribed to the word `experience' in various scientific disciplines and to detail the different meanings ascribed to the notion of consumption experience; and 2) to highlight, using a deconstructive approach, that in the field of marketing we must use a typology of consumption experiences which goes beyond an ideological view that tends to consider every experience as extraordinary.

*An entire research current has taken on the mantle of analysing the growing quest on the part of contemporary consumers for immersion into varied experiences. But there has been little empirical analysis of this process of immersion and the experience it produces. This paper introduces and develops the subjective operations that consumers undertake in their efforts to be submerged in the consumption experience. It uses empirical research based on introspective reports filed by consumers who attended a series of classical music concerts. The results suggest that, rather than being an immediate process, immersion in a consumption experience is more progressive. To facilitate this progressive process, greater attention must be paid to the management of those service elements that will have an impact on the so-called operations of appropriation.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify which consumption practices lead to the co-creation of collective service experiences and to outline a conceptual framework for their understanding. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a multiple case vignette approach combining examples from leisure industries described as perfect contexts to study collective experiences. Four case vignettes were selected according to community forms and types as defined by consumer culture literature. Findings – The study identifies and delineates the neglected phenomenon of the co-creation of collective service experiences and related practices. It highlights the ambivalence of these practices in terms of the co-creation or co-destruction of the experience and indicates their relative unmanageability. Research limitations/implications – The cases largely rest on symbolic service experiences, which are a small set of the total universe of consumer experiences. Practical implications – Companies should replace their efforts in organizing consumer practices with monitoring mechanisms and react to collective consumer actions, pursuing a co-evolutionary perspective when they do not have a dominant and permanent role in the relationship with their consumers. Originality/value – The paper gives voice to an understudied collective phenomenon in service management and provides the building blocks for its conceptualization.

Selon tout un courant de recherche, le consommateur cherche à s'immerger dans des expériences de consommation plutôt qu'à simplement rencontrer des produits finis. Cependant, ce phénomène d'immersion et le moyen d'y accéder ont fait l'objet de peu de recherches empiriques en marketing. À partir d'une revue de l'état de l'art en marketing, le cadre conceptuel de l'appropriation est introduit et développé pour rendre compte des opérations subjectives menées par le consommateur pour accéder à l'immersion. Une analyse empirique, fondée sur les récits introspectifs des consommateurs assistant à un concert de musique classique, permet de mettre en évidence les éléments de service qui ont un impact sur l'immersion du consommateur dans l'expérience.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance and utility of introspective accounts to ethnography when it deals with consumption experiences.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the changes in the way “reflexive consumers” write introspective narratives about their intimate thoughts and deep feelings lived during an experience and takes advantage of previous research carried out in different contexts, e.g. music concerts and internet‐based services.FindingsThe paper specifies the more original stages of a complete ethnographic approach to consumption experience. These include co‐immersing; organising the narratives' write‐up; combining the experience's time frame with data generated via observation and introspection; and producing interpretations that will vary depending on the consumer's expressed level of pleasure.Research limitations/implicationsThis type of approach does not work in all consumption situations, nor does it apply to all consumers.Practical implicationsThe combination of observation and introspection will enrich researchers' toolboxes in the quest to unravel the increasingly complex and unpredictable experiences the consumption of today products and services affords consumers.Originality/valueThe paper advocates that the writing up of introspective narratives and diaries has become a common practice for reflexive consumers accustomed to telling their stories online that must be used in market research.