In the past two decades, research in tourism has explored the shift to the experiential economy in which consumers (visitors) seek memorable experiences. While prior studies converge toward the idea that immersion is a critical dimension of the tourism experience, research on immersion remains scarce, particularly the conditions under which immersion is achieved and its consequences on visitor evaluations. To fill this gap, this research builds on the experiential and flow literature to propose a model where immersion derives from autonomy and leads to greater visitor satisfaction through the underlying mechanism of temporal dissociation. Additionally, it is proposed that reactance moderates the relationship between autonomy and temporal dissociation. Two empirical studies—a field study in an experiential wine museum and an experiment involving a zoo visit—provide robust evidence of these effects, fostering theoretical progress on immersion and subsequent temporal dissociation as important dimensions of the tourism experience.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose both a retrospective and a prospective look at one of the most powerful concepts in marketing research: consumption experience.
Design/methodology/approach
A historical review of the development of the concept of consumption experience is conducted from its introduction 35 years ago by Holbrook and Hirschman’s (1982) seminal paper to the most recent advances, including the articles selected for this special issue.
Findings
First, the authors show that the introduction of the concept of consumer experience was a major (r)evolution on the theoretical, methodological and managerial levels. Second, the authors examine the theoretical risks associated with a biased conceptualization of the consumption experience. Third, the authors highlight future avenues for research on the consumption experience from both macro- (“zoom-out”) and micro-analytic (“zoom-in”) perspectives.
Originality/value
This paper offers a comprehensive view on one of the most disruptive concepts in marketing theory.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.