Tourist experiences and word-of-mouth: the mediating effect of memory

Abstract

Offering memorable experiences to customers is an effective marketing strategy in hospitality and tourism. However, the effects of memorable experiences have remained largely unexamined. Two research models were proposed through a literature review to present the antecedents that effectively lead to memorizing travel experiences. Since researchers in customer service management have recently claimed the significance of creating good memories related to consumption experiences, this study developed the discussion on links among the antecedents and memory and hypothesized the sequential relationships among the constructs. Study 1 examined the relationships between antecedents (experience quality, hedonic value, utilitarian value, and satisfaction) and post-experience memory in cruise tourism. Using an online survey, 375 vacationers who traveled on an ocean cruise ship were recruited. Structure Equation Modeling showed that the experience quality of cruise travel consisting of seven experience dimensions had a positive influence on helping memory formation through hedonic value and utilitarian value. The results underscored the critical effect of memory on word-of-mouth. This study documented that hedonic value driven by travel experience quality had a more important role in delivering the effect to memory than utilitarian value. However, in the research model of study 1, satisfaction was not connected to memory. Mediation effect analysis individually tested the partial mediating role of memory in the relationship between hedonic value/utilitarian value/satisfaction and word-of-mouth. Study 2 examined the effects of emotions on memory, particularly the potential moderating effect of arousal on the relationship between valence and memory. This study not only proposed the direct influence of arousal and valence on memory, but also hypothesized the quasi-moderating effect of arousal in amplifying the influence of valence on increasing memory. The results of hierarchical regression analysis using the dataset of 375 samples presented the direct relationships between arousal/valence and memory were shown although the hypothesis regarding the moderating role of arousal was rejected. Two emotional dimensions (arousal and valence) were found to be significant predictors of increased memory quality, but the moderating effect of arousal was not supported. Based on the findings of this study, practical implications for the tourism industry are provided, along with future research ideas.