Multi-dimensions of patrons’ emotional experiences in upscale restaurants and their role in loyalty formation: Emotion scale improvement

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Abstract

The main purposes of the present study were to improve and modify an existing emotion scale to increase its efficacy for assessing upscale restaurant customers’ emotional experiences, and to develop and test a conceptual model of the relationships among emotion factors, their cognitive antecedents, and direct/indirect outcome variables (satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty intentions). Following a survey of 324 upscale restaurant patrons, results confirmed that the modified and improved consumption emotion measurement has a satisfactory level of reliability, validity, and applicability in an upscale restaurant context. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used, and a psychometric procedure for scale improvement/modification was thoroughly followed. Findings also revealed that the hypothesized relationships were generally supported, and the proposed model displayed an excellent fit. The significance of comfort and annoyance was identified, and the mediating roles of study variables were verified.

Introduction

The prominent role of consumption emotions in bringing such benefits as increased satisfaction, improved retention, favorable word-of-mouth, increased relationships between customers and employees, and enhanced customer loyalty has been repeatedly emphasized in recent hospitality studies (Gracia et al., 2011, Han et al., 2009, Jones et al., 2007, Ladhari, 2009, Ladhari et al., 2007, Lee et al., 2010, Martin et al., 2008, Smith and Bolton, 2002). Numerous hospitality researchers agree that these outcomes would eventually lead hospitality firms to obtaining competitive advantages, improving efficiency, gaining greater market share, increasing financial performance, improving profitability, and finally achieving overall firm success (Han and Kim, 2010, Han et al., 2009, Ladhari, 2009, Ladhari et al., 2007, Lee et al., 2010, Martin et al., 2008). More and more attention has therefore been devoted to the area of consumption emotions and their roles in decision/loyalty formation (Han and Back, 2007). In this regard, consumption emotions have become a subject of great interest to hospitality industry practitioners and marketing researchers.

Many researchers across fields have attempted to identify the driving forces of emotions and determine their impact on post-purchase decision-making and behaviors (e.g., Bitner and Hubbert, 1994, Gracia et al., 2011, Han and Kim, 2010, Ladhari et al., 2007, Lee et al., 2010). Researchers agree that such cognitive components as overall service quality and image can be major factors affecting the positive or negative emotional experiences undergone while consuming a product/service (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994, Gracia et al., 2011, Han and Kim, 2010, Lee et al., 2010). Many previous studies in marketing and consumer behavior have indicated that an individual's favorable emotional/affective experiences are likely to result in positive evaluations of the experiences. These positive evaluations contribute to higher levels of confidence and commitment, thereby increasing favorable intentions to be loyal (Han et al., 2009, Ladhari et al., 2007). Overall, researchers in previous studies generally agree that comprehending the role of consumption emotions is critical for firms’ success in that customers’ favorable emotional experiences when consuming a product or service affect their decision-making processes and loyalty formation (Barsky and Nash, 2002, Ladhari et al., 2007). In this regard, consumption emotions and their role have been extensively researched. However, research to date has overwhelmingly focused on direct outcomes of emotions. Comparatively little research has examined possible antecedents (e.g., service quality and image) and consequences (e.g., satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty) of consumption to link emotional responses together by proposing a comprehensive model. In addition, previous studies have generally centered on either cognitive components or affective components in explaining decision and loyalty formation. A simultaneous examination of decision/loyalty formation involving cognitive variables, emotion/affect variables, and possible outcomes of these variables is necessary to understand customer post-purchase behaviors more precisely and comprehensively.

Having recognized the significance of consumption emotions, the scope of studies about consumption-based emotional experiences has enlarged. Many researchers in marketing, consumer behavior, and psychology have tried precisely to assess consumption emotions by proposing various measures (e.g., Han et al., 2010, Holbrook and Batra, 1987, Izard, 1977, Laros and Steenkamp, 2005, Mehrabian and Russell, 1974, Oh, 2005, Plutchik, 1980, Richins, 1997). Nevertheless, an adequate means of assessing consumption-related emotional experiences has remained elusive (Han et al., 2010, Laros and Steenkamp, 2005, Oh, 2005, Richins, 1997), and the effectiveness of the existing measures has been questioned because of the ambiguity related to the structure and content of emotions (Laros and Steenkamp, 2005). In addition, no scale exists particularly designed to measure upscale restaurant customers’ emotional experiences. Moreover, little of the research on emotion measures has followed proper psychometric procedures for scale development, and thus the reliability, validity, and applicability of existing emotion measures are uncertain. Han et al.’s (2010) consumption emotion scale in a full-service restaurant setting was an attempt to bridge this gap in the theoretical toolbox. However, its reliance and direct applicability in measuring upscale restaurant diners’ emotional responses can be debatable. As they pointed out in their research, the improvement/modification of their scale is strongly needed to capture diners’ emotional experiences explicitly in an upscale restaurant consumption situation, and such revision needs to be based on suitable psychometric procedures for measurement improvement and/or modification.

Overall, this study primarily aimed (1) to improve and modify Han et al.’s (2010) consumption emotion measurement to make it more adequate in an upscale restaurant setting by focusing on psychometric procedures/limitations for scale improvement and modification suggested by Churchill (1979), Gerbing and Anderson (1988), and Hinkin (1998), and (2) to develop a robust loyalty-intention model by including both the utmost important cognitive antecedents (i.e., overall service quality and image) and direct/indirect consequences of upscale restaurant customers’ emotional experiences. In addition, this study attempted to assess the relative importance of identified emotional factors in generating their direct and indirect outcomes, and to test the mediating role of study variables in loyalty-intention formation.

Section snippets

Consumption emotions

Unlike emotions that an individual experiences in his/her daily life, consumption emotions can be defined as affective responses generated by specific consumption experiences (Phillips, 1999, Han et al., 2009). This definition is in line with the descriptions in early studies stating that consumption emotions are the set of immediate emotional responses induced during product/service usage (Havlena and Holbrook, 1986, Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). There has been much debate in the previous

Modification and improvement of the emotion scale

For the modification and improvement of Han et al.’s (2010) consumption emotion scale, Churchill's (1979), Gerbing and Anderson's (1988), and Hinkin's (1998) guidelines and procedures for scale development/improvement were followed. According to these sources, in addition to the traditional coefficient alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and validity testing procedures used to establish measure quality (e.g., Churchill, 1979, Hinkin, 1998, Nunnally, 1978), it is also vital to integrate a

Test of the hypothesized relationships

The next step is to test the proposed relationships among the antecedents of emotions (overall service quality and image), identified emotion factors (comfort, annoyance, stimulation, sentimentality), and their outcome variables (satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty intentions). A two-step approach involving CFA and SEM with a maximum likelihood estimation method was employed to assess the data quality and to test hypothesized links (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). AMOS5 was used as a tool

Discussion and implications

Although the significance of emotional experiences in upscale restaurants, there was no adequate emotion assessment tool available. Thus, measuring upscale restaurant customers’ consumption-based emotional responses was not an easy task for researchers and practitioners. The identified factors in Han et al.’s (2010) scale were found to be important in explaining full-service restaurant customers’ decision formation. However, as discussed earlier, their scale is not complete in measuring all

Limitations and future research areas

Findings in the present study should be interpreted with caution in that some limitations exist in the present study. First, the sample in this study was relatively small and limited to customers at four upscale restaurants located in specific cities of the U.S.A. In future research, it is recommended that a greater number of samples in more diverse geographical areas be employed. Second, while the proposed conceptual model fulfilled one of the needs in the present study, this theoretical

Conclusion

The present studies were designed to improve and modify Han et al.’s (2010) emotion scale to be applicable in an upscale restaurant context, and to test the relationships among cognitive variables, identified emotion factors, satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty intentions. Based on Churchill's (1979), Gerbing and Anderson's (1988), and Hinkin's (1998) guidelines for scale development and improvement, a reliable and valid measure involving four factors and 20 emotion descriptors was

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