Creating Guest Experience Value: An Empirical \ Analysis of Journey, Motif, and Story Themes

Using mixed-methods, we examined the impact of theme type and coherence on visitors' awareness of theme and experience value during and after visits to various hospitality and attraction venues. Fourteen informants and three researchers completed 172 visits. Team members experienced the offerings at each venue and reported their impressions of theme type, theme coherence, service performance, percent of time aware of theme, overall enjoyment, and proclivity to recommend. Narrative transportation theory informed our hypotheses: (a) theme coherence varies by theme type and the percent of time aware of theme increases with coherence of theme, and (b) experience value during- and after-use increase with the percent of time aware of theme and service performance. Results supported all hypotheses except one. Qualitative analysis revealed impacts of themes.