Emotions' Impact on Tourists' Satisfaction with Ski Resorts. The Mediating Role of Perceived Value

Overview & Synopsis

Emotions have been shown to play an important role in consumers' evaluation of their consumption experiences, including extended multiple-encounter touristic ones. The present research investigates the emotions used in the evaluation of customers' experience at a ski resort and how these emotions drive customers' satisfaction. Two quantitative studies are conducted in the French Alps and the data analysed with descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling. The findings uncover the importance of three emotions - joy, excitement and peacefulness - and a strong mediating role of overall perceived value between consumption emotions and satisfaction. Emotions related to "surprise" play no significant role in the evaluation of the ski resort experience. The present findings suggest that managers should focus on staging customers' stay at the resort to stimulate an emotional experience and position their packages based on the promise of such emotional experiences.