When the parts of the sum are greater than the whole: Assessing the peak-and-end-theory for a heterogeneous, multi-episodic tourism experience

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100607
• Publication Date: 2021-04-20T22:23:12Z
• Authors: Wim Strijbosch; Ondrej Mitas; Tessa van Blaricum; Olaf Vugts; Carolien Govers; Moniek Hover; John Gelissen; Marcel Bastiaansen
• Keywords: Experience; REMEMBER; INTENSITY; MEASURING EMOTION; Physiology; REAL-TIME; Emotions; 05 social sciences; PAIN; DURATION NEGLECT; MEMORIES; Skin conductance; 0502 economics and business; COMBINING EXPERIENCES; Peak-and-end-theory; RETROSPECTIVE EVALUATIONS; TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

Emotions are a key component of tourism experiences, as emotions make experiences more valued and more memorable. Peak-and-end-theory states that overall experience evaluations are best predicted by the emotions at the most intense and final moments of an experience. Peak-and-end-theory has mostly been studied for relatively simple experiences. Recent insights suggest that peak-and-end-theory does not necessarily hold for tourism experiences, which tend to be more heterogeneous and multi-episodic in nature. Through the novel approach of using electrophysiological measures in combination with experience reconstruction, the applicability of the peak-and-end-theory to the field of tourism is addressed by studying a musical theatre show in a theme park resort. Findings indicate that for a multi-episodic tourism experience, hypotheses from the peak-and-end-theory are rejected for the experience as a whole, but supported for individual episodes within the experience. Furthermore, it is shown that electrophysiology sheds a new light on the temporal dynamics of experience