Measuring customer experience in situ: The link between appraisals, emotions and overall assessments

Customer experience is frequently researched using one-off recall studies, missing the opportunity to assess the momentary fluctuations associated with consumption in real time. To address this gap, this study investigates how specific experience appraisals of an event affect emotions at different points in time, as well as determining how these appraisals contribute to overall satisfaction, recommendation, and repeat visitation. Fifty-one event goers report their experiences on four occasions (three during and one post event). Results show appraisals of having fun predict feelings of joy at each of the three sampling periods, whereas appraisals of sensory experience predict feelings of inspiration. Overall, sensory appraisals at Time-2 and appraisals of fun at Time-3 are associated with higher ratings of recommendation and repeat visitation. This research extends the understanding of customer experience by demonstrating the differential role of appraisals and emotions in real time and the flow-on effects to post experience assessments.