The recently established marine cable car is gaining popularity as a vitality of the local economy and attractive tourism products. The purpose of this study was to find ways to enhance and activate the experience value of marine cable cars through the study of experiential marketing factors, satisfaction, delight, and experience sharing in marine cable cars.
The survey was conducted on tourists who ride Busan Songdo air cruise for two months from October 14, 2018 to the end of December 2018. Of the 325 questionnaires distributed, the final 323 as valid samples were selected and analyzed.
For the analysis of the study, frequency analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0 statistical packages. As a preliminary step of hypothesis testing, we analyzed the reliability of the measurement items through Cronbach’s Alpha. The convergent validity and discriminant validity of the measurement tools were verified through confirmatory factor analysis, and correlation analysis, and the model fit and hypothesis verification were verified through the structural equations modeling(SEM).
The results of the study verifying the effect of experience factor on marine cable car on perceived value, satisfaction and delight, and experience sharing are as follows.
First, it was confirmed that the experience factor in the marine cable car is an important leading factor in the perceived value of the customer, and the sense experience, think experience, and act experience had a significant influence on the customer''s perceived value. On the other hand, the feel experience and the relate experience in the marine cable car were found to have no significant influence on the perceived value.
Second, perceived values had a positive effect on satisfaction and delight in common. Third, satisfaction had a positive effect on experience sharing.
Fourth, it was found that delight influenced positively on experience sharing. Specifically, satisfied customers give more positive words than delighted customers and delighted customers share more SNS(social network service) than satisfied customers.
SNS sharing is possible to share in real time during the experience process, and visitors who are delighted at the tourist spots have more experience sharing through SNS than those who are satisfied. This proved the importance of delight.
Theoretical implications of this study are as follows.
First, the causal model of perceived value and satisfaction after consumption and the creation of delight for consumers were applied to the experiences in the tourism field to consider the experience value of experiential marketing.
Second, word of mouth variables were introduced in previous studies on the effects of satisfaction or delight on WOM(word of mouth). This study is meaningful in that it subdivided this relationship into WOM and SNS sharing.
Third, there have been a number of studies to improve the understanding of customer delight concept. However, the empirical research related to the performance of customer delight has been lacking. This study confirmed that the loyalty relationship of WOM creation was supported as a result of delight in the tourism experience of marine cable cars. It is significant that this research has been conducted.
The practical implications of this study are as follows.
First, it contributed to the expansion of research in the field of experiential marketing by identifying the factors of the effect of experiential marketing on marine cable cars. It is expected to be able to help the marketing strategy of companies that utilize experience.
Second, the structural model confirmed that the perceived value after the experience had a common effect on satisfaction and delight in the relationship of influence as a driver of satisfaction and delight. Through the verification of the relationship between perceived values and experiential marketing experience factors, the study found that users can feel satisfaction and delight only when they reinforce high value experiences.
Third, it is possible to suggest ways of WOM or SNS sharing through the result that satisfaction and delight have a significant effect on WOM or SNS sharing.
In order to enhance customer loyalty in the marine cable car tourism experience, a marketing strategy that emphasizes sense experience, think experience, and act experience with high experience value that can attract satisfaction and delight is required. If SNS sharing is induced by delight, the spread of information and advertising effects can help to induce new tourists and create economic value of tourist attractions.