The Role of Customer Engagement in Sustaining Subjective Well-being After a Travel Experience: Findings From a Three-Wave Study

Abstract

Although customer engagement’s (CE) effects on marketing-related outcomes are well documented, its broader impacts on life domain constructs (e.g., subjective well-being [SWB]) have received less attention. We propose CE as a viable mechanism for prolonging travel’s positive effects on SWB. Specifically, this study adopts a three-wave design to investigate the linkages between destination brand experience (DBE), CE, and SWB over time. Our results indicate that sensory destination experience ( t1) and affective destination experience ( t1) stimulated CE with a destination ( t2), which contributed significantly to SWB ( t3). Findings from this longitudinal study contribute to the literature by demonstrating that CE significantly mediates the effects of the sensory and affective dimensions of DBE on tourists’ SWB over time. The study highlights the importance of CE beyond key marketing performance indicators.

Understanding the Interplay between Wellness Motivation, Engagement, Satisfaction, and Destination Loyalty

“…Their study highlighted the positive effects of wellness motivation on two engagement factors. So, Li, and Kim [ 43 ] conducted a systematic literature review and found that motivation leads to engagement at cultural and heritage sites and travel destinations for special-interest destinations.…”

“…Specifically, previous research found partial mediating effects between engagement, satisfaction, and destination loyalty [ 47 ]. Destination brand engagement positively affects tourists’ destination recommendation intentions and intentions to revisit [ 41 , 43 , 46 , 55 , 56 ]. Therefore, we propose that two engagement constructs positively influence satisfaction and destination loyalty.…”

Social media marketing activities, customer engagement, and customer stickiness: A longitudinal investigation

“…This study concerns tourism, a context in which consumers primarily engage with related services to fulfill hedonic (e.g., fun/entertainment) uses‐and‐gratifications–informed needs (Hollebeek, 2013; So, Kim, et al, 2021). Even though one's immediate post ‐travel recall of trip‐related excitement tends to be high, this feeling is apt to decline as time passes (So et al, 2023). This finding has ample implications.…”

“…This approach can uncover whether variables themselves or other factors contribute to developmental trajectories (e.g., in customers' perceptions) and interacting processes over time (Grammer et al, 2013; White & Arzi, 2005). Longitudinal data also allow researchers to capture constructs' temporal precedence (e.g., Selig & Little, 2012; So et al, 2023), thus clarifying potential causal relationships and how effects apply across time (Mora Cortez & Ghosh Dastidar, 2022). As such, we employ an autoregressive cross‐lagged panel model to measure how one construct (i.e., engagement) affects another (e.g., stickiness) at a later point (Selig & Little, 2012).…”