Using Experience Industry Strategies to Increase Quality of Youth Program Experiences

Abstract

We evaluated 4 “experience industry” strategies for enhancing the quality of immediate experiences for 4-H youth: theming, adding multisensory experiences, personalizing interactions, and providing memorabilia. These strategies are commonly used by theme parks, restaurants, resorts, attractions, and other experience industry organizations, but their application to youth services is sporadic. 4-H youth (n = 30) participated in a series of 8 outdoor recreation activity sessions. Each activity session, 1 per week for 8 consecutive weeks, was structured using a unique combination of the 4 strategies. Participants completed questionnaires measuring 5 dimensions of experience quality after each activity session. Theme and personalization of experiences were found to significantly increase experience quality.

Experience Journey Map: A New Experience Design Tool for Structuring Youth Activities

“…Structuring experiences is a critical task for youth development professionals. A well-structured experience, such as an engaging club meeting, an immersive spectator sporting event, or an absorbing concert, may provide youth with delight and perceived value of time spent and generate positive word-of-mouth for the experiences Taggart et al, 2019). In the long run, an array of developmental outcomes may follow from participation in intentionally designed positive experiences, including reduced problem behaviors, heightened psychosocial competencies, increased social competence and emotional adjustment, and overall, thriving (e.g., Arnold, 2018;Mahoney et al, 2005;Witt & Caldwell, 2018).…”