Perceived Quality of the Service Experience and Delight : What Impact does this have on the Loyalty of Spa Guests at Thalassotherapy Centres ? The Case of TUNISIA

Abstract

In a hyper-competitive environment where offerings are becoming increasingly commoditised and consumers increasingly demanding, the search for new levers of differentiation, beyond functional quality and adaptation to new trends and marketing innovations, is proving essential. Hence the importance of an experiential approach that highlights the central role of the overall customer experience, integrating emotional, relational and symbolic dimensions.
Research in the field of health and wellness tourism is the cornerstone of our research work. Several studies have shown that the factors influencing spa customer loyalty vary mainly according to region and cultural factors. However, the experience of an innovative, appreciated and memorable service, enabling consumers with a real need for emotional, symbolic and spiritual relief to rediscover their enchantment, proves to be an important factor.
Motivated by the managerial deficit, this article aims to study the effects of the novelty dimension of the perceived quality of the consumer experience of a wellness tourism service on spa customer loyalty: the case of Tunisia.
A model combining cognitive and experiential variables (sensation seeking, variety seeking, need for stimulation and delight) is proposed to explain intentions to return to the location.
We followed a hypothetical-deductive approach based on a quantitative questionnaire survey. Data were collected in centres across Tunisia, from north to south. Statistical tests and structural equation modelling were used to study the effects of the perceived quality of the wellness tourism service experience and to test the research model.
The results made it possible to explain and analyse the novelty dimension of the perceived quality of the service experience and show that it provides more intense positive emotions, even delighting customers. In addition, the explanatory power of the affective component (delight) in relation to satisfaction in building spa customer loyalty was clearly demonstrated.
The article also provided a series of practical recommendations for implementing marketing programmes that emphasise innovation in the experiential quality of the offering and target delight as the best tool for building loyalty.