Job Market Paper

Abstract

The creation of engaging and enjoyable customer experiences is important in many industries, and this enjoyment often extends beyond the physical experience through the memories retained by customers. Yet, despite their importance, there is a lack of research examining how to enhance consumers’ memory of experience and its impact on future behavior in a marketing context. This research investigates how consumers’ viewing of photographs of a past experience affects their remembered enjoyment and behavioral responses. Multiple methodologies such as mobile eye-tracking glasses and life-sized virtual scenarios were used across studies. The results show that, when photo cues are present, consumers remember greater enjoyment, have greater repurchase intentions, and are more likely to share their experience with others. In addition, photographic images can selectively cue specific emotional reactions (positive or negative) associated with a dynamic consumer experience, thereby affecting the consumer’s future behavioral intentions. This research contributes to the growing literature on the customer experience by exploring how consumers can “capture and keep” their past experiences and the associated emotional reactions with photographic images. Furthermore, this research provides managerial insights on how to leverage digital photography to maintain consumers’ memory of enjoyment over time, which brings economic value to the firm.

Keywords: customer experience, memory of emotions, photograph, eye tracking, virtual reality