Toward a theoretical framework of service experience: Perspectives from Customer Expectation and Customer Emotion

Abstract

Satisfactory service experience not only enables customers to have wonderful memories but also attracts more customers. Managing service experience clues for influencing customers’ rational and emotional perceptions of services is critical to creating satisfactory service experience. To our knowledge, no recognised theories or propositions interpret the existing phenomenon of service experience. This study aims to propose a theoretical framework to aggrandise the foundation of service experience by considering customer expectation and emotion. The purposes of this study are to clarify the relationships among customer expectation, emotion and service experience, and to explore and develop a theoretical framework of service experience. This study uses a multi-method to evaluate the theoretical framework of service experience by analysing a B2B case study. The analysis results from interviews and questionnaires provide solid evidences to support the proposed theoretical framework of service experience.