Hedonic experience of customer re-patronizing intention: a system dynamics viewpoint

This research paper expects to discover the causal relationships between hedonic value and certain factors by using the concept of system dynamics, which is a process-oriented method that can deal with a large number of variables and a higher-order non-linear system. Thus, this research paper’s purposes are to explore the degree of customer delight on re-patronizing intention, investigate the importance of word-of-mouth (WOM) on re-patronizing intention of new customers and discover the gap between service recovery and customer expectation.

This research aims to propose a holistic framework to investigate the factors influencing patronizing and re-patronizing intention by utilizing system dynamics. System dynamics uses simulation to investigate the complex economic system in the society; furthermore, it deals with the decision-making problem. The features of system dynamics include non-linearity, information feedback, time delay and dynamic complexity.

The result showed that customer hedonic value is a major influence. The authors discovered that customer delight, WOM, service recovery and re-patronizing intention are interrelated. The analysis shows hedonic value indirectly influenced customer delight during service experiential process. The result also indicated that a high hedonic value influenced WOM efficiently.

This research aims to understand customer hedonic experience and the important factors that influence service experience. The authors used the concept of system dynamics to analyze the proposed model. A causal loop diagram was used to present the relationships among variables. The results reveal that hedonic value is the most critical factor that influences all the other factors. Customers who experience more hedonic value will accelerate the speed of delivery and amount of WOM. The service experience processes of customer delight, WOM and service recovery will affect the customers’ hedonic value and ultimately affect customers’ re-patronizing intention.