How is Customer Commitment Established in the Era of Experience ? An Impact Mechanism Research on Customer Commitment to Customer Experience from Utilitarian and Hedonic Perspectives

Abstract We are already in the era of experience. Despite the extensive prior discussion of customer experience, there is still a research gap between customer experience and customer commitment. Given that both customer experience and customer commitment have been highly emphasized by industries and academics, and previous studies have identified utilitarian and hedonic values gain much popularity in the experience era, the impact mechanism of customer experience on customer commitment necessitates further explorations from this point of view. Therefore, this study focuses on this research gap and thus proposes a theoretical model from the aspects of utilitarian and hedonic value. After collecting 405 questionnaires and then adopting several statistical methods to examine the theoretical model, this study finds that customer commitment can be constructed through customer experience from both aspects of utilitarian and hedonic value. In summary, this study provides several theoretical contributions to better understand the roles played by customer commitment, customer experience, and the utilitarian and hedonic values of brands or products. Simultaneously, several practical implications are proposed as well.