Unravelling relational dynamics between experiential value and customer engagement: Does customer gender matter?

Considering the strategic significance and contemporary scholarly investigations into the characteristics and dynamics of experiential value and engagement, this study empirically investigates the relational dynamics between experiential value and customer engagement in a service setting. Using structural equation modeling, this study analyzed data collected from 355 customers of selected fine dine up-scale restaurants of North-Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The results corroborate multiple dimensions of experiential value such as aesthetics, service excellence, playfulness, and customer return on investment as critical drivers of customer engagement. The results further reveal a strong positive association between customer engagement and customers’ revisit intention and their willingness to pay a premium price. The moderation results reveal that the effects of service excellence and customer return on investment are moderated by gender, whereas the effects of aesthetics and playfulness remain invariant across males and females. The results were further validated by repeating the study on another sample set. This study contributes by suggesting experiential value and customer engagement as sustainable marketing approaches to service marketers interested in designing fine dine restaurants in ways that adequately attract customers, drive their revisit intentions, and encourage them to even pay more money.