The shift from a commodities economy to an experiential economy is pinpointed by some experts to the opening of Disneyland in 1955, one of the first theme parks in the world. Since then, the rise of experiential marketing has grown and the demand for a great experience surrounding a product rather than a product alone has increased. Experiential marketing is a relevant and evolving construct, which has gained popularity in the literature. There are many known benefits for a company to retain customers, so what leads to customer loyalty in an experiential marketing setting? The current research examines the impact of three factors on customer loyalty in the original experiential setting – Disney theme parks. Brand Personality, Brand Attachment, and Brand Trust are constructs that have been more widely researched; however the combination of the three of them has not been explored. Picking up where previous studies have left off, the current research surveyed 184 people to determine what leads to their loyalty to the Disney brand. After extensively examining the current literature, collecting primary data in the form of a questionnaire, and analysing the results using statistical software, the study concluded that all three constructs contribute to customer loyalty. However in this experiential setting, Brand Attachment was the biggest determinant in respondents’ desire to return to the theme park. Other contributions of the research include the development of a new Brand Personality scale for the Disney brand and the discovery of a relationship between Brand Attachment and Brand Trust, which has only been explored in a few studies. This dissertation concludes with discussion and implications for management based on the findings.
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Haugan, Aimee
Business
MSc Marketing
2014
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