Capturing Consumption Emotions in Service Encounters

Abstract

This paper examines the methodological arguments for using ‘SMS diaries’ to capture the emotions experienced by consumers of services at the very moment they are being felt. The objective of the methodology was to capture the emotions that patrons experienced in real time, in a manner that gives them the freedom to express these feelings in their own words, without having to adhere to a predefined list of emotions, which could potentially be considered restrictive. The importance of capturing emotions as they are being experienced cannot be overstated, as previous studies (and indeed the one outlined here) have evidenced that consumers can forget the emotions they have experienced when asked to recall them in retrospect. Using mobile phones to capture consumption experiences has found some take-up in consumer research, but not in the context of the emotional ‘journeys’ that customers experience in service situations. These emotional episodes are important to understand as they can influence customer satisfaction levels and the overall evaluative judgements of service providers. The SMS diaries used here proved to be an effective and compelling way of learning about the consumption emotions that patrons experienced while using a variety of services.