Assessing the impact of experiential marketing in enhancing customer experience. A Case study on Zimbabwe Tourism Industry.

Abstract

This study examines the impact of experiential marketing dimensions (sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioural factors) on customer experience, satisfaction, perceived brand value, and long-term loyalty within the highly competitive Zimbabwean tourism industry. Grounded in Bernd Schmitt’s (1999) Experiential Marketing Theory and utilizing a positivist, quantitative survey design, data was gathered from 361 domestic and international tourists visiting key destinations across Zimbabwe and analyzed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The empirical findings revealed that all four experiential marketing dimensions significantly and positively influenced overall customer experience, with sensory factors (β = 0.325), affective factors (β = 0.623), intellectual factors (β = 0.440), and behavioural factors (β = 0.260) all recording significant positive effects (p < 0.001). Affective factors emerged as the strongest predictor of overall customer experience. The findings further showed significant positive effects on customer satisfaction, with sensory factors recording β = 0.405, affective factors β = 0.504, intellectual factors β = 0.291, and behavioural factors β = 0.123. Similarly, customer loyalty was significantly influenced by sensory factors (β = 0.289), affective factors (β = 0.539), intellectual factors (β = 0.269), and behavioural factors (β = 0.129). Perceived brand value was significantly influenced by sensory factors (β = 0.276), affective factors (β = 0.483), and intellectual factors (β = 0.291), while the effect of behavioural factors was not statistically significant (β = 0.086, p = 0.085). The structural model also demonstrated significant relationships between overall customer experience and customer satisfaction (β = 0.362, p < 0.001), customer satisfaction and perceived brand value (β = 0.247, p < 0.001), and perceived brand value and customer loyalty (β = 0.247, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis further indicated significant indirect effects within the proposed experiential marketing pathways, supporting the importance of customer experience, perceived brand value, and customer satisfaction in translating experiential marketing activities into stronger customer outcomes. Consequently, the study concludes that deliberate experiential staging is a strategic imperative for national competitiveness, urging tourism operators and policymakers to look beyond functional service delivery and intentionally design integrated sensory, emotional, cognitive, and interactive encounters that transform first-time visitors into loyal brand advocates.