A structural model of customer experience in rural tourism

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the diversification of agricultural management for development in rural tourism. Excellent service has been standardized in response to society becoming more service-oriented. However, the structure of customer evaluations of services in rural tourism and their association with customer satisfaction and customer delight remain under-investigated. Design/methodology/approach This study used survey data from the general consumer population in Japan and used SERVPERF to measure service quality post-service, focusing on rural tourism experiences. The author analyzed the mechanisms of service quality leading to customer satisfaction and value co-creation, and value co-creation leading to customer delight and the effects of customer delight compared with those of customer satisfaction, using structural equation modeling. Findings Enhancing services strongly influenced excellent services, which were considered to generate customer delight. Compared with customer satisfaction, customer delight was inferred to lead to higher customer loyalty. The results indicated that core services generated customer satisfaction, whereas enhancing services generated customer delight. Practical implications These findings provide important insights into the provision of services in rural tourism, which is becoming prevalent in society, and contribute to the diversification of agricultural management. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the adoption of rural tourism to diversify farm management, revealing its structure as an experience that leads to customer delight through value co-creation. The author showed that customer experience as a form of value co-creation in rural tourism can lead to the creation of excellent services.