Leveraging customer-to-customer interactions to create immersive and memorable theme park experiences

Purpose Theme park experiences ubiquitously unfold in the presence of others. In acknowledgement of this important part of theme park consumption, this research set out to examine if other visitors help create an immersive environment and, in turn, memorable experiences for theme park visitors. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was distributed to 561 theme park visitors. Structural equation modeling (AMOS 26) was used for testing the hypotheses in the proposed framework. Findings Results of SEM analyses reveal the positive impact of perceived similarity on visitors' sense of immersion at theme parks and the memorability of the experience. In turn, memorable experiences further drive behavioral intentions (i.e., return intention and willingness to pay premiums). Practical implications The findings provide suggestions for theme parks to leverage customer-to-customer interactions in order to create immersive and memorable visitor experiences. Originality/value This research marks one of the first attempts to approach customer-to-customer interactions (CCIs) at theme parks by empirically examining the impact of the perceived similarity of others on focal visitors' emotions and experiences.