Assessing Consumer Enchantment to Guide Product Improvement: The Example of Historic Porto's ‘Magic Train’

Abstract

A total of 231 adult tourists, almost exclusively from European countries, filled out an established enchantment adjective checklist upon completion of their ride on the historic city of Porto's “Magic Train”, which is intended as practical transportation to the city's historical sites, shopping areas, the wine cellars, and important buildings. Using paper-and-pencil questionnaires (English and French versions were provided), riders reported feelings and experiences consistent with the experience of enchantment, emphasizing plainly fun and joyful, accompanied by feelings of being amazed, losing track of time, being in awe, and feeling special. Test takers were all adults over 25, and their overall levels of enchantment showed a significant and positive association with their individual Net Promoter® Scores (r = 0.40) and over 90% of these qualify as "promoters". The overall net promotor score across respondents was 87, which must be deemed exceptional. Enchantment thus can serve as a new and engaging brand promise and consumer motivator. Consistent with greater societal interest in awe-inducing appeal of some extreme sport activities, artistic exhibitions, religious and secular pilgrimages, the most important implication is that the current notion of an “experience economy” should be expanded to become an “enchantment” economy.