Capturing the dynamics of in-process consumption emotions and satisfaction in extended service transactions

Abstract

Can the evolution of consumption emotions and satisfaction along the normal course of extended service transactions be traced and predicted? Ninety-three (49 male, 44 female) consumers of health care services reported in-process positive and negative emotions and satisfaction every day of their hospital stay (median length of stay of 5 days) and global retrospective judgments of the same variables upon departure. Trends in consumption emotions and satisfaction were tested using a dynamic nonlinear model based on assumptions of monotonicity and habituation. Results confirmed that trends in consumption emotions (increasing positive and decreasing negative) and satisfaction (under high in-process positive emotions only) could be modeled with statistical confidence and the model showed a good ability to predict retrospective global judgments. Revealing complex in-process dynamics, higher states of positive emotions magnified increasing trends in satisfaction and higher states of negative emotions dampened increasing trends in positive emotions. In-process satisfaction judgments had no significant impact on trends in either positive or negative emotions. Trends in emotions were influenced by individual (gender) and contextual (health status) conditions. A steeper increasing trend in positive emotions was observed for men (compared to women) while a smoother increasing trend in positive emotions and a smoother decreasing trend in negative emotions were obtained for consumers with poor health status (compared to those with good health status).