Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of market mavens in the tourist sector and to explore the importance of tourist experience co-creation in increasing loyalty to service providers. A survey was conducted on a sample of 425 Croatian residents who had travelled at least once in the year before the study. Two hypotheses were set and empirically tested by partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). This research confirms that market mavens are inclined to share tourist experiences and to engage in tourist experience co-creation. It also shows that if market mavens are co-creating tourist experience with travel professionals they are more likely to continue to collaborate with the same service provider, hence, demonstrating loyalty. This paper contributes to knowledge of consumer behaviour in tourism by emphasising the role of market mavens in co-creating tourist experience. The scientific contribution is found in testing the influence of market mavens on co-creating tourist experience and loyalty to service providers. The paper also explains the implications for service providers in tourism. Learning about the influence of market mavens on the process of co-creating tourist experience can help service providers to engage more with these individuals to enhance their loyalty.
Highlights
In today’s markets, customers are surrounded by technology that empowers them by enabling communication with other customers and companies
We can conclude that market mavens are inclined to engage in the co-creation process, which leads to an increase in their loyalty to a travel professional, i.e., service provider
The research contributes to a better understanding of the experience co-creation process in tourism and points out the importance of market mavens in this process
Summary
In today’s markets, customers are surrounded by technology that empowers them by enabling communication with other customers and companies. New information and communication technologies provide a plethora of possibilities that empower consumers to obtain information faster and allocate their knowledge and information more efficiently, keeping them well informed Because they are well informed and have access to information, customers empowered in searching for information are influential customers who take an active role in the process of ECONOMIC RESEARCH-EKONOMSKA ISTRAZIVANJA experience co-creation (Jauhari, 2017). Tourist experience co-creation involves collaboration between travel professionals and tourists (Mathis, 2013) or between different tourists or groups of tourists (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004; Prebensen, Chen, & Uysal, 2014; Prebensen, Vittersø & Dahl, 2013) In this process of collaboration in experience co-creation, individuals are able to express their uniqueness, and diverse and specific tourist experiences may emerge, resulting in a personalised experience. For service providers to be successful they must provide an environment that enhances tourists’ unique and personalised experiences (Mossberg, 2007, p. 60) and, enhances tourist loyalty
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