Examining the Guest Experience in Themed Amusement Parks: Preliminary evidence from China
Abstract
This study aims to identify the perceived important attributes of themed amusement parks in China and to assess any gaps between the levels of importance and satisfaction with regard to guests’ experiences. The theme park attributes, developed by the previous research, were adapted as a theoretical basis for this study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in six major Chinese theme parks to domestic visitors who ranked the levels of importance and satisfaction of Chinese theme park attributes during their visit. The results indicated that the most important attributes impacting visitors’ satisfaction were staff’s knowledge of the theme park, safety of roller coasters, security of the park, and ticket price. An importance–satisfaction analysis divided all the attributes into four categories proposed by Martilla and James. The majority of the attributes fell into the category of “Concentrate Here.” Managerial and marketing implications regarding the results were discussed.