Understanding the sense-making process of visitor experience in the integrated resort setting: Investigating the role of experience-centric attributes

Almost all existing customer experience research has been based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm or the interaction-based perspective, and very few on the sensemaking theoretical perspective. This study aims to address this gap by developing and testing an integrated conceptual model of customer experience creation based on the sensemaking theory. Focusing on the case of six luxury integrated resorts in Macao, the findings indicate that experience-centric attributes significantly affect self-image congruity and sense of place respectively, which in turn are positively and significantly related to subjective well-being. In addition, both self-image congruity and sense of place play a mediating role between customer-centric experience and subjective well-being.