Delightful tourism experiences: A cognitive or affective matter?

There are many times that we, as tourist consumers, have been more than satisfied. We have been delighted with the product or service received. However, do we know the factors which affect our delight as customers? Are they affective or cognitive factors? The objective of this article is to empirically identify delighted consumers and the factors associated with these memorable tourist experiences when the threshold of satisfaction is exceeded. To this end, the authors used structural equation modelling to test a model based on a sample of 400 tourists obtained through a survey. The findings revealed that a consumer's positive affective state of delight seems to be affected largely by cognitive-affective antecedents. Specifically, the cognitive dimension encompasses three main factors of the tourist service: the customer-service interaction, the staff and the availability of the service. However, the tourist's happiness, as the main affective dimension, is also emphasised.