The theory of attractive quality and experience offerings

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to discuss the use of the theory of attractive quality and the Kano methodology in an experience context in order to understand how different experienced attributes contribute to delight and satisfaction among customers. Design/methodology/approach – The study applied theoretical and quantitative approaches in order to examine the theory of attractive quality and the Kano methodology. A total of 270 respondents responded to the survey instrument, which was based on qualitative interviews. Findings – The research showed that existing questions and answering alternatives included in the Kano methodology must be adapted to the nature of experiences. The paper contributes in the form of a new evaluation table, having shown that existing tables were invalid in relation to the importance rating and the Must‐Be>One‐dimensional>Attractive>Indifferent evaluation rule. Finally, the paper also shows how hedonic attributes create delight and utilitarian attributes create satisfaction, which contributes to a holistic offering. Practical implications – Managers should address the fact that simply including an attribute is not sufficient; they must also consider its nature and how it performs and attach to the offering when studying experiences to understand how it contributes to either delight or satisfaction. Originality/value – To date, few studies have addressed or discussed the consequences of applying the theory of attractive quality and the Kano model – including its rules for classification – to experience‐based offerings. The present article does this and also offers a theoretical extension of the theory of attractive quality and service marketing in terms of how customers holistically consider value and how Kano survey results should be analysed.