Customer Delight: The Beat of a Different Drummer

Abstract

This paper extends current research on customer satisfaction by addressing the construct of customer delight. We view consumption as performance (e.g., Deighton 1992), acknowledging that customer delight can result from product/service performance or the enactment of the consumer's performance in a consumption venue. In addition to the expectations­ confirmation model of customer satisfaction, we apply social facilitation theory to the study of customer delight. Specifically, social facilitation theory provides an alternative explanation of the arousal positive affect customer delight sequence in that the exogenous catalyst of customer delight is the consumer's performance versus the product's performance. Research propositions are delineated and field notes from participant-observation of a woman's drumming workshop serve as a preliminary exploration of consumption performance and delight. In essence, this paper explores the delight of a different drummer.