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Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 656Proceedings of the 2022 2nd International Conference on Enterprise Management and Economic Development (ICEMED 2022)How the Five Dimensions of Experiential MarketingAffect Customer Satisfaction: Focused on StarbucksYixin TianSchool of Management, Xiamen University*Corresponding author. Email: SylviaTian0420@163.comABSTRACTWith the continuous changes in various social factors, consumer habits have also changed accordingly, opening up theera of experience economy. Industry leaders have adopted different strategies in setting up their experience marketingstrategies for differentiation. Focused on Starbucks, this paper designs an experience marketing measurement scalebased on the five dimensions of experiential marketing proposed by Schmidt and related studies to explore themechanism of experience marketing acting on customer satisfaction. Analyzing the data from the valid questionnaires,it is confirmed that sensory experience, emotional experience, action experience, and association experience all have apositive effect on Starbucks’ customer satisfaction, while the role played by thinking experience is not significantenough.Keywords: Experiential Marketing; Customer Satisfaction; Starbucks; Marketing Strategy1. INTRODUCTIONWith the prosperity of society and economy, peoplepursue a higher quality of life, and the consumptionconcept and consumption behavior have changedconsequently. After experiencing the agriculturaleconomy, industrial economy and service economy, thesocial economy has stepped into the era of experienceeconomy, which was first introduced by the famousfuturist Alvin Toffler in 1970 [1]. It means that theprogress of science and technology has increased producthomogeneity and the intensity of competition in asaturated market. So, creating an unrepeatable consumerexperience has become the key to enhancing brandcompetitiveness.Traditional coffee shops focus on the quality of thecoffee product, the behavior of coffee consumers and thecompetitive activities of the coffee market, often ignoringthe fact that, as a service-oriented industry, coffee shopsalso have the function of creating a great coffee culturalexperience for consumers. Howard Schultz proposed theconcept of ‘third space’ when Starbucks was founded,hoping that customers would no longer treat Starbucks asjust a provider of coffee products, but as an informalpublic space between home and work place. Based on theneeds and emotional demands of target consumers,Starbucks focuses on the context of the customerconsumption experience, creating a casual and relaxingconsumption experience for consumers who live in a rushon a regular basis. Starbucks has thus become thetrendsetter for experiential marketing in the coffeeindustry.Most of the existing research on Starbucksexperiential marketing focuses on how to applycorresponding strategies, but there is a little research onthe mechanism of how experiential marketing affectsconsumers. Taking Starbucks as the research objective,this paper will explore and compare the impact of fivedimensions of experience marketing on customersatisfaction. Finally, based on the findings of the study,management strategies for experiential marketing in thecoffee industry will be given.2. LITERATURE REVIEW ANDASSUMPTION ESTABLISHMENT2.1. Experiential marketingIn existing research, scholars define experiencemarketing from two perspectives: component perspectiveand process perspective. From the perspective ofcomponents, Schmidt, the father of experience marketing,first proposed the definition of experience marketing in2001. He divided experience into 5 dimensions: sensoryexperience, emotional experience, action experience,thinking experience and associative experience.Copyright 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press International B.V.This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license 1

Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 656Businesses can create experiential marketing strategiesbased on each of the five dimensions [2]. In terms of theprocess of experiential marketing, Guoqing Guo, aChinese scholar, believes that experience marketing is amarketing model in which companies design marketingconcepts based on the five dimensions proposed bySchmidt. Companies use their products or services astools for marketing activities to stimulate and satisfycustomers' experience needs so as to achieveorganizational goals eventually [3].2.2. Customer satisfactionH2: Emotional experience created by Starbuckspositively affects the customer satisfaction.H3: Action experience created by Starbuckspositively affects the customer satisfaction.H4: Thinking experience created by Starbuckspositively affects the customer satisfaction.H5: Associative experience created by Starbuckspositively affects the customer satisfaction.3. RESEARCH DESIGNAcademics mainly define customer satisfaction fromtwo perspectives. Scholars who gave definitions from theprocess perspective, such as Hunt, believe that customersatisfaction is based on the feelings of customers after thewhole process of purchasing a product or service. Whenthis feeling is positive, customer satisfaction will begenerated. Others believe that customer satisfaction is astatic state of consumers' inner satisfaction with a productor service. Oliver (1981) proposed a calculation methodof customer satisfaction that equals the actual experienceof consumers minus their pre-purchase expectations [4].3.1. Questionnaire design and data collectionIn empirical studies, different scholars chose differentindicators to measure customer satisfaction. Lau and Lee(1999), in their study of customer satisfaction, classifiedthe indicators of customer satisfaction according to theperformance of the product from consumers’ perspectiveas: “I am not happy with the product; it is not as good asI expected; and I like the product very much.” In 2000,Croninetal added the indicators “I made a wise choice”and “This product and service is exactly what I need.” [5].The survey was conducted on consumers withStarbucks consumption experience, and the results werecollected mainly through the street intercept method andonline questionnaire method. 50 paper questionnaireswere distributed in Starbucks offline stores, and therewere 47 valid results. 170 questionnaires were distributedonline, and 165 valid questionnaires were received. Theoverall questionnaire return rate was 96.4%. The validquestionnaire respondents were 91 (42.9%) males and121 (57.1%) females. The largest number of respondentswere between the ages of 18-21 and 26-30, accountingfor 30.2% and 21.2%, respectively. The monthlyconsumption level of the subjects was concentrated in therange of RMB 3,000-5,000, accounting for 67.5%.2.3. Relation between experiential marketingand customer satisfactionSome scholars have studied the relationship betweenexperiential marketing and customer satisfaction in thecatering industry. Chunlian Luo (2009) classified cafecustomer experience into sensory experience, associativeexperience, community relationship, service experience,and immersion experience [6]. After empirical analysis,all factors are proved to have a positive effect oncustomer satisfaction, except for immersion experience.Yajing Bian (2012) divided brand experience intosensory experience, emotional experience, andassociative experience, and the study showed that allthree dimensions have a direct positive effect oncustomer perceived value, which in turn affects customersatisfaction evaluation [7]. Based on the results of relatedstudies, the following hypotheses for the Starbucks areproposed.H1: Sensory experience created by Starbuckspositively affects the customer satisfaction.To validate the five hypotheses proposed in theprevious module, the questionnaire is designed with 21questions using the five-point Likert scale method.Respondents should score each indicator on a scale of 1to 5 according to the actual situation. At the same time,to ensure the reliability of the data source and to facilitatedata cleaning at a later stage, the questionnaire alsoinvestigated the consumers' gender, age, occupation andmonthly income.3.2. Variables and metrics3.2.1. Independent variables1). Sensory experienceStarbucks connects with consumers through thesenses of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch to create aunique, enjoyable, and memorable sensory experience forconsumers. The visual senses include the layout ofStarbucks stores, the appearance of food and thepackaging design; the auditory senses include thebackground music in the store; the taste senses includethe taste of the drinks and pastries provided by Starbucks;the smell senses are mainly created by the smell of thecoffee beans; the tactile senses include the touch of tables,chairs and tableware; and in some Starbucks Bakerystores, customers can also touch the coffee beans.742

Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 656Table 1. Sensory Experience Measurement ScaleExperiential Marketing DimensionMeasurementVisual experienceAuditory experienceSensory experienceTaste experienceSmell experienceTactile experience2). Emotional experienceintegrate emotional elements into the consumptionscenario [8].Since its inception, Starbucks has been committed tocreating a "third space" outside of the workplace andCustomers can invite families, lovers and colleagueshome for customers. Based on deep insight of customers'to Starbucks for a relaxing and enjoyable get-together.emotional needs, they provide the appropriate stimulus toTable 2. Emotional Experience Measurement ScaleExperiential Marketing DimensionMeasurementFeel relaxed and joyfulEmotional experienceEase the stressEnhance the relationship with peersFeel cared by attendants3). Action experienceAction experiences emphasize that the brand engagesconsumers to spontaneously take part in activities thatmay change or enrich their lives. As a place with strongsocial attributes, Starbucks provides consumers withopportunities to freely and regularly interact with friends.At the same time, some stores (such as the StarbucksRoastery in Shanghai) hold regular events wherecustomers can experience the entire process of coffeegrinding and making, deepening their understanding andknowledge of coffee.Table 3. Action Experience Measurement ScaleExperiential Marketing DimensionMeasurementChange lifestylesAction experienceFeel a high sense of interaction with othersParticipate in related branding activities4). Thinking experienceIn the thinking experience dimension, Starbucksinspires customers to think about Starbucks products andservices by providing them with professional coffeeknowledge, such as how the origins and roasting methodsaffect the taste of coffee. Through reflection andspontaneous learning, customers can deepen theirunderstanding of the coffee culture and develop anemotional bond with the brand.Table 4. Thinking Experience Measurement ScaleExperiential Marketing DimensionMeasurementCuriosity is arousedThinking experienceGain new knowledgeThink about brand connotation5). Associative experienceThe associative experience is the highest level ofconsumer experience, providing customers withculturally charged activities that create a sense ofconnection and belonging to a specific social group.Through its deep brand history, distinctive brand image,and expensive pricing, Starbucks creates an associative743