A theory of structured experience

ABSTRACT

We extend Duerden, Ward, and Freeman’s [2015. “Conceptualizing Structured Experiences.” Journal of Leisure Research 47 (5): 601–620] ‘structured experience’ framework by proposing a formal theory of structured experiences. The theory advances propositions about how leisure service providers may structure environments and interactions to facilitate specific subjective experiences for guests and participants. Following the Duerden, Ward, and Freeman (2015) paper, the theory of structured experience is an integration of literature from leisure studies, tourism, and marketing. Formal definitions are provided for four co-created subjective experiences: immersion, absorption, engagement, and deep structured experience. Propositions about specific strategies providers can use to facilitate these experiences and to promote perceived value, positive affective responses, and delight are also provided. The paper concludes with a discussion of select research topics that follow from the theory.

KEYWORDS:

• Structured experience
• immersion
• absorption
• engagement
• deep structured experience
• formal theory

Acknowledgement

The authors extend our appreciation to Dr Peter Witt, whose review and critique enabled us to substantially improve the quality of our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Gary D. Ellis is Professor and former Department Head at Texas A&M University.

Patti A. Freeman is Associate Dean of General Education at Brigham Young University.

Tazim Jamal is Associate Professor of Tourism at Texas A&M University.

Jingxian Jiang was a doctoral student at Texas A&M University when this paper was written. She is now Adjunct Professor at Frostberg State University.