Smartphone use during the leisure theme park visit experience: The role of contextual factors

• Published in: Information & management Vol. 56; no. 5; pp. 742 - 753
• Main Authors: Kirova, Valentina, Vo Thanh, Tan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.07.2019; Elsevier
• Subjects: Business administration; Contextual factors; Humanities and Social Sciences; Leisure experience; Smartphone use; Theme park; Leisure experience; Theme park; Contextual factors; Smartphone use
• ISSN: 0378-7206; 1872-7530
• DOI: 10.1016/j.im.2018.11.008

•This paper is the first to focus on smartphone use in the theme park visit context.•Belk’s model is relevant to analyze the impact of contextual factors on smartphone use.•This study underlines the predominance of relational use in a theme park context.•The impact of contextual factors on smartphone use and leisure experience is stressed.•A conceptual model applied to smartphone use in the theme park visit is proposed. Recent studies indicate the increasingly important role of smartphones in the customer experience. This research proposes and empirically validates a conceptual framework capturing the influence of five contextual factors on the types and intensity of smartphone use and therefore on the leisure experience during a theme park visit. A mixed research protocol combining an ethnographic approach, leisure experience narratives, and phenomenological interviews is constructed. Because of the secluded nature of theme parks, smartphones play a key role during downtime periods and thus allow visitors to enhance their leisure experience through relational and hedonic use.