Examining the Mediating Effect of Customer Experience on the Emotions–Behavioral Intentions Relationship: Evidence from the Passenger Transport Sector

The aim of this research is to examine the influence of customer experience on the customers’ emotions–customers’ behavioral intentions relationship. Moreover, this study seeks to obtain data that will help to address this research gap in the passenger transportation industry. A large-scale survey on the coastal line shipping industry was conducted. The random sampling methodology was employed, and the target respondents were ferry passengers. The anonymized questionnaires were completed by 840 passengers. The data were analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and regression analysis. The findings verified application of the adopted (customer experience, emotions) and adapted (behavioral intentions) measurement instruments in the examined customer journey in the passenger shipping sector and indicated the mediating role of customer experience in the relationship between customers’ emotions and customers’ behavioral intentions. A distinguishing feature of this work is that it measures and assesses emotions during the customer journey and not afterward based on recall journeys. Additionally, although academics have carried out extensive research on the emotions–behavioral intentions relationship, very little is known about the role of customer experience in this relationship. Thus, what is not yet clear is the impact of customer experience on the emotions–behavioral intentions relationship. Additionally, the measurement instruments used to test this research hypothesis were empirically tested for the first time in the passenger shipping service environment.