This study examines the specific techniques Disneyland applies to its experience marketing, which have helped it become a theme park leader. In the current marketplace, companies have to create stronger relationships with their customers than just completing deals. It shows this by giving guests experiences that reach them through their emotions, senses, and actions. This research looks at how these strategies affect customer satisfaction, loyalty to the brand, and overall involvement. By using both interviews, surveys, and observations, the study found that themed attractions, sensory experiences, and technology make visitors interact more. The research shows that a large group of visitors get emotionally attached to the park and remain faithful to it because of the unique activities there. At the end of the paper, I give marketing professionals useful tips and remind them that experience marketing should always push to be innovative and compassionate. Other companies can improve their services and loyalty to customers by copying the useful strategies Disneyland uses.
Cite this paper
Gebremedhin, F. T. , Shao, J. , Xia, Y. and Zhou, M. (2025). Exploring Experience Marketing Strategies: A Case Study of Disneyland. Open Access Library Journal, 12, e3673. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1113673.
Bhardwaj, S., Kaushik, N. and Arora, M. (2024) Does Your Brain Have a Buy Button? In: Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services, IGI Global, 210-229. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-4236-7.ch011
Cheung, M. and McCarthy, W. (2018) “Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese” and Faintly American: The Emotional Branding of Disneyland in Shanghai. Semiotica, 2019, 107-133. https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2017-0059
Weinstein, A. (2020) Creating Superior Customer Value in the Now Economy. Journal of Cre-ating Value, 6, 20-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/2394964319898962
Larocca, M.T.G., Ladeira, R., Silva, á.L.L.D. and Mello, R.C. (2020) Experience Marketing: A Study of the Conceptual Aspects. Cadernos EBAPE.BR, 18, 781-793. https://doi.org/10.1590/1679-395120190079x
Petit, O., Velasco, C. and Spence, C. (2019) Digital Sensory Marketing: Integrating New Technologies into Multisensory Online Experience. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 45, 42-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2018.07.004
Thakur, R. (2019) The Moderating Role of Customer Engagement Experiences in Customer Satisfaction-Loyalty Relationship. European Journal of Marketing, 53, 1278-1310. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm-11-2017-0895
Williams, L., Buoye, A., Keiningham, T.L. and Aksoy, L. (2020) The Practitioners’ Path to Customer Loyalty: Memorable Experiences or Frictionless Experiences? Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 57, Article 102215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102215
Park, S.B., Kim, J., Lee, Y.K. and Ok, C.M. (2020) Visualizing Theme Park Visitors’ Emotions Using Social Media Analytics and Geospatial Analytics. Tourism Management, 80, Ar-ticle 104127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104127
Zhang, X. and Kim, H. (2021) Customer Experience and Satisfaction of Disneyland Ho-tel through Big Data Analysis of Online Customer Reviews. Sustainability, 13, Article 12699. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212699
Bai, S., He, H., Han, C., Yang, M., Yu, D., Bi, X., et al. (2023) Exploring Thematic Influences on Theme Park Visitors’ Satisfaction: An Empirical Study on Disneyland China. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 23, 90-106. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2157
Luo, J.M., Vu, H.Q., Li, G. and Law, R. (2020) Topic Modelling for Theme Park Online Reviews: Analysis of Disneyland. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 37, 272-285. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2020.1740138
Oliveri, A.M., Polizzi, G. and Parroco, A.M. (2018) Measuring Tourist Satisfaction through a Dual Ap-proach: The 4Q Methodology. Social Indicators Research, 146, 361-382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-2013-1
Kusumawati, A. and Sri Rahayu, K. (2020) The Effect of Experience Quality on Customer Perceived Value and Customer Satisfaction and Its Impact on Customer Loyalty. Human Systems Management, 39, 219-232. https://doi.org/10.3233/hsm-190564
Sampaio, C. and Régio, M. (2024) Customer Experience and Customer Satisfaction: Assessing Links and Themes in the Hotel Industry. Revista de Estudios Empresariales. Segunda época, 2, 147-169.
Yu, J., Zhang, X. and Kim, H. (2023) Using Online Customer Re-views to Understand Customers’ Experience and Satisfaction with Integrated Resorts. Sustainability, 15, Article 13049. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713049
Li, H., Liu, Y., Tan, C. and Hu, F. (2020) Comprehending Customer Satisfaction with Hotels. International Jour-nal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32, 1713-1735. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-06-2019-0581
Le, D., Scott, N. and Lohmann, G. (2018) Applying Experiential Marketing in Selling Tourism Dreams. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36, 220-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2018.1526158
Soliha, E., Aquinia, A., Hayuningtias, K.A. and Ramadhan, K.R. (2021) The Influence of Experien-tial Marketing and Location on Customer Loyalty. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8, 1327-1338.
Chang, W. (2020) Experiential Marketing, Brand Image and Brand Loyalty: A Case Study of Starbucks. British Food Journal, 123, 209-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/bfj-01-2020-0014
Sandiford, P.J. (2019) The Third Place as an Evolving Concept for Hospitality Researchers and Managers. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 43, 1092-1111. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348019855687
Davey, A., Sung, B. and Butcher, L. (2023) Revisiting Experiential Marketing: A Delphi Study. Journal of Brand Management, 31, 16-37. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-023-00333-w
Mohiuddin, A. (2023) Globalisation, Identity and Resistance. In: Navigating Religious Authority in Muslim Societies, Springer, 17-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44825-6_2
Sharmelly, R. and Klarin, A. (2021) Customer Value Creation for the Emerging Market Middle Class: Perspectives from Case Studies in India. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14, 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14100455
Rane, N., Paramesha, M., Choudhary, S. and Rane, J. (2024) Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning for Advanced Business Strategies: A Re-view. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4835661
Srivastava, M. and Sivarama-krishnan, S. (2022) A Bibliometric Analysis of the Structure and Trends of Cus-tomer Engagement in the Context of International Marketing. International Marketing Review, 39, 836-851. https://doi.org/10.1108/imr-06-2021-0204
Gupta, T. and Bansal, S. (2022) Immersive Horizons: VR and AR in Digital Marketing. Journal of Mar-keting & Supply Chain Management, 1, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.47363/jmscm/2022(1)134
Wichmann, J.R.K., Wie-gand, N. and Reinartz, W.J. (2021) The Platformization of Brands. Journal of Marketing, 86, 109-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429211054073
Fan, A., Shin, H.W., Shi, J. and Wu, L. (2022) Young People Share, but Do So Differently: An Empirical Comparison of Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Consumption between Millennials and Generation Z. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 64, 322-337. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655221119463
Reshetkova, A. (2021) Marketing Campaigns and Sustainability Issues. In: Sustainability and sustaina-ble development, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu, 175-179. https://doi.org/10.18559/978-83-8211-074-6/iii1
Zhang, Z., Liang, Z. and Bao, J. (2021) From Theme Park to Cultural Tourism Town: Dis-neyization Turning of Tourism Space in China. Regional Sustainability, 2, 156-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsus.2021.05.003
Hala, Z. and Luu, T.Q. (2023) Teamwork Makes the Theme Work: A Qualitative Study on Theming and Performative Labour as a Differentiation Strategy on SME Cafés in Sweden.
Tuominen, P. (2023) Measuring the Effects of Multi-Sensory Stimuli in the Mixed Reality Environment for Tourism Value Creation. Man-chester Metropolitan University.
Baker, C. (2021) Creating Cultural and Historical Imaginaries in Physical Space: Worldbuilding in Chinese Theme Parks. Southeast Asian Review of English, 58, 88-108. https://doi.org/10.22452/sare.vol58no1.8
Beeton, S. and Seaton, P. (2017) Creating Places and Transferring Culture: American Theme Parks in Japan. In: Perspectives on Asian Tourism, Springer, 251-267. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5909-4_16
Patrocínio, R.F.D., Souza, J.L.D.A., Santos, C.T.O. and Martins, K.S. (2018) The Vision of the Disney World: An Experience Marketing Study at the Walt Disney Company. Archives of Business Research, 6, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.69.5067
Susanto, B.F. (2023) Eksplorasi Strategi Pemasaran Pengalaman Dalam Industri Pariwisata: Studi Kualitatif Pada Hotel Inhil Pratama Tembilahan. Jurnal Analisis Manajemen, 9, 24-31. https://doi.org/10.32520/jam.v9i1.3199
Shen, J., Xu, M. and Yang, S. (2021) Disney Marketing Strategy Review. 2021 Proceedings of the 2021 3rd International Conference on Economic Management and Cultural Industry, Guangzhou, 22-24 October 2022, 764-770. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211209.125
George, A.S. (2024) Artificial Intel-ligence and the Future of Work: Job Shifting Not Job Loss. Partners Universal Innovative Research Publication, 2, 17-37.
Liu, Q., Luo, D., Haase, J.E., Guo, Q., Wang, X.Q., Liu, S., et al. (2020) The Experiences of Health-Care Providers during the COVID-19 Crisis in China: A Qualitative Study. The Lancet Global Health, 8, e790-e798. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2214-109x(20)30204-7
Bakashbayev, A., Nurgaliyeva, A., Gumar, N., Khamidullina, Z. and Saduakassova, M. (2020) Ex-amining the Trends in Bank Deposits through Internal and External Factors Based on the Supply Chain Strategies: A Primary and Secondary Data Survey. International Journal of Supply Chain Management, 9, 526-536.
Cao, X., Ouyang, T., Balozian, P. and Zhang, S. (2020) The Role of Managerial Cognitive Capability in Developing a Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem: A Case Study of Xiaomi. Sustainability, 12, Article 7176. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177176
Jeungsun Lee, J.A. (2021) A Study on the Qualitative Data Analysis for Customer Experience Management Strategy. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, 12, 249-256. https://doi.org/10.17762/turcomat.v12i5.889
