Experiential marketing in tourism: a systematic review of paradigms, mechanisms and experiential outcomes

Abstract

Experiential marketing has emerged as a critical paradigm shift, redefining value creation in the tourism industry from functional transactions to immersive emotional engagements. This study explores this transition by examining how memorable experiences influence tourist behavior through five strategic experiential modules (SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT and RELATE). Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature review was conducted, analyzing 47 peer-reviewed articles from the Scopus database (1991–2024). The analysis explicitly maps the evolutionary trajectory of marketing paradigms, highlighting the pivotal role of Marketing 4.0 as an essential digital transition toward the hyper-personalization of the 5.0 and 6.0 eras. In addition, this review underlines that while immersive technologies and co-creation platforms are widely recognized, their integration with experiential dimensions and psychological mediators, especially the cognitive and affective processes underlying repeated tourist engagement, remains insufficiently addressed in the literature. Finally, the study outlines future research directions related to immersive experiences, psychological mechanisms of loyalty and the role of digital platforms in experience co-creation, emphasizing the need for more structured theoretical and empirical models linking experiential dimensions, psychological mechanisms and long-term tourist commitment despite earlier foundational efforts.