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1. Introduction
Recently, there has been increased interest in the role of experience in marketing research. Based on the notable contributions of [24] Hirschman and Holbrook (1982) and [46] Schmitt (1999) to the experiential marketing literature, numerous articles and studies dealing with the emotional, experiential and sensory dimensions of marketing now address the implications of this approach on purchasing and consumption behavior ([54] Vigolo, 2007). Among studies emphasizing the highly symbolic and experiential dimension of purchasing and consumption, some interesting insights arise from [42] Ramaswamy's (2009) article entitled "Co-creating value through customers' experiences", which focuses on customer interactions. Experience is not a material or immaterial tool to be sold and transferred from firm to customer; rather, it is co-created through the customer's participation and involvement within a sensory and emotional sphere ([38], [39] Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004a, b; [8], [9] Carù and Cova, 2006, 2007). From these social and emotional relationships, the consumer extracts the value that he or she contributes in order to co-create value ([43] Ravald and Grönroos, 1996; [47] Storbacka and Lehtinen, 2001; [55] Woodruff and Flint, 2006).
Based on this view, emerging firm strategies aim to build strong interactions and trust relationships with the consumer ([38] Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004a; [9] Carù and Cova, 2007).
From an experiential perspective, the point of sale, which is defined here as the space where the interaction between the firm and the customer takes place, assumes a new role. It becomes a cognitive and emotional place ([33] Pellegrini, 2001; [13] Codeluppi, 2001; [10] Castaldo and Mauri, 2008), where firms and consumers build their relationship and emotional exchange occurs. Hence, many companies have developed in-store marketing strategies based on entertainment, design, customer involvement and sensory attributes in order to encourage certain forms of experience, especially in terms of brand awareness and brand value ([13] Codeluppi, 2001; [10] Castaldo and Mauri, 2008), as potential tools for customer value creation ([17] Fox and Sethuraman, 2006; [20] Grewal and Levy, 2007).
Much research has been carried out on experience, investigating the co-creation of value and experiences from a consumer perspective ([12] Chen, 2009). We agree with [23] Hilton (2008), that future research needs to focus on experiences from a managerial perspective, where experiences are co-created by interaction among the...