The impact of flow and communitas on enduring involvement in extended service encounters

Lee Phillip McGinnis, James W. Gentry, Tao Gao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explores the comparative effects of two antecedents of enduring involvement in determining whether social versus psychological effects are more important in establishing enduring involvement with an extended service encounter. Specifically, the authors look at the effects of communitas-a social effect-and flow-an individual psychological effect-to determine which has a stronger impact on one's enduring involvement in golf. Self-determination theory argues that flow should be more important than communitas in establishing enduring involvement because of higher levels of volitional control; the findings support this premise. From a practical perspective, these findings should help extended service managers determine which service environments or strategies (e.g., social atmosphere strategies vs. game improvement strategies) to emphasize when trying to establish loyal participants. The moderating effects of gender and participation frequency on the relationships between communitas and enduring involvement and between flow and enduring involvement are also examined.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)74-90
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Service Research
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Communitas
  • Enduring involvement
  • Flow
  • Intrinsic motivation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Information Systems
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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