Feeling emotions in the public performing arts sector: does gender affect?

A distinct new development presented by this paper is the analysis of attendees' heterogeneity considering gender and its influence on consumer post-use behavior. The study analyses whether gender moderates the relationship between emotions and post-use behavior in terms of satisfaction and loyalty in public services. A quantitative study was conducted to gather data from 867 Spanish opera-goers of a public opera house through e-mail with a link to a questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested using a multigroup analysis by parametric approach in a structural equation modelling. Gender was found to moderate the relationships presented in the model. Empirical results show that gender provides differences in the effect of emotions in the post-use behavior. Particularly, the effect of the negative emotions in loyalty only exists for female attendees. Moreover, it can be concluded that the positive impact of satisfaction on loyalty is stronger for men than women. Results reveal the importance of managing emotions as well as considering gender differences as segmentation variables. Examining the phenomenon of emotions in context of performing arts, while considering gender as moderator, highlights the originality and contribution of the present study to the public hedonic services.