From Search to Experience: Dynamic Reweighting of Evaluative Criteria in Experience-Based Decisions

Abstract

Researchers typically treat platform loyalty in online travel agency (OTA) settings as a static outcome of satisfaction, even though repeated platform use unfolds over time. However, consumers update evaluative judgments through learning and memory as they move from pre-consumption expectations to post-consumption experiences, gradually stabilizing evaluations rather than continuously revising them. To address this gap, we use a two-wave time-lagged survey capturing pre- and post-consumption evaluations to examine when and how satisfaction-based platform loyalty strengthens in OTA-mediated hotel choice. The results show that the relationship between satisfaction and platform loyalty intentions intensifies after consumption. Satisfaction increasingly functions as a decision-guiding cognitive signal. This strengthening reflects experience-driven reweighting of hotel choice attributes. Consumers reweight existing criteria through experience rather than introducing new ones. Notably, the importance of core attributes, especially room quality and online reviews, increases as experience accumulates. Satisfaction and platform loyalty intentions also display significant carryover effects, indicating that prior evaluations shape subsequent judgments through memory-based continuity. By showing that evaluative judgments stabilize through selective reinforcement of existing criteria, this study explains how satisfaction transforms from an outcome judgment to a cognitive anchor for future decisions and underscores the value of longitudinal approaches for understanding early-stage experience-based decision dynamics.