Remembering Together: The Importance of Shared Emotional Memory in Event Experiences

Abstract

Drawing on the wider literature in the psychology and sociology of emotions and memory this study provides new insights into the formation and role of shared emotion in the memory of event experiences. The methodology draws together several data collection methods in order to capture the complexity of emotional response. Thick data are gathered from a single case study friendship pair using a combination of short surveys, physiological measures, photo elicitation, and paired interviews to provide a detailed understanding of the experience from anticipation to recollection and reflection to response. The longitudinal data show that what was felt at the time changes considerably in recollection often becoming more intense as time passes and it is the act of sharing these memories that appears to intensify and alter them. This suggests that the often flawed and certainly mediated memory of the experience has a more influential role to play in attitude formation than previously thought. Furthermore, it is the desire for a feeling of emotional congruity that creates and strengthens this emotional response in remembering. Therefore, the mediated memory of the attendee experience has more influence on behavior than the reality of the experience. It is recommended that event marketers use this understanding to design opportunities, beyond the experience, in which memories can be created and shared.