  In this paper we investigate the verbal expression of shopping experience
obtained by a sample of customers asked to freely verbalize how they felt when
entering a store. Using novel tools of Text Mining and Social Network Analysis,
we analyzed the interviews to understand the connection between the emotions
aroused during the shopping experience, satisfaction and the way participants
link these concepts to self-satisfaction and self-identity. The results show a
prominent role of emotions in the discourse about the shopping experience
before purchasing and an inward-looking connection to the self. Our results
also suggest that modern retail environment should enhance the hedonic shopping
experience in terms of fun, fantasy, moods, and emotions.
