When theme tells the story of sport tourism in Taiwan: emotional mediation and fandom differences in baseball-themed concession experiences

This study examines how themed storytelling in a concession stand context shapes emotional and experiential responses, with a focus on the mediating roles of emotion and memorable experience. Grounded in experiential marketing and emotion-memory frameworks, an experimental design compared a Kano baseball-themed concession scenario with a conventional stand. Data from 433 valid responses were analysed using PLS-SEM and multi-group analysis to test serial mediation and fandom-level differences. The results show that the themed scenario significantly enhances emotional responses but does not directly increase memorability. Instead, emotion acts as a critical mediator linking the scenario to memorable experience and experiential value. The serial mediation path (Scenario → Emotion → Memorable Experience → Experiential Value) is positive and significant, highlighting the role of affective arousal in converting themed exposure into lasting value. Multi-group analysis further reveals stronger emotional and evaluative responses among non-fans than fans, suggesting that novelty-driven emotion is more salient for peripheral audiences. Overall, the findings demonstrate that emotionally engaging storytelling, rather than theming alone, drives memorability and perceived value, offering practical insights for sports and event marketers.