Abstract
The current study examines how customer engagement initially develops during customer acquisition. The study utilizes a factorial design with videos to represent positive/negative experiences over the course of a potential acquisition. Findings suggest a positive acquisition experience leads to positive customer engagement. Findings also reflect a strong recency effect in that the last interaction of the service encounter provides the strongest impact on customer engagement. As a result, analysis leads to the recommendation that managers focus more on specific events and less on a cumulative impact in order to develop positive customer engagement during acquisition.