Hotel discount strategies on consumer responses: the role of involvement

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of hotel discount strategies on consumers’ emotional and behavioral responses in the presence of differential levels of involvement in discount acquisition. Design/methodology/approach – Discount strategies and the high- and low-involvement variables were fully cross-examined, yielding a 2 × 2 factorial quasi experimental design. In all, 120 surveys were collected, and multivariate analysis of variance was used for data analysis. Findings – The results suggest that fenced discounts that require consumers to accept restrictions to receive a discount generated more positive emotion and stronger behavioral intention. Moreover, an interaction effect was found between consumer’s involvement and discounts on emotional and behavioral responses toward discount-acquiring experience. Highly involved consumers resulted in more positive emotional and stronger behavioral responses (e.g. pride, gratitude, word-of-mouth and retention) from obtaining a fenced discount that requires consumers’ efforts or sacrifices. On contrary, consumers with low involvement tend to appreciate more of a fixed discount given to anyone without restrictions. Practical implications – Hotels should implement a fenced discount when they design discounts targeting at high-involvement consumers. For low-involvement consumers, a fixed discount appears to generate more positive emotion and stronger behavioral intention. Originality/value – The study enhances the theoretical understanding of consumers’ emotional and behavioral responses toward discount-acquiring experience with different levels of involvement.