Quality-Certified Hotels: The Role of Certification Bodies on the Formation of Customer Behavioral Intentions

This study attempts to explore the role of certification bodies on the formation of customer behavioral intentions. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from hotel customers in Spain. The results of the structural equation modeling indicate that a certified hotel’s image will positively influence stay intention and willingness to pay a premium. At the same time, awareness of, and trust in, certification bodies both have a positive effect on a certified hotel’s image. Finally, awareness of certification bodies also exerts a positive effect on trust in certification bodies. The results offer hoteliers potential strategies for customer behavioral intentions enhancement.

The Impacts of Perceived Risks on Information Search and Risk Reduction Strategies: A Study of the Hotel Industry during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined the impacts of perceived risks on information search and risk reduction strategies as well as the relative importance of each risk reduction strategy. Multiple regression analysis was applied to analyze the sample of South Korean hotel customers and to test the hypotheses of the study. It was found that when hotel customers faced the same kind of risk, they adopted different information search strategies to reduce various risks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, ‘following hotel employee’s advice’ was perceived to be the most important information search strategy to reduce risks. This is the first study to compare the differences of perceived risk and information search strategies under the COVID-19 pandemic and normal conditions to help hotels to develop more effective strategies to recover from the pandemic. The results of the study should be interpreted with care since it was based on Korean hotel customers. The influence of cultural differences in perceived risk and information search strategy should be addressed in future studies. The study contributes to the tourism and hospitality information search and risk reduction strategy-related literature and recommends avenues for further research in the field.

Analysis of the Effect of Service Quality Dimensions on Customer Loyalty through Perceived Value, Image, Consumption Emotion and Customer Satisfaction on Shangri-La Hotel Customers in Surabaya

The growth of the hospitality industry in Indonesia shows a significant number. In this case requires the company to be able to meet customer needs and adjust customer desires in the overnight process so that the company must be able to detect what the needs and desires of its customers are. Therefore, the presence of Shangri-La Hotel Surabaya is very influential in the development of the hotel industry, especially in Surabaya. This study aims to analyze the effect of Service Quality dimensions on Customer Loyalty through Perceived Value, Image, Consumption Emotion and Customer Satisfaction to the Shangri-La hotel customers in Surabaya. The sample used in this study is 250 respondents. For processing and analyzing data in this study, namely by using Amos version 22.0 as software for data processing. This study has 12 hypotheses and all of them have significant results.

The Emotional Impact of Hotel Room Colour in Spanish and Equatorian Tourists

Research suggests that colour plays an important role in creating wellness emotions in hotel customers. This paper considers that tourists’ needs for wellness may be satisfied by manipulating existing elements of a hotel, such as the colour of a hotel room. The paper studies the relationship between tourists’ emotions and the main colour of a hotel room, and also the relationship between that emotion and their intention to stay in the hotel, and even the price that the tourists are willing to pay. Also, the paper studies the role of cultural differences in these relationships, specifically between Spanish and Equatorian tourists.

Exploring the role of intrinsic and extrinsic CSR attributes for customers’ positive behavioural intention in the hotel industry

Purpose Although the characterisation of intrinsic and extrinsic attribution is pervasive and important, this concept is yet to be explored in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) context. Thus, this study aims to study these CSR attributes and examine its influences on hotel customers’ behaviour. Design/methodology/approach This study explores and attempts to distinguish the varying roles of intrinsic and extrinsic CSR attributes. Framed in context of CSR in the hotel industry, the characteristics of CSR practices (e.g. sympathy or rewarding) are hypothesised to lead customers’ motivation to engage in a specific behaviour based on the attribution theory. Findings The target population of 150 hotel customers was surveyed, and the results exhibited that the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of hotel CSR activities increased customers’ purchase intention by improving their level of perceived authenticity. The impact of intrinsic motivation on brand authenticity was found to have a greater influence compared to extrinsic motivation. When customers perceive the authenticity of hotel brands, there is a tendency to exert a positive behavioural intention. However, it was identified that for the hotel industry, only extrinsic motivation had a direct influence on customers’ positive behavioural intention. Research limitations/implications The varying roles of the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of CSR and its impact on customers’ brand authenticity and behavioural intention were identified. Hence, this study conceptually contributes to the existing CSR literature by determining and incorporating the variables that measure the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of hotel CSR activities. Originality/value This study contributes advancements to the hospitality and tourism industry, by expanding the literature to include the identification of significant CSR attributes and strategies that are beneficial, and can be used by companies for their development.

Hotel customer segmentation according to eco-service quality perception: the case of Russian tourists

PurposeThis study aims to explore the components of eco-service quality at hotels and to cluster hotel customers based on their eco-service quality perceptions.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research approach was adapted, and a survey study was performed on Russian tourists staying at the hotels located in Antalya, Turkey. Factor analysis results showed that the eco-service quality variable contains the dimensions of equipment, practice and staff and food. These factors were used to cluster hotel customers, and two groups were obtained as sensitive customers to eco-services and apathetic customers to eco-services. Cluster-based differences were identified by a series of cross-tabulations and regression analyses.FindingsSome socio-demographic and travel choice-related differences were obtained between the customer groups. The results of regression analyses showed that the most important determinant of sensitive customers' overall satisfaction was equipment, which was followed by staff and food and practice. The only significant determinant of apathetic customers' overall satisfaction was equipment.Practical implicationsHotel customers, who have different socio-demographic characteristics, are identified to have also distinct perceptions on the quality of eco-friendly equipment or services. Hence, hotel managers are suggested to develop proactive and value-generating environmentally friendly practices that appeal to different market segments. However, hotel managers should decide on prior areas and prefer low-cost options when “going green”, as some customer-groups do not notice such efforts.Originality/valueFrom the theoretical point of view, this study is original in showing the dimensional structure of the eco-service quality construct and the impact of each dimension on hotel customers' overall satisfaction. Both theoretically and practically, the findings offer valuable implications about the behavioural tendencies of Russian tourists towards eco-hotel practices.