Co-branding hotel owners and operators to increase willingness to pay

ABSTRACT

Although hotel brands are well established in the industry, customers have not been educated about the different kinds of properties, nor has hotel structure been utilised as a functional marketing tool. Drawing on previous studies, the purpose of this study is to evaluate consumer branding preferences and willingness to pay because of co-branding and informed ownership, operational, or franchise branding. This two-part study looks at consumer awareness and consumer preferences in the first part through semi-structured interviews, and in the second part, an experimental survey. Results reveal that most travellers do not understand the difference between a corporate-owned and -managed hotel and a franchised hotel. Co-branding efforts for management and ownership companies were not significant in both value perceptions and willingness to pay. However, co-branding efforts by ownership companies with parent companies increased their guests’ willingness to pay.

KEYWORDS:

• consumer awareness
• differentiation
• franchise
• hotel structure
• value perception