Examining guests’ experience in luxury hotels: evidence from an emerging market

ABSTRACT

Consumer experience has long been recognised as a key component in influencing consumers’ habits and attracting, pleasing, and retaining customers. The hospitality sector is often regarded as one of the most experience-rich industries. Lately, the idea of a guest’s experience in a luxury hotel has gained popularity. Limited studies have examined the antecedents and outcomes of luxury hotels guests’ experiences. This research bridges the void by constructing relationships among cognitive, affective, and behavioural constructs. A total of 414 guests in luxury hotels were contacted, to figure out factors influencing the guest experience. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data. According to the results, hedonism, ambiance, escapism, personalisation, and convenience influence guests’ experience in luxury hotels, which in turn influence consumers’ positive word of mouth (WOM) and revisit intention. In addition, the moderating effect of the guests’ visit’s purpose was also examined.

KEYWORDS:

• Luxury hotel
• guest experience
• India
• emerging market

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the editors, and anonymous reviewers, for their comments that greatly improved the quality and presentation of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).