Facebook Pages Content, Does it Really Matter? Consumers’ Responses to Luxury Hotel Posts with Emotional and Informational Content

ABSTRACT

This paper examines clients’ responses to luxury hotel posts with either an informational or an emotional appeal. The luxury hotel industry is selected for its hedonic characteristics and its use of Facebook as a branding tool. An experiment with repeated measurement was conducted involving 45 young adults, clients of luxury hotels, and users of Facebook. An informational appeal is more effective in improving the attitude toward the hotel signature (“Sheraton”, in the context of this study) and in improving the perception of quality than an emotional appeal. Yet, the content of the posts has no influence on the intention to stay at the hotel and the intention to follow the hotel on Facebook. Managerial implications are drawn on the choice of content of Facebook pages.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• Facebook
• emotional appeal
• informational appeal
• luxury hotels

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marie-Cécile Cervellon

Marie-Cécile Cervellon is Professor in Marketing Department, EDHEC Business School, 24 Avenue Gustave Delory, Lille, 59057 France (E‐mail: [email protected]).

Danielle Galipienzo

Danielle Galipienzo, International University of Monaco, 2 bd Albert II, Monte Carlo, Monaco (E‐mail: [email protected]).