Differences and Similarities in Perceptions of Hotel Experience: The Role of National Cultures

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on demonstrating the differences and similarities between and among Western and Asian customers in terms of travelers’ evaluation of satisfaction, perceived value, and attribute quality in a Hong Kong hotel setting. It has been noted that national culture has a substantial impact on travelers’ expectations and perceptions. The results show that satisfaction, perceived value, and hotel attribute evaluations are significantly higher for Western than Asian travelers. We also found considerable similarities between Australian, Canadian, and British travelers and also between Singaporean and Chinese travelers. In addition, American travelers’ ratings are closest to the average of the total sample compared with travelers from other countries, while Japanese travelers demonstrate the highest expectations and needs among the target nations.

KEYWORDS:

• Attribute quality
• culture
• perceived value
• satisfaction
• hotel

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [71322202, 71490722] and the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University [NCET-13-0179].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ziqiong Zhang

Ziqiong Zhang is Professor, School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, 92 West Dazhi Street, Harbin 150001, China (E-mail: [email protected]).

Hengyun Li

Hengyun Li is a PhD student, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, University of South Carolina, USA (E-mail: [email protected]).

Rob Law

Rob Law is Professor, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]).