THE ROAD TO GUEST DELIGHT: AN EMPIRICAL EXPLORATION IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
Abstract
Obtaining guest delight has been highly emphasized by every hotel in the present era of intense competition for securing guest loyalty. This study, therefore, aims to show how guest delight is formed in the hotels. It involved interviews of 500 repeat guests of 62 hotels in the 5 star deluxe, 4 star, 3 star, Heritage Grand and unclassified categories in India. Only guests on repeat visit to these hotels were included as sampling elements in this study as guest delight is applicable only to them. It was noticed that 46 variables including food and beverage quality,
availability of food and beverage variety, hygiene of food and beverage etc. influence surpassing of guests' expectations in these hotels. It is established in this study that surpassing of expectations of the guests affect their perception on pleasant surprises which, in turn affect their consequent happiness. Such happiness along with their perceived excitement and perceived positive feelings create a delighting experience for them.
References
Berger, C., Blauth, R., Boger, D. et. al. (1993). Kano's methods for understanding customer-defined quality. The Journal of the Japanese Society for Quality Control, Fall, 3-35.
Berman, B. (2005). How to delight your customers. California Management Review, Fall, 129-151.
Burns, A., Barrett, R., Evans, S., & Johansson, C. (1999). Delighting Customers through Emphatic Design. 6th International Product Development Management Conference Cambridge, UK.
Burns, A., Evans, S., Johansson, C., & Barrett, R. (2000). An investigation of customer delight during product evaluation. 7th International Product Development Management Conference, Leuven, Belgium.
Choi, T.Y., & Chu, R. (2000). Levels of satisfaction among Asian and Western travelers. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 17(2), 116-131.
Chowdhury, U.K. (2009). Delighting customers: An exploration into the discriminating factors. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 20(2), 253 - 266.
Crotts, J.C., Pan, B., & Raschid, A.E. (2008). A survey method for identifying key drivers of guest delight. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20(4), 462-470.
Finn, A. (2006). Generalizability modeling of the foundations of customer delight. Journal of Modelling in Management, 1(1), 18-32.
Goswami, S., & Sarma, M.K. (2010). Customer Delight in the Hotel Industry: An Exploratory Study" , National Conference on Science and Technology Applications in Tourism Sector focusing on Uttarakhand Opportunities, Dehradun, India.
Goswami, S., & Sarma, M.K. (2011). Guest Delight: It's Significance in the Hotel industry. IUP Journal of Marketing Management, 10(2), 64-84.
Groenenboom, K., & Jones, P. (2003). Issues of security in hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15(1), 14-19.
Heung, V.C.S. (2000). Satisfaction levels of mainland Chinese travelers with Hong Kong hotel services. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(5), 308-315.
Kano, N. (1984). Attractive quality and must-be quality. The Journal of the Japanese Society for Quality Control, April, 39- 48.
Keiningham, T.L., & Vavra, T.G. (2001). The Customer Delight Principle. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
Leventhal, L. (2008). The role of understanding customer expectations in aged care. International Journal of Health Care Quality assurance, 21(1), 50-59.
Lynch, J.J. (1993). Managing The Delight Factor (1st ed.). Bedford: IFS International Limited, 1.
Mohsin, A., & Lockyer, T. (2010). Customer perceptions of service quality in luxury hotels in New Delhi, India: An exploratory study. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(2), 160-173.
Oliver, R.L., Rust, R.T., & Varki, S. (1997). Customer Deligfht: Foundations, Findings, and Managerial Insight. Journal of Retailing, 73(3), 311-336.
Pizam, A., & Ellis, T. (1999). Customer satisfaction and its measurement in hospitality enterprises. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 11(7), 326-339.
Poon, W., & Low, K.L. (2005). Are travelers satisfied with Malaysian hotels?.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 17(3), 217-227.
Reader's Digest Universal Dictionary (1988). London: Readers Digest Association Limited.
Rust, R.T., & Oliver, R.L. (2000). Should We Delight the Customer?. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 86-94.
Sauerwein, E., Bailom, F., Matzler, K., & Hinterhuber, H.H. (1996). The Kano Model: How to delight your consumers. International Working Seminar on Production Economics, 1(9), 313-327.
Skogland, I., & Siguaw, J. (2004). Are your satisfied customers loyal?. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 45(3), 221-34.
Stewart, T.A. (1997). A Satisfied Customer Isn't Enough. Fortune, 136, 112-113.
Torres, E.N., & Kline, S. (2006). From Satisfaction to Delight: a model for the hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 18(4), 290-301.
Tsang, N., & Qu, H. (2000). Service quality in China's hotel industry: A perspective from tourists and hotel managers. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(2), 316-326.
Webster Comprehensive Dictionary- Encyclopedic Edition (2001). Chicago: Ferguson Publishing Company.
Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J., Gremler, D.D., & Pandit, A. (2008). Services Marketing (4th ed.), New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.
Downloads
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Manuscript submitted to ASEAN Journal on Hospitality and Tourism has to be an original work of the author(s), contains no element of plagiarism, and has never been published or is not being considered for publication in other journals. The author(s) retain the copyright of the content published in ASEAN Journal on Hospitality and Tourism. There is no need for request or consultation for future re-use and re-publication of the content as long as the author and the source are cited properly.
