Investigating the Key Routes to Customers’ Delightful Moments in the Hotel Context

Abstract

Based on increased interest in "customer delight," this study identifies specific customer-described delightful experiences and explores factors that influence guests' delightful experiences in the context of the lodging industry. Utilizing the critical incident technique (CIT), two broad groups of factors are emerged-tangibles (i.e., property related) and intangibles (i.e., service related). Within these two groups, five categories are identified as factors of guests' delightful experiences: service-related tangibles, property-related tangibles, professional services, friendly services, and unexpected services. Consistent with previous studies, results from this study show loyalty is strongly represented when customers have delightful experiences. Implications for industry and academia, as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Conceptualising the role of marketing strategies of tourism providers in inducing risk‐taking behaviour

“…Studies underline the role of emotions in influencing customers' behaviour in services' contexts by shaping their information‐processing capability and imploring them to take decisions that can appear to be irrational (Lee & Shea, 2015; Schwarz & Bless, 1991; Yang & Hanks, 2016). This study considers fear as an emotional consequence of the appraisal process that visitors perform and that can eventually lead to risk‐taking behaviour as a means of coping with fear.…”

“…S–O–R paradigm thus represents a ‘chain reaction’ that indicates individuals' mental and behavioural reactions (Chen et al, 2019). Often consumers buy niche products on an impulse (Lee & Shea, 2015; Schwarz & Bless, 1991; Yang & Hanks, 2016). Thus, extreme emotions of fear/anxiety act as stimulus in the process of partaking in dark experiences.…”

Understanding How Residents’ Emotional Solidarity with Airbnb Visitors Influences Perceptions of Their Impact on a Community: The Moderating Role of Prior Experience Staying at an Airbnb

“…Emotions are considered critical in understanding the underlying well-being of consumers in marketing and hospitality literature (Bitner 1992) because emotions can explain variations in individuals' responses beyond and above rational cognitions (Bigné, Mattila, and Andreu 2008;Lashley, Morrison, and Randall 2005;Lee and Shea 2015;Liu, Sparks, and Coghlan 2016). For this reason, emotions have also received greater attention from tourism scholars in recent years.…”

I Earn It, But They Just Get It: Loyalty Program Customer Reactions to Unearned Preferential Treatment in the Social Servicescape

“…Many service, hospitality, and tourism organizations use the strategy of unearned preferential treatment in the form of an unexpected upgrade or with free items (Zhang & Hanks, 2015). Unearned preferential treatment, where extra benefits are offered spontaneously or by chance, is not earned through a customer's past history of purchase or loyal behavior, and it is increasingly used by firms (Jiang et al, 2013) in an effort to create delightful experiences (Lee & Shea, 2015;Torres & Ronzoni, 2018). One of the key elements to delight is that surprise is necessary and that delight leads to customer loyalty (Magnini et al, 2011).…”

“…Various firms use unearned preferential treatment as a key business strategy to surprise and delight customers (Park & Jang, 2015) including United Airlines, Caribou Coffee, and Expedia (Hwang & Mattila, 2018). These free surprises can lead to significant positive outcomes from the customers who receive them, such as increased satisfaction, delight, and loyalty (Lee & Shea, 2015). However, recent studies indicate that the use of unearned free rewards can create unintended unfairness perceptions (Park & Jang, 2015;Zhang & Hanks, 2015).…”