Abstract
Predicting consumers’ hotel choice
is influenced by several different factors. The consumer decision-making
process in hotel choice selection is influenced by hotel product, received
information, and personal preferences. This study focuses on different factors
which represent the reasons for consumer’s decision making in hotel selection
and market segmentation with regards to the analysis of hotel attributes
(factors) sought by international consumers. The findings of the study indicate
that hotel guests can be divided into four different segments (clusters) with
similar characteristics based on the reasons why customers choose a particular
hotel. The results of the study can be applicable in defining an appropriate
mix of marketing strategies on the part of hotel management.
SECTION I
INTRODUCTION
In the highly competitive marketing
environment in the hospitality industry, it is essential that companies
understand consumers and their decision- making as they seek to gain a
competitive advantage. Those hoteliers with a clear vision of consumer (guests)
needs will survive and progress. Unfortunately, marketing research in hotels is
still mainly limited to the analysis of guest related data, based on
socio-demographic and geographic data collected while the guest is making the
reservation or upon registration. This simply cannot be sufficient in an
attempt to better understand the guest’s decision-making behaviour.
Understanding consumers in their decision-making processes in order to predict
their future intentions is vital to their business success. In this regard, Niininen
et al. (2006) consider a relatively new trend in marketing consumer-centric
marketing, which can be incorporated into customer relationship marketing. For
companies it is important to have an insight into the general characteristics
of their clients and allows them to understand the motivations, attitudes and
values that shape consumer opinions (Niininen et al., 2006). How and why they
choose a particular hotel, what the motives and reasons in the purchase
decision are – these are some of the questions that are of interest to
marketing management, as well as of psychology, marketing, and
consumer-behaviour theories (Han & Kim, 2010). In recent research into the
hospitality industry, researchers have showed the use of product attributes in
predicting consumer preferences and segmenting markets (Bell & Morey,
1997). Researchers have frequently used motivational and emotional elements to
accurately predict a wide range of customer intentions and behaviours (Perugini
& Bagozzi, 2001). Industry researches tend to focus on motivation or
product attributes in the hospitality industry which are relevant to the
consumers’ decision making process.
More traditionally investigated consumer
characteristics are socio-demographic and geographic patterns that might potentially
influence the purchase decision. They use criteria such as age, family life
cycle and more traditional geographic criteria (Swarbrooke & Horner, 1999).
For example, Lepisto & McCleary (1992) segmented the hotel markets based on
age. McClear et al. (1994) investigated the genderbased differences in business
travellers. A “combination of multiple variables” in market segmentation has
often been recommended in several major hospitality and tourism studies (Kotler
et al., 1998). For instance, other dimensions which influenced consumers’
decision making behaviour include activities, values, involvement,
psychographic factors and other similar factors. A generation of consumer
research has used the theories and techniques of social sciences in order to
understand consumer behaviour (Foxall et al., 2005). Hotel choice behaviour
involves a decision-making process consisting of a number of separate but
interlinked stages and choice criteria are central to the process. Past studies
investigated the most important choice criteria in hotel selection. For
instance, Yavas & Babacus (2005) determined the baseline of hotel choice
criteria for the business and leisure segments. They attempted to ascertain the
extent of consistency between the segments while the general amenities
dimension was the most important factor for both groups, the other factor
demonstrating core service was the third most important for the business and
second most important for the leisure traveller. On the other hand, Rivers et
al. (1991) showed that a hotel’s location is an essential factor which strongly
influences a tourist’s hotel selection decision. For instance, studies by Clow
et al. (1994) indicated that the important attributes influencing leisure
travellers’ hotel choices were security, personal interactions, and room rates.
On the other hand, is branding
growing in importance for a consumer while making a decision about which hotel
to choose? Lamey et al. (2007) in their research concluded that the branded
hotel could have a significant effect on consumer decisions, as well as
marketing activities in the advertising offer. A review of these writings
suggests that different individual attributes and factors are used while
choosing a hotel. The consumer decision-making process while choosing a hotel
is under the influence of important factors related to the characteristics of
the hotel product, received information and personal preferences. With this in
mind, this study focuses on different factors which represent the reasons for consumer’s
decision-making in hotel selection.
Statement
of the Problem
Societal
factors of an increase in disposable income, leisure time, and political
stability all have the potential to contribute growth in hospitality industry.
Many developing countries turn to hospitality and tourism as an economic
development strategy for poor communities (Hampton, 2003). Consequently, the
hospitality industry has grown both larger and more competitive; and
organizations in the hospitality industry have more pressures. The hotel
preferences of the students cannot be identified, which will lead hotels to
confront with significant and serious problems, such as losing customers. Thus,
the increasing competition in the hotelling sector made it unavoidable to
determine the opinion of the individuals of the hotelling sector.
In order to be able to survive in the existing
intense competitive environment, the hotels started to attach more importance
to the concept of customer preference. It is widely recognized that hotel
customers’ satisfaction has been successfully used to measure the quality of
hotel service and overall performance. The hotels must know about the target
customers very well and identify requirements and develop strategies to achieve
the requirements. This study was conducted to identify factors that influence
the consumer’s choice of hotel, which have significant effects on customer’s
hotel preferences.
Research
Objective
The research objectives are to:
Ø determine the reasons for choosing a
hotel,
Ø determine the socio-demographic
characteristics of hotel guests,
Ø define segments (clusters) of guests
based on the reasons for choosing a hotel,
Ø Statistically test the given
hypothesis.
Ø Business
and Organizations should design their products / services to meet
consumer/customer needs and wants
Ø They
should also focus on those people most likely to buy their product rather than
the entire mass market
Ø They
should also develop marketing efforts that fit into their overall business
objectives.
The
adoption of this concepts will not only provide the consumers/ customers with
better products but will also help in saving valuable time that may be wasted
developing and promoting a product or service nobody wants.
SECTION II
Review of Related Literature
Consumer
decision-making process
The range of the psychological
processes by which an individual chooses to buy a product or a service is
complex and difficult to measure. The mind of the consumer has been described
as a black box, which shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer
characteristics, decision-making processes and consumer responses (Sandhusen,
2000). This means that it can observe what goes in and what comes out, but what
actually happens inside the consumers’ minds remains a mystery. Consumers are
exposed to two kinds of stimuli: a) the marketing stimuli which are under
control, planned and processed by marketing managers and b) the environmental
stimuli, which are beyond marketing control, and based on the economic,
political and cultural circumstances of a society. In the content of the black
box are the consumer’s characteristics, such as attitudes, motivation,
perceptions, personality, lifestyle, and the decision-making process, which
determines the consumer’s response. Sproles & Kendall (1986 in Decrop &
Snelders, 2005) define a consumer’s decision-making process as ‘a mental
orientation characterizing the consumer’s approach to making choices’ and
consider it to be a basic aspect of the consumer’s personality. They also
provide empirical support that decision-making processes are largely
independent of culture. Solomon et al. (1999) considers that consumers
constantly face decisions regarding the selection of products and services. Ule
& Kline (1996) defined selection between alternatives important to
consumers because they have to choose between two or more alternatives;
otherwise, they are forced to buy a particular product or service. Consumers
seek and use information on products and services as part of their rational
problem-solving in the decision-making process. Traditionally, these purchases
needed brochures and contacts with a travel agent, however, today all the
required information can be found on the internet and consumers can compare the
information relatively easily. Belch & Belch (2007) explained that
consumers undertake both an internal (memory) and an external search. Sources
of information include personal, commercial, public, and personal experience.
Bargeman & Poel (2006) pointed out that tourists are looking for information
in four basic sources, such as neutral sources (tourist office in the
destination), business (travel agencies, tour operators), social and welfare
(friends, relatives, acquaintances) and promotional resources (print, radio,
television, internet). The informative and persuasive functions of advertising
are thus of immense importance, but so are interpersonal influences. Indeed,
several studies indicate that informal, word-of-mouth communication may be much
more effective than formal advertising in moulding consumer decisions (Engel et
al., 1995; Kotler et al., 1998; Foxal et al., 1998). The consumer’s personal
experiences have an impact on decisions not to seek additional information
(Engel et al., 1995). Before the final purchase decision, consumers evaluate
various alternatives based on information received. The evaluation process
becomes particularly difficult when the product is hotel accommodation, as
hospitality service is intangible in nature (Levitt, 1981). In case of hotel
choice selection, this information is based on the characteristics of a product
or service, quality, price, facilities, location, reputation etc. In making a
genuine purchase decision, the consumers weigh which of these attributes give
them more relevance and attention related to their own personal values, needs,
and preferences. Therefore, they evaluate the worthiness of each attribute of
each multi-attribute product alternative, sum up all these attribute values for
each product and then select the one with the highest net value.
Services in Hospitality Industry
Generally,
hospitality services are described in four unique attributes terms,
intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability. Although the
rooms’ costs, service amenities availability, and proximity to tourism
destinations are all extremely important factors in consumer’s hotel
selections, the lodging industry should be conscious of how important it is to
look beyond current service items and characteristics.
Customer
Satisfaction
Oliver
(1981) defined customer satisfaction as a customer’s emotional response to the
use of a product or service. That means service satisfaction is a function of
consumers’ experiences during the period of service encounter. Findings from
previous research state that most travelers consider the following hotel
attributes when choosing a hotel: cleanliness, location, room rate, security,
service quality, and the reputation of the hotel chain (Knutson, 1988; Choi
& Chu, 2000; Ndhlovu & Senguder, 2002). There are two important principles
learned by the guest service industry. One is that what hotels are providing on
the settings should match customers’ expectation. Another one is that to create
an environment that meets customers’ needs for safety,
security, support, competence, physical comfort and psychological comfort
(Fottler, Ford, Roberts, Ford, & Spears Jr., 2000). Service satisfaction is
a function of the setting and the consumers’ experiences during the service
encounter. The lack of quality services can also cause hotel businesses
unbearable loss. In other words, satisfying customers is especially important
to encourage repeat business and fosters word-of-mouth advertising (Spinell
& Canavos, 2000).
Customer Loyalty
Generally speaking, customer loyalty may be defined as an
attitude toward the loyalty object or as repeat patronage behavior; also, the
definition may combine attitude and behavior in an additive or an interactive
expression (East, Gendall, Hammond, & Lomax, 2005). Like any interpersonal
relationship, a customer-oriented business relationship is dependent on trust.
Trust is rooted in the customer’s belief that keeps customers satisfied on core
business attributes and helps a business increase customer loyalty (Bhatty,
Skinkle, & Spalding, 2001). Facing the competition, the hospitality
industry should realize how consumers view hospitality services and focus on
customer satisfaction to retain customers.
SECTION
III
Consumer
Decision under the Influence of Various Factors
Predicting consumers’ hotel choice
is influenced by several different factors. These are composed in dimensions
which are linked to the attributes of the hotel product, marketing activities
and personal characteristics of consumers. Hotel products can be viewed as
bundles of various attributes which directly influence choice and they may
arouse the consumers’ purchase intentions and differentiate themselves from
their competitors’ offers (Alpert, 1971). Important elements which create the
competitive advantage of the hotel are:
Ø product
Ø location
Ø product
offers and services
Ø quality
Ø Price
and reputation.
Wuest et al. (1996) defined
perceptions of hotel attributes as the degree to which travellers find various
services important and to the customers’ satisfaction. Bull (1998) stresses the
importance of location for product differentiation in the hospitality industry
which produces “place-sensitive products”. In the marketing literature there is
a rising level of importance placed upon hotel branding and brand is treated as
part of the firm’s intangible asset value (O’Neill & Belfrage, 2005) which
also has an important influence on consumer decision-making in choosing a
hotel. Given the complicated nature of different attributes, various marketing activities
and strategies can be launched based on an understanding of consumers’
perceptions of important attributes.
Furthermore, other different types
of variables may also influence the consumer’s decision-making process. These
dimensions include
v Socio-demographics
v Behavioural characteristic
v Motivation and geographical Factors
(Lamb et al., 2002)
Socio-demographic
dimension, for example, refers to the reference group, family members,
acquaintances, friends etc. Among demographic factors which influence
decision-making, are age, gender, education, lifestyle, personality and income
(Saha et al., 2010). However, marketing managers realize that they have certain
power and influence on the purchase choice decision (Kotler & Armstrong,
2001). The key activities of hotel marketing communication may prove relevant
in the consumer decision-making process. Among the factors that influence the
choice of hotel, we highlight some competitive advantages in the present study
such as location, hotel facilities, and the recommendations of friends/tourist
agency, personal experiences, price and advertising. Wilkins (2005) points out
that marketers with a better understanding of researched links and impacts can
perform more targeted marketing activities designed to persuade guests.
Figure
1: Statistics of Guests Choice of Hotel
Globally
SECTION IV
Methodology
The purpose of this study is to
define different segments of guests based on different factors which represent
the reasons for guest decision-making in choosing a hotel, as well as
socio-demographic data. The fundamental question addressed in this study is if
it is possible to form segments (clusters) based on reasons for choosing hotels
and socio-demographic elements. In accordance with the purpose and objectives,
I formed the following hypothesis:
Hotel guests can be divided into
different segments (clusters) with similar characteristics based on the reasons
(factors) for choosing a hotel and socio-demographic variables. In order to
test the hypothesis, a quantitative study was conducted using the survey
method. In the next section, instruments and sampling are described, as well as
the analysis and results of the study.
Table
1: States of the federation and gender
|
States of the
Federation
|
Frequency
|
Percentage
|
Gender
|
Frequencies
|
Percentage
|
|
Anambra
|
733
|
48.2
|
Female
|
885
|
58.2
|
|
Lagos
|
203
|
13.4
|
Male
|
635
|
41.8
|
|
Calabar
|
19
|
1.3
|
Together
|
1520
|
100 %
|
|
Imo
|
246
|
16.2
|
|
||
|
Others
|
203
|
13.4
|
|||
|
Together
|
1534
|
100 %
|
|||
Instrument
Within quantitative research, I used
a questionnaire which was developed for the use of hotels in Enugu State. However,
for the purpose of this study, I used only two sets of questions in order to
evaluate the reasons for choosing a hotel and socio-demographic data. Hotel
guests were invited by a front-line employee in the hotel reception to
anonymously participate in the survey. The questionnaire regarding segmentation
contained questions about the reasons for choosing the hotel that were measured
with the multiple-choice questions: location, price, hotel facilities, and
promotion, recommendation of an acquaintance or a travel agency and prior
personal experiences in the hotel. These questions were developed in of other
relevant literature and often exposed hotels competitive advantages as these
are the key factors which are relevant for marketing management. At the end,
socio-demographic data were collected (gender, age and nationality).
Sample
Data collection took place in some
selected hotels in Enugu. 1,520 hotel guests from 10 different hotels in Enugu
State participated in the study. The hotel sample represents medium-category
hotels (3 and 4 stars). The survey sample is based on probability sampling. There
were guests from more than seven different states involved in the research: Anamabra
(733), Imo (246), Lagos (203), Calabar (19) and others (203). The basis for
national segmentation was the language area. Of the 1520 participants, 58.2%
were male and 41.8% female. The average age was 52.33 years. Table 1 above shows
data with frequency division of the participants according to states and
gender.
Analyses
The descriptive and multivariate
statistical analyses were performed using the software SPSS 19.0.
Reasons for choosing a hotel
The participants were asked to
choose the reasons which influenced their choice of hotel. Multiple answers
were possible. Results are shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Reasons
for choosing the hotel
|
Reasons for choosing the
hotel
|
Number
|
Percentage
|
|
Location
|
479
|
31.3
|
|
Recommendation of friends/
tourist agency
|
438
|
28.8
|
|
Price
|
384
|
25.3
|
|
Personal experiences
|
367
|
24
|
|
Promotion
|
335
|
22
|
|
Hotel facilities
|
242
|
15.9
|
Furthermore, another
respondents (Hotel staff) were asked to rank their hotels based on the factors
that influence the of choice of hotel by their consumers using the hotels in relation to size to
accessibility, measurability, substantial, durability and actionability of the
market. The results as in Figure 1 revealed that 20% of the respondents
considered actionability of market as the most important criterion, while 35%
of them also indicated that measurability to be the most important criterion
for the consumers in Enugu State. Further analyses of the data revealed that
15% of the respondents also opted for accessibility, durability and
substantiality each as the main criteria for the selection of choice hotel
Figure 2:
Most Favored Criteria for the Factors that Influence the Consumer Choice of
Hotel
From
the analyses majority of the respondents considered actionability and
measurability as the main factor that influences the choice of hotel selection
in Enugu State. The finding of the study therefore agrees with the view of
Kotler et al. (2001) that measurability is an important factor.
Most respondents have chosen the
hotel because of the location (31.5%), followed by other reasons for choosing
the hotel: recommendation of an acquaintance or travel agency (28.8%), price
(25.3%), personal experience with the hotel (24%), promotion (22%) and
facilities (15.9%). Two reasons for choosing the hotel (image of the hotel and
other) were eliminated from the analysis.
Results
To test the research hypothesis,
cluster analysis was conducted using the Wards Method. Firstly, a hierarchical
cluster analysis was done based on six reasons for choosing a hotel, in order
to find the appropriate number of clusters. Afterwards, five clusters were
chosen for further analysis, where 14 outlays were eliminated. The results of
ANOVA established significant differences between five clusters. Having
identified the clusters, the descriptive statistics were done (Table 3).
Table
3: Results of ANOVA
and cluster analyses
|
|
Cluster
1
|
Cluster
2
|
Cluster
3
|
Cluster
4
|
Cluster
5
|
ANOVA
|
||
|
F
|
Sig
|
|||||||
|
Reasons for choosing the hotel
- N (%)
|
||||||||
|
Location
|
80 (27,2)
|
252 (25.1)
|
42 (68.9)
|
105 (66.5)
|
5 (100)
|
42.21
|
0.000
|
|
|
Recommendation
|
0 (0)
|
417 (41.6)
|
61 (100)
|
16 (10.1)
|
5 (100)
|
72.24
|
0.000
|
|
|
Price
|
111 (37.8)
|
95 (9.5)
|
24 (39.3)
|
154 (97.5)
|
5 (100)
|
247.59
|
0.000
|
|
|
Personal Experience
|
45 (15.3)
|
255 (25.4)
|
61 (100)
|
1 (0.6)
|
5 (100)
|
81.26
|
0.000
|
|
|
Promotion
|
294 (100)
|
36 (3.6)
|
0 (0)
|
0 (0)
|
5 (100)
|
2471
|
0.000
|
|
|
|
50 (17)
|
65 (6.5)
|
61 (100)
|
64 (40.5)
|
2 (40)
|
165.66
|
0.000
|
|
|
Gender – N (%)
|
||||||||
|
Male
|
118 (40.1)
|
425 (42.2)
|
24 (39.3)
|
67 (42.4)
|
1 (20.0)
|
|
||
|
Female
|
176 (59.9)
|
577 (57.6)
|
37 (60.7)
|
91 (57.6)
|
4 (80.0)
|
|||
|
Total
(100%)
|
294
|
1002
|
61
|
158
|
5
|
|||
|
Age in years – N (%)
|
||||||||
|
18-35
years
|
43 (14,6)
|
141 (14,1)
|
9 (14,8)
|
33 (20,9)
|
2 (40)
|
|
||
|
36-53
years
|
99 (33,7)
|
334 (33,3)
|
21 (34,4)
|
63 (39,9)
|
1 (20)
|
|||
|
54-71
years
|
86 (29,3)
|
283 (28,2)
|
20 (32,8)
|
34 (21,5)
|
1 (20)
|
|||
|
72-89
years
|
32 (10,9)
|
97 (9,7)
|
6 (9,8)
|
5 (3,2)
|
4 (80)
|
|||
|
States of the Federation N (%)
|
||||||||
|
Anambra
|
147 (50)
|
505 (50.4)
|
51 (83.6)
|
82 (51.9)
|
2 (40)
|
|
||
|
Lagos
|
53 (18)
|
174 (17.4)
|
3 (4.9)
|
15 (9.5)
|
1 (20.0)
|
|||
|
Calabar
|
38 (12.9)
|
131 (13.1)
|
2 (3.3)
|
31 (19.6)
|
1 (20.0)
|
|||
|
Imo
|
6 (2 %)
|
11 (1.1)
|
1 (1.6)
|
1 (1.6)
|
5 (100)
|
|||
|
Other
|
42 (14.3)
|
133 (13.3)
|
2 (3.3)
|
25 (15.8)
|
1 (20)
|
|||
|
Together
(100%)
|
294
|
1002
|
61
|
158
|
5
|
|||
Table 3 shows the descriptive
statistics of reasons for choosing the hotel, gender, age groups and states for
5 identified clusters/segments. The main purpose of this was to characterize
those segments which demonstrate a significantly important link between reasons
for choosing the hotel and socio-demographic data. Each cluster is described
below.
Cluster
1 includes 294 guests in total and
most of them are Anambra state guests (50%) and Lagos State guests (18%), women
(59.9%), mostly in the age group 36–53 years (33,7%) and 54–71 years (29,3%).
They chose the hotel because of the promotion (100%), price (37.8%) and
location (27.2%). These guests can be named as representatives of the market (they trust the market).
Cluster
2 includes 1,002 guests in total and
most of them are Anambra (57.6%) and Lagos (17.4%) women (57.6%), mostly in the
age group 36–53 (33, 3%) and 54–71 (28.2%). They chose the hotel because of a
recommendation (41.6%), personal experience with the hotel (25.4%) and location
(25.1%). These guests can be named as representatives
of self and others’ opinions (they trust what people or an agency say and
themselves).
Cluster
3 includes 61 guests in total and
most of them are Anambra (83.6%), women (60.7%), mostly in the age group 36–53
(34, 4%) and 54–71 (32,8%). They choose the hotel mostly because of a
recommendation (100%), personal experience with the hotel (100%), hotel
facilities (100%), location (68.9%) and price (39.3%). This segment of guest
can be named as representatives of
“verify”.
Cluster
4 includes 158 guests in total and
most of them are Anambra guests (51.9%) and Calabar guests (19.6%), women
(57.6%) mostly in the age group 18–35 (20, 9), 36–53 (33, 3%) and 54–71
(28,2%). They chose the hotel because of the price (97.5%) and location (66.5%)
and hotel facilities (40.5%). This segment of guests can be named as representatives of product oriented
(they trust the hotel).
Cluster 5: as this cluster contains only five guests, it is not useful
to include it in further analysis.
Based on the results of the cluster
analysis, i partially confirm my hypothesis as the socio-demographic data in
all identified clusters are completely the same (e.g. mostly Anambra guests,
women in age groups from 36 to 71 years old). However, four different clusters
can be identified based on different priorities of guests concerning their
reasons for choosing a hotel.
Conclusion
To be successful in the hospitality
business, one must understand how consumers perceive the product or service
attributes and their importance and performance when compared with other
competitors. Choosing a hotel is an important decision for a consumer, who is
also associated with the expectations and risks to which the consumer is
exposed. From the Research findings it shown that guests, based on selected
factors that have an influence on the choice of Hotel they use and it can be
divided into four segments.
The
results of the cluster analysis show that the first and the largest cluster
include the guests who choose a hotel based on the personal experience and
recommendation of friends and tourist agencies. Before the final purchase,
consumers evaluate various alternatives based on the informal information they
have received. These guests can be identified as representatives of self and others’ opinion. Upon
that, we can deduce that positive experiences are the key factor of a hotel’s
success.
The second most important segments
of the guests are the ones who trust
advertising. Marketing communication with attractive prices and hotel
location is very important to them. The third segment represents guests who all verify. They
check all sources of information to be sure they get a good price for good
hotel facilities and they need some recommendations. The most important are
recommendations, hotel facilities and good location and price. They are very
demanding and not easy target consumers. The fourth segment of guests is hotel product oriented. They
have to be sure to get the best value for money. Hotel facilities, price and
location are very important to them. Location of the hotel is important as well
as post-purchase marketing activities, such as news-letter information about
new product offers, services, renovations, development plans etc.
The segments proposed by this
research are valuable for practical purposes. Based on the study findings,
various identified guest segments based on hotel selection, provide useful
suggestions for marketing planning. On the other hand, in consumer decision
making process in hotel selection, this study defines typical attributes in all
identified segments, such as recommendations, personal experiences and
location. Firstly, recommendations and personal experiences are made according
to the most important interpersonal influences through informal, word-of-mouth
communication or personal experiences, which are much more effective than other
factors. Finally, a very important decision-making factor is also the location
of the hotel.
Finally, several limitations of this
study should be highlighted. Firstly, the study is limited to Hotels in Enugu
State. Another limitation of the study is the sample of the survey, which
represents the typical national structure of the guests in the hotels, with
more than 50% of Anambrains, which affected the results of the research.
Additionally, the sample mostly represents guests whose purpose of visit was leisure
and who usually search for hotel information from the travel agencies. Of
socio-graphic characteristics, only gender, age and states were included.
Another limitation is also the given reasons for choosing a hotel. Researchers
have limited information on how hotels position themselves, which is critical
to consumer perception and hotel success. Future research should include also
hotels on other locations and could compare the results within different states
and countries. In the further research regarding consumer hotel choice, other
factors should be included such as hotel category, quality, hotel brand,
satisfaction, loyalty of guests, etc.
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