The Theory of Experience Economy on the Basis of Building Theme Hotel - Research Proposal Example

Theme Hotel Culture – Experience Economy number Contents Working 2 Aim 2 Objectives 2 Recognition of associated theories 3 Brand 3Experience economy 4 Concept of theme hotel 5 Analyzing a specific theme hotel in UK and find factors that play an important role in building theme hotel cultural atmosphere and find the way to further development 5 Research methods that could be used and why 7 Exploatory research design 7 Descriptive research design 7 Casual research design 7 Appropriate form of analysis 8 References 9 Research Proposal Theme Hotel Culture – Experience Economy Working Title An exploration of the perception of branded hotel in a global world and their cultural preference and distinction Aim In today’s competitive world, each industry is striving hard to attract and keep hold of its customers. In the present era, the expression experience economy has changed the entire concept of the business. In the earlier days, customers were buying a product or a service to meet its functional utility, but in the recent days, they resort to buying a product or service in order to enjoy the core benefit and in additional, they look forward to gain some memorable and pleasant experiences in connection to it. This has led to individuals being choosier with respect to the hotels they visit, the preferences and the diverse options they offer. This creates different perceptions of the hotel’s goods and services they present to their customers. The main aim of this research is to explore the perception of branded hotel in a global world. It further explores cultural preference and distinction of these branded hotels. Objectives To discuss the theory of experience economy on the basis of building theme hotel. Define the concept of theme hotel, theme hotel cultural atmosphere. Explaining the concept of building of theme hotel Analyzing a specific theme hotel in UK and find factors that play an important role in building theme hotel cultural atmosphere and find the way to further development. Theoretical background From a corporate strategy viewpoint, a well-managed hotel brand tends to gain increasing market share in the industry. Previous research has shown a strong link between quality service and customer base in the hospitality industry. Specifically, the customers’ perception of a hotel determines the desire for an individual to check-in and sample the services provided. Furthermore, customers require any hotel business to satisfy their needs in addition to giving value for their money. The hotels and hospitality industry is highly aware of the importance of focusing their main efforts to the satisfaction of the customers. They possess different perspectives regarding their customers’ needs with respect to their cultural background, preferences and distinctions. Recognition of associated theories Brand Every organization intends to develop their own brand which might be the name, symbol like package design, trademark or a logo that is intended in order to identify their product and services in the market. Brand provides a value proposition that includes the benefits that are being associated with using the brand. Further it helps in positioning a product or a service in the midst of its competitors. Customer’s experience plays a very important role in the purchase decisions than that of the attributes of the product or the services. In the present era, the customers are more conscious in their purchase decisions and they decide to buy a product or a service only if they are fitting in to their existing lifestyle and if those services or products produce the desirable experiences (Wood 2009). Experience economy In relation to the business world, the experiences are the feelings that are enjoyed by the customer when they use any product or services. It is the perception that is experienced through the sensory information. Experience results in making the interaction between the customers and the product more meaningful and they engage the customers spiritually, socially, emotionally, mentally and physically (Wood 2009). The term Experience economy is coined by Pine and Gilmore where the organization are intending to product a product or a service that might provide a functional utility to the customers as well as it would provide them a memorable event. Experience structural model explains the brand experience based on three dimensions which are psycho social, emotional and functional level which influences the consumers’ behavioral, affective, cognitive traits. In order to attract the customers, hotels have designed their whole organization towards a specific central theme and all the hotel activities are aimed towards it (Peter 2008). Concept of theme hotel In hotel branding, there is a great difference between the rational as well as emotional decision making. While the customers choose a hotel to stay, their rational decision guides them to buy a room with a reasonable quality and a reasonable price and their emotional decision is giving more importance to something that is seeking emotional satisfaction too (Terry 2004). In this case, beds and rooms are mere functional utilities that the customer is seeking and if the hotel is able to produce a grander experience through its activities which are surrounded by a implicit as well as explicit theme then the customers are really bound to stay with the organization. A coherent theme is able to collect all the elements of the experience sought by the customers and provide them in a very effective manner in to order to captivate their body and mind (Kotler 2008). Good themes are able to change the customers’ sense of reality and it affects the experience of the matter, time and space. For example, the hotels that are themed towards children fun activities, have all the surrounding that are with attractive colors and posters that would in fact attract the children, have many fun areas for them to play, will have sound system that the children would enjoy, would have many cartoon characters moving around the hotel and visiting the children. Research clearly states that more than 75% of the surveyed hotels which have been designed with specific themes have greater customer retention (Kenneth 2009). Analyzing a specific theme hotel in UK and find factors that play an important role in building theme hotel cultural atmosphere and find the way to further development One of the distinct features of our contemporary global society is the way in which businesses are being run, the dynamism of cultural exchange and overlapping economic spheres between nations. The social experience has also to a great extent influenced business strategies and design in the interior design industry. Currently, designers in many countries work on a wide range of facilities especially hotels, corporate offices and health facilities. In our case, the hotel industry has exploited the interior designers to come up with themed hotels and rooms. In the perspective of the themed hotels, recognizing culturally associated differences in lodgers’ environmental behaviors and preferences has become a vital concern for interior designers. There has been the need for the designers of themed hotels to be sensitive to different cultures and preferences in order to create a positive customers’ perception. These are examples of challenges that designers encounter. Many global hotels have emphasized on the importance of understanding other cultures in the international marketplaces. This is because it has been determined that culture is one of the fundamental aspects of customers’ manners with the most persistent weight upon individuals. This is because the hotels representation of diverse cultures and their distinction creates various perceptions of the given hotels. The perceptions also relate to the needs and preferences of their hotels’ customers. In our study of Aphrodites Lodge, The Lake District Boutique Hotel, we focus on understanding of the impact of the themed hotel, the facilities provided, the preferences and behavioral intentions of customers who visit the place. Aphrodites Lodge, The Lake District Boutique Hotel is offering its guests a range of spa as well as pool facilities. The theme around which the hotel is made is SPA. It has a choice of classic rooms as well as a choice of themed rooms. The rooms are found with hot tubs and it is found in the most picturesque areas of Windemere. The factors that are playing an important role in building a theme hotel cultural atmosphere are four poster beds, open log fires, hot tubs and spa baths. Another important factor that the hotel has in order to create a hotel cultural atmosphere is that of the beauty treatment centre as well as an incredible new one million pound spa for guests to enjoy. These spas help guests to indulge themselves in luxurious and relaxing surroundings and to enjoy a range of invigorating treatments which are specially designed to revive the body as well as mind (Hansa 2005). There are new indoor pool, sauna, steam room and waterfall Jacuzzi, plus an exercise area with life health equipment, together with a recumbent work out bike and a cross instructor, are all available to the hotel’s guests at no additional costs. Guests after finishing their spa treatment could enjoy each inch of their life, relax and enjoy a cool drink or a coffee in the rest area. Full gym facilities are also available nearby, and a wide choice of beauty treatments is available, to ensure your stay at the Aphrodite´s is a memorable one (Haire 2008). This hotel is known to attract many customers from many parts of the world who visit the country. It embraces the culture distinctions and diversity among the visitors by providing incredible themed suites that offers the guests a feeling of opulence as soon as they enter the hotel. The Aphrodite has a culture of combining elegance, style and comfort using themed modern facilities that include a separate lounge and open fire adventures. The regulars of the hotel has enhanced positive perception of the hotel after the notable redesigning and refurbishing of the whole facility making it one of the best places to be in England. Hence the hotel has managed to develop its theme especially around spa treatments and its main benefits include improving flexibility, reducing the effects of ageing, healing emotional distress, detoxifying the body, soothing tired muscles and toning, nourishing the skin, enhancing spiritual awareness and increasing the body’s energy flow. Further suggestion to improve the spa treatment is to invite the spiritual guests who have a profound knowledge on spiritual matters and provide speech to its guests which would prove to be very helpful (Christian 2007). The hotel is also identified with its financial performance with respect to the state-of-the art services and equipment available for customers’ use. Accordingly, the hotel offers one of the best levels of visitor satisfaction thus experiencing a large number of occupancies on average daily basis. Research methods that could be used and why A research design can be defined as a framework or a outline for conducting various research projects. A research design details the events essential for obtaining the needed data to construct or solve known research problems. Exploratory research design – In this kind of design the main objective is to collect the background information about the research topic in order to achieve a greater clarification, insights and a detailed analysis on the topic (Stephen 2005). The information needed for this research design is defined without much detail. The research process that follows is flexible and unstructured. However, the analysis done is on the primary data gathered and it is normally qualitative. The researcher on this report used the qualitative research since it involves the collection, analysis and interpretation of data by observing an event as an onlooker. Descriptive research design – This is normally carried out to describe occurrences that exist. It is used to discover and acquire information on the features of a specific issue in question. In comparison, the descriptive research design provides the option of examining the situation under research than the exploratory research design does. Therefore, it enables the researcher to undertake, establish and explain the characteristics of the relevant subjects of the research subject. Causal research design – In this research design, there are two variables that are interrelated if some values of one variable correspond to certain variables of the other variable. Furthermore, the design helps to find out if the decisions are defining the experimental relationships. The research design provides the necessary evidence regarding the causal relationship between the variables of our research. It also considers the time order in which the variations occur. The author has chosen to conduct two types of research design which are descriptive style as well as explorative style. Through descriptive style of research design the data are collected in a more accurate manner which helps to conduct a structured research. Here the data is collected to theme hotel aspects. I attempt to conduct a literature review in this step (Bennett 2009). Next exploratory research design would be used in a limited format. The author would conduct an interview through mail questionnaire with some of the public people who love to travel and stay in hotels. The author would design the questionnaire which would help us to understand the synergies that are involved in the theme hotel strategy in order to attract the customers (Engel, Blackwell & Kollat 2008). The author has chosen the above two styles as they are more convenient to my position in my life and they yield reliable results. As the author is undergoing academic course, it is highly not possible for the author to conduct a face to face interview as it would involve lot of energy and time. Moreover if face to face interview is chosen, the process turns to be more complex as the author has to get their prior appointment before meeting them and for each and at times I have to visit same place to meet every individual interviewee which is not practical. Thanks to technology advance, I feel one could very well rely on collecting the data through mails which proves to be convenient for both the interviewer and interviewee (Shibutani, 2008). Hence I have chosen to select the questionnaire method thru mail which involves lesser time, effort and financial resources. Conclusion The study on Aphrodites Lodge, The Lake District Boutique Hotel involved observing and recording the above report on a real-world environment for the purpose of determining the exploration of the perception of branded hotel in a global world and their cultural preference and distinctions. There are some strengths of the method used in this approach in relation to the current study. The study confirms that there are various cultures and the individual’s cultural background that determine the perception of people towards the hotels. Implications The knowledge gained by this study will contribute to a better understanding of human preference with regard to perception of branded hotels in a global world and their cultural preference and distinction. Furthermore, the study has provided required knowledge about the effectiveness of themed hotels with respect to design component of the hotels as well as the value of the customers’ physical and psychological ambient needs. The results can also be used by designers as they seek to assess the quality of themes in the hotels. Appropriate form of analysis (software) After the research, analyzing the data collected is always important in order to complete the process. Therefore, I used the SPSS method to analyze the data collected through a questionnaire used. The questionnaire was specifically for the customers who gave their opinion on the themed hotel and the perception created by the efforts to accommodate the diverse cultures. Word, Excel and PDF Photos References Bennett, PD 2009 , Marketing strategy, McGraw-Hill, New Jersey. Christian, G 2007, ‘Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing Management Decision’, Journal of marketing, vol.32, no.03, pp.04-20. Engel, J.F., Blackwell, RD & Kollat, DT 2008, Consumer Behavior and Experience Economy, Rinehart and Winston, New York. Haire, M 2008, ‘Projective Techniques In Marketing Research in hotel industry’, Journal of Marketing, vol.03, no.05, pp. 649–656. Hansa, HJ 2005, ‘International convention on experience economy’, International marketing Journal, vol.09, no.05, pp.178-189. Kenneth, A 2009, ‘Brand management and experience economy’, Journal of Maritime, vol.09, no.08, pp.100-110. Kotler, P 2008, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, Prentice-Hall, New York. Peter, ML 2008, ‘Poitns in Conducting a Research’, Journal of research in hotel industry , vol.02, no.06, pp.189-195. Stephen, KL 2005, ‘Estimating the economic contributions of themed hotels, Journal of business, economic development and tourism, vol.08, no.07, pp.189-199. Shibutani, T 2008, ‘Reference Groups As Perspectives in marketing in htoel industry’, American Journal of Sociology, vol.02, no.01, pp.562–569. Terry, KL 2004, The Impact of Travel and Tourism on Jobs and the Economy, John & Wiley sons, London. Wood, Kl 2009, ‘Globalization and theme hotels’, Journal of hotel industry, vol.08, no.03,pp.165-178. Read More