Loyalty: A Strategic Commitment

TLDR

Trust, achieved through safety, consistent service, reliable follow‑through, honesty, and accurate communication, is a key antecedent of loyalty in hotels. The study aimed to test which hotel benefits most effectively foster guest loyalty. The authors built a service‑relationship model using focus groups and customer‑loyalty research. Among 892 frequent business travelers, relationship marketing benefits such as room upgrades, flexible check‑in/out, personalized services, expedited registration, and responsive staff were highly valued, yet many guests reported that their hotels fell short of delivering these trust‑building and loyalty‑enhancing benefits.

Abstract

A study of 892 luxury-hotel guests, most of whom travel frequently and primarily on business, supports the idea that relationship marketing can benefit luxury-hotel marketing. The authors developed a model of service relationships based on focus groups and customer-loyalty studies. This study primarily tested benefits that hotels could offer guests to foster loyalty. Benefits that garnered strong support were room upgrades, flexible check in and check out, personalized services, and expedited registration; being able to request a specific room; and employees who take guests' problems seriously. Trust is also an antecedent of loyalty; hotels can foster trust by ensuring guest safety, providing consistent service, seeing that employees follow through on guest requests, being truthful, and communicating accurately. Unfortunately, the respondents felt that their hotels fell short on the benefits that foster loyalty and the attributes that foster trust.