Peer Linder, Business Informatics student at the University of Rostock, will defend his master's thesis on "Digital guest services and their influence on the customer experience in the hotel industry" on September 16, 2021 at 10:00 am.
Supervisor and reviewer were Prof. Michael Fellmann and Dr.-Ing Anne Gutschmidt from the University of Rostock.
The defense will take place in a virtual ZOOM room. All interested parties please register by Thursday, 16.09.2021, 08:00 a.m., to submit dial-in data by email to Prof. Michael Fellmann (michael.fellmannuni-rostockde).
Abstract:
Various technological innovations nowadays offer hotel guests the possibility to perform processes like check-in free of human interaction. Often, there are several approaches to digitize such processes, which differ strongly from each other. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of such services on the guest. This paper provides insight into the acceptance of digital guest services and the impact of such services on the guest experience. For this purpose, various such services are presented. There is also an introduction to established models for describing acceptance and a scale for assessing guest experience. To identify situations of a hotel stay where digital guest services can add value, three expert interviews with frequent travelers were held. Based on this, an online survey was conducted to measure the impact of selected guest services on acceptance and guest experience. For this purpose, each survey participant was presented with a scenario for check-in (via app, at the check-in machine or at the reception desk) and a scenario for ordering room service (via app, voice assistant or telephone). The average acceptance and guest experience scores were then compared and factors influencing acceptance were identified. The analysis of the 157 valid data sets from the online survey shows that acceptance and guest experience differ significantly depending on the scenario. In addition to the technology used, number of annual overnight stays, experience with digital guest services, booking channel and personal innovativeness were identified as important factors influencing acceptance. In terms of check-in, acceptance and guest experience at the front desk were rated highest. Many users can also imagine checking in via app or vending machine - at least as long as it is not a relaxation vacation. When it comes to ordering food, the app is particularly convincing. It scores better than the alternatives in the most important constructs of the UTAUT 2 acceptance model and also offers the best guest experience.