Using Netnography to Understand Customer Experience towards Hotel Brands

Abstract

The competitive environment in the hospitality and tourism industry requires proper attention towards the effective management of hotel brands. Recently, in marketing literature, the customer brand experience has emerged as a multidimensional construct that influences customer loyalty. Stressing the importance of this branding construct, the study explores the underlying dimensions of brand experience in five-star hotel brands in an emerging economy like India. The study employs a qualitative research method, that is, netnography to identify the brand experience dimensions. The results reveal the importance of sensory (sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste), affective (feelings and emotions), relational (feelings of not being left alone), food (memorable meal) and leisure time (freedom to perceive and select activity during free time) experiences.