USP Electronic Research Repository

Are hotel guests bothered by unlucky floor or room assignments?

Pratt, Stephen and Kirillova, Ksenia (2019) Are hotel guests bothered by unlucky floor or room assignments? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 83 . pp. 83-94. ISSN 0278-4319

[img]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Download (960kB) | Preview

Abstract

Superstitious beliefs can guide individuals’ decision-making and change behavior. Different cultures believe that some numbers are ‘lucky’ and other numbers are ‘unlucky’. This can have significant business implications. There is little academic research into how these numerology superstitions impact the hotel sector. We conduct a quantitative survey among Chinese and Western hotel guests to determine the extent to which these guests are influenced by numerological superstitions in their hotel floor and hotel room numbering. Socio-demographic, psychographic and situational characteristics are used as explanatory variables. The results show that the Chinese were more likely to engage in superstitious behavior when it comes to feeling uncomfortable and seeking a change from an unlucky hotel floor and room number than Western guests. For the Western cohort, internal (demographic and psychographic) determinants of superstitious behavior are more significant, whereas, in the Chinese cohort, both internal and external (situation, or trip-specific) determinants influence superstitious behavior.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Divisions: Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Depositing User: Stephen Pratt
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2020 03:49
Last Modified: 03 Apr 2020 03:49
URI: http://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/12055
UNSPECIFIED

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Document Downloads

More statistics for this item...