Background and experience dimensions of consumption: an experimental approach in satisfaction of guests

Abstract

Satisfaction surveys have become fundamental for increasing contact between guests and hotels. Therefore, the functional relationships impacting in guests’ satisfaction in the hotel business were analyzed, based on three factors: consumption background, consumption experience and price. Within the proposed theoretical background, 7 hypotheses were
formulated. Then, a field research was developed with descriptive and quantitative features, based on experimental method. A total of 260 questionnaires were answered, divided in 2 environments and 3 hotels. In the first environment, guests paid a high price for the sojourn in the 3 hotels, due to the 50th National Shoe Festival (Festa Nacional do Calçado - FENAC), one of the largest shoe fairs in the world. In the second environment, data were collected during a low demand period in the 3 hotels and, therefore, prices were lower. After this experimentation process, data were processed through the Structural Equation Modeling technique, in which mediating and moderating effects were used to understand the functional relations studied. Based on the results obtained, an influence of the dimensions associated to consumption experience on the relationship was observed: consumption background and satisfaction. In addition, the moderating effect of price on relationships was also observed, relationships moderating physical and social experiences being identified as different, in the experiments, from the levels of satisfaction manifested by the guests.