Experiential marketing by attributes of experience design for hotel APPs : An empirical study from China

Abstract: Purpose: The research purpose is to assist hotel marketers in figuring out how to design an APP for hotel on the basis of current experience design situation and some suggestions will be proposed. Specifically, how strategies of experience design influence customers’ experiential value and how much the attributes of experience design influence customers’ experiential value will be examined, revealing which attributes of experience design are more important in generating customers’ experiential value. Particularly, with the development of mobile Internet and the increase of customers’ social needs, the communication among customers and providers will be strengthened. Therefore, this research will explore the importance of relational service design and social experience design in an APP context. Methodology: The experience design strategies, customer value dimensions and the theoretical framework are developed on the basis of literature. Questionnaire instrument is employed as a quantitative method in this research. At last, 244 questionnaires are recycled from APPs for hotel users in China. Findings: Firstly, the strategies of experience design，sensory experience design, functional service design, relational service design and social experience design, all have positive influence on customers’ corresponding experiential value. Secondly, in terms of attributes of experience design, the statistical findings indicate that appropriate layouts, online payment, online consultation and customer interaction show more influence on aesthetics, functional value, social-relational value and social-symbolic value respectively. Functional service design still plays an important role in current experience design, while relational service design, social experience design and sensory experience design will rise into importance. In terms of how to design an APP for hotel, a rank of strategies of experience design will be listed in the end, the well performed attributes of experience design will be kept in the design, while the attributes of experience design which are week in current situation will be improved. Theoretical Implications: Firstly, this paper brings “experience” to a context of an APP for hotel, which enriches the research about experiential marketing and experiential value, especially social value. Secondly, this paper proposes new experience design dimensions, sensory experience design, relational service design and social experience design, which explores a new design domain in the context of an APP for hotel. Practical Implications: This paper offers guidance for hotel marketers to implement experiential marketing by attributes of experience design, which in turn will bring more income and increase the competence of a hotel.