Study: Social media and online review sites continue to have an increasing influence on guest choices<\/p>\n
Hotel operators are convinced they offer significant, personalized rewards, while tourists disagree with this perspective, turning to social influencers to obtain recommendations that influence their travel decisions.<\/p>\n
Hotels believe that their guests will unreservedly accept all loyalty programs (61%), but the reality is that they are much more selective, desiring programs with real relevance: 30% of consumers very rarely participate in loyalty programs, 46% are involved in selecting exclusively relevant programs, and 24% sign up for all loyalty programs, according to a study conducted by Oracle titled “The Loyalty Divide, Operator and Consumer Perspectives, Hotels 2018.”<\/p>\n
According to the study, 38% of millennials (25-34 years old) and 32% of pre-millennials (18-24 years old) are more loyal to hotel brands compared to the previous period.<\/p>\n
29% of millennials aim to participate in all loyalty programs, while baby boomers (the generation born after World War II) (55+ years old) have a more complex perception, with 40% of respondents stating they will participate only to select relevant programs.<\/p>\n
Only 40% of operators will analyze the possibility of loyalty activities (customer surveys, loyalty card data, transaction data, etc.).<\/p>\n
Social media and online review sites continue to have an increasing influence on guest choices.<\/p>\n
Thus, 57% of guests are more likely to search for brands on social media before booking services, 56% are more likely to share photos of the hotels they stay in on social media, 48% are more likely to interact with hotels on social media to obtain benefits, 46% are more likely to participate in social media activities involving automated benefit programs for published posts, 43% of guests agree that opinions published on YouTube are much more trustworthy compared to advertising or brand messages, and 37% of consumers agree that hotels experienced and recommended by social media influencers are much more trustworthy compared to those recommended by celebrities.<\/p>\n
Regarding hotel guests, they consider that personalization means, above all, being recognized by hotel staff, being offered meaningful services regarding facilities and experiences, combined with comfort.<\/p>\n
Thus, 69% of guests found personalized offers based on declared preferences attractive, 65% of guests found personalized services offered by hotel staff more attractive, and 65% of guests found personalized offers based on transaction history attractive.<\/p>\n
The study discovered 4 behavioral guest stereotypes:
– The Messenger, who analyzes multiple brands but strongly expresses their opinion about their own experiences, good or bad;
– The Enthusiast, loyal to the hotel brand without strongly expressing their opinion;
– The Loyal Laggard, usually without being involved, but who tends to be loyal because it is convenient;
– The Explorer, who prefers the best services, not being very attached to the brand.<\/p>\n
In the study conducted in February 2018, 13,000 consumers and 500 services from the retail, hotel, and restaurant sectors participated from 9 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific Region: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the UK, and the USA.<\/p>\n