Cross-Cultural User Experience of Luxury Hotel Websites: A Conjoint Analysis

Abstract

The website of luxury hotel brands is regarded as a great platform for marketers to create positive brand identity. The underlying architecture of information, as well as the design of graphics, navigation system, and user interface could have an influence on user experience with a hotel brand. Utilizing a conjoint design, this research assessed user preferences of three website design factors: background/font color, human image use, and navigation system. The preferences of two cultural groups—that of the Chinese and American consumers—were compared and contrasted. The findings of this study suggest that users from both the US and Chinese cultures have similar tastes for hotel website design features. They both prefer photos with no human images, dark background with light font, and a linear navigation system. The convergent tendencies of the two cultural groups and practical implications for the luxury hotel industry were discussed.