Indoor and outdoor physical surroundings and guests’ emotional well-being

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationship of internal/external physical environments and emotional well-being and to explore the possible influence of such an association with guest satisfaction and retention considering the moderating role of price perception in the luxury resort hotel context.Design/methodology/approachA total of 603 responses were gathered from a field survey at luxury resort hotels. The data were analyzed using quantitative data analyses to achieve research objectives.FindingsThe results from the structural model assessment revealed that both internal and external physical environments elicited emotional well-being, which in turn leads to the increased guest satisfaction and retention. More specifically, internal atmospherics had a stronger impact on triggering subsequent variables compared to external environment factors. The outcomes also indicated the significant mediating role of emotional well-being and satisfaction. Emotional well-being was found to mediate the effect of internal and external physical environments on guest satisfaction, while guest satisfaction mediated the effect of emotional well-being on guest retention. Moreover, price perception significantly moderated the guest satisfaction–guest retention association. Overall, the proposed conceptual framework satisfactorily accounted for variance in guest retention.Originality/valueThe findings help practitioners in luxury resort hotels to develop ways to boost guests’ post-purchase behaviors by using internal/external atmospherics and emotional well-being.