The Influence of Hotel Customer Demographics Differences on Customer Perceptions

Abstract

The aim of this research was to build a conceptual model by analyzing the influence of customer demographics (age, gender, status, culture and profession) on guest perceptions (customer perceived value, perceived fairness, willingness to pay) of hotel room prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents of the study were the guests who had stayed twice at a budget hotel in Indonesia in the last twelve months. The study used a purposive sampling technique, and SPSS ANOVA was used in order to analyze the descriptive statistics on customer demographics and PLS-SEM. The study findings reveal that customer demographics (gender, profession, and culture) significantly affect all three aspects of customer perceptions. Customer age is found to greatly impact the perceived fairness and willingness to pay (hypothesis is accepted). The relationship between customer age and customer perceived value is statistically insignificant and, in relation to customer status, does not have a significant affect on customer perceived value, perceived fairness, and willingness to pay (hypothesis is rejected). These findings can contribute towards future research on customer perceived value, fairness and willingness to pay and they also provide insight for more effective hotel pricing and marketing strategies.