An Experimental Investigation of Guest Trust in Hospitality Contexts Comparing Personalized and Written Recommendations

An Experimental Investigation of Guest Trust in Hospitality Contexts Comparing Personalized and Written Recommendations

Theoretical Proposal

This study will investigate the relationship between personalized recommendations or a pre-made list of suggestions versus the guests' trust in the recommendation. The hypothesis is that visitors who get a personal, unscripted recommendation from a hotel employee will gain a higher trust score than visitors who only get the list of suggestions that are already made. Many studies have been conducted on the guests’ perception of scripted recommendations; however, there is very little data comparing the level of trust a guest has in a pre-made or a personalized recommendation. This research proposes the use of a 5-point Likert Scale survey given to guests who will receive a recommendation from the front desk staff of the hotel. The questions on the survey will be averaged to give that guest an overall trust score. The trust scores will then be compared to those of the other group at the end of the survey. A t-test will be conducted to determine if the data has a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The goal of this study is to give hotels an insight into guests' preferred ways to receive a recommendation from the staff. Applying this data can lead to more guest satisfaction with suggestions and more trust in future employee recommendations.