Key factors in guests' perception of hotel atmosphere.(OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT)

Attaining a distinctive atmosphere has become a pivotal concern for hospitality managers, since atmosphere is perceived an essential factor to attract and satisfy guests. An exploratory study of 369 hotel guests at six Norwegian hotels identified four stable and robust factors of atmosphere, namely, distinctiveness, hospitability, relaxation, and refinement. Distinctiveness was found to be the main factor in atmosphere; consequently, it is reasonable to assume that a certain degree of distinctiveness is a prerequisite for creating atmosphere. Beyond that, however, hospitability emerged as the main determinant for guest satisfaction, loyalty, and word of mouth. As frequently mentioned by experienced hoteliers, guests tend to be satisfied in hotels with conventional design and simple amenities, provided they are treated in a hospitable and welcoming manner. Thus, managers should avoid focusing on design features to the extent that hospitability suffers. Furthermore, employees have an essential role for ensuring hospitability, and consequently, hotel establishments should not focus solely on the guests' needs but also pay attention to employee training.

Despite the importance of atmosphere to a hotel's market appeal, the concept of atmosphere remains amorphous. Based on a study of 369 hotel guests at six Norwegian hotels, two key elements are critical to maintaining a hotel's atmosphere. The study identified the following four elements of atmosphere: distinctiveness, hospitability, relaxation, and refinement. These four factors were distilled from an initial collection of some six hundred ways of describing atmosphere. The main factor in establishing a hotel's atmosphere is distinctiveness. However, the study's results indicate that distinctiveness alone is not enough to ensure guest satisfaction. For this reason, hotel operators should not rely on design or other innovations alone to establish their hotel's atmosphere. Instead, hospitability is the main determinant of satisfaction, as well as loyalty and word of mouth. Thus, guests will be satisfied with an otherwise unremarkable hotel that treats them in a hospitable and welcoming manner. The findings point to the important role played by employees in ensuring a hospitable atmosphere.

Keywords: atmosphere; Norwegian hotels; hotel management; hospitality; service; guest satisfaction; measurement

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Studies have identified atmosphere as a critical variable for explaining customer satisfaction among hotel guests, regardless of geographical area, nationality of guests, and type of hotel (Troye and Heide 1987). In some cases, the atmosphere is the operation's primary product. A recent study of restaurants, for example, indicates that atmosphere is often perceived by both guests and staff as the single most positive characteristic of the establishment--rated even more important than the food itself (Kokko 2005).

Research in organizational behavior indicates that workplace atmosphere may influence the attitudes and behavior of employees and thus affect service delivery. In the service marketing literature, atmosphere has been viewed in relation to customers and especially discussed as a tool for changing consumers' attitudes and behavior. Bitner quite rightly points out that atmosphere is more important for service organizations than it is for producers of tangible goods (Bitner 1995). The fact that services are produced and consumed simultaneously, and that this occurs within the physical facilities of the firm, implies that customers will be exposed to the atmosphere of the "production site." Consequently, this atmosphere will be an important determinant of customer satisfaction.

Though atmosphere is commonly invoked, the concept is ambiguous and means different things to those who invoke it. Based on the scientific definition as "the air surrounding a sphere," the many moods of earth's atmosphere have caused the term to be applied to the environment or surroundings in any location (Kotler 1973). This implies that the term goes beyond the individual--that is, atmosphere includes some elements of the environment. The individual may well contribute to the atmosphere, but other factors must be present as well. Several studies have examined the used of atmospherics (e.g., background features, such as temperature, scent, music, and lighting) to reinforce the desired atmosphere (Babin, Hardesty, and Suter 2003; Baker, Levy, and Grewal 1992; Donovan and Rossiter 1982; Gardner and Siomkos 1986; Milliman 1986; Spangenberg, Crowley, and Henderson 1996; and Wilson 2003). The use of such elements is well known in the hospitality industry. Other studies have focused on social factors as drivers of atmosphere, particularly because interactions are important in the creation of hospitality services--whether among guests or between staff and guests (Martin 1986; Marks 1988). By definition, interaction between actors is also a social phenomenon that is of some importance for atmosphere. Design factors, including functional and aesthetic elements, such as architecture, style, and layout, have also been highlighted as drivers of atmosphere in hospitality settings (Baraban and Durocher 2001; Lawson 1976; Lawson 1987; Mamalis, Ness, and Bourlakis 2005).

While the effects of atmosphere are recognized by managers and mentioned in virtually all management texts, we have seen little empirical research that fully addresses the role of atmosphere as a management tool. In this regard, atmosphere has relevance only if it generates reactions from the guests that are important for the firm (e.g., guest satisfaction, favorable word of mouth, enhanced loyalty). Hotel companies often make costly investments to manipulate the atmosphere of their establishments. However, any change meant to improve the atmosphere requires adequate measurements to assess whether such efforts pay off. Despite considerable interest in atmosphere among hospitality professionals, we see no targeted survey instruments to assess consumers' perceptions of atmosphere in hotel settings. Without targeted measurement instruments, it is difficult for companies to get the feedback they require to improve the atmosphere and also difficult to assess how atmosphere influences guests' attitudes and behavior.

This article describes an attempt to measure the phenomenon of atmosphere as applied in the hotel industry and reports the findings of an exploratory survey in which the measurement instrument was used to examine the relationship between atmosphere and the key outcome variables that we mentioned above.

In the next section, we describe the process of developing an instrument for measuring hotel guests' perception of atmosphere and testing the measurement instrument in a field survey. After presenting and discussing the empirical findings of this survey, we conclude by highlighting managerial and research implications and proposing avenues for further research.

Methodology

Because of the concept of atmosphere is vague, we approached it first with an inductive approach and then applied deductive methods. In the inductive phase, we tried to capture the phenomenon empirically by examining how the concept has been applied in the hospitality context through a comprehensive collection of descriptive terms pertaining to hotels. The output of the inductive phase was an inventory of descriptors. In the subsequent deductive phase, we tested the relevance of each of those descriptors and reduced their number so that only the most fundamental descriptors remained. The two phases are described below.

Inductive Phase: Collection of Atmosphere Descriptors

To ensure that we included all relevant items for atmosphere pertaining to our empirical context, we sought to collect all the words we could find that are applicable to describing hotels' atmosphere, thereby generating an extensive pool of items. This is standard procedure for covering a conceptual domain (Churchill 1979).

After considering several approaches for generating the item pool, we took the following approach: If an adjective is relevant for describing hotel atmosphere, it has most likely been used for that purpose. Consequently, we decided to collect all words that have been used for describing atmosphere in hotel settings. To avoid confusion from mixing different languages, we limited the search to descriptions in English. Using several search engines, we started with an internet search on hotel and atmosphere in combination, which yielded several million hits. We then searched for adjectives used to describe atmosphere, thereby compiling an inventory of hotel atmosphere descriptors, including all synonyms. We supplemented the web with descriptors from numerous hotel design books, architectural books, and travel magazines. When we reached a list of six hundred descriptors, we found no more new ones and concluded that the search was exhaustive.

Deductive Phase: Reduction from Six Hundred to Forty-three Atmosphere Descriptors

In the deductive phase, we assessed and tested the relevance of each descriptor and reduced the number of descriptors to the most fundamental ones. We reduced the 600 descriptors to 458 by employing judgment-based criteria (see Appendix A for details). As part of this process, we consulted two external experts in hospitality design and management (an architect and a hospitality manager). We then tested the 458 descriptors empirically using a three-stage randomized experimental design, in which subjects were shown presentations of a range of hotels and thereafter rated how relevant each descriptor was for describing the hotel's atmosphere on a seven-point Likert scale. In the first stage, the number of descriptors was reduced from 458 to 201. The second stage yielded a further reduction to 135 descriptors. These descriptors were tested in the third stage, which gave the 43 descriptors that were subsequently tested in the exploratory field survey.

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