اثر بازاریابی تجربی آنلاین و آفلاین بر ارزش برند در بخش هتل The effect of online and offline experiential marketing on brand equity in the hotel sector

1. Introduction Since the 1960s, the concept of experience has been the object of a great deal of marketing research. Holbrook and Hirschman (1982), in a pioneering study on experiential consumption, advanced the belief of the development of experience based on consumption through pleasure, a notion that contrasts with the traditional conception of consumption rooted in processing cognitive information. According to these authors, this type of consumption seeks amusement, entertainment, fantasy, interest and sensory stimulation. Thus, one of the elements behind the growth of academic interest in this subject is the recognition that offers based on experience are founded on the consumer’s intrinsic and personal recall through time that proffers an increase in value to the offer (Rivera et al., 2015). Business strategies based on consumer experience in today’s market have become a source of competitive differentiation as they provide the possibility of creating a unique brand by nurturing participation and an emotional link with the consumer (Berry et al., 2002; Meyer and Schwager, 2007; Pentina et al., 2011). Many of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy are linked to experiential consumption (Oh et al., 2007). An example is in tourism, a sector with a great projection, where experiences are fundamental (Uriely, 2005). The experiential dimension of tourism, in fact, has seen a great boom due to its link to nurturing the psychological well-being of tourists and their personal development (Hoffman et al., 2012;Tinsley and Tinsley, 1986). A fundamental element in the tourism sector is the hotel. Tourists spend a great amount of time searching for information to select the hotel that best suits their tastes and needs. Mcintosh and Siggs (2005) suggest that hotel clients are concerned with the personalization of their experiences and fancy hotels to be unique and welcoming. Currently, more than 50 per cent book accommodations directly online (Segittur, 2014). Hence, their first contact with the hotel is through the internet. Because of information and communication technologies, consumers are increasingly empowered and more connected with each other and with suppliers. Hotel businesses together with tourists therefore have the option of co-creating the consumer experience (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2003). In this sense, it is the service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004) that offers the conceptual framework of this collaboration between providers and clients most often facilitated by technology. Hence, the customer’s experience with the hotel is no only generated exclusively during the stay but also during the initial information and booking process. This situation therefore leads to the distinction between the online and the offline experiences (Rose et al., 2011). Consumers increasingly revert to the internet to complete different phases of the purchasing process. Thus it is necessary to provide a unified customer experience throughout the online shopping process (Bilgihan et al., 2016).