Gender Choice 13

Tourism and Hospitality Management, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp.
191-202, 2015
U. Yavas, O.M. Karatepe, E. Babakus: GENDER-CHOICE BEHAVIOR LINKAGES ...
GENDER-CHOICE BEHAVIOR LINKAGES:

AN INVESTIGATION IN THE HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY
Ugur Yavas
Osman M. Karatepe
Emin Babakus
Preliminary communication
Received 17 September 2015
Revised 5 November 2015
24 November 2015
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether males and females differ on the
emphases they place on core service and relational service in choosing a hotel.
Design/Methodology Data were gathered from the residents of a metro area in the United
States. Three hundred and forty-one residents participated in the study. The Del statistic, an
undertapped technique, was used.
Findings The results reveal that male and female guests are essentially the same in the
importance they place on core and relational services in choosing a hotel.
Originality of the research Empirical research about the hotel choice behavior of female
guests is scarce. Therefore, this study addresses this underresearched issue.
Keywords core service, the Del statistic, gender, hotel industry, relational service
INTRODUCTION
In todays trying service environment, a basic imperative for hotels to stay afloat,
survive and thrive is an understanding of their guests. This above all necessitates an
understanding of how guests choose a particular hotel (Kim and Perdue 2013;
McCleary et al. 1994). Choice criteria are central to this process and the study
reported in this article expands on earlier research and examines the similarities and
differences in the hotel selection criteria used by female and male guests. A study
addressing this topic is useful and relevant.
While much is known about the hotel choice behavior of male guests, research on the
behavior of females is sparse. This is surprising since female travelers play active
roles in travel decision-making in their households where 80 percent of all travel
decisions are made by women (Bond 2015). According to recent estimates, 32 million
single American women traveled at least once last year and about 30 percent of them
took five or more trips (Bond 2015). More remarkably as women move up the career
ladder in all businesses, there is a growth in the ranks of female business travelers
(Mulrine 2001). Today, 47 percent of women who travel travel for business (Garcia
2014). In 1970 a mere 1 percent of the business travelers were women (Matte 2000).
Three decades later, a survey of business travelers conducted by the Travel Industry
Association determined that women, on the average, took four business trips a year
with 6 percent of all female business travelers making 10 or more trips annually
191
Tourism and Hospitality Management, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 191-202, 2015
(Matte 2000). These days, indeed, women are no longer stay-at-home moms waiting
anxiously for their business-traveling husbands to return to the nest. In 2010, nearly
half of all business travelers were women up from approximately 25 percent in 1991
(Brownell 2011; Gargiulo 2012).
With so many women traveling on pleasure and business trips, it is important for
hotels which have traditionally courted male customers to better understand and cater
to the needs of this fast growing segment of the guest market (Yetzer 2000). It should
be remembered that gender meets several of the requirements for a successful targeted
marketing strategy. It is easy to identify and measure, easy to access, durable, and
large enough to be profitable.
A related objective of our study is to introduce the Del statistic, an undertapped
technique, that overcomes certain problems associated with the use of inappropriate
techniques in the analysis of categorical data.
BACKGROUND
A scrutiny of prior research on hotel choice criteria (e.g. Ananth et al. 1992; Barsky
and Labagh 1992; Kim and Perdue 2013; LeBlanc and Nguyen 1996; Lockyer and
Roberts 2009; Yao-Hsu et al. 2015) suggests that the services provided by hotels to
guests can be decomposed into two components: core service and relational service
(Iacobucci and Ostrom 1993). The core component of a service refers to the nucleus
of the service offering. The relational component, on the other hand, describes the
interpersonal process by which the service is delivered to customers (cf. Dimitriadis
and Koritos 2014; Sun and Qu 2011). The core and relational service quality
dichotomy neatly corresponds to the technical quality (what is delivered) and
functional quality (how service is delivered) taxonomy advocated in a now-classic
work by Gronroos (1984). While technical quality encompasses such characteristics as
reliability and security, temporal characteristics (e.g. courtesy, helpfulness and
pleasantness of the service) are associated with the functional and relational aspects of
the service.
Gender differences
Prior studies on gender differences in sociology, psychology as well as in marketing
management relying on biological make-up (brain lateralization) and socialization
perspectives (Putrevu 2001) suggest that males and females may differ in their choice
behaviors in general and the emphasis they place on choice attributes, in particular.
According to the brain lateralization perspective, females hemispheres may be more
symmetrically organized while mens hemispheres are more specialized (Saucier and
Elias 2001). Women process information in a more integrated and detail-oriented
fashion while men focus on few details. They attempt to simplify the decision process
(Phillip and Suri 2004) and utilize a heuristic-based approach (Sun and Qu 2011).
192
The socialization perspective maintains that societal norms create traditional sex roles
(Eagly 1987) where males are primarily guided by norms that require control, mastery
and self-efficacy to pursue self-centered goals. Females, on the other hand, are guided
by concerns for self and others. Also men are more agentic (task- or goal-oriented)
whereas women are more communal (relationship-oriented) (Hupfer 2002; Iacobucci
and Ostrom 1993). This agentic versus communal distinction between the two sexes
impacts how each gender (the more emotional females and the more rational males)
observes, evaluates and relates to the environment (Rudmin 1990).
Research based on the widely-studied Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) adds
that females are emotion-dominated Feeling types while males are logic-dominated
Thinking types (Rideout and Richardson 1989). This stream of research suggests
that Thinking type people evaluate experiences on the basis of rational factors
whereas "Feeling" types tend to rely on affective processes (Carey et al. 1989).
Research also shows that women have a greater concern for social context and
relationships and place more importance on interpersonal relationships relative to men
(Belenky et al. 1986). In addition, in the American society women are seen as warm
and emotionally expressive while men are typically perceived as technically
competent and instrumental (Deaux 1984).
Overall, women are more expressive and receptive to emotional communication (e.g.
Sprecher and Sedikides 1993). In the formation of relationships, emotional
considerations are more important to women whereas men tend to stress rational
factors. Empirical evidence specifically in the context of services also shows that
females and males differ in their approaches to forming relationships with service
providers (Shemwell and Cronin 1995) and in evaluating service encounters
(Iacobucci and Ostrom 1993; Yavas et al. 1999).
Translating such difference into choosing a hotel, one would expect men to place
more emphasis on the rational and cognitive aspects of hotel choice whereas women
would be more likely to make their decisions on the basis of affect-intensive factors.
Similarly, because women are socialized to maximize the interpersonal aspects of
their relationships, they would be expected to emphasize the relational component of
service delivery and be more influenced by relational cues. Men, on the other hand,
would be expected to focus more on the core service.
Based on the preceding discussion, we advance the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Males place higher importance on core service when choosing a hotel.
Hypothesis 2: Females place higher importance on relational service when choosing
a hotel.
193
METHOD
Sample
Data to achieve the purposes of the study were collected through self-administered
questionnaires from the residents of a metro area in the United States. Five hundred
questionnaires were hand distributed to potential respondents satisfying the following
condition; the respondent had to have stayed in a hotel for business or pleasure
purposes at least twice within the past 12 months. If a respondent did not meet this
condition during the initial screening, then members of the field force sought an
alternative respondent in the same neighborhood. After a two-week period, of the 500
questionnaires thus distributed, 341 usable ones (68 percent response rate) were
retrieved. Of those respondents 182 were females and 159 males.
A comparison of the characteristics of the two groups revealed that 56 percent of male
respondents had college or better education compared with 36 percent of females.
Both groups came from households with comparable incomes. Thirty-five percent of
male and 30 percent of female respondents earned more than $45,000. Fifty-four
percent of male and 49 percent of female respondents were married. Compared with
57 percent of male respondents, 53 percent of female respondents were between the
ages of 25 and 44. About one fifth (19 percent) of female and 34 percent of male
respondents indicated that the primary purpose of their hotel stay was business. On
the average, males spent 2.31 nights in a hotel per stay compared with 2.49 nights per
stay for females.
Measurement
The list of attributes that people use in selecting a hotel was canvassed from the
literature (cf. Ananth et al. 1992; Barsky and Labagh 1992; Hwang 2007; Kim and
Perdue 2013; LeBlanc and Nguyen 1996; Yao-Hsu et al. 2015) and guest satisfaction
surveys distributed by various hotel chains. The process resulted in a pool of 28
attributes. After evaluating each item for its content, the researchers then reduced the
list to 10 attributes five of which related to core service and the remaining five to
relational service. The items generating a consensus were: core service (room
amenities in good working condition, attractiveness of exterior design/appearance,
attractiveness of interior design/lobby, cleanliness of rooms, cleanliness of
bathrooms) and relational service (convenience of check in/check out, courteousness
of personnel, ease of making reservations, security/safety, promptness of service).
During the course of the study respondents were asked to indicate the level of
importance they attached to these attributes on seven-point scales (7 = very important,
6 = important, 5 = slightly important, 4 = not sure, 3 = slightly unimportant, 2 =
unimportant and 1 = not important at all). Composite scores were formed for each
component (core service and relational service) by linearly combining the scores of
attributes belonging to that component. The internal consistency reliabilities of the
two measures were: core service (0.681) and relational service (0.702).
194
ANALYSIS
During the analysis stage, by using median scores of the composite measures as splitpoints, respondents were divided into high and low importance core service
(relational service) categories. To analyze categorical data of this nature, researchers
typically use the familiar Chi-square test. However, the Chi-square test measures the
extent to which variables exhibit a non-random relationship, but it does not permit
inferences of the type the more of X, the more (or less) of Y.
Drazin and Kazanjian (1993) cautioning that use of inappropriate methods to analyze
data raises legitimate concerns about the validity of any inferences drawn from them,
assert that in typical cross-classification studies, even where theory and predictions
are precise, relationships between variables are inadequately tested. They add that
majority of cross-classification studies reduce the level of precision in their theories to
match the methods available and do not go beyond being exploratory.
Given precise directional hypotheses in our study concerning relationships between
core (relational) service and gender, we use the Del statistic (Drazin and Kazanjian
1993), which overcomes such problems. The Del statistic measures the strength of
categorically specified hypotheses as a proportionate reduction of error (PRE) in
cross-classification analysis of nominal and ordinal data. Del goes beyond rejecting
the null and specifies predictive hypotheses about categorical variables and measures
the extent to which the hypotheses explain the observed data. Del is interpreted as the
proportionate reduction in error of knowing the specific prediction rule over not
knowing that rule. In the absence of such a rule, expected cell frequencies are
determined by the marginal probabilities of the rows and columns which define them.
While Chi-square measures a goodness of fit for the null hypothesis of no
relationship, Del measures a goodness of fit for a directional relationship hypothesis.
The calculation of Del involves specifying the cells in which frequencies are expected
to occur. To calculate the proportionate reduction in error, a comparison is made
between the expected frequencies in the presence and absence of a prediction rule.
Prediction errors are measured by assigning a weight (typically 1) to the cells in
which frequencies are not expected to occur to penalize them when they do, and a
weight of zero (0) to those cells in which they are expected to fall under. The
expected frequencies of cells are then multiplied by the weights assigned to them and
all products are summed. The observed frequencies of each cell are also multiplied by
their corresponding weights and summed. Del which is the measure of prediction
success is the expected errors minus the observed errors divided by the expected
errors. In the absence of observed errors, the goodness of fit is perfect and Del =1.
The significance of a given value of Del is determined by calculating its
corresponding z-score as follows:
Z=
del
1/2
(V )
where V (the variance of Del) is:
V=
i j wij Pij (i j wij Pij )

2
n i j (wij Pi Pj )
195
In this formula:
wij =1 or less for specified error cells and 0 for predicted cells,
Pij = cell probabilities, and
PiPj = marginal probabilities for the ith row and the jth column, respectively.
RESULTS
Table 1 displays the results of Chi-square tests, which we conducted prior to
performing Del to serve as a reference point. The null hypotheses in the case of Chisquare test are that there are no relationships between gender and the importance
attached to core (relational) service in choosing a hotel. A significant Chi-square
result leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis would mean that the variables are
related. The Chi-square results in Table 1 suggest that the relationship between
gender and importance attached to core service is marginally significant and the
gender-relational service relationship is not significant. Thus, at least on the face of it,
the Chi-square results seem to provide some support regarding the validity of one of
the hypotheses we advanced.
Table 2 presents the results of analysis using Del statistic. Given the hypothesized
relationship between the variables, one would expect cell frequencies to load more
heavily in the female-high and male-low cells in the case of relational service and in
the reverse direction in the case of core service. As such, for instance, according to
our directional hypothesis, the frequencies in the male-high and female-low cells in
the case of relational service are errors (see Table 3).
Table 1: Chi-square test resultsa
Gender
Core
Low
High
Male
Female
117 (109)
42 (50)
116 (124)
65 (57)
Chi-Square:
3.54
Degrees of Freedom: 1
Probability:
0.06
Gender
Core
Low
High
Male
Female
93 (86)
64 (71)
92 (99)
87 (80)
Chi-Square:
2.08
Degrees of Freedom: 1
Probability:
0.16
a
Numbers in parentheses are expected frequencies.
196
As can be seen from Table 2, with respect to core service dimension, 64 percent of the
females attach low importance to this dimension as compared with 74 percent of
males. Likewise while 36 percent of females attach high importance to core service
dimension, little over one-quarter (26 percent) of males view this dimension of being
high importance. Thus, in relative terms, females tend to view core service experience
attributes more important than males. Overall (117+65)/340=54 percent of the
respondents (male and female) are classified in the error cells. In the case of relational
service, 49 percent of females vs. 41 percent of males view this dimension
importantly.
Table 2: Del test results
Core Service
Hypothesis0: There is no relationship between gender and emphasis placed on core
service in choosing a hotel.
Hypothesis1: Males place higher importance on core service when choosing a hotel.
Del: 0.09
Z: 1.63
P: 0.10
Relational Service
Hypothesis0: There is no relationship between gender and emphasis placed on
relational service in choosing a hotel.
Hypothesis2: Females place higher importance on relational service when choosing a
hotel.
Del: 0.07
Z: 1.55
P: 0.12
For the hypotheses advanced in the study, the Del statistic is 0.09 for core and 0.07
for relational service dimensions with corresponding z-scores of 1.63 and 1.55. Both
results are insignificant and refute the advanced hypotheses. Thus, by going beyond a
mere test of no relationship as in the case of Chi-square, Del provides more concrete
support and prevents derivation of an erroneous conclusion in the case of core service.
197
Table 3: Calculation of DEL: Relational service

Gender
Relational
Service
Male
Female
Low
Predicted
Error
High
Error
Predicted
Del
=
=
=
=
=
1 (observed errors / expected errors)

1 (64+92) /( 71 +99)
1 (158 /170)
1 0.93
0.07
DISCUSSION
Summary of findings
Building upon the earlier research streams into gender differences and hotel choice
criteria, this study investigated whether males and females differ on the emphases
they place on core service and relational service in choosing a hotel. A sample of
residents of a metro area in the United States served as the study setting in testing two
research hypotheses. The results suggested that males and females were essentially
the same in terms of the emphases they placed on core service and relational service
in choosing a hotel. These results are counterintuitive and run against the existing
received views (Iacobbuci and Ostrom 1993). However, the results receive some
support from a related study conducted among travelers who had stayed at a hotel
within the past three months (Sun and Qu 2011). That study indicated that the effects
of core and relational service quality on male and female travelers behavior did not
differ. One plausible explanation for the male-female similarity found in our study is
that women are joining the workforce in increasing numbers and with their increased
involvement in the business world, a blurring of traditional gender-role distinctions
is taking place.
On the bases of our study results, the answers to such intriguing questions as Does
gender matter in hotel choice?, Should hotels design their properties to pander to
females? Should hotels dedicate even special floors and rooms for females only?
(cf. Pizam 2014) appears to be no. While separate facilities for females and males
might be dictated by customs and religious norms in traditional societies, a gendertargeted approach would be an affront to women in western societies (Pizam 2014)
such as the United States where the current study was undertaken. In any event our
results do not warrant gender-based strategies. Instead, they point to a holistic
198
approach. In other words, actions targeted to one gender, say females, should pay
dividends in the case of the other gender.
Implications for practice
Regardless of gender, delivery of core service in a competent manner is important.
This means that the hotel management must organize training programs to equip their
frontline employees with the requisite knowledge and tools to provide core services
right the first time they are delivered. Frontline employees should also be provided
with the necessary problem solving skills to identify and fix customer problems in
real time when failures occur in delivery of core services. Hotel management should
not ignore interpersonal skills training in their training programs. Interpersonal skills
so critical for relational service should be used as a criterion not only in the employee
selection process but also as a key component of customer-contact training. A twopronged approach, thus, would ensure that employees are not only experts about the
services they deliver but that they can also deliver them in a courteous, pleasant
manner and meet their guests needs.
Given the importance of core and relational service, hotels can employ ads featuring
favorable testimonials from real guests. This strategy can be especially effective with
new guests who have not yet developed an established image of a hotel. Additionally,
in their advertisements, hotels can concentrate on image executions that are hard for
consumers to refute. For example, the relational service attributes identified in this
study primarily deal with hotel personnel qualities. Accordingly, images of helpful
and attentive employees can be portrayed in the ads in order to promote the match
between the hotel and guests expectations (cf. Ladhari 2009).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
On a concluding note, we have to reiterate that our study contributes to the body of
knowledge by furthering our understanding of the role of gender in choice behavior.
In addition, our study draws attention to the Del statistic which is an undertapped
technique in analyzing categorical data. As shown here, the Del Statistic has
mathematical rigor and is relatively simple and easy to apply. It requires a minimum
amount of data and is not sensitive to sample size. Furthermore, the requisite
calculations can be easily programmed. In this paper, an Excel program was used in
performing the calculations.
Despite the contributions of the study, certain issues may have confounded our results
and may delimit generalizations. For instance, the purpose of the trip may affect the
importance placed on core versus relational service. Business travelers who use a hotel
for business meetings may have different expectations than road warriors. Similarly,
leisure travelers who travel with children may have different expectations from a hotel
than those who travel as couples or singles. Likewise, the size of a hotel and its rating
(e.g. economy, luxury, boutique) may have confounded the results. Hence,
investigation of the impact of such possible confounding factors in future research
would be worthwhile.
199
Furthermore, this studys setting was a single region, single industry and a single
point in time. This may have led to sampling artifacts and ignored the potential
temporal dynamics of the relationships. Therefore, generalizations beyond the
specific context of this research must be guarded. Replications in other regions in the
United States and elsewhere among respondents in hotel sector as well as other
service settings are in order for conclusive generalizations. Finally, our measures can
encompass a broader domain and be defined as higher-order constructs. Therefore,
future refinements in study measures by collecting data not only through quantitative
surveys but also through qualitative studies are in order to improve measures and their
psychometric properties (e.g. reliability).
Thus, we culminate with a call for additional research on these issues and hope that
our study will inspire other researchers to pursue these and other relevant issues in the
future. Such research, on one hand, can further contribute to the generalizability of
findings and theory building, and, on the other hand, can facilitate managerial
decisions.
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Ugur Yavas, PhD, Full Professor

East Tennessee State University
College of Business and Technology
Department of Management and Marketing
Johnson City, TN 37614
Voice: 423 439 5382
Fax: 423 439 5661
E-mail: raxyavas@etsu.edu
Osman M. Karatepe, PhD, Full Professor
Eastern Mediterranean University
Faculty of Tourism
Gazimagusa, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Via Mersin 10, PO Box 99628, Turkey
Voice: 90 392 630 1116
Fax: 90 392 365 1584
E-mail: osman.karatepe@emu.edu.tr
Emin Babakus, PhD, Full Professor
The University of Memphis
Fogelman College of Business and Economics
Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management
Memphis, TN 38152
Voice: 901 678 3857
Fax: 901 678 4051
E-mail: ebabakus@memphis.edu
202
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Tourism and Hospitality Management, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp.

GENDER-CHOICE BEHAVIOR LINKAGES:

where V (the variance of Del) is:

i j wij Pij (i j wij Pij )

Numbers in parentheses are expected frequencies.

Table 3: Calculation of DEL: Relational service

1 (observed errors / expected errors)

Ugur Yavas, PhD, Full Professor

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