Chapter 1 Introduction:

With the advancement and prevalence of digital technologies, the hospitality industry is evolving
into a smarter era (Pencarelli, 2020; Stylos et al., 2021). Against this backdrop, digital transformation
(DT) has become increasingly crucial for hospitality firms to improve customer experiences and gain
competitive advantages (Helal, 2023; Iranmanesh et al., 2022). The number of studies on hospitality
DT is rapidly expanding. However, this growth is accompanied by conceptual ambiguity and thematic
fragmentation. One reason for this is that DT is an umbrella construct with rich meaning, ranging
from the adoption of specific digital technologies (e.g., mobile technology, blockchain and service
robots) to more intricate forms like digital business model innovation (Verhoef et al., 2021).

At the heart of the hospitality industry, a digital revolution is brewing. No longer are we talking
about static brochures and wafer-thin, magnetic strip key cards. Guest journeys are now being
molded by technology at every turn. Online platforms are flirting with booking engines, crafting
website browsing experiences that morph and personalize itself before it’s appeared on the guest’s
laptop screen. Mobile apps are now a guest’s closest travel buddy, whispering sweet advisories and
unlocking doors with a simple tap(Abass, 2023). AI is omnipresent, shadowing guests hopes and
desires, choreographing one seamless experience after another, from effortless, personalized check-
in to the very key amenity recommendations that the guest expects. Which leads us to ask, does this
new digital symphony of technology actually sounds like guest satisfaction and/or loyalty, or is it not
quite as pleasing to the ear as it is in theory and sound like more of a chaotic, broken, discordant
mess

This article examines how digital marketing and online reviews are critical in shaping guest decisions.
Online reviews that are positive build trusts and are persuasive with their bookings (Konstantinova,
2019). Smart digital marketing showcases properties and experiences that are both unique and
distinctive to the right guest. Hotels that have the winning combination both of reviews and digital
marketing programs make pixels less relevant and unforgettable experiences that lead to happy
return guests.

2. Research Questions and Aims

2.1 Aim

Hotels find themselves within an interactive puzzle in the digital age: How do innovative
technologies execute guest experiences that ultimately create long term loyalty? This article
examines how digital marketing and online reviews are critical in shaping guest decisions. Online
reviews that are positive build trusts and are persuasive with their bookings (Konstantinova, 2019).
Smart digital marketing showcases properties and experiences that are both unique and distinctive
to the right guest. Hotels that have the winning combination both of reviews and digital marketing
programs make pixels less relevant and unforgettable experiences that lead to happy return guests.

2.2 Research Questions

1. How do different guest segments (e.g., budget travelers, luxury seekers, families) use online
reviews (positive, negative, and neutral) when researching and booking hotels, and how
does this vary across different stages (e.g., dream, plan, book, experience, remember)?
2. What specific types of social media posts, global ads, influencer marketing, retail search
engine ads most effectively persuade different guest segments to choose one hotel over
another, and how does this vary by hotel type and guest segment?
3. How do generic search engine ads compare against travel search engines, and how do these
differ across guest segments and hotel segments?
4. What specific types of social media posts (e.g., photos of unusual amenities), global ads (e.g.,
virtual reality tours), influencer marketing, retail search engine ads (e.g., meta search
engine; misc Ad Threat Assumptions engine) most effectively persuade different traveler
segments and guest segments to upgrade to a higher-rated hotel, and how does this differ
by channel and guest segment?
5. What specific types of social media posts, global and retail search engine advertising, display
advertising, influencer marketing, sponsored-tweets, etc. most effectively persuade different
biz traveler segments (e.g., conference, meeting, trade show, team-building, annual
company event, business gathering) to choose one hotel over another, and how does this
differ by channel and traveler segment?
6. · What specific rep management practices (e.g., responding to reviews, engaging on social
media, other digital tools) most effectively increase bookings? How do guest’s preferences
and perceptions of digital hotel experiences differ across guest demographics, travel motives
and tech-savviness levels?
7. How does the integration of digital technologies with conventional hotel services, such as
concierge and housekeeping, affect guest satisfaction and perceived value?
8. What are the potential long-term implications of digital transformation on the hotel
workforce?
 9. How does the emergence of new technologies, such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality
and Block Chain, shape the future of guest experience in hotels?

Literature review

Defining digital transformation (DT) and digital technologies

DT can be understood by differentiating it from two other concepts: digitization and digitalization.
Unlike digitization, which describes the conversion of information into digital format, DT and
digitalization are broader concepts that refer to the utilization of digital technologies affecting
organizations, industries, and even society as a whole (Vial, 2019, Reis et al., 2018). DT and
digitalization are often used interchangeably (Reis et al., 2018). However, some scholars argue that
DT represents an advanced stage subsequent to digitalization (Busulwa et al., 2022, Verhoef et al.,
2021). According to this perspective, digitalization primarily serves as an enabler for existing
businesses (centred on superficial digital innovation in value chains) by adopting digital technologies
to optimize workflows/processes and enhance efficiency without re-examining and redesigning core
business. In contrast, DT involves reshaping customer value propositions and concurrently deeply
changing value chains through digital business model innovation (Busulwa et al., 2022).
This study focuses on DT at an organizational level, though it can also occur at industrial, societal,
and other levels. Here are two representative definitions of organizational DT: Hanelt et al. (2021, p.
1160), in their systematic review of DT in the general management field, defined DT as
"organizational change that is triggered and shaped by the widespread diffusion of digital
technologies". Another definition from Verhoef et al. (2021, p. 889) conceptualized DT as "a change
in how a firm employs digital technologies, to develop a new digital business model that helps to
create and appropriate more value for the firm". The former definition does not differentiate DT
from digitalization, while the latter underscores digital business innovation as a unique feature of DT
compared to digitalization. The latter view suggests that DT actually includes three stages or aspects:
digitization, digitalization, and DT, as digital business model innovation necessarily involves
digitization and digitalization (Verhoef et al., 2021).
Notably, one similarity across all DT definitions is the emphasis on the adoption and diffusion of
digital technologies (Vial, 2019). Bharadwaj et al. (2013, p. 471) defined digital technologies as
"combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies".
According to this definition, Vial (2019, p. 121) clarified DT as "a process that aims to improve an
entity by triggering significant changes to its properties through combinations of information,
computing, communication, and connectivity technologies [i.e., digital technologies]".
In reality, digital technologies encompass many forms and categories that extend far beyond the
scope of ICTs (Vial, 2019). Nambisan (2017) categorized digital technologies into three groups: digital
artifacts or components (e.g., mobile apps and Oral-B’s electric toothbrush with bluetooth), digital
platforms (e.g., Apple’s iOS), and digital infrastructures (e.g., cloud computing). Sebastian et al.
(2017) labeled new digital technologies as SMACIT, standing for social, mobile, analytics, cloud, and
IoT. The authors note that this acronym does not cover all digital technologies, such as AI,
blockchain, robotics, VR, AR, mixed reality (MR), and metaverse. Additionally, the most popular
digital technologies used by hospitality firms include Wi-Fi, global positioning system (GPS) tracking,
service robots, AI, smart technology, social media, mobile apps/devices/technology, big data
analytics, e-commerce and social commerce, information systems or software, and VR (Iranmanesh
et al., 2022, McKercher et al., 2012, Radojevic et al., 2015).

Digital transformation in hospitality

Verhoef et al. (2021, p. 889) defined digital transformation as a change in how a firm employs digital
technologies, to develop a new digital business model that helps to create and appropriate more
value for the firm. Verhoef et al. (2021) stress the importance of conducting a comprehensive
evaluation of all business processes during digital transformation and emphasize the need for a
redesign that prioritizes enhancing the customer experience, adding value, ensuring scalability, and
strategically optimizing operations. Reinartz et al. (2019)support this perspective by highlighting how
digital technologies enable new market behaviors, interactions, and experiences, leading to the
transformation of customer relationships, internal processes, and the overall value proposition of a
business. Research on digital transformation in hospitality has predominantly focused on its impact
on hotel performance (Iranmanesh et al., 2022) rather than the customer experience. For instance,
Ahmad and Scott(2019) emphasized the effectiveness of information systems in reducing costs and
contributing to financial performance. Social media platforms were shown to influence hotel sales
growth and financial performance through electronic word‐of‐mouth (Garrido‐Moreno et al., 2020).
The adoption of mobile booking apps in hotels has also been seen to streamline both operations and
the booking process (Jung et al., 2014).Integrating robots into hotel operations has generated
additional revenue and improved financial performance (Ivanov, 2020). Furthermore, big data
analytics have been proven to influence various aspects of revenue management (Egan & Haynes,
2019).Fewer studies in hospitality explore the influence of digital technologies on customer
experience, something that is attested toby Kim and So's (2022) analysis of about two decades of
customer experience research in hospitality. For example, Jung et al. (2014)found that hotels can
improve the guest experience by using mobile apps for various tasks such as unlocking room doors.
In addition, research has shown that frontline robots influence guests' perceived performance
(Belanche et al., 2020a), intention to recommend(Belanche et al., 2021), loyalty intentions, and
guest spending(Schepers et al., 2022). Further hotel studies focus on specific stages, such as the
prestige. For example, these studies explore the impact of using disruptive virtual reality technology,
such as head‐mounted displays, instead of less advanced enabling technologies (PC, cellphone)
when viewing a destination video, on sensory stimulation, ease of imagination (Flavián et al., 2021),
or the intention to book a hotel (Orús et al., 2021). The aforementioned studies focus mainly on
customers' perceptions of the experience they have actually had with technology. Nevertheless, in
hospitality, there is a need for further research into the experience that companies intend to design
fortheir guests (Bonfanti et al., 2021).2.2 | Designing guest experiences in the digital era according to
Becker and Jaakkola (2020, p. 638), customer experience is defined as a set of spontaneous, no
deliberate responses and reactions of customers to offer‐related stimuli throughout the customer
journey. While companies may not have direct control over creating the customer experience, they
can influence the triggers of customer responses (Becker & Jaakkola, 2020). The intended customer
experience represents the manager's perspective on customer experience and involves meticulous
design and planning for various aspects of the customer journey (Bonfanti et al., 2021). It plays a
crucial role in CEM as it embodies the organization's strategic vision, shaping and managing
customer experiences to foster positive emotions, strengthen brand loyalty, and drive overall
customer satisfaction (Jaakkola et al., 2015; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Verhoefet al., 2009). In
hospitality, Cetin and Walls (2016) integrate the views of guests and hotel managers to identify
possible gaps in perceptions. They focus on two dimensions of guest experience (social interactions
and the physical environment). Their results highlight the role of technology in the “physical
elements of the facility” and in “service personalization.” However, they do not examine the
underlying psychological mechanisms of consumers and hotel professionals, north role of digital
technologies in designing a unique customer experience. The emergence of digital technologies has
disrupted CEM (Holmlund et al., 2020). However, research on the digital transformation of CEM in
the hospitality industry remains limited (Kandampully et al., 2018; Rahimian et al., 2021). For
instance, Rahimian et al. (2021) identify four essential stages (customer identification, customer
experience design, implementation, and monitoring) for improving CEM implementation in
hospitality. Kandampully et al. (2018) emphasized the limited integration of diverse perspectives in
CEM studies within hospitality and emphasized the need to capture its dynamic nature. They
proposed a model that emphasizes cross‐departmental collaboration and the integration of
technology and social media
eWOM and hotel industry

Internet platforms used for the exchange of information generally have set themes about which
consumers freely share their experiences, ratings, or knowledge, thereby producing eWOM (Hennig-
Thurau et al., 2004). Compared to traditional (offline) WOM, eWOM offers greater convenience,
anonymity, many-to many communication, and a lack of restrictions with regard to time and space.
As a result, eWOM exerts greater and wider influence than traditional WOM (Pan and Zhang, 2011).
Consumers now attach greater importance to information collected from a variety of online
platforms and an increasing number of information platforms related to hotel accommodation have
appeared on the internet. These sites provide relevant information on hotels and accommodations
and enable consumers to share their experiences and opinions (Pitta and Fowler, 2005). The most
common means of communication between hotels and consumers include (1) email and instant
messaging, (2) hotel websites, and (3) blogs and virtual communities (Litvin et al., 2007). Consumer-
generated media (CGM) encompass a number of access options, including discussion boards,
personal blogs, social networking sites (such as, Facebook, Telnet://ptt.cc, Travel networks,
YouTube), and customer review sites (Jeong and Jeon, 2008). CGM are more popular with
consumers as they are generally unaffiliated with commercial interests and provide less biased
information (Litvin et al., 2007). Online third-party travel intermediaries (such as Travelocity.com,
Tripadvisor.com, and Expedia.com) provide less biased reviews of higher credibility. This has made
these travel networks very popular (Kim and Hardin, 2010; Litvin et al., 2007). According to a survey
by Travel Daily News (2012), 87% of the individuals interviewed believed that reviews on
TripAdvisor® helped them to make hotel choices more confidently, and 98% considered the reviews
on this website to be accurate. An investigation by eMarketer (2013) revealed that consumers like to
obtain inspiration and plans for traveling from internet media, in which online third-party travel
intermediaries is their first choice, followed by Facebook. TripAdvisor.com has gained prominence as
one of the leading global travel information advice websites, based on its database containing
independent customer testimonies and evaluations of their real experiences with hotels and other
travelrelated products (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008; Gretzel et al., 2007). Thus, this study selected
TripAdvisor.com as the social medium for our experiments. In recent years, some studies on eWOM
in the hotel industry have been conducted. One study proposed eWOM management strategies for
hospitality and tourism based on a qualitative review of the literature (Litvin et al., 2007). Another
investigated the means of applying virtual world technology to encourage interaction and
participation among hotels and consumers, with the aim of creating a greater quantity of positive
eWOM (Kim and Hardin, 2010). Still others have discussed the influence of eWOM valence on hotel
attitudes based on the awareness of hotels and the expertise of reviewers (Vermeulen and Seegers,
2009). Researchers have analyzed the influence of eWOM on booking intentions based on the
product knowledge and gender of the readers (Kim et al., 2011). In the last two years, researchers
have discussed how rebooking intentions relate to the expectations of the customers and valence of
the reviews in addition to whether it is appropriate for hotel management personnel to be reply to
consumer questions on nontrading websites (such as n TripAdvisor® and Lonely Planet) (Mauri and
Minazzi, 2013). They have also studied the means of reconstructing the formats of UGC online travel
reviews so that readers can access more comparative and benchmarking reviews as well as bringing
more powerful and accurate customer feedback messages to researchers and hotel managers (Zhou
et al., 2014). The survey results and trends in recent research show that the influence of consumer
reviews on online third-party travel intermediaries is receiving more attention from practitioners and
academics. They are expected to become part of the mainstream in future internet marketing for
the hotel industry.

Customer experience creation stages

Customer experience occurs at all the stages of consumer decision-making and consumption
process. They can be broadly categorized into three stages: pre-purchase, purchase and post-
purchase. Loughlin et al. (2004) have also proposed three levels of customer experience: brand
experience, transactional experience and relational experience. Brand experiences are those
perceived by consumers as representing corporate values and brand images of organizations,
predominantly communicated through marketing communications and advertising. Transactional
experiences relate to the day-to-day experiences that customers encounter throughout their normal
dealings with service providers. Relationship experiences are only enjoyed by a small number of
privileged customers and appeared to play the central role in their overall decision making and in
providing important benefits and advantages. Schmitt (1999) proposed the concept of experiential
marketing and suggested five ways to engage customers: sense, feel, think, act and relate.

Customer experiences are holistic in nature. They are consumed as an integrated series of activities
from pre-purchase to post-purchase stages. Haeckel et al. (2003) opined that business strategies
centred on the holistic design and delivery of total customer experiences consistently create
superior customer value. Holistic experiences begin and end long before and after actual
transactions. They incorporate functional and affective attributes. They are orchestrated to deliver
both intrinsic and extrinsic values, resulting in stronger, more sustainable customer preferences. The
holistic nature of experiential designs makes it very difficult for competitors to copy
them. Rawson et al. (2013) reaffirm that it is the full journey of customer interactions with the
organization which lead to a complete customer experience. The holistic nature places emphasis on
the customer experience created during all the moments lived in the entire life of a being a
customer/client of a specific organization.

Customer value is created by total experience of all the elements (Gronroos, 2006). Following this
perspective, customer experience creation process can be understood as consisting of three value
creation stages: value in pre-use, value in use and value in post-use. A brief description of these
stages is given below:

Value in pre-use
This stage refers to a pre-purchase situation where customers get familiar, acquire knowledge,
develop an understanding and if possible try the product or services before actual purchase. This
stage helps customers in shaping their perceptions and formation of attitudes which are
instrumental in decision making. Edvardsson et al. (2005) argued that service organizations can
provide a pre-purchase experience of services referred as “test drives”. They proposed the concept
of “experience room” as the place which provides simulated reality (hyper reality) of a service
experience. Edvardsson et al. (2010) introduced the notion of “value in pre-use” to explain the pre-
purchase service experience which provided a vivid image of a real consumption experience. Their
study explained that some value is derived from the pre-service experience of the test drive. This has
a significant impact on the customer’s willingness to purchase the service. They further extended
their earlier proposed five dimensions of experience room (Edvardsson et al., 2005) by adding a sixth
dimension. The experience room dimensions include the following: physical artefacts, intangible
artefacts, technology, customer placement, customer involvement and interaction with employees.
It helps service organizations in understanding customers, designing new services and increasing the
possibility of converting a prospective customer into an actual customer. Pareigis (2012) in his study
on resource integration referred to “identifying” and “sense-making” as two of the three activities in
customer experience creation. These studies establish the relevance and description of value in pre-
use as an essential activity at the first stage in the customer experience creation process.

Value in use
The second stage in customer experience creation refers to the situation of actual consumption of
services of purchase and consumption of goods. This is in line with the service-dominant logic
proposition of “value in use” where the value is created during consumption experience (Vargo and
Lusch, 2004, 2008). This notion is widely discussed in the literature. After 2004 articles by Vargo and
Lusch, value in use has been extended not only to the factual use of service but also to the use of
service (a process) as application of operant resources which serve as the fundamental basis of
exchange and source of competitive advantage. It relates to the customer experience created during
purchase of merchandise/service, transaction at the point of sale, billing and payments, goods or
service delivery and consumption of goods/services. In this stage, value is created during acquisition
and consumption of products, or service consumption. The emphasis is placed on customer
interaction and co-creation activities. Loughlin et al. (2004) have described this as transactional
experiences. Sandström et al. (2008) proposed that the value in use is created through customer’s
evaluation of service experience.

Value in post-use
It refers to the value created in the post consumption experience characterized by after sales
customer service, exchange/returns, repairs and maintenance, product up-gradation or buy-back,
handling customer complaints or feedback, loyalty programmes, customer communities and
managing a regular communication with all the customers. It is equally important to create good
customer value in post-use along with the value in pre-use and value in use. Loughlin et
al. (2004) have described this as the third level in customer experience known as relational
experience. The value in post-use, created in this stage, collectively with value created in previous
two stages, has important implications for overall customer satisfaction, WOMC and customer
loyalty. The description in this stage requires further empirical verification and validation.

The overall value is created in a holistic manner by integrating the three successive stages of value in
pre-use, value in use and value in post-use. Organizations of all types and sizes benefit by adopting
experiential approach in managing their businesses. The nature and composition of customer
experience may vary with industry and scale of operations. Nonetheless, delivering great customer
experience is not an option to them, it is imperative for managing business in today’s customer-
driven market place. The following section discusses major factors governing customer experience.

Chapter 2 Research methodology:

The research adopted interpretivism (Quinlan et al., 2015) as a philosophical approach with the
intention of investigating individual experiences using interpretations and developing meanings
from individuals’ own experiences and viewpoints (Saunders et al., 2018), thus exploring a complex
environment that has been self-constructed through individual interpretations based on personal
beliefs drawn through memories and the recant of stories (Sparkes and Smith, 2014). This allows for
the collection of rich data collated from “opinions and narratives that can help to account for
different social realities of different social actors” (Saunders et al., 2019, p. 135). The research
followed qualitative principles to gain deeper insight from guests (Durbarry, 2018), using
questionnaires and focusing on customer experiences To facilitate this, a single case study approach
(Yin, 2014) was taken. The adoption of the methodological approach, while not providing any
statistical generalisability (Saunders et al., 2019), does provide theoretical generalisability (Tsang,
2014) and analytical generalisability (Yin, 2014) and allows similar people and organisations to
consider the relevance of the research and how this applies in context (Ridder et al., 2014). Most
notably, the theoretical conventions of the approach provide a firm ground for the approach taken
and provide credibility to the process (Farquhar, 2012). This is further emphasised by Johnston
(2014), who stresses the importance of management research to be both academically rigorous and
practically relevant.

Systematic Literature Review

A thorough and analytical study of the literature provides the basis and motivation for noteworthy
and worthwhile research projects, according to Boote and Beile (2005).

This study used the P.R.I.S.M.A. method to conduct a systematic literature review. The authors
followed a procedure described in Figure 1 and elaborated on in the following paragraphs. According
to Thomé et al. (2016), this procedure typically entails developing the research problem, conducting
a thorough literature search, gathering data, and evaluating the quality of the gathered literature.

Systematic literature review

2701

Peer review 1138

Excluded 1563

Scholarly articles /past 5 years/title “digital

transformation, guest experience , hotel industry 826

Excluded 312

Abstract analysis 70

Excluded 242

Full literature review 50

Excluded 20
Figure 4 systematic literature review by PRISMA ( source author own)

The goal of the systematic study of the literature is to find works that are pertinent to the impact of
digital transformation on guest experience in hotels Scholarly articles were obtained from the
proquest data base . As previously mentioned, a preliminary literature study was the source of the
search's terms. Experts in digital transformation, guest experience , hotel industry examined the
keywords to make sure they were complete and accurate. A overview of the search procedure is
shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3. Keywords and criteria used for the papers selection

Criteria selection for literature review

Publication
Keywords Language
Type

Title abstract ("digital transformation AND, guest

experience AND , hotel industry “
English Journals

The preliminary exploration resulted in a total of 2701 journals in July 2024. As a result, 1563
contributions were excluded from the study because they had not been peer reviewed. This resulted
in a collection of 1138 papers, which were then refined to include only those published in the
previous five years and limited to scientific articles. Furthermore, the focus was narrowed to
publications discussing "digital transformation " or impact on guest expeinece their impact on the
hotel industry a total of 826 publications. Following an abstract analysis, 242 more articles were
removed. Following a thorough text analysis of the remaining 70 manuscripts, 50 publications were
added

Research Technique/Strategy:

The research strategy will employ a mixed-method approach to investigate the impact of digital
transformation on guest experience in hotels. This approach combines both qualitative and
quantitative analysis, enabling a comprehensive examination of various aspects of digital
transformation and its effects on guest experience. This mixed-method approach is ideal for
achieving the research objectives and understanding the complexities associated with digital
transformation in the hospitality sector.

Research Philosophy:

The research philosophy will likely be interpretivist, emphasizing understanding phenomena from
the perspective of the participants and recognizing the subjective nature of reality. Considering that
the study's goal is to examine the impact of digital transformation on guest experiences in hotels, an
interpretivist philosophy is appropriate because it allows researchers to interpret and make sense of
the experiences, perceptions, and behaviors of individuals and organizations involved in the digital
transformation process.

Data Collection:

In alignment with the research theme, data collection will include conducting surveys to gather both
quantitative and qualitative data from hotel guests and industry professionals. These surveys will be
designed to capture detailed information on how digital transformation initiatives affect guest
experiences, including aspects such as satisfaction, convenience, and overall service quality. The
survey-based approach will allow for the collection of large-scale quantitative data while also
providing the opportunity to gather in-depth qualitative insights.

In addition to surveys, a comprehensive search across various sources of secondary literature will be
conducted. This will include scholarly articles, industry reports, and research studies related to
digital transformation and guest experience in the hospitality industry. Academic databases, industry
publications, and reputable online platforms will be utilized to find relevant sources. Furthermore,
existing datasets and reports from industry associations, government agencies, and research
organizations will be used to identify trends and patterns in digital transformation practices and their
impact on guest experience.

This multidimensional approach to data collection will enable a thorough understanding of the
dynamics surrounding digital transformation in hotels and its implications for enhancing guest
experiences.

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