Developing Relational Bonds with Luxury Hotel Guests through Personalization: A Subgroup Analysis of Generational Cohorts

ABSTRACT Empirical studies on personalization in the luxury hotel context are lacking. Personalization, financial, social, and structural bonds have been proposed together as a conceptual framework, but have not been tested empirically. Moreover, relational bond studies in the luxury hotel U.S. market are non-existent. As personalization is a growing trend and luxury hotels continue to be a high revenue generator for brands, we proposed a relational bonds model in the context of U.S. luxury hotels. Multiple regression analysis was conducted on data collected through a Qualtrics Survey Panel from 205 U.S. respondents. A subgroup analysis was performed to examine differences between Millennials and Generation Xers. The results show differences between the two generational cohorts in terms of the relational bonds regarding behavioral loyalty intentions.