Description
Abstract
The paper aims to a qualitative study on the relevance of technology in providing better experiences to millennials based on the opinions of the hotel industry executives. It proposes modelling the experiential value and outlining why and how technology is important in creating the experiential value of millennnials at various service encounters. The study aims to expand the domain of hospitality industry by including a broader range of value related aspects than is normally found in the service literature. The paper opted for a qualitative study using the open-ended approach of grounded theory, including 14 depth interviews with employees representing middle and senior management having mainly a marketing and hospitality background. The paper provides empirical insights about how technology can be used to create experiential value among millennials. It suggests that technology adoption at service encounters provides experiential value to the millennials, which in turn has also impact on hotel revenue. Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. The paper includes implications for the creation of experiential value, hotel revenue and for technology adoption at various service encounters. This paper fulfils an identified need to study how experiential value can be created through technology mediated service encounters.
Keywords: experiential value, technology-enabled service encounters, touch-points, hotel industry
