Role of Multisensory Marketing of Bath Amenities in Luxury Hotel Customers' Perceived Value

Abstract

The popularity of sensory marketing has piqued the interest of luxury service providers in designing service environments to stimulate the senses of customers seeking a unique luxury experience. Providing high-quality hotel products allows an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage through brand differentiation. This study explores the link between the multisensory marketing of bath amenities (stimulus), perceived value (organism), and behavioral intention (response) based on the stimulus-organism-response framework. The data were collected from luxury hotel customers in the United States. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships. The results show that customers with a high level of sensory experience tend to perceive high hedonic, quality, and prestige values. Further, perceived value affected customers' behavioral intentions (i.e., purchase and revisit intentions) through satisfaction. These findings offer useful guidelines for service providers on how they can achieve sustainable growth by differentiating brands using sensory attributes.