Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether rational and emotional appeals are more effective for small boutique hotel websites in Australia. Specifically, it assesses how attitudes towards websites, service expectations and attitudes towards boutique hotels will influence purchase...

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Main Authors: Lwin, Michael, Phau, Ian
Format: Journal Article
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42386
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author Lwin, Michael
Phau, Ian
author_facet Lwin, Michael
Phau, Ian
author_sort Lwin, Michael
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether rational and emotional appeals are more effective for small boutique hotel websites in Australia. Specifically, it assesses how attitudes towards websites, service expectations and attitudes towards boutique hotels will influence purchase intention under the two different types of appeals. Design/methodology/approach: Using a systematic intercept approach, a total of 249 useable data was collected in a large suburb of Western Australia. Results were analysed using t-test and a series of multiple regressions. Findings: The results show boutique hotel websites that used emotional appeals performed differently to those that used rational appeals. Further analysis shows that emotional appeals evoked more favourable attitudes towards the website and attitudes towards the boutique hotel. In addition, websites that utilised emotional appeals were a stronger predictor of purchase intention. Research limitations/implication: The research focuses only on homepages of the boutique hotels. Further, the study was limited to two rational (price and service accolades) and two emotional appeals (warmth and serenity). Originality/value: The study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of website appeals. It broadens the scope of the service communication literature by exploring rational and emotional appeals in an interactive medium.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-423862017-09-13T14:26:48Z Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels Lwin, Michael Phau, Ian Boutique hotel Rational appeal Advertising appeals Emotional appeal Website promotion Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether rational and emotional appeals are more effective for small boutique hotel websites in Australia. Specifically, it assesses how attitudes towards websites, service expectations and attitudes towards boutique hotels will influence purchase intention under the two different types of appeals. Design/methodology/approach: Using a systematic intercept approach, a total of 249 useable data was collected in a large suburb of Western Australia. Results were analysed using t-test and a series of multiple regressions. Findings: The results show boutique hotel websites that used emotional appeals performed differently to those that used rational appeals. Further analysis shows that emotional appeals evoked more favourable attitudes towards the website and attitudes towards the boutique hotel. In addition, websites that utilised emotional appeals were a stronger predictor of purchase intention. Research limitations/implication: The research focuses only on homepages of the boutique hotels. Further, the study was limited to two rational (price and service accolades) and two emotional appeals (warmth and serenity). Originality/value: The study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of website appeals. It broadens the scope of the service communication literature by exploring rational and emotional appeals in an interactive medium. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42386 10.1108/17505931311316725 Emerald Group Publishing Limited restricted
spellingShingle Boutique hotel
Rational appeal
Advertising appeals
Emotional appeal
Website promotion
Lwin, Michael
Phau, Ian
Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
title Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
title_full Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
title_fullStr Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
title_full_unstemmed Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
title_short Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
title_sort effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels
topic Boutique hotel
Rational appeal
Advertising appeals
Emotional appeal
Website promotion
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42386