The Impacts of Relational Benefits on Guest Satisfaction and Guest Loyalty: Moderated Mediation Effects of Hotel Guest Genders

Purpose: This study investigated (a) the impacts of social-, economic-, and psychological relation benefits, perceived by 5-star hotel guests, on guest satisfaction and guest loyalty and (b) the moderated-mediation of the impacts by gender. Methods: A total of 426 valid responses were collected from an online survey targeting South Koreans. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, multivariate regression analysis, and moderated-mediation analysis. Results: Economic- and psychological benefits had positive impacts on guest satisfaction and guest loyalty. However, social benefits positively influenced guest loyalty only. Guest satisfaction partially mediated the impacts of economic- and psychological benefits on guest loyalty, and these indirect impacts of moderated by gender. Specifically, the positive impacts were more salient among males than females. Conclusion: It is inferable that economic- and psychological benefits are more closely associated with service quality, the key factor of service experience, whereas social benefits play a more supplementary role. Even if males and females perceived the same level of economic- or psychological benefits, males are more likely to turn that into greater levels of guest satisfaction and guest loyalty. The findings help expand the understanding of how relational benefits differ based on gender and how gender shapes consumer perceptions or behaviors in tourism and hospitality contexts. The findings can also be used to seek a more effective use of relational benefits.