HIBRIDACIÓN GENÓMICA COMPARADA

5.3.1 Persuasive Online Communication Strategy

With regards to industry practitioners, this research provides suggestions to service marketers on how to trigger transportation experiences to drive favorable

consumer responses, such as brand experience, emotions, trust, and behavioral intentions.

With the growing amount of information available on the Internet and the increasing number of hotels available to consumers, it becomes more difficult to create a persuasive online environment that transforms customers’ indirect online visits to their actual visit to the hotel. Service marketers should make an effort to help prospective customers

imagine their anticipatory experiences with the company (i.e., hotel) through their pleasant online transportation experiences.

The current study especially emphasizes the importance of transportation experiences as a narrative persuasion. Stories are effective to stimulate customers to

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imagine this future consumption stage. For instance, Flagship retail stores (i.e., Nike Town in London) or theme parks (i.e., Disneyland) utilize narrative cues to stimulate customers’ curiosity and imaginations (Van Laer et al., 2014). This study signifies the importance of narrative transportation in the online context by proposing different website attributes—sensory descriptions, brand relationship norms, and social review type cues. Even though people cannot touch or be there to experience their future consumption experiences, this study proposes by utilizing different cues in the online context, transportation experiences can be enhanced. Among the different attributes, this study confirms the key factors that influence transportation experience; thus, service marketers should consider these different factors when they develop online marketing communications and persuasion strategies.

As outcomes of transportation experience, this study signifies the importance of consumers’ brand experiences, future-oriented emotions, trust, and behavioral intentions.

Intriguing positive brand experiences, emotions, trust, and intentions are important in the online environment, since consumers’ responses are directly related to their behavioral responses. For instance, if consumers feel delightful after they visit a hotel’s website, they are more likely to visit the hotel. Therefore, service marketers should develop websites that can positively influence consumers’ transportation experiences that eventually influence consumer responses.

5.3.2 Sensory Triggering Website

When consumers need to evaluate products or services with little prior

experience, marketers can apply different strategies to enhance consumers’ evaluations or decision-making processes. Based upon the emerging concepts of narrative persuasion,

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service marketers can take advantage by applying sensory cues as a way of triggering transportation experiences because when sensory cues are effectively implemented to the online environment, customers are more likely to have enhanced future consumption experiences. The main goal of sensory marketing is to differentiate and express a product, service, or company’s identity associated with the human mind and senses (Hultén, 2011).

While many marketers intuitively understand the importance of sensory

components, the role of sensory cues has not been fully investigated. This study confirms sensory cues can be utilized as a way of triggering transportation experiences to provide narrative persuasion effects. The reason for a service organization to develop sensory marketing strategies is to distinguish its brand from competitors, especially when other attributes (i.e., price and functional attributes) are similar. Thus, it is significant for management of the service industry to understand the importance of sensory cues that can be incorporated into their online environment not only to create consumers’ pleasant experiences, but also to successfully compete with other organizations.

Sensory marketing, as an online communication strategy, may be a relevant approach, since a sensory triggered website contributes to a multi-sensory atmosphere on the hotel’s website, by communicating the sensory characteristics of the service’s

offerings. Based upon results of this study, marketers can apply sensory components to their online environments. Since sensory cues are embedded, people are more likely to transport themselves to the future consumption stage.

111 5.3.3 Relationship Marketing

Understanding interpersonal buyer-seller interactions is critical to effectively utilize this relationship to sustain the relationship between company and customers.

Advances in technology in the online environment provide greater opportunities for customers to express their opinions about companies and services, the same way customers interact with their friends or family members. Service marketers need to invest in infrastructure designed to allow customers to connect with the company in more personal ways, rather than just a transactional relationship, to unconsciously inject the idea of a communal-oriented brand relationship norm. Service marketers also need to consider types of service segment because customers might prefer different relationship types, depending upon the context of the service. For instance, customers in the hedonic-oriented service industry might be more engaged with the communal-hedonic-oriented

relationship norm compared to customers in the utilitarian focused service industry.

Different relationship marketing strategies can be applied by taking into account the service segment.

Utilizing advanced technological appliances, hotels can rely on different virtual platforms to be perceived as a customer’s best friend. Results from this research suggest when an online environment is designed, it is important to keep buyer-seller interactions in a communal-oriented relationship norm. To enhance the communal-oriented

relationship norm, different servicescape cues can be utilized in the online context by focusing on the interpersonal relationships between the hotel and the customer (Bitner, 1992). Friendly emails and social media friends can also provide an additional

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opportunity for hotels to communicate with their customers to extend their relationships from the mere supply-demand relationship to the personal friend-friend relationship.

5.3.4 Social Influence Strategy

Managers should understand the significant impacts of social influence in the online environment. Online reviews are considered a valuable source of ‘real time’

information that influence consumers’ attitudes and experiences with the company, so managers can take prompt action to improve service quality (Dellarocas, Zhang, &

Awad, 2007). Since transportation experience is contingent upon the presentation of social review type cues, it is important how customers’ reviews are presented in the online context. To enhance transportation experiences, hotels can list narrative reviews on their websites so customers have a rich immersion with their online experiences.

Since different types of social reviews result in significant differences in consumers’ brand experiences and their responses, managers should incorporate social media strategies into their daily practices. Even though many hotels have a link to third party intermediaries, not every hotel shows narrative reviews on its website. Hotels can include narrative reviews on their online environment to augment narrative persuasion effects represented with transportation experience. If previous customers vividly

describe their pleasant experiences during their stay at a hotel, the hotel can capture these rich experiences from previous customers’ reviews to foster prospective customers’

transportation experiences.