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Hotel amenities and their influence on consumer choice have been extensively studied by academics. These have largely focused on consumer preferences vacation modes and the psychographic characteristics of travelers. Revenue managers make practical use of this information by attempting to match available hotel rooms with traveler demands for accommodations, setting

Hotel amenities and their influence on consumer choice have been extensively studied by academics. These have largely focused on consumer preferences vacation modes and the psychographic characteristics of travelers. Revenue managers make practical use of this information by attempting to match available hotel rooms with traveler demands for accommodations, setting prices that maximize profits for the hospitality company. The experienced revenue manger is able to determine the most profitable price schedule for a room types across many distribution channels. This study was conducted to test the use of choice modeling for objectively assessing dollar values of three basic amenities for consumers (room type, kitchen availability and price). Researcher used paired comparisons modeled as a conditional logit. This study used market segmentation and choice modeling to determine the value of amenities for an aggregate group and 16 more homogenous groups. Market segmentation and choice modeling allowed this study to segment markets into more homogenous groups, and by doing that allowed for calculation of customer willingness to pay for additional amenities. Results from this study confirm that customers are willing to pay for kitchen $65.43 on top of their room value. All responders generally agree to liking an extra bedroom in their hotel room and they are willing to pay $37.39 more than for a studio room. A surprising result is that it seems based on the results that responders generally do not like to have a second bedroom and they are not willing to pay for it. By knowing customer willingness to pay, it can be assured that customers always feel they are getting a high value out of the transaction and increase the likelihood of future transactions. The significance of this research is the concrete numbers that can be, and already have been, applied immediately in the hospitality industry, and is positively impacting business revenue and customer experience.
ContributorsJohnston, Adriana (Author) / Lacher, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Chapman, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Branding and brand management have been top management priorities in the hotel industry. Some researchers have concluded that strong branding would be an efficient way for hotels and hotel chains to differentiate themselves from each other. Recent studies have focused on the establishment of a brand equity model and the

Branding and brand management have been top management priorities in the hotel industry. Some researchers have concluded that strong branding would be an efficient way for hotels and hotel chains to differentiate themselves from each other. Recent studies have focused on the establishment of a brand equity model and the relevant causal relationships of the model. Most of these studies have used types of desirability scales examining the importance of individual factors in measuring brand equity. However, they ignore the trade-offs that affect and characterize choice. Particularly, the personal decision process implied by the hierarchical brand equity model is absent. This study proposed two alternative measures of brand equity, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and conjoint analysis (CA), to address these limitations. The AHP and the CA were compared using several validity measures to aid in selecting efficient methods. This study examined the validity of AHP and CA under two data collection methods applied to hotel branding: paper-based survey and online survey. Result showed that the AHP data collection methods were easier, as well as with respect to saving time and costs. Results also indicated that the AHP is equivalent to the CA with respect to predictive accuracy. Practical differences for hotel branding in attribute preferences were clearly observed between the AHP and the CA. The AHP results were consistent with previous studies by awarding high importance to perceived quality and brand loyalty and lower importance to brand awareness and brand image. Managerial implications were provided for results. In terms of practicality in data collection, the study results revealed that the data gathered online leads to a slightly lower internal and predictive validity. A limitation of this study was that the two methods were not perfectly comparable. Nevertheless, the validity of both AHP and CA seems satisfactory for both methods. The study results also offer useful perspectives to consider when choosing between the two methods, as well as between AHP and CA.
ContributorsLee, Seung-Hyun (Author) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Thesis advisor) / Uysal, Muzaffer (Committee member) / Andereck, Kathleen (Committee member) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Thousands of children are being injured every day in bicycling accidents. Interventions, like Safe Routes to School, are currently in place to combat injury rates by providing programs to teach children safe biking behaviors. In order to develop effective behavioral change programs, behavior and the components of which

Thousands of children are being injured every day in bicycling accidents. Interventions, like Safe Routes to School, are currently in place to combat injury rates by providing programs to teach children safe biking behaviors. In order to develop effective behavioral change programs, behavior and the components of which it is composed must be understood. Attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy are important predictors of intention to perform a behavior. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent to which attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and bike rodeo participation explain third through eighth graders' intentions to bike safely. These constructs were tested using a survey research design in a purposive sample of fifty-seven third through eighth grade students in Safe Routes to School schools in the Southwest. Students took an online survey in the computer lab at their respective schools supervised by a teacher. The study found attitudes to be comprised of three factors: happy/safe, not afraid, and calm. Overall, the model explained approximately 71% of the variance in children's intentions to bike safely, R2=.749, Adjusted R2=.713, F(7, 49)=20.854, p<.01. The significant predictors were happy/safe attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and a quadratic self-efficacy term explaining 10% (p=.019), 28% (p<.01), 18% (p<.01), and 15% (p<.01) respectively. The results of the study can be used to create future and improve current bike safety interventions for children.
ContributorsPayton, Kayla G (Author) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Thesis advisor) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Committee member) / Maruyama, Kenichi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Bitcoin is a form of virtual currency that can be used as a medium of exchange for goods or services. Different from other forms of virtual payment, bitcoin is de-centralized and puts all of the power in the hands of the user, rather than a banking institution. However, bitcoin's ability

Bitcoin is a form of virtual currency that can be used as a medium of exchange for goods or services. Different from other forms of virtual payment, bitcoin is de-centralized and puts all of the power in the hands of the user, rather than a banking institution. However, bitcoin's ability to develop as a renowned medium of exchange has been impeded, potentially due to a lack of knowledge, active bitcoin platforms, and support. In this paper, I conduct a survey to understand factors that affect households' adoption of bitcoin. In particular, I focus on factors that capture the potential benefit and cost of adopting bitcoin. Through a public survey, participants are asked a series of questions on their willingness to adopt bitcoin. I found significant results stating that subjects were more inclined toward bitcoin contingent upon the number of platforms accepting it, the number of acquaintances using bitcoin, and the degree of personal knowledge participants have about bitcoin. These findings suggest that perceived benefit captured by network effect and convenience of use, as well as the potential cost captured by uncertainty help shape the adoption of bitcoin.
ContributorsMorrissey, Michael Joshua (Author) / Wang, Jessie (Thesis director) / Ray, Colter (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12