The Impact of Customer Experience and Relationship Quality on Corporate Reputation in the Hotel Sector

Abstract

Given the intensive competition in the hospitality industry, customer experience has become a vital concern for the hotel sector. This study examines to what extent customer experience (CE) impacts corporate reputation (CR) through the mediating role of relationship quality (RQ). The authors put forward and test a theoretical framework of direct effects of CE on CR and for RQ on CR. Moreover, the research model examined the indirect effects of CE on CR via RQ. Hypothetically, CE together with RQ is likely to influence CR. Empirical results based on a sample of 377 guests from hotels in Makkah city in KSA demonstrated that CE has a positive direct impact on RQ and positive indirect effect on CR which support the hypotheses. Results also indicate that CE provides a foundation for RQ and CR. Thus, they conjecture that CE and RQ enhance CR. Accordingly, they encourage KSA hotel sector to cultivate their CE for harnessing their RQ in order to boost CR in the long run.