Assessing humour use in accommodation establishments: the Estonian context

Abstract

This paper studies the use of humour in Estonian accommodation establishments. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how humour is used in the marketing communication and service processes in accommodation establishments. A range of methods were used to answer the research aim, including desktop research on how humour is currently used in accommodation settings, a focus group consisting of international participants, and two online surveys with both accommodation providers and accommodation guest. The results indicate that overall humour is beneficial for accommodation establishments. Respondents mentioned the multiple ways in which humour was used to inform guests about certain accommodation features. This study proposes a decision support model to guide accommodation establishments in how humour could be applied more effectively in their marketing communication and service processes.