Service experience in hospitality firms from a network perspective

Abstract

The aim of this conceptual article is to provide a better understanding of hospitality by designing a theoretical model capable of capturing the complexity of an assembled service provided by multiple agents, with a strong experiential component. The network approach allows us to expand the traditional marketing approach to study the service experience – based on the customer’s subjective perceptions – towards a strategic and managerial perspective by incorporating the necessity to collaborate with multiple partners. The study has been conducted as a systematic literature review. Thus, the main theoretical contributions are aimed at emphasizing the role of the service experience not simply as a key motivator of consumption, but also as a strategic success factor for hospitality firms. Another significant contribution is the consideration of the complete set of alliances of the hospitality firm, given its role as resource integrator.