Feelings and Scenes of Rural Homestay Inns in China: A Perspective of Service Encounter

Abstract

As a new form of business, rural homestay inn is booming in China, boosting the transformation and upgrading of leisure tourism and promoting the sustainable development of rural tourism. This study firstly emphasizes the humanistic care in the service process through the content analysis of 30 short videos and the findings that such hotels highlight the word “warmth” in their marketing. Based on this, this study clarifies that in the Chinese context, encounter is essential for gaining warmth. Therefore, the study constructs a model with service encounter as the core concept and explores customer loyalty in rural homestay inns. A total of 450 questionnaires were distributed, of which, 407 were valid. In addition, descriptive statistical analysis, reliability test, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted on the collected questionnaires. Results show the following: (1) service encounter includes physical environment encounter, service personnel encounter, and other customer encounter; (2) experience value includes functional emotional and social cognitive values; (3) physical environment encounter and service personnel encounter significantly affect the experience value; (4) physical environment encounter and service personnel encounter significantly affect customer loyalty; and (5) functional emotional and social cognitive values positively affect customer loyalty, and social cognitive value affects more significantly. On this basis, this study introduces the following suggestions: (1) highlighting the characteristics of rural homestay inns and creating a unique cultural atmosphere, (2) paying attention to human care and deepening emotional communication, and (3) improving the customer experience to satisfy higher consumer demand.

Development Drivers of Rural Summer Health Tourism for the Urban Elderly: A Demand- and Supply-Based Framework

“…Tourists anticipate being treated with respect and hospitality by residents during their travels [121]. Enthusiastic hospitality and a warm atmosphere create emotional attachment and loyalty among tourists [150]. As a tourist (F21) said, "I have minimal interaction with my urban neighbors.…”

Online Information Reviews to Boost Tourism in the B&B Industry to Reveal the Truth and Nexus

“…Regrettably, the scholarly exploration of customer experiences of RB&Bs is sparse, with only a handful of studies, such as those conducted by Zhang et al [8] and Si et al [9], delving into this aspect. Consequently, the factors influencing customer satisfaction within the RB&B context remain inadequately understood.…”

Retracted: Feelings and Scenes of Rural Homestay Inns in China: A Perspective of Service Encounter

“…Tis article has been retracted by Hindawi, as publisher, following an investigation undertaken by the publisher [1]. Tis investigation has uncovered evidence of systematic manipulation of the publication and peer-review process.…”