Purpose

Mobile instant messaging (IM) has been increasingly adopted by hotels to communicate with customers. This study aims to explore communication between hotels and customers and identifies the factors that affect hotel customers’ intention to use mobile IM to communicate with hotels.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-stage exploratory sequential mixed-method design, which combines semi-structured interview and policy-capturing method was applied.

Findings

The findings indicate that customers are more likely to use mobile IM to communicate with hotels for non-urgent matters; before and after a stay; and if customers are accustomed to using mobile IM for work and non-work purposes in daily life.

Research limitations/implications

This study goes beyond traditional theories to capturing communication-related factors that affect customers’ IM use in a hotel context.

Practical implications

The findings indicate why hotel managers should avoid relying on IM as the dominant communication channel.

Originality/value

This is among one of the first studies that explore customers’ communication needs and communication media choice in hotels.

中文翻译：

---

用于与酒店沟通的即时消息的决定因素：一项政策捕捉研究

目的

酒店越来越多地采用移动即时消息 (IM) 与客户进行交流。本研究旨在探索酒店与客户之间的沟通，并确定影响酒店客户使用移动 IM 与酒店沟通的意愿的因素。

设计/方法/方法

应用了结合半结构化访谈和政策捕获方法的两阶段探索性顺序混合方法设计。

发现

调查结果表明，客户更有可能使用移动 IM 与酒店沟通非紧急事务；入住前后；以及客户是否习惯于在日常生活中将移动 IM 用于工作和非工作目的。

研究限制/影响

本研究超越了传统理论，捕捉了影响客户在酒店环境中使用 IM 的通信相关因素。

实际影响

调查结果表明为什么酒店经理应该避免依赖 IM 作为主要的沟通渠道。

原创性/价值

这是探索酒店客户沟通需求和沟通媒体选择的首批研究之一。