APPLICATION OF QUALITATIVE METHODS IN HOTELS` CUSTOMER LOYALTY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Focus groups provide a rich and detail source of information. The purpose is to discover how they feel about a product, concept, idea or organisation. The views of one person may become the stimulus for another’s ideas or may start a useful discussion. People tend to be encouraged to talk when they realise that others have similar experiences and attitudes.

Market research helps the organisation to identify the most appropriate marketing mix. The mix should consist of the right

To comprehend why focus groups are famous, and where they are suitably utilized, we investigated a portion of the suppositions that underlie the utilization of focus groups as a method for information accumulation. In particular, we needed to see whether there is a "group contrast" in the sort of reactions a group interview produces compared and an individual interview. We additionally examined a few contrasts amongst the group and individual interview members, as far as

Four main aspects Focus groups will be discussed. First, a personal experienced researched focus group conducted in a lecture. Following that, the

To my understanding the idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help people to explore and clarify their views in ways that would be less easily accessible in a one to one interview. Group discussion is particularly appropriate when the interviewer has a series of open ended questions and wishes to encourage research participants to explore the issues of importance to them, in their own words, generating their own questions and pursuing their own priorities. When group dynamics work well the participants work next to the researcher, taking the research in new and often unexpected directions.

Focus groups are organised, group discussions between group members and the researcher, and are most suitably used for exploring specific topics, on points of view, exploring attitudes and personal experiences in order to obtain data. In contrast to interviews that asks a specific set of questions. The role of the focus group researcher is essentially to steer the direction of group discussion or to provoke participation through further questioning when all seems flat. The researcher needs to collect data, during the discussion. Also, prevent an individual participant from dominating the discussion and encourage the more reserved participant. Finally the researcher must at all times ensure flexibility, objectiveness and empathy and analyse collected data for the report. According to Forsyth (2010, p. 130) Tuckmann and Jensen’s (1977) model of characteristics within a group, consist of four stages of process, the first or initial stage, ‘forming’ is when individuals within the group have not articulated any view and have little trust and no conflict is present, however, there is an element of apprehension. The second stage, ‘storming’ takes place as participants in the group start to become less apprehensive, more trustful and start to assess each other through subtle and not so subtle arbitration, exploring their

Within a focus group, participants often debate and question each other’s viewpoint – which is important for this research study as one will be able to see biases and whether specific factors drive viewpoints. While considering the advantages of a focus group, one must also take into account the disadvantages of a focus group, which include: the amount of time it takes to organize; the amount of time it takes to record and transcribe the session; the likelihood for participants to interrupt each other; the possibility of having a number of participants being more assertive and dominant than others; more potential of discomfort; and finally the cost of conducting a focus group (Bryman,

There is a criterion that has been designed towards showing that the technical communication was delivering the intended message. One factor to focus upon was the outcome of the communication process. The result is expected to be positive and result into unity achieved by the groups represented within the audience. Focus groups also involve face to face communication which gives room for discussion and also coming into an agreement. Focus groups allow both the audience and the speaker to engage in an interactive and thus allowing them to come into a common boat of thoughts. The audience may also be divided into their specifics groups and their issues addressed accordingly. This technical communication will therefore ensure the communication reaches all the targeted audience and therefore termed as effective (Rajendra,

One of the greatest advantages that focused groups have to offer is that it leads to more significant information, digging deeper and allowing for more insight. Focused groups allows opinions to be seen from all angles, allowing for diverse, in-depth discussion. Another great advantage of focused groups is if there is an effective facilitator, desired goal can be reached with minimal interruption. Focused groups allows for specific data to be collected that otherwise cannot be collect through other methods such as surveys. Although there are many advantages, there are many disadvantages as well. If there is a poor facilitator, many focused groups many be required to reach the desired goal. Poor facilitation could lead to ineffective communication.

The first method is gathering in-person feedback through focus groups. In this approach small groups of participants roughly 8 to 10 people, a strong facilitator, and one recorder, respond to a set number of questions. The facilitator will help keeping the discussion focus on the topic and the needed points are discussed. This approach is helpful for providing specific direction or reactions to concepts from targeted groups. In this method the participants react to the ideas together, build off each other’s suggestions, and a quick way to hear various statements, thoughts, and share experience. During the discussion sessions, some participants may dominate the discussion, group atmosphere impede honest opinions, and only small number of individuals can participate. To address these disadvantages, the subcommittee decided to conduct anonymous online surveys. These anonymous online surveys are useful for reaching large numbers of people, could gather more honest information, and focus on investigating themes that had raised by the focus groups (NACCHO,

Focus group is an increasingly common research tool used to obtain the options, values and beliefs from an identifiable group using a facilitated interview technique.

The sole purpose of focus groups is to collect data through conducting primary research. However, aside from data collection, focus groups may also be for other motives, such as: therapy,

Bazeley, P. 2004, Issues in Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Research, Applying qualitative methods to marketing management research. UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp141-156.

Hilton Hotels, one of the biggest worldwide corporations in the hospitality industry, adopted a Customer Really Matter (CRM) strategy to manage its diverse segments of hotels and to improve customer experience. The cornerstone of the CRM, the custom-built OnQ information system, built profiles of the guests, which could be used by the front desk employees and the reservations center to better serve the customers. The OnQ system did improved efficiency of call center operations, but the way of using it also reduced the flexibility of the customer service in the hotels. It could benefit or harm the service-profit chain depending on the specific situation. A few recommendations were made at the end of the case study to improve the system. In general, Hilton should implement big data analytics and give more control to the customers.

First is focus group method, focus group is defined as a group of individuals providing information in a structured format. A moderator leads the group of about 8 to 14 participants through an open, in-depth discussion rather than simply asking questions to solicit participants’ responses. The group is stimulated by comments from other group members in creatively conceptualizing and developing a new