CUSTOMERS PERCEPTION OF HOTEL SERVICE QUALITY IN BATON ROUGE METROPOLITAN AREA IN LOUISIANA: HOTEL REBRANDING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Aloyce R. Kaliba
Southern University and A&M College

ABSTRACT

The COVID 19 pandemic has led the world into a sudden economic downturn, especially
the leisure and hospitality industry which has the hardest hit. Many hotels are finding themselves
empty with a seamount budgetary impact. As the economy starts to reopen, hotel rebranding is the
first move towards recovery. The authors of this study used TripAdvisor’s customer-generated
reviews for hotels in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan area in Louisiana to determine how perceived
service quality influences customer satisfaction. Apart from demonstrating how to extract
perceived service quality from online generated reviews, understanding what customers want,
hotel managers maintain loyal customers and attract new ones. This study indicates that bed
comfort, customer services from the front desk staff, and housekeeping personnel were the
principal factors influencing customers’ satisfaction. The availability of a fast internet connection
was a universal amenity requested by all customers. Dirty rooms and dirty bedsheets have the
highest propensity in inducing customers’ dissatisfaction. Indifferences in handling complaints by
managers and the lack of transportation from and to the airports had adverse effects on customer
satisfaction.

Keywords: COVID-19, e-word of mouth, perceived service quality, proportional odds model, sentiment analysis