Scandinavian hotel chains globalization and opportunities in China market: Country of origin (COO) approach

Master's thesis in International hotel and tourism managementThis study concentrates on Scandinavian (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) hotel chains’ globalization discussions and their opportunities to develop in Chinese hotel market. To find out how Chinese consumers perceived Scandinavia, their brand products and people, we adopted Country of Origin (COO) effect as the research approach in this study. We conducted an online survey in China, and collected 436 usable respondents, which were common consumers mainly from four metropolises. The results revealed that Chinese consumers had overall good impressions on Scandinavia. And they were generally positive to potential Scandinavian brand hotels in Chinese market. Chinese consumers who held more positive attitudes toward Scandinavian hotels would have greater behavioral intentions to them. Country of Origin Image directly affected Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward Scandinavian brand hotels, while indirectly impacted on their further behavioral intentions, moderated by factors such as product beliefs evaluations, personal experience, face saving, group conformity and attitudes. Generalization is skeptical because findings may vary by regions and demographic backgrounds. In addition, the research model has its weaknesses and it is needed to be refined. As Chinese consumers welcome Scandinavian hotel chains, hotel brands in Scandinavia can seize the opportunities to expand in non-saturated Chinese mid-scale hotel market. This study is one of the first researches which aim to discuss Scandinavian hotel chains expansion in Chinese market, utilizing COO effect as study approach. Keywords: Country of Origin, Scandinavian hotel chains, Chinese consumers, globalization, behavioral intention mode