Hotel branding exposed

Background/Purpose: This paper explores how organisational values can help to understand the interlinks of hotel brands and their hotel rating. The study assumes that the importance of organisational values in the service sector represents one of the key components of both growth and development of an organisation. Methods: Conceptual content analysis was used on the dataset of organisational values found on websites of the top 100 European hotel brands. Advanced network analytic procedures were applied to identify clustered dimen­sions of organisational values among various hotel brands. Results: Results identified shared organisational values among hotel brands clustered into four predominant dimen­sions: entrepreneurial, stakeholders, moral, and tradition. The study confirmed wide content variability of organisa­tional values within the hotel brand industry. Conclusion: The cluster analysis identified clusters of the most important words from values statements, conclud­ing that hotel brands highly value “entrepreneurial” and “ethical” clusters. The island analysis approach on hotel brands’ level also reveals that organisational values in this sector are determined by many factors, including the scale and market positioning. Our study provides theoretical and practical implications to hotel brand strategists in order to better understand their current and desired sector position