The Impact of Servicescape on the Brand Image and Brand Identity of Boutique Hotels

Nowadays, the hospitality industry cannot be imagined without the presence of boutique hotels, as the number of guests seeking for more than the traditional hotel service is increasing. Being innovative, intimate and design-oriented are some key features for boutique hotels which represent their unique hotel concept towards the outside world. This is accomplished through careful consideration of the hotels’ servicescape components, such as: materials, designs, colours and capacity. Therefore, the question is raised to what extent the servicescape of a boutique hotel is able to influence the hotel’s communicated brand identity? And even more important, how is this message perceived by the outside world, the stakeholder’s constituted brand image? In other words, the aim of this Bachelor’s thesis is to research to what extent the brand identity and brand image of boutique hotels are impacted by the appearance of the boutique hotel’s servicescape. The qualitative research method has been applied throughout the research, by means of a literature research, online observations and in-depth interviews. In the literature research, key concepts and theories were discussed, which provided direction and justification for this Bachelor’s thesis. As the management of a boutique hotel is responsible for the hotel’s strategic direction and its stakeholders perceive this message in a certain way, two research methods were used to highlight both perspectives. Six boutique hotels, either based in The Netherlands, Finland or Estonia, were studied during the execution of the research methods. To examine the impact of servicescape on the guests’ perception towards boutique hotels, online guest reviews were observed and analysed. Secondly, to highlight the management perspective concerning the influence of servicescape on the company’s strategic direction, in-depth interviews with managers of the studied boutique were conducted. The compared results of the applied research methods revealed that brand identity and brand image are significantly influenced due to the prominent role of the boutique hotel’s servicescape. As the brand identity represents what a company aspires to stand for, every visible element is considered carefully. In this respect, conveying a consistent brand identity is key in meeting the hotel’s promises, which subsequently causes increased business performance. Moreover, servicescape is closely related to the constitution of the stakeholder’s individual brand image. A positive perceived servicescape could influence behaviour of potential, existing and former guests in terms of overall satisfaction, revisiting and word-of-mouth advertisement. As brand identity and brand image should be aligned as much as possible to maximize business performance, the strategic direction of boutique hotels is significantly affected by the servicescape