Customer value in the hotel industry: What managers believe they deliver and what customer experience

Delivering value for customers has become a central theme in business. The paper examines customer value from two perspectives, i.e. that of service provider and that of the customer. A total 231 managers and 385 customers responded to the survey. The results indicate that managers' perception of customer value is different to what customers' experience as customer value. The differences persist across different classes of hotels. These results suggest there is a need to align management and customer perspectives to optimize customer value as delivered and experienced. Specifically, hotels should invest in customer understanding and customer linking activities. Crown Copyright (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.