Paradox of Hotel Brand Names in Bali: Divergence between Naming Trends and Consumer Perception

Abstract

This study examines the divergence between hotel brand naming trends in Bali compared to consumer perception of star rating, price range, and quality based on brand names. When 224 star hotels were categorized based on decade built, apparent trends in choice of name emerged. The use of native names is on a downward trend from 39% before 1990s to only 11% in 2010s, while the use of foreign names have increased from 37% to 77% in the same period. Diverging from said trends, a survey of 100 foreign tourists was conducted on their perception of hotel price and quality on six different name categories. The result shows that native name is the only one associated with higher estimated star rating and price range compared to the actual values (mean difference of 0.35 and 0.34 respectively, α <0.05), as well as highest quality estimate (3.76 on the scale of 1 to 5). Meanwhile, alphanumeric name category is associated with the lowest perceived star rating and price (mean difference of -1.912 and -1.61 respectively, α <0.01), as well as perceived of having lowest quality at 2.44.

Keywords: branding, brand name, hotel brand, consumer perception, perceived quality, perceived price

JEL Classification: M31, Z10, M30, M39, L83