The emotional impact of hotel room colour in Spanish and Equatorian tourists

The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou in Spanish and Equa o ian Tou is s Mónica P. BUENAÑOa, Lledó MUSEROSb and Luis GONZALEZ-ABRILc aUni e sidad Técnica del No e, bUni e si a Jaume I, cUni e sidad de Se illa Abs ac . Resea ch sugges s ha colou plays an impo an ole in c ea ing wellness emo ions in ho el cus ome s. This pape conside s ha ou is s’ needs o wellness may be sa is ied by manipula ing exis ing elemen s o a ho el, such as he colou o a ho el oom. The pape s udies he ela ionship be ween ou is s’ emo ions and he main colou o a ho el oom, and also he ela ionship be ween ha emo ion and hei in en ion o s ay in he ho el, and e en he p ice ha he ou is s a e willing o pay. Also, he pape s udies he ole o cul u al di e ences in hese ela ionships, speci ically be ween Spanish and Equa o ian ou is s. Keywo ds: colou and emo ions, ou is ic image, ou ism ma ke ing, ecommende sys em, da a science. In oduc ion Colou is conside ed an indispensable elemen in in e io design [1]. I allows designe s o al e he cha ac e is ics o he en i onmen in an easy and economical way [2], and o c ea e desi able and pleasan en i onmen s [3]. I has a s ong isual componen which is able o a ac he clien 's a en ion [4]. Fu he mo e, i is a sub le s imulan wi h a signi ican impac on people's emo ions and beha io [5-7] , and i can inc ease mo i a ion and well-being [8]. The e o e, colou selec ion o a ho el oom deco a ion is e y impo an in o de o design a com o able and wellness-o ien ed en i onmen . In some ways, colou selec ion o he deco a ion o a oom can gua an ee an a ec i e commi men be ween he clien and he ho el [9]. Mo eo e , hese aspec s can in luence he choice o s ay in a ho el, which is a decision made no only on a a ional basis bu also unde emo ional and wellness-o ien ed conside a ions [10]. The new ends in he demand o ho els in he wellness sec o ha e a di ec in luence in he gene a ion o new p oduc s and se ices in ou ism and hospi ali y [11]. Luxu y ho els wi h spa acili ies a e ecognized as he leading p o ide s o wellness se ices [11], bu he e a e also smalle ho els ha canno a o d spa and high-cos acili ies, bu can o e wellness se ices by inding s a egies o mee he needs o wellness a ele s and ha do no demand la ge economic in es men s. In his way, Thus, Dimi o ski & Todo o ić [12] p opose ha wellness ou ism should be o ien ed owa ds he emo ional mo i a ion o he gues ins ead o using luxu ious spas, aking in o accoun ha emo ion is a key poin in he e alua ion o pe sonal well-being [13]. Thus, he pape p esen ed in A i icial In elligence Resea ch and De elopmen M. Villa e e al. (Eds.) © 2021 The au ho s and IOS P ess. This a icle is published online wi h Open Access by IOS P ess and dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion Non-Comme cial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). doi:10.3233/FAIA210128 149 his pape p oposes he s udy o he emo ional link ha he colou o a oom can gene a e in he gues s as a ool o small ho els o imp o e hei wellness image. Resea ch on he emo ional impac o colou and beha io al in en ions has been de eloped in di e en a eas. Fo example, i has been shown ha colou on ood labels in luences emo ions, selec ion and in en ion o pay mo e o he p oduc [14]. Wu, Li & Liu [15] showed ha he e is a close ela ionship be ween he colou o ood packages, emo ions and use sa is ac ion. I was also ound ha he colou o he o ice and s udy en i onmen in luences emo ions, wo k and lea ning pe o mance [16]. App oaches in he ou ism and hospi ali y ield ha e s udied he ela ionship be ween he emo ional esponse o he colou o a es au an and he in en ion o choose i and en e [17]. Also, he wo ks p esen ed in [18] demons a e ha gues s who epo ed emo ions o com o , well-being and elaxa ion can build a ela ionship o loyal y and in en ion o pay mo e o he se ice. Halle [19] men ions ha colou is he i s hing ha is pe cei ed when en e ing a oom. I can in luence beha io , eelings, such as eeling mo e elaxed, ea ing mo e and spending mo e. Coun yman & Jang [6] demons a ed ha colou s a e he mos in luen ial elemen o a ec o e all ho el lobby imp ession. The app oaches in [13] speci y ha gues s p e e blue o g een as colou s o he ooms, since hey ind hese colou s mo e elaxing, and calming and he e o e be e ooms o ha ing a good quali y o sleep and well- being. In ac , hese colou s a e used in luxu y ho els o induce pleasu e [20]. On he con a y, he colou ed has been associa ed wi h high le els o a ousal and es lessness [21] and he e o e i is no ecommended as he colou o a ho el oom. The e o e, i is impo an o s udy he link be ween colou , emo ion and beha io . To unde s and his ela ionship, Meh abian and Russell SOR model [22] a i ms ha he physical en i onmen ac s as s imuli (S) ha lead o people's emo ions (O), which in u n, d i e beha io al esponses (R). Figu e 1. SOR model, ela ionship be ween colou s imuli, emo ions and beha io al esponses To assess emo ional esponses o en i onmen al s imuli, Russell and Lanius [23] p opose a model (PA model) conce ning a ec i e app aisals o en i onmen s. I is based on wo bipola dimensions (Pleasan ness – unpleasan ness; A ousing – no a ousing) (Figu e 2). The e o e, his s udy sugges s ha h ough he manipula ion o colou in di e en elemen s o he physical en i onmen o a ho el oom, emo ions o well-being can be c ea ed, which in u n, d i e he in en ion o s ay and he p ice ha one would be willing o pay (Figu e 1). The p esen s udy also conside s explo ing cul u al in luence in he link be ween colou and emo ions, since emo ional esponses o colou can be de e mined by cul u al ai s. Thus, in his pape he ollowing hypo hesis a e going o be explo ed: H1: The in en ion o s ay is ela ed o colou s. H2: Changes o he colou o he ho el oom gene a e di e en emo ions. M.P. Buenaño e al. / The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou 150 H3: The in en ion o s ay in he ho el is ela ed o posi i e emo ions. H4: The p ice he ou is s a e willing o pay o a oom is ela ed o hei na ionali y. Figu e 2. Ca ego ical a ec i e desc ip o s loca ed in he space o he PA model. Adap ed om Russell & Lanius, 1984 The es o he pape is o ganized as ollows, i s a b ie o e iew o he QCD model used in his app oach is p esen ed, hen he su ey designed o da a collec ion is desc ibed. Sec ion 4 analyzes he esul s collec ed wi h he su ey o e i y he hypo hesis de ined. Finally, conclusions and u u e wo k a e p esen ed. 1. O e iew o he Quali a i e Colou Desc ip o (QCD) The QCD model [24] de ines a e e ence sys em in he HSL colou space o quali a i e colou desc ip ion, which is buil acco ding o Figu e 3 and de ined as: QCRS = {uH,uS,uL,QC NAME1..5 ,QC INT1..5 } whe e uH is he uni o Hue; uS is he uni o Sa u a ion; uL is he uni o Ligh ness; QC NAME1..5 e e s o he colou names; and QC INT1..5 e e s o he in e als o HSL coo dina es associa ed wi h each colou . The chosen QC NAME and QC INT a e shown in Figu e 3.b The QCD model has a ela ional s uc u e and i can be o ganized in a concep ual neighbo hood diag am (CND) [25] acco ding o how a colou can be ans o med in o ano he by changing i s luminosi y, sa u a ion o hue. A CND o he compu a ional QCD is buil and shown in Figu e 3(b). M.P. Buenaño e al. / The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou 151 (a) (b) Figu e 3. Diag am o desc ibing QCD: (a) Disc e iza ion o he HSL colou space; (b) CND co esponding o QCD. 2. Design o he Expe imen An online su ey (Figu e 5) was designed using he LimeSu ey1 so wa e. Using his ool, a su ey was designed whe e 6 demog aphic ques ions we e de ined ( na ionali y, gende , age, le el o educa ion, a ou i e colou , and numbe o nigh s in a ho el du ing las yea ). Then he su ey p esen s a se o 9 images o a ho el oom (see Figu e 4 o examples). The e we e 3 di e en ypes o ques ions o each image (named base ques ions). The i s ques ion was aimed a de e mining he ela ionship be ween he ou is 's emo ion and he colo o a ho el oom, he second ques ion asked o he cona i e aspec o he ou is ( hei in en ion o s ay in such a oom as he one in he image, i was a ed using a i e-poin Like scale), and inally he su ey asked abou he p ice ha he ou is would ag ee o pay o he oom. The i s se o ques ions we e based on a basic oom a he Ho el Plaza Vic o ia in Ecuado (Figu e 4a), wi h g ay deco a ion. This oom is used also a he end o he es as a con ol ques ion. Then he colou s o deco a i e elemen s (g oup 1: cu ain and headboa d, g oup 2: he cushion, oo boa d, and ableclo h) in he oom we e colo ized using he quali a i e colou s de ined in he QCD model [25]. Following he app oaches [13-14], and in o de o e i y ha g een and blue colou s a e p e e ed by he gues s o e ed colou s, he colou s g een, blue, ed and yellow ha e been chosen o he deco a ion o he deco a i e elemen s o he oom. Each se o base ques ions was made o wo ooms deco a ed wi h colou s wi h he symbol g een (as g een, pale g een, da k g een, o ligh g een) in i s label (as in he example in Figu e 4b), secondly o wo ooms wi h any blue o he QCD deco a ion (Figu e 4c), hen a oom wi h any g een an any blue deco a ion (Figu e 4d), hen a oom 1 h ps://www.limesu ey.o g/es/. M.P. Buenaño e al. / The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou 152 wi h only yellow o ed deco a ions (Figu e 4e), and inally a oom wi h ed and yellow deco a ion was p esen ed (Figu e 4 ). No all he ou is s saw he same image, since he colou s o he oom we e andomly gene a ed using he QCD model. This means ha , o ins ance, he blue colou ooms could p esen di e en RGBs colou s i he co esponding colou label inside he QCD model had he blue, pale-blue, ligh -blue o da k-blue label. The same happens wi h he es o colou s. The e o e, each ou is had o answe he 3 base ques ions ela ed o 9 images o he same ho el oom, bu wi h a di e en colou . The same oom image was used o a oid pa icipan a igue, and i was e i ied wi h he membe s o he esea ch eam ha he su ey was ca ied ou quickly and wi hou a igue. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) ( ) Figu e 4. Examples o images o a ho el oom used in he su ey. 3. Da a Collec ion and Analysis The expe imen was ca ied ou wi h he collabo a ion o 239 ou is s, mainly Spania ds and Ecuado ians. Analyzing he da a collec ed wi h he su ey, he ou is s answe ing 51.9% we e emale, 36.4% pa icipan s we e male, and 11.7% p e e ed no o say hei gende ; he age o pa icipan s anged om 18 o 60 yea s, and 38.9% had g adua e deg ees and 38.9% had pos g adua e deg ees. The majo i y (70%) o he pa icipan s spen 15 o ewe days a yea in a ho el oom. Nex , he collec ed esul s a e analyzed in ela ion wi h he ini ial hypo hesis de ined. H1: The in en ion o s ay is ela ed o he colou s. To examine he e ec s o colou s on he in en ion o s ay a he ho el, ou is s we e asked i s o e alua e a oom ho el wi h g ay deco a ion as ou basis (g ay scale o neu al colou ), and 62% o hem answe ed a posi i e in en ion o s ay in he ho el (see Table 1). This shows ha upon a i s obse a ion, he g ay deco a ion is accep ed by he ou is s. Also g ay has been chosen as he baseline colou because i is conside ed a neu al and p ac ical hue, desc ibed as se ious o s a ely and associa ed wi h o icial buildings [26]. Then, by a ying he colou s o he oom, and p esen ing se en andom ooms wi h di e en colou deco a ions o each o he 239 use s, 1673 esponses we e ob ained (see Table 1). The esul s shows ha he in en ion o s ay in he same oom was 44%, which is lowe han he baseline, and indica es ha no all colou s a e sui able o he in e io o a oom and may ha e a nega i e e ec . The e o e, due o he di e ence be ween hese alues (44% and 62%), he hypo hesis is con i med: he colou o a oom signi ican ly in luences he in en ion o s ay. M.P. Buenaño e al. / The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou 153 H2: Changes o he colou o he ho el oom gene a e di e en emo ions. Table 1. In en ion o s ay and colou G ay Colou F ecuency % F ecuency % Doub 057 24 396 24 No 033 14 541 32 Yes 149 62 736 44 To al 239 100 1673 100 To examine he e ec o he colou change o he base oom on he emo ional esponses based on he PA model, ou is s we e asked o a e andomly gene a ed oom images wi h combina ions o blue, g een, ed, and yellow colou s. A con as o p opo ions is used in o de o es he hypo hesis ha changes in he colou o he deco a ion o he ooms signi ican ly a ec and change he emo ions o he ou is s. Fo his, i he adjec i e o he g ay oom is no changed, he a iable akes he alue 0 and o he wise 1 (see Table 2). Thus, i colou does no a ec emo ion, he p obabili y (p) o change he emo ions is ze o, ha is p = 0, ne e heless he hypo hesis is elaxed and he null hypo hesis is H0: “Colou does no a ec emo ions ( p ≤ 0.2)”. Figu e 5. Example o he su ey and he base ques ions o a blue oom. M.P. Buenaño e al. / The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou 154 The esul s o he con as o p opo ions showed ha he p- alue is close o ze o; he e o e, he null hypo hesis is ejec ed and hence, i can be concluded ha changes in he colou o he oom deco a ion change he emo ions. I is impo an o no e ha 86% o esponses change he emo ion wi h espec o he g ay oom. Table 2. F equency o change o emo ion in ela ion o di e en colou deco a ions o a ho el oom. Change emo ion F ecuency % 0 242 14% 1 1431 86% To al 1673 100% H3: The in en ion o s ay in he ho el is ela ed o posi i e emo ions F om he esponses o he pa icipan s, a new a iable called “posi i e emo ion” has been c ea ed as ollows: i he emo ions a e “Calm”, “Happiness”, “Relaxa ion”, he posi i e emo ion is 1; i he emo ions a e “Dep ession”, “S ess”, “Tension” and “Sadness” he posi i e emo ion is -1; and i he emo ion is “Exci ing”, hen he posi i e emo ion is 0. Hence, he con ingency able be ween his new a iable is gi en in Table 3. A Chi squa e es was applied o con i m he ela ionship be ween posi i e emo ions and he in en ion o s ay in he ho el and he p- alue o his es was 1.17 e-230, which indica es ha he wo a iables a e ela ed. H4: The p ice he/she a e willing o pay o a oom is ela ed o he na ionali y. A box plo compa ing he p ice ha Spanish and Ecuado ian ou is s a e willing o pay o a oom is shown in Figu e 6. To his, all he cu ency uni s ha e been con e ed o eu os 2 in o de o be able o compa e he alues. I can be seen in Figu e 3 ha Spania ds a e willing o pay mo e o he oom han Ecuado ians. Table 3. In en ion o s ay Doub No Yes All Posi i e emo ion -1 246 496 35 777 0 62 22 88 172 1 88 23 613 724 All 396 541 736 1673 Figu e 6. The p ice ha he ou is s a e willing o pay 2 Change o day 30/04/2021 M.P. Buenaño e al. / The Emo ional Impac o Ho el Room Colou 155 Table 4 shows ha on a e age Spania ds would be willing o pay 49.56 eu os, while Ecuado ians would pay 23.62 eu os less han Spania ds. This is na u al due o he ac ha Spania ds ha e g ea e pu chasing powe . This was con i med by Du án-Román, Cá denas-Ga cía, & Pulido-Fe nández [27], ha he willingness o pay o imp o e he expe ience in he des ina ion has a di ec ela ionship wi h he income and budge o he ou is s isi ing Andalucía. Al hough income allows paying mo e o a se ice, o he s udies ound ha na ionali y had a mo e signi ican e ec on willingness o pay o some ou ism ac i i y han o he ac o s [28], e en he o eign isi o s' willingness o pay is wice ha o domes ic isi o s' willingness o pay [29]. In o de o es he hypo hesis, he Mann Whi ney Tes ( es o di e ence o mean) has been used and a p- alue o 8.28 e-14 is ob ained. The e o e, he e is signi ica i e di e ence be ween he mean alues willing o pay o a oom be ween Ecuado ians and Spania ds. Table 4. A e age willingness o pay o a oom Nacionali y P ice (€) Coun Mean S anda d de ia ion Ecuado 177.0 25.94 15.16 Spain 43.0 49.56 18.09 O he 19.0 32.423 21.796 4. Conclusions and Fu u e Wo k This s udy s udied he ela ion be ween he colou o he deco a ion o he oom in a ho el and he ou is s’ emo ions. Also, i s udied i he colou deco a ion o he ooms a ec s ou is s’ in en ion o s ay in he ho el, and inally i s udied he p ice ha ou is s a e willing o pay o a oom and he di e ences be ween di e en cul u es: Spanish and Ecuado ian ou is s. The indings o he s udy poin ou ha he colou o a oom signi ican ly in luences he in en ion o s ay and he emo ions e oked by he oom. Mo eo e , he esul s showed ha no all colou s a e sui able o he in e io deco a ion o a oom; he e o e, he inco ec selec ion o he colou o ha deco a ion can a ec he ou is s’ emo ions and he in en ion o s ay in he ho el. This ein o ces he inding showed in Tan ana ewin & Inka oj i [33], ha exp essed ha in e io design, wi h colou as he mos in luen ial ac o , in luences he beha io o people. The indings om his s udy also show ha he e is a ela ionship be ween posi i e emo ions and he in en ion o s ay in he ho el. And inally, ega ding he willingness o pay o a ho el oom, he esul s o his s udy con i m he ini ial hypo hesis, which es ablished ha he p ice ha he ou is s a e willing o pay o a oom is ela ed o hei na ionali y. Ou indings indica e ha Spania ds a e willing o pay mo e o a oom han Ecuado ians. In gene al, unde s anding he link be ween colou , emo ion and beha io can guide ho el manage s in selec ing he app op ia e colou o s a egically manipula e gues s’ emo ions and an a ec i e commi men be ween he clien and he ho el. The e o e, he esul s o his s udy a e impo an in o de o c ea e a ecommende sys em o ho el ma ke ing ma e ials. The u u e ecommende sys em is in ended o be used o aise he impac o he ma ke ing ma e ials among p ospec i e ou is s and hen imp o e he ou is ic image o he ho el. In his way, he ecommende sys em can be also used o design cus omized ma e ials o di e en ypes o clien s. M.P. 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