Investigating emotional commitment towards a region and a hotel brand

This study examines emotional commitment, brand identification and place attachment's role in hotel brand loyalty and subsequent behavioral intentions. Data for the study stemmed from 823 quantitative and qualitative responses to an online questionnaire by Finnish customers of a Finnish hotel chain. K-Means cluster analysis identified three customer commitment levels, which along with qualitative comments enhance understanding emotional commitment and its role in hotel brand loyalty. A specific place, Lapland, in the hotel's brand name helps extend place attachment and introduce the concept of brand identification with Lapland's geographic region. The customer cluster most emotionally committed to the hotel brand also reported the strongest commitment to the Lapland region.