Does perceived yuanfen impact Chinese customers’ hotel ratings?
研究中国顾客文化中的“缘分”概念如何通过心理亲近感提升酒店评分，且该效应不受感知功能服务质量水平影响。
Chinese customers have been growing as an essential market in the hospitality sector , while previous studies found that Chinese customers tend to give lower ratings because of their cultural orientation. This study aims to explore how to increase Chinese customers’ hotel ratings from a perspective salient in their culture. Yuanfen (缘分) is a cultural notion broadly used by the Chinese in their daily life but knowledge about its roles in the hotel service encounter is limited. The current work examines whether, how, and when perceived yuanfen increases hotel ratings. Results reveal that perceived yuanfen increases hotel ratings because of psychological closeness. Moreover, the positive effect of perceived yuanfen on hotel ratings exists regardless of the levels of perceived functional service quality. Accordingly, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.