Silent Selection: Identifying predictors of hotel choice with regard to accommodations in the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community
Open Access
Author:
McDowell, Courtney
Area of Honors:
Hospitality Management
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Anna S Mattila, Thesis Supervisor Michael J Tews, Jr., Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
communication sciences and disorders deaf disability hotel hard-of-hearing accommodations americans with disabilities act propensity to spend
Abstract:
The present study examines deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals’ desire for accommodations in hotels among a sample of 108 hearing-impaired respondents. Specifically, this research investigates several demographic variables—primary method of communication, age, sex, highest education level, annual household income, and employment status—and two scenario-based variables—traveling alone versus with a companion and traveling for one night versus multiple nights. The results demonstrated that, of the demographic variables, only employment status had an effect on hotel choice. Of the scenario-based variables, lone-travelers and multi-night travelers were more likely to select additional accommodations, regardless of a price premium, than group-travelers and single-night-travelers respectively. Implications in the context of hotel marketing and reservations systems are discussed.
