Promoting Hotel Upselling: the Effect of Message Appeal and Delivery Setting on Consumer Attitude and Purchase Intention

This study investigated the effectiveness of rational and emotional appeals in online and offline hotel upselling messages on customer attitude and purchase intention. The study employed a 2 (rational appeal: rational vs. nonrational) x 2 (emotional appeal: emotional vs. non-emotional) x 2 (message delivery setting: online vs. offline) between-subjects design with a sample size of 578 respondents. The findings revealed that, for offline upselling, rational appeal is the most effective for increasing both customer attitude and purchase intention. On the other hand, for online upselling, emotional appeal was the most effective for improving customer attitude, while none of the appeals direabsctly improved. The current study extends the literature by providing a better understanding of hotel consumer attitude and purchase intention toward upselling and helps hotel professionals strategically utilize the upselling technique.