A Study of Resource-Based Market Entry Strategies in the Hotel Industry

The hospitality industry has experienced significant changes in its competitive environment over the past 30 years, driven by the growth of alternative accommodations, the widespread use of the internet for searching and booking accommodations, and the adoption of asset-light business models. In this new competitive landscape, hospitality firms struggle to gain a competitive advantage, particularly as they lack rare and inimitable resources, which are considered crucial for achieving competitive advantage according to resource-based view literature. This dissertation explores three sets of strategies that enable hotel firms to attain a competitive edge despite their resources being non-rare and easily imitated by competitors. The first essay examines the potential for hotel firms to benefit from competitors' resources by co-locating with them. Although this strategy has been widely studied in organizational research, recent developments in the competitive market, such as internet adoption and the growth of short-term leases, have not been considered. Evidence suggests that internet adoption decreases the likelihood of low-level hotels entering markets with high-level hotels and negatively moderates the positive effect of branded hotels on independent hotels' performance, as well as nullifying the effect of low-level hotels on high-level hotels' performance. Additionally, short-term leases impact hotels' decisions and performance, as hotels tend to avoid co-locating with short-term leases with similar price points, and short-term leases can appropriate positive agglomeration externalities created by high-level hotels. The second essay investigates whether hotels can outperform competitors by gaining an advantage in resource appropriation through entering the market with a dual-branded hotel. Results indicate that a competitive advantage is achieved when at least one brand in the composition possesses better resources than competitors. Lastly, the third essay concentrates on the potential for hotels to leverage tacit knowledge transmission to increase the difficulty for competitors to imitate them. Findings reveal that the closer a hotel or short-term lease is to the nearest accommodation managed by the same hotel management company or host, the higher the chances of achieving a competitive advantage. Moreover, short-term leases can base their competitive advantage on idiosyncratic knowledge transferred from the platform, and they can compete in size with incumbent hotels if they have a high concentration of ownership in the market.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business, Hospitality and Tourism Management

Department dc:contributor.department

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Bianco, Simone

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Singal, Manisha
• Zach, Florian J.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Nicolau, Juan Luis
• Beldona, Srikanth

• Resource-Based View
• Market-Entry strategies
• Agglomeration
• Knowledge transmission
• Dual-branded hotels
• logit model
• random-effect model
• competitive dynamics
• Internet Adoption
• Short-term Leases
• Hotels

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:37081

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115095