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Nowadays, where information is abundant, and there’s only so much information that an average user can take in at a time, customer confusion has grown as an even bigger problem for all industries. This is especially true when it comes to running a business in the hospitality industry.
Customer confusion in a nutshell
Hotels are at risk of customer confusion, which is a phenomenon that occurs when a consumer becomes unsure of what they purchased because they didn’t fully understand it. Although it may seem simple enough at first, customer confusion has given hotel owners and accommodation managers a headache due to higher booking cancellation rates!
Aside from cancellation rates, however, the main problem that customer confusion brings is that potential clients end up ignoring options that are beneficial for them in the first place. Constantly having smart options being ignored is not only a loss for the customer but is also problematic for the hoteliers that work hard and use resources to put their establishments out for the public to see.
How hotels end up succumbing to customer confusion
Given how packed the hospitality industry can be online and how many accommodation choices there are, consumers nowadays only have a short amount of time to settle on an option. As the number of options continues to grow, customers are now forced to skip any option that they can’t understand the first time around. As a result, this problem has cost many hotels millions in the process.
For hotels and sources of accommodation, falling prey to customer confusion can result in having potential long-term clients skip over their listing because of not clearly stating key pieces of information. If your website hasn’t made an effort to overcome the threat of customer confusion, chances are that it’s losing sales because you didn’t clearly state the following pieces of information:
Forms of confusion to watch out for
Fortunately, any problems that your hotel website may have with customer confusion can be easily overcome by knowing what issues you should avoid in the first place. To ensure that you don’t lose customers over any lack of clarity, here are two forms of customer confusion you should watch out for:
1. Similarity confusion
If you’re running a hotel that has multiple chains scattered in various areas, chances are that you’re at a higher risk of similarity confusion that typically occurs with sub-brands of large hotel chains.
A first-time customer is most likely going to be confused when sifting through your sub-brands if you don’t differentiate each one of them well enough. This essentially leads to them looking for something else out of the fear of booking the wrong branch. Overcoming the challenge of similarity confusion entails clearly stating what makes you different from your other branches in the same chain.
2. Overload confusion
The sheer number of various hotel options nowadays has made it much easier for hotels to fall prey to overload confusion. This occurrence generally takes place when a customer is presented with too much information to the point that they can’t settle on a choice. Having dozens of possible accommodation options in your area alone can put you at a high risk of overload confusion that’s attributed to something you can’t control.
The best way to avoid falling prey to overload confusion is to make sure that your hotel’s website stands out with various tools such as SEO, compelling write-ups, and feature videos!
We’re a digital marketing agency in Bangkok for hotels, get in touch with us today for a free consultation.
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