THE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN CUSTOMER TRUST, CUSTOMER TRUST, AND BRAND LOYALTY AMONG CONSUMERS OF SMART HOTEL CHAINS IN FIRST-TIER CITIES IN CHINA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/cadjpn63Keywords:
Customer Trust, Brand Loyalty, Smart Hotels, China, Hospitality Management.Abstract
Customers of smart hotel chains in China's first-tier cities were the focus of this research, which sought to understand the relationships between trust, loyalty, and brand loyalty. The study's overarching goal was to deduce the extent to which technical developments in the hotel industry affected consumers' opinions, confidence, and devotion over the extended run. Using a combination of main and supplementary sources, a mixed-method design was implemented. Through the distribution of surveys to hotel clients in places including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, a total of 1,200 valid replies were collected. To find statistically substantial correlations between the variables, descriptive statistics, odds ratios, approaches were used to examine the data. The results showed that smart innovations, such as AI, mobile apps, and automated services, increased consumer happiness via effectiveness customisation, and ease of use. According to the survey takers, those digital rewards elevated their stay and solidified their faith in the hotel chains. The findings nevertheless show that social connection was still important to customers. Building trust and loyalty may be enhanced by personalised assistance, intercultural knowledge, and empathic worker relationships. Recurring guests and word-of-mouth recommendations showed both increased when customers had faith in the services. Research found that although technologies did increase operating effectiveness and consumer happiness, it had been the integration of technology with human interaction that really was effective in building trust and loyalty. The results shedding light on how hospitality management may stay ahead of the competition in China's fast-paced first-tier sectors.
References
1. Chen, J., Wang, Q., & Faiz Izwan, A. (2024). Evaluating customer satisfaction, emotion and experience of smart hotels in Zhejiang, China: An analysis of online reviews/Chen jie, Wang Qian and Faiz Izwan Anuar. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts, 571-584.
2. Chen, Y., Xue, T., Tuomi, A., & Wang, Z. (2022). Hotel robots: an exploratory study of generation Z customers in China. Tourism Review, 1262-1275.
3. Du, H., Li, J., So, K., & King, C. (2025). Artificial intelligence in hospitality services: examining consumers’ receptivity to unmanned smart hotels.. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 55-78.
4. Han, D., Hou, H., Wu, H., & Lai, J. (2021). Modelling tourists’ acceptance of hotel experience-enhancement Smart technologies. . Sustainability, 4462.
5. Hoo, W., Guodian, W., Wolor, C., Ling, Z., & Prompanyo, M. (2024). Relationship of Brand Image, Trust and Value on Purchase Intention of Hotels Using Online Technology in China. . Journal of Ecohumanism, 2413-2421.
6. Li, M., Teng, H., & Chen, C. (2020). Unlocking the customer engagement-brand loyalty relationship in tourism social media: The roles of brand attachment and customer trust. . Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 184-192.
7. Liu, M., Liu, Y., Mo, Z., Zhao, Z., & Zhu, Z. (2020). How CSR influences customer behavioural loyalty in the Chinese hotel industry. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 1-22.
8. Nam, K., Dutt, C., Chathoth, P., Daghfous, A., & Khan, S. (2021). The adoption of artificial intelligence and robotics in the hotel industry: prospects and challenges. Electronic Markets, 553-574.
9. Stylos, N., Zwiegelaar, J., & Buhalis, D. (2021). Big data empowered agility for dynamic, volatile, and time-sensitive service industries: the case of tourism sector. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 1015-1036.
10. Wang, C., Hu, R., & Zhang, T. (2020). Corporate social responsibility in international hotel chains and its effects on local employees: Scale development and empirical testing in China. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102598.
11. Xie, L., Guan, X., Lin, X., & Huan, T. (2020). Triad collaboration of hotel employers, employees and customers for service innovation in a changing world. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 10-18.
12. Xu, J. (2022). Service Trust and Customer Loyalty in China’s Hotel Services: The Causal Role of Commitment. Sustainability, 8213.
13. Yan, Z., Balasubramanian, K., Konar, R., Chen, L., & Wei, Y. (2024). Smart hotel in the eyes of the silver: developing and testing the silver tourists’ behavioural intention scale. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-20.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.