Co-Created Authenticity: Generation Z Themed Hotels' Narrative Experience Strategy

Abstract

As Generation Z gradually becomes the main consumer group of theme hotels, the paradox of marketing prioritization breaks out. Generation Z, as the group pursuing "search for truth" the core value, puts a higher demand on "authenticity" than ever before. But the essential feature of theme hotels is exactly "staged" and "the false." The core question addressed herein is how to use experiential marketing by theme hotels to construct the brand story that can attain the perception called "authenticity" by Generation Z. This study reveals that the "authenticity" pursued by Generation Z no longer lies in the traditional objective fact, but in the subjective personal concern, emotional resonance, and peer verification (User-Generated Content [UGC]). To address this paradox, the purpose of this study is to build a model of "Co-Created Narrative Experiential Marketing" (CC-NEM). The model conceptually synthesizes the Experience Economy, Strategic Experiential Modules (SEMs), Narrative Servicescape, Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic), and Narrative Transportation Theory (NTT). The core premise of this research is that hotel brands need to undergo a role transformation from "Storyteller" to "Story-Facilitator". Through an experiential framework that allows the customer to participate, modify, and co-write the story, and by using UGC as the basic verification channel for authenticity, "co-creation" can be the key mechanism to dissolve the paradox which enables themed hotels to establish genuine emotional connection and brand loyalty in the mind of Generation Z.