Research Project: Customer Engagement & Looks in UK Hospitality

This research project proposal investigates the significance of employee appearance on customer engagement within the UK hospitality industry, focusing on a case study of Marriott. It aims to understand the link between customer engagement and the hiring process, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposal outlines research objectives, including exploring the conceptual framework of customer engagement, identifying challenges faced by Marriott during hiring, and evaluating crisis management practices. The research employs a positivism philosophy and a deductive approach, utilizing survey strategies and quantitative methods for data collection. Both primary and secondary data sources will be used, with a focus on probability sampling involving 30 respondents from Marriott. The study also addresses ethical considerations and provides a breakdown of activities and a timescale for the research.

PHigher National in Hospitality Management
Unit 18 Research Project
RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORM
STUDENT DETAILS
Section One : Research Title, Aim and Objectives
Research Title: The importance of looks on customer engagement position in UK hospitality
industry
Research Aim (What do you wish to find out or achieve?) :
The aim of this project is to identify the importance of looks on customer engagement position in the
UK hospitality industry during the hiring process. A Study on Marriott
Research Objectives (How do you want to achieve this aim. At least three/four objectives).
To achieve this aim, the following objectives have been proposed.
 To understand the concept of customer engagement and hiring procedure and their link
within hospitality industry
 To discern the challenges faced by Marriot during the hiring procedure in global pandemic
Covid-19
 To evaluate the different crisis management practices adopted by Marriot in relation to
customer engagement and hiring procedure
Research Questions (convert eachobjective above into a research question)
 Explain the conceptual framework of customer engagement and hiring procedure and their
link within hospitality industry?
 What are the challenges faced by Marriot during the hiring procedure in global pandemic
Covid-19?
 What are the different crisis management practices adopted by Marriot in relation to
customer engagement and hiring procedure?
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Section Two: Research Rationale and Scope
Rationale/Justification for the Topic: this should briefly cover the following three areas.
i- Personal reasons for choosing the project topic (e.g. links to other subjects you are
studying, personal interest, future plans, knowledge/skills you want to improve)
The main purpose of choosing this research topic is to provide relevant information related to the
importance of looks on customer engagement position in the UK hospitality industry during the
hiring process. Through carrying out this research I can avail the knowledge regarding how much
looks matter in hospitality sector and how it influence the hiring process. It also helps in determining
how customer engagement and hiring process are linked with each other in UK hospitality sector.
This research also identifies the challenges which are faced by organisation during the hiring
procedure in global pandemic Covid-19. Company have also implemented various strategies in order
to deal with the impact of pandemic and hire the right candidate for making business successful and
providing better experiences to guest. Through conducting this research I will fulfil my two main
objectives which are personal and professional. The personal objective can be attain by gaining the
knowledge of looks which can influence the customer engagement and hiring process of hospitality
sector. The professional objective can be fulfil as I can know more about the challenges and
strategies which is implemented by hospitality sector in order to hire right candidate according to
expected looks.
ii- The gap identified in the literature
The main gap which is identified in this literature is that it focuses on the looks which hospitality
industry opt for attracting and retaining customers and also improves their experiences within
hospitability industry.
iii- Practical benefits of the study (i.e. state the beneficiaries of the study).
There are various benefits of doing this current study such as it provides great source of
secondary information about the topic called role of looks in engaging customers in pandemic.
The other benefit which can be availed is gathering of raw and numerical information.
Research Scope:this should briefly cover the following.
i. State the geographical areaand name of organisation the research will focus on. Give
reason.
The selected area for doing the existing study is the United Kingdom. The name of the
selected company is Marriott. The reason behind conducting this research is that business in
operated in hospitality industry.
ii. State the units of study (i.e. the target groupsthat the study will focus on)
Managers of the Marriott are selected so that they can provide great piece of information.
iii. List the theories and/or themes that will be involvedin the study.
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Human relation theory
Section three : Preliminary Literature Review
The Literature Review, at this stage of the research process, does not have to be critical literature
review but each reviewed source should cover the following
Explain the conceptual framework of customer engagement and hiring procedure and their link
within hospitality industry?
As per the opinion of Chiang and Saw (2018), customer engagement plays an important role in
improving the profitability and performance of business. In order to engage the guest, looks of
employees matter as it helps in influencing the behaviour and attitude of people. It is important for
Marriott to hire attractive and good looking employees within organisation that helps in providing
better customer services and make them feel satisfied with the hotel. While hiring the candidate, it is
necessary to identify their etiquettes and behaviour as it helps in describing their personality
(Salazar, 2018). There is a link between customer engagement and hiring procedure as if company
hires right talent it helps in attracting more and more guest towards Marriott and also they focuses
on providing better customer services (Tran, Ly and Le, 2019).
What are the challenges faced by Marriot during the hiring procedure in global pandemic Covid-19?
As per the viewpoint of Pinto, Vieira and Fernandes (2020), there are several challenges which are
faced by hospitality company during hiring procedure in pandemic such as attracting right candidate,
identifying the potential employees, remote hiring, building strong employer brand and expanding
candidate reach. These are few problems which create an impact on the hiring process of Marriott in
pandemic. It becomes challenging for human resource department of Marriott to attract talented
employees who have good looks and personality (Abubakar, Anasori and Lasisi, 2019).
Organistaion also face challenging to expand their reach in search of highly experienced employees
who can improve the experiences of customers and create strong base in order to improve the
profitability and growth of business.
What are the different crisis management practices adopted by Marriot in relation to customer
engagement and hiring procedure?
As per the opinion of Baker and Kim (2018), there are different crisis management practices which
are adopted by Marriott in relation to customer engagement and hiring procedure such as attracting
highly skilled employees, rewarding, communicating deliberately, welcoming feedback and creating
realistic job requirement. These are the strategies which are adopted by Marriott in order to
overcome the impact of crisis on customer engagement and hiring process (Prentice, Dominique
Lopes and Wang, 2020).
Section Four: Overview of Research Methodology:
Discuss in short your research methods, philosophical approaches, research design e.g
qualitative/quantitative/mixed, research sample and sampling techniques.
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Research Philosophy: The research philosophy gives certain beliefs and principles for collecting the
information in significant manner. There are two types of research philosophy they are positivism
and interpretivism philosophy. Under this research, the chosen philosophy is positivism philosophy
as it helps in analysing and evaluating the data in short period of time (Rosenberg and et. al., 2016).
One of the benefits for using this philosophy is that it lays emphasis on statistical facts and figures
and provides detailed information related to the looks of employees that attracts customers in
hospitality industry.
Research Approach: Research approach is also a tool of research methodology which facilitates the
information on the basis of the requirement of whole investigation. It is divided into two forms such
as inductive and deductive. In this research, the researcher is choosing deductive approach as it helps
in collecting the statistical data in systematic manner. The purpose of choosing deductive approach
is that it takes statistical data in order to achieve the goals and objective of research.
Research Strategy: Research strategy is an action which is taken for fulfilling the aims and objective
of research. There are various types of research strategy such grounded theory, action research,
interview, observation, survey, archival research etc. Researcher will choose survey strategy as it
helps in collecting the numerical and raw data in appropriate manner. The purpose behind choosing
survey technique is that it provide different opinion and percepctive of people related to the study. In
survey, questionnaire will also be used as it includes close-ended questions which help in attaining
the aims and objective.
Research Choice: The research choice provides detailed information about the topic due to which
goals and objective can be easily meet. There are two types of research choice such as qualitative
and quantitative research choice. In this researcher will choose quantitative method as it helps in
recording and collecting the numerical data in less time. The reason behind choosing quantitative
research choice is that it helps in collecting and assembling the numerical and statistical figures in
simple manner.
Data Collection: Data collection is another type of research method which is categorized into two
forms such as primary and secondary method. In this research, investigator will choose both the
method in appropriate manner (Pettey, Bracken and Pask, 2017). The primary method helps in
collecting raw information directly from the source whereas secondary data is used to accumulate
second-hand information. Questionnaire will be considered by investigator for collecting first-hand
information. The sources for secondary data include articles, newspapers, books, journals etc.
Sampling: Sampling is a tool that helps in collecting the right information from wide variety of
people. Basically, sampling is of two types such as probability and non-probability sampling. In this
research, investigator will choose probability sampling as it provides equal chance for people to give
their opinion and viewpoint regarding the looks matter for attracting customers. The chosen numbers
of samples for the questions are 30 respondents from Marriott hotel that helps in providing
information related to the topic.
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Ethical Aspect of Study
See Ethics Form below
SECTION FIVE: BREAKDOWN OF ACTIVITIES AND TIMESCALE
Include a Gantt Chart to reflect your research planning.
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List of References :References used so far (using Harvard referencing style)
Abubakar, A. M., Anasori, E. and Lasisi, T.T., 2019. Physical attractiveness and managerial
favoritism in the hotel industry: The light and dark side of erotic capital. Journal of Hospitality and
Tourism Management, 38, pp.16-26.
Baker, M. A. and Kim, K., 2018. The role of language, appearance, and smile on perceptions of
authenticity versus rapport. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 74, pp.171-179.
Chiang, C .I. and Saw, Y. L., 2018. Do good looks matter when applying for jobs in the hospitality
industry?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 71, pp.33-40.
Pettey, G. R., Bracken, C. C. and Pask, E. B., 2017. Communication research methodology: A
strategic approach to applied research. Routledge.
Pinto, L. H., Vieira, B. P. and Fernandes, T. M., 2020. ‘Service with a piercing’: Does it (really)
influence guests’ perceptions of attraction, confidence and competence of hospitality
receptionists?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 86, p.102365.
Prentice, C., Dominique Lopes, S. and Wang, X., 2020. The impact of artificial intelligence and
employee service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Journal of Hospitality Marketing &
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Management, 29(7), pp.739-756.
Rosenberg, E and et. al., 2016. Building capacity for green, just and sustainable futures–a new
knowledge field requiring transformative research methodology. Journal of Education, (65), pp.95-
122.
Salazar, A., 2018. Hospitality trends: opportunities and challenges. Worldwide Hospitality and
Tourism Themes.
Tran, L. T .T., Ly, P. T. M. and Le, L. T., 2019. Hotel choice: A closer look at demographics and
online ratings. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 82, pp.13-21.
Student Declaration
I confirm that the proposed Research Project is not work that has been or will be submitted for
another qualification or by another student and is appropriate:
Student Name and Signature: Date:
Comments and Agreement from Tutor
Comments:
I confirm that the project is not work that has been or will be submitted for another qualification and
is appropriate:
Agreed: (Name) (Date)
Research ethics approval form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or the
use of data, collected from human participants, may be required to gain ethical
approval before commencing their research. Please answer all relevant questions
and note that your form may be returned if incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your Unit Tutor.
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed research fully with your
Unit Tutor. Please complete this form in good time before your research project is due to
commence.
Unit 18 Research Project Proposal–
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SectionOne:Basicdetails
ProjectTitle:The aim of this project is to explore the different crisis management
practices that have helped hospitality sector to deal with global pandemic
COVID-19. A Study on The Berkeley
Student Details
Student Name Student ID
Section Two: Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as part of your project:
Interviews
Questionnaires
Observations
Use of Personal Records
Data Analysis
Action Research
Focus Groups
Other (please specify)
Section Three: Participants
Will your research involve human participants? Yes
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No

Who are the participants? Tick all that apply
Ages 12-16Adults:
How will participants be recruited (identified and approached)?
Through probability sampling.
Describe the process you will use to inform participants about what you are
doing: Through consent form
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it
be made clear to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at
any time?
Through e-mail
Studies involving questionnaires: Will participants be given the option of omitting
questions they do not wish to answer?
Yes:
If No, please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues
arising from this:
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their
informed consent to be approved.
Yes:
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Young people aged 17-18:
No:
No:

Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation? (e.g. give them a brief
explanation of the study)
Yes:
Will participants be given information about the findings of your study? (This could be
a summary of your findings generally)
Yes:
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No:
No:

Section Four: Data storage and security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with
the Data Protection Act (1998)
Yes:
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
Only investigator
During the research
Where will the data be stored?
In USB
Will mobile devices, such as USB storage and laptops, be used?
Yes:
If yes, please provide further details:
After the research
Where will the data be stored?
In laptop
How long will the data and records be kept, and in what format?
For 8 month in pdf format.
Will the data be kept for use by other researchers?
Yes:
If yes, please provide further details:
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No:
No:
No:

Section Five: Ethical issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work which may raise ethical
concerns? If so, please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may
arise as a result of your research. Please consider/address all issues that may
apply. Ethical concerns may include, but are not limited to the following:
• informed consent
• potentially vulnerable participants
• sensitive topics
• risks to participants and/or researchers
• confidentiality/anonymity
• disclosures/limits to confidentiality
• data storage and security, both during and after the research (including
transfer, sharing, encryption, protection)
• reporting
• dissemination and use of your findings.
Section Six: Declaration
I have read, understood, and will abide by the [Nelson College London ]
Research Ethics Policy:
Yes:
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my tutor:
Yes:
I confirm that, to the best of my knowledge, the above information is correct and that this is a full
description of the ethical issues that may arise in the course of my/our research.
Student Name(s) Date
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No:
No: