Hotel guest service experience. The hotel guest service experience was investigated in the Journal of Hospitality, Marketing, and Management (Vol. 29, 2020). Using data on over 45,000 hotel guest reviews from TripAdvisor.com, the researchers modeled overall guest experience rating (1 to 5-point scale).

a. The initial model fit included the independent variables employee interaction (x1), guestroom rating (x2), lounge rating (x3), restaurant rating (x4) and overall hotel service (x5). Write the equation of the first-order model as a function of these 5 variables.

b. The researchers wanted to compare traditional hotels to lifestyle hotels. To do this, they split the sample data set into two subsamples, one for traditional hotels and one for lifestyle hotels; then, they fit the model, part

a, to the data for each subsample. One result: The estimate of b2 was .093 for traditional hotels and .055 for lifestyle hotels. Interpret these two values, practically.

c. Refer to part

b. The researchers conducted a sophisticated test (beyond the scope of this course) to compare the two betas, that is, to test the null hypothesis that b2 for traditional hotels is equal to b2 for lifestyle hotels. Another, equivalent, approach is to create a dummy variable for hotel type (traditional or lifestyle) and add the term to the model, as well as interactions between each independent variable and the dummy variable. Write the equation of this model.

d. In terms of the betas in the model, part

c, what is the slope of the line relating overall rating (y) to guestroom rating (x2) for traditional hotels, holding all other independent variables fixed? For lifestyle hotels?

e. Based on your answer to part

d, what null hypothesis would you test to determine if the two slopes are the same? How would you conduct this test?