The Relationship between Cultural Values and Consumer Needs: Taking the Online Reviews of Ritz-Carlton as an Example

Abstract

With the accelerated global expansion of international luxury hotels, culturally adaptive services have become a key factor in enhancing brand competitiveness. Taking Ritz-Carlton hotels as an example, this study analyzes online reviews of Ritz-Carlton hotels in Shanghai and Tokyo on Ctrip and Rakuten Travel platforms to explore the differences in cultural values between Chinese and Japanese consumers in luxury hotel service scenarios and their impact on service demands and evaluations. The study found that China consumers focus more on service efficiency, material value, and process certainty in their evaluations, while Japanese consumers place greater emphasis on service etiquette, personal space, and detailed experiences. Additionally, China consumers show significantly higher attention to the stability of service processes than theoretical expectations, whereas Japanese consumers' high default expectations for hardware facilities and process management lead to lower attention to certain cultural dimensions. These findings not only deepen the understanding of differences in consumption behaviors between China and Japan but also provide important references for international hotel brands to optimize service strategies in different cultural markets, helping them design more precise services and enhance customer satisfaction and brand competitiveness.