On the same boat but singing a different tune: Coopetition between hotels and platforms close to customers

Bahar, Varqa Shamsi; Nenonen, Suvi; Starr Jr, Richard Granville

Abstract

Coopetition—consisting of concurrent cooperation and competition—mainly focuses on business activities far from the customer, such as research and development. However, coopetition close to the customer, comprised of marketing and sales, remains an under-researched area. Applying grounded theory, we investigate how hotels and platforms (e.g., Expedia.com and Booking.com) pursue coopetition in close customer proximity. Our findings suggest that, contrary to insights from the literature, coopetition is not only competition dominant close to the customer. Rather, coopetition patterns range between cooperation- and competition-dominant approaches, depending on tension levels. Further, in contrast to current views, separating cooperation and competition over time is impossible when episodes of cooperation and competition are short. Instead, hotels utilize multiple spaces (platforms, physical hotels, and direct channels) to isolate the two forces.

Citation

Bahar, V. S., Nenonen, S., & Starr Jr, R. G. (2022). On the same boat but singing a different tune: Coopetition between hotels and platforms close to customers. Industrial Marketing Management, 107, 52-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.020

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 25, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 1, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Deposit Date: Oct 21, 2024
• Journal: Industrial Marketing Management
• Print ISSN: 0019-8501
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-2062
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 107
• Pages: 52-69
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.020
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2978746
• Additional Information: Available open access via DOI