Neuroscience Meets Luxury Hospitality
Using Brain Science to Create Peak Experiences with Dr. Paul J. Zak
Insights Beyond Hospitality is a series of interviews with four bold thinkers outside traditional hospitality to uncover unique insights about what today’s high-net-worth guests value and where luxury experiences will go next. Curated and hosted by myself, Susie Arnett, and Sharon Hirschowitz from the International Luxury Hospitality Association.
An Interview with Dr. Paul Zak, Pioneer of "Neuroscience as a Service"
In the first installment of Insights Beyond Hospitality, we sit down with pioneering neuroscientist Dr. Paul Zak to explore how the brain processes extraordinary experiences—and what that means for luxury hospitality. From wearable tech to customer lifetime value, Zak reveals how peak emotional moments, personalization at scale, and employee immersion are scientifically proven to increase guest satisfaction, spending, and loyalty.
For hoteliers seeking to elevate every stay from good to unforgettable, this conversation offers both a framework and a call to action: What if every touchpoint with your brand was a chance to make your guest fall just a little more in love?
Can Neuroscience Improve Guest Experiences?
Susie Arnett: Today I'm thrilled to speak with Dr. Paul Zak, an amazing neuroscientist who has developed something I find fascinating: the concept of neuroscience as a service. Paul has worked with the Pentagon, and Fortune 50 companies, and conducted research everywhere from Papua New Guinea rainforests to luxury retail environments. What excites me most is how he's identified the neurological basis for high-impact experiences—which is our bread and butter in luxury hospitality.
Paul J. Zak: Thanks, Susie. I'm happy to be here with you and Sharon.
From Brain Science to Guest Experience
Susie: Let's start with the big question: How do we translate neuroscience into hospitality? We love measuring guest satisfaction, but we often can't tell what's going on inside our guests' minds just by looking. What surprising insights have you gained from other industries that we could apply to hospitality?
Paul: We've developed technology that measures the real-time value of experiences by applying algorithms to signals from smartwatches and fitness wearables. Value is what guests want—a high-value experience—but it's difficult for people to articulate that value when we simply ask them.
Our brains are constantly doing cost-benefit calculations because it's so expensive to invest processing power in experiences. So what have we learned about how to create high-value experiences?
The physical space matters—the sights, smells, sounds. That multi-sensory experience adds neurologic value because there are more things to engage the brain. But one of the most important factors to raise the value of an experience is the social component—a positive experience with hospitality associates, that customer-facing individual.
Critical Point: When you add employee experience (EX) to customer experience (CX) mapping in your teams, you immediately raise the value of both experiences.
QUESTION: How often do you measure your employee satisfaction to help create a culture of positivity that rubs off onto the guest experience? Is it possible to design peak experiences into your employee’s workday, as you would for your guest?
The Contagious Nature of Employee Engagement
Paul: Here's fascinating research: Immersion is contagious. We've shown in luxury retail that when we measure a salesperson's immersion (meaning their level of engaged positive emotion), we can predict which customer buys with 80% accuracy. There's a positive linear relationship between the salesperson's immersion and the amount of money spent by the customer.
You don't need to give guests wearables—though you could. Instead, you can track this through employees. Create a great culture for employees, and they'll share that love for the property with guests. The guests get infected with that positive energy and purchase more.
The Power of Personalization at Scale
Susie: You mentioned personalization and technology. Do luxury customers have a different relationship with technology compared to other segments?
Paul: If I'm arriving on my private plane, you can have a car pick me up on the tarmac. That person should know my name, know how many guests I have. Don't ask me my name—you should know it. You should have my picture. Four Seasons does this well—whenever I walk in, they already know who I am.
Here's the game-changer: Say, "Last time you stayed at our Aruba property, you really enjoyed our seafood meal. We've made a reservation for you at 7 PM at our seafood restaurant." Holy crap, I'm so happy already! Even if I have other plans, the fact that they know about me, remember me—I don't want to be that anonymous person at Starbucks where they ask my name every time.
We have so much information in CRMs and customer tracking systems. Let's harness that to elevate the customer experience through meaningful personalization.
Creating Memorable Peak Moments
Susie: I love your point about the ebb and flow of experiences. Can you elaborate on that?
Paul: You don't want to be maxed out with the most valuable experience ever all the time—it's exhausting. You want narrative retail, a curated experience involving storytelling. Like long-form narrative, you need some downtimes to rest. I need some downtime, otherwise it's just exhausting.
The Peak-End Rule: But here's the crucial psychology principle: the Peak-End Rule. People tend to remember the peak emotionality of an experience and the end of an experience.
That end should be fabulous. I've stayed at luxury properties where the end is just "Thanks for staying"—no surprise, no memorable send-off.
Sharon: This creates great opportunities for training teams to be empowered and use their intuition to create elevated experiences.
Paul: Absolutely. Ritz-Carlton does this amazingly well with their "Ladies and Gentlemen" titles and recognizing excellence. Use outstanding employees as exemplars, recognize them publicly, have peers recognize them. That recognition should be personal, tangible, and close in time to when a guest says they had a great experience.
Staff Culture Key: Don't expect perfection 100% of the time. Check in with employees—if someone's having a bad day, maybe they shouldn't be guest-facing. Really care about those employees who create high-value experiences because they're super valuable.
QUESTION: Arrival rituals have become table stakes in luxury hospitality. What is your departure ritual? What are some physical ways to help people hold on to the memories of their stay long after they leave?
Leveraging Technology for Guest Intelligence
Susie: How can we use technology to better understand that luxury customer journey?
Paul: In my perfect world of luxury hospitality, you send guests a nice-branded wearable before they arrive. We learn about them before they get there—how many high-value moments they're having daily at home. Then when they arrive, we have a baseline.
If someone typically gets 2-3 peak moments at home but gets 7-8-9-10 on property, that’s a win for your property. But then if this number drops off after leaving, you don't have to ping them—the data suggests they might need a wellness tune-up. The data can recommend that maybe it's time to return to your property.
Memory Science: High immersion experiences are saved in the brain in a special way that makes them more easily accessible (and longer lasting).
When I talk about amazing resort experiences, I can rattle off everything—the person who set up my day, specific activities. These become the "best hospitality experiences of my life." (And I share them with my friends, and they keep me coming back.)
Building Customer Lifetime Value Through Neuroscience
Susie: Let's talk about customer lifetime value and loyalty programs. How can neuroscience enhance these programs?
Paul: My religion is CLV—customer lifetime value. It's almost always cheaper to have a customer return than to acquire a new customer. I want you to be a raving fan who talks about the experience.
Focus on peak moments and endings. Send follow-up communications: "The two things you enjoyed most at our resort were A and B. We're thrilled you came. Here's my direct contact if you'd like to do this again."
Physical mementos are powerful. Like that Seaworld photo families keep for years—we should be capturing those moments for guests. If people consent, take pictures of their peak experiences and either email them or better yet, print and mail them afterward.
Loyalty Innovation: Instead of just listing past trips, loyalty programs should detail peak moments in the platform. "You loved this experience, and now you're going to Charleston—here's an amazing hotel with similar adventures."
QUESTION: Can your loyalty program become a digital, shareable scrapbook? Or similar to Netflix, include a recommendation engine clued into ratings of previous trips?
The Art of Storytelling in Hospitality
Susie: You mentioned "narrative retail." Can you explain how storytelling applies to hospitality?
Paul: A narrative arc is an effective way to sustain neurologic immersion. We want to create storylines throughout the guest experience—tell guests about who built the resort, why it's here, who was on the land beforehand, how you've integrated into the local community.
Think of it like Disneyland's Easter eggs when you're queuing—little discoveries that enhance the story. Maybe there's a special meditation alcove that the original builders loved, or areas reserved because of the indigenous people who lived there.
Have employees know these stories too: "Welcome! You're staying in the Aviary Wing—our founder loved birds, and you'll see wild peacocks on the grounds..."
Training Insight: Really engage guests in the whole story of the resort's development and operation. Reinforce how special this place is beyond just the money they're paying.
QUESTION: In addition to the story of the place, can you thread moments together for the guest, so they sense a growing story, not isolated transactions?
Recruiting and Retaining Exceptional Staff
Susie: With so much growth in luxury hospitality, we face huge staffing challenges. What have you learned about recruiting and retaining the best employees?
Paul: Here's compelling data: In US retail, average turnover is around 90% annually. For companies that invest in training and recognize employees, turnover is less than 10%.
Look at The Container Store—employees get 100 hours of training in their first year. Why? Because it's an elevated experience. I bought a $100 trash can from them because the experience was wonderful.
Focus on hiring for personality: Look for people who are genuinely warm, who love helping others, who love making people smile. That's primarily genetic—you can't really train someone to be a people person.
Then give them tools and trust them. Like Ritz-Carlton: if you need to spend money to solve a guest problem, don't ask someone—do it now.
Cultural Transformation: Use aspirational titles. In hospitals, janitorial staff are "infection control agents." Subway has "sandwich artists." Apple has the "genius bar." These elevated titles matter. (This brings out the best in us because we behave in line with how we see ourselves. Words matter.)
The Ultimate Secret:
It's All About Love – and Helping Guests Fall in Love with Us
Paul: I want to say this even more strongly: High-value moments are just about love. That amazing United flight attendant I met on a recent flight loved her job and infected me with her love. When we share genuine love for what we're doing, guests feel it.
I realized this measuring my own experiences with an end of the year get-together with my graduate students—I had 10 high-value moments in one day, something that hadn't happened in a year. I genuinely love these people, so I invest in them, want them to have amazing experiences. The love I poured into their experience boomeranged back to me.
That's the relationship I'd love to see in luxury hospitality: guests having their favorite concierge, favorite bellman who knows their name. That personalization at scale is now available with data and technology. (And the positive regard and warmth that connects us to people who care for us infuses our entire experience.)
QUESTION: For most of us in luxury hospitality, we understand that it’s about love. But what isn’t talked about so much is the process of falling in love. Like dating, how can every email, every touchpoint be a micro-proposal: “Will you fall a little further for us?”
Key Takeaways for Luxury Hospitality Leaders
🧠 Neuroscience Insights:
High-value experiences combine multi-sensory elements with strong social components
Employee engagement is contagious and directly impacts guest spending
Peak moments and endings are what guests remember most
💡 Technology Applications:
Use CRM data for meaningful personalization, not just basic recognition
Consider wearable technology to measure guest - and staff - engagement in real-time
Leverage data to predict and create peak experiences
👥 Staff Excellence:
Invest heavily in training (100+ hours in first year)
Hire for warmth and genuine love of helping others
Give autonomy and trust to solve guest problems immediately
Use aspirational titles like Subway’s “Sandwich Artist” and recognize excellence publicly
❤️ The Love Factor:
Employee Experience (EX) colors Customer Experience (CX)
Genuine care and passion from staff create infectious positive experiences
Focus on building relationships, not just transactions
Remember: Luxury hospitality marries human connection with moments that sweep guests off their feet. Every email, every touchpoint is a chance to deepen that bond.
The future of luxury hospitality lies in understanding and leveraging the science of human experience and the power that comes from hosting from the heart. At its core, great hospitality is about love, care, and genuine human connection.
Watch the entire Webinar here:
PAUL J. ZAK BIOGRAPHY:
Paul J. Zak is a Professor at Claremont Graduate University and is ranked in the top 0.3% of most cited scientists with over 200 published papers and more than 20,000 citations to his research. Zak’s two decades of research have taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. Along the way he helped start a number of interdisciplinary fields including neuroeconomics, neuromanagement, and neuromarketing. He has written three general audience books and is a regular TED speaker.
His latest book, Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and Source of Happiness (2022), identifies the neurologic basis for extraordinary experiences and uses 50,000 brain measurements to show readers how to create high-impact marketing, entertainment, training, customer experiences, and employee experiences. The book shows that extraordinary experiences drive up customer lifetime value and provide the neurologic foundation for increased individual happiness.
(Interview edited for readability.)