International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management最新文献

Purpose

This study aims to discover factors and configurations that influence customers’ acceptance behaviors to investigate the current hospitality industry using service robots.

Design/methodology/approach

A mix of symmetrical and asymmetrical modeling methods was used for the data analysis. The symmetrical modeling was used to find the net effects, whereas asymmetrical modeling was adopted to find the combined configurations for hotel guests’ robot service acceptance behaviors.

Findings

The results revealed the significant effect of innovativeness, willingness to be a lighthouse customer, personal norms and concern about service robot performance on acceptance behaviors. In addition, the complex solution models using characteristics of tech-forward consumers, norms and attitude and uncertainty and concern were found.

Practical implications

The study shows directions to hotel marketers, to help them make customers adopt service robots.

Originality/value

The study explored customer service robot acceptance behaviors based on comprehensive theoretical backgrounds, including the technology acceptance model, theory of planned behavior, norm activation model and service robot acceptance model.

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impact of virtual tours on the engagement and travel intentions of older adults, emphasizing the role of emotional and informative content. It aims to enhance travel confidence and reduce stress among older travelers, fostering inclusive tourism through advanced avatar technology.

Design/methodology/approach

Using two between-subjects experiments, this research compares the effects of emotion-driven and knowledge-centric virtual tours on older adults. It explores the mediating role of travel confidence and stress reduction, along with the moderating influence of positive psychological cues on engagement and travel intentions.

Findings

The results highlight the potential of technology in promoting inclusive tourism. Emotionally engaging virtual tours significantly increase travel intentions among older adults by boosting confidence and alleviating stress, with positive psychological cues enhancing these effects.

Practical implications

This study offers valuable insights for tourism industry stakeholders by suggesting the development of avatar-based virtual tours tailored to the emotional and cognitive needs of older travelers. This approach could create more accessible and satisfying tourism experiences for older travelers.

Originality/value

This study extends the socioemotional selectivity theory to the realm of metaverse travel, providing a novel perspective on the emotional and cognitive engagement of older adults in the metaverse. This underscores the importance of inclusive technology in addressing the needs of older travelers.

Purpose

This study aims to delve into the ethical challenges in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to underscore the necessity of establishing principles for ethical AI utilization in hospitality and tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

A narrative review of research on ethical AI across diverse realms was conducted to reflect current research progress and examine whether sufficient measures have been taken to address issues pertinent to AI utilization in hospitality and tourism.

Findings

Ethical issues including privacy concerns, detrimental stereotypes, manipulation and brutalization pertinent to AI utilization are elaborated. How AI should be properly used and managed ethically, responsibly and sustainably is suggested.

Research limitations/implications

Five fine-tuned principles for regulating AI use in hospitality and tourism are proposed.

Practical implications

A resilient mindset, enhancement of AI context adaptability, equilibrium between development and regulation and collaborative effort of multiple stakeholders are paramount.

Originality/value

Through applying the AI evolution trajectory model, this study contributes to the current discourse of managing AI by proposing a framework that addresses the specific characteristics of hospitality and tourism.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of societal and organisational culture on talent management (TM) within the Greek hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry. Specifically, this study tests societal culture’s effect on TM approaches and the mediating role of organisational culture.

Design/methodology/approach

In this quantitative study, the questionnaire sample included employees of all hierarchical levels from three hotels located in northern, central and southern Greece (n = 188). Data analyses were carried out by using the PROCESS Version 4 macro in SPSS.

Findings

The results show that neither societal nor organisational culture are decisive factors in impacting the perceived TM approach. This might be due to the organisations imitating other firms without pre-establishment of societal and organisational fit.

Practical implications

This study emphasises TM’s alignment with both societal and organisational culture. Given the context-specific nature of TM, achieving culture fit can enhance talent acquisition, retention and engagement, ultimately leading to improved talent and overall organisational performance.

Originality/value

This study integrates more centrally a cultural lens into the TM discourse. It provides empirical evidence of TM approaches in the Greek H&T industry, drawing on a multi-stakeholder sample including managers and talents.

Purpose

This study aims to explore the key attributes of robot chef restaurants and their influencing factors from the perspective of customers and analyzes how these key attributes affect customer perceived value.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods research design was used in this study. Using 473 online reviews and ratings (Study 1), the research summarized customers’ evaluations on three types of attributes (environment, service and food) and identified the key attributes along with their influencing factors. Subsequently, through field questionnaires (Study 2) involving 269 actual customers, structural equation modeling was used to analyze how the identified key attributes and their influencing factors impact customer perceived value.

Findings

This study reveals that customers in robot chef restaurants prioritize food attributes, particularly valuing food authenticity alongside food quality. In contrast to traditional restaurants, customers’ evaluations of food attributes in robot chef restaurants are significantly influenced by the competence of robot chefs. Notably, customers’ negative attitudes toward robots diminish the positive effects on both food quality and food authenticity.

Practical implications

To enhance customer perceived value, robot chef restaurants should concentrate on food attributes. They can achieve this by fostering a high-quality, authentic food experience through the elevation of robot chefs’ competence and by providing customer education.

Originality/value

This study expands research on the customer experience in robotic restaurants by proposing an integrated model determining factors that affect the perceived customer value.

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationships between quality management, human capital and innovation (both incremental and radical), and social sustainability practices in hospitality. Also considered are the mediating roles of human capital and innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study considers 365 hotels located in Spain, using a structural equation model based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis.

Findings

The findings show that quality management practices, human capital and incremental innovation all have a direct relationship with social sustainability practices. Human capital and incremental innovation partially mediate the relationship between quality management and social sustainability practices. Radical innovation has no impact on social sustainability practices and does not play a mediating role.

Research limitations/implications

This study enriches the literature on social sustainability in hospitality by showing that quality management, human capital and innovation can enhance social sustainability practices. It offers practical insights by understanding key drivers for promoting social sustainability in the hospitality sector.

Originality/value

Prior research in hospitality has not used a mediation model to empirically examine the aforementioned relationships.

Purpose

Gen Z, the largest and fastest-growing consumer generation, is transforming the hospitality industry as both customers and employees. By critically synthesizing empirical literature, this study aims to explore how this generation’s distinct behaviors are reshaping customer expectations and workforce trends within the sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A critical synthesis of empirical studies was used to examine current research on Gen Z as customers and employees in the hospitality industry.

Findings

Gen Z exhibits distinct preferences and expectations in their dual roles as customers and employees, prompting substantial shifts in hospitality industry standards and practices. They rely heavily on digital channels and peer recommendations when making travel decisions and expect highly personalized, tech-enabled experiences. This young cohort of travelers values unique, authentic and sustainable offerings. As employees, Gen Z prioritizes flexible work arrangements, career growth and workplaces aligned with sustainability, diversity and social responsibility. Hospitality providers must adapt their customer experience, marketing and HR strategies to meet these evolving demands.

Practical implications

To engage Gen Z customers and employees in the hospitality industry effectively, businesses must prioritize personalized experiences, leverage technology and adopt sustainable practices aligned with Gen Z’s social and environmental values. Moreover, offering adaptable work environments with remote opportunities and investing in professional development enhances appeal for Gen Z employees. Understanding Gen Z’s values and behaviors can help businesses improve customer satisfaction, attract top talent and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Originality/value

This study represents a preliminary endeavor to provide a critical assessment of Gen Z in the hospitality and tourism sector, offering novel insights into their travel behaviors, preferences and work values. It explores their expectations, attitudes toward work and career choices, offering guidance on how businesses can meet the evolving demands of this key demographic.

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of customer inoculation strategies in the context of AI service failures in the hospitality and tourism industries. Furthermore, it examines how these strategies can enhance customer complaint behavior and satisfaction with service recovery, thereby improving the overall service experience.

Design/methodology/approach

Four distinct studies were conducted: Study 1 investigated the influence of customer inoculation on complaint behavior post-AI service failure. Study 2 assessed the impact of service remedies on customer satisfaction. Study 3 explored the implications of initial purchase and usage intentions. Finally, Study 4 validated the findings using a large-scale online survey.

Findings

The results indicated that customer inoculation significantly increases customer complaint behavior and satisfaction with service remedies following AI service failures. They also showed that this relationship is mediated by psychological distance. Furthermore, customer inoculation positively affects initial purchase and usage intentions, demonstrating effectiveness at various customer engagement stages.

Practical implications

This study enriches the literature on AI hospitality service failure and recovery by introducing the novel concept of customer inoculation. Additionally, it significantly contributes to the inoculation theory literature, which covers diverse fields. Practically, this study proposes an efficient and low-cost strategy for marketers.

Originality/value

This study introduces the concept of customer inoculation in the context of AI service failures, a novel approach in the hospitality and tourism literature. It provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of the strategy, bridging a crucial gap in understanding customer behavior in the face of technological disruptions.

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the role of blockchain (BCT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in enhancing and incentivizing environmentally responsible, socially inclusive and economically viable tourism practices within the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a critical reflection research approach that enables a synthesis of information derived from existing literature's insights and the authors' experiences and observations. By examining frameworks and theories in the literature, critical reflection also helps develop a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Findings

This study portrays how BCT could be used to track the sustainability credentials of tourism providers and how AI can optimize energy usage in hotels. This study depicts how adopting technology-driven sustainable practices in the H&T industry can increase profitability, improve reputation, compliance with regulations, efficiency and a better guest experience.

Practical implications

The study suggests targeted actions and policy frameworks that can be tailored to different stakeholder groups (hospitality businesses, policymakers and tourists) to overcome barriers and maximize the positive societal and environmental impacts of adopting BCT and AI for sustainable tourism.

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in its ability to offer new perspectives and novel recommendations on the diverse uses of AI and BCT in the context of sustainable tourism. Furthermore, the study provides strategic and policy elements (Targeted actions and policy frameworks) for stakeholders to integrate sustainable tourism practices using BCT and AI successfully. This study differs from earlier review studies that primarily focused on adopting emerging technologies and ignoring the sustainability angle in the use of technology.

Purpose

The hospitality and tourism industry is strongly influenced by new and immersive technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), to enhance customer experiences across a diverse set of touchpoints throughout the visitor journey. This paper aims to provide a holistic understanding of AR marketing for this industry context, present a number of fundamental premises of AR marketing within it and establish an agenda for future AR research.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviews current literature on AR marketing, hospitality and tourism and industry use cases for the creation of a proposed conceptual framework to guide scholars and managers. Based on that, the authors propose fundamental premises.

Findings

The three fundamental premises of AR marketing presented are the need to clearly differentiate between AR and virtual reality within hospitality and tourism; the use of AR for the on-trip experience; and the combined focus on content, context, customer and computing devices for a successful strategic implementation of AR.

Research limitations/implications

This study serves as a first point of reference for the strategic integration of AR into hospitality and tourism marketing, both from an industry and academic point of view.

Practical implications

The authors provide a number of managerial recommendations based on our three fundamental premises.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to holistically characterize AR marketing in the hospitality and tourism context. It also highlights the fundamental premises of successful AR marketing and future directions of AR research today and in a spatial computing future.