International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management最新文献

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the importance and performance of customer-facing technologies in luxury hotels. The study also assessed differences between and within the four generations in the importance-performance analysis (IPA).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a Qualtrics panel of recent luxury hotel customers in the USA belonging to all four generations. The cross-generational IPA was conducted using t-tests and (ANAOVA).

Findings

The IPA matrix concentrated most technology items in either low importance – low performance or high importance – high performance quadrants. One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences between generations on the importance ratings of all technology items except wireless charging power solutions and on the performance ratings of all technology items. Furthermore, post hoc tests indicated that millennials rated luxury technology most favorably among the four cohorts, followed by generations Z, X and Baby Boomers. In addition, significant differences between the importance and performance of many technology items within each generational cohort were observed. Overall, Wi-Fi was unanimously ranked across generations as the most important technology among luxury guests, but it was the only one that scored lower in performance than importance.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study contribute to hospitality scholarship in two primary ways: the importance and performance of technology and generational differences. The results advance the understanding of the impact of generational factors on customer-facing technological adoptions in the luxury hotel sector.

Practical implications

Technologies that are pervasive in the home also become vital offerings for hotels. The more pervasive technology, the more a luxury hotel must work to ensure that it performs at optimal levels. Additionally, which technologies are most important to targeted generations are provided so practitioners may budget for their implementation.

Originality/value

This research is a pivotal step forward in unraveling the intricate interplay between generational factors and technological evaluations, providing a foundation for future research and practical applications in a rapidly evolving technological landscape in the hospitality industry.

Purpose

This study aims to examine the interaction effects of chatbots’ language style and customers’ decision-making journey stage on customer’s service encounter satisfaction and the mediating role of customer perception of emotional support and informational support using the construal level theory and social support theory as conceptual frameworks.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a scenario-based experiment with a 2 (chatbot’s language style: abstract language vs concrete language) × 2 (decision-making journey stage: informational stage vs transactional stage) between-subjects design.

Findings

Findings show that during the informational stage, chatbots that use abstract language style exert a strong influence on service encounter satisfaction through emotional support. During the transactional stage, chatbots that use concrete language style exert a strong impact on service encounter satisfaction through informational support.

Practical implications

Findings provide some suggestions for improving customer–chatbot interaction quality during online service encounters.

Originality/value

This study offers a novel perspective on customer interaction experience with chatbots by investigating the chatbot’s language styles at different decision-making journey stages.

Purpose

Focussing on the perspective of business event leaders, this study aims to explore the future of transformative experience (TE) events, recognising a paradigm shift from organising conventional events to designing and guiding TEs in the meetings, incentives and conferences as exhibitions (MICE) context.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative interview-based design, insights from 20 international business events industry leaders were gathered and analysed by using thematic analysis through a multi-step process with MAXQDA.

Findings

The findings discuss the future of transformative events by identifying the paradigm shift towards TE in business events and outline key dimensions of the leader’s and team’s mindset and skills. Five design principles for TE events in the MICE sector are identified: design for change; emotionally experiential environments; personal engagement; responsibility; and transformative measurement.

Practical implications

The study offers a snapshot of how transformative events of the future could be designed and suggests a series of practical insights for MICE event leaders and organisers seeking to leverage events as a catalyst for intentional transformation, positive impact and long-lasting change.

Originality/value

The study adds to the emerging body of knowledge on TEs and contributes to an extended stakeholder perspective, namely, that of business event leaders and their teams who are instrumental in facilitating transformative events. An original framework for designing TE MICE events is offered as a theoretical contribution.

Purpose

This research paper aims to investigate the predictors and outcomes of immersive technology adoption in tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

PLS-SEM is used for data collected from tourists visiting the UAE and Egypt to examine predictors and consequences of adoption.

Findings

It is revealed that perceived ease of use, enjoyment, immersion, usefulness and attitude towards technology predict immersive technology adoption. It is also revealed that the adoption affects tourists’ perceived value and engagement, which, in turn, affects tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty.

Originality/value

The study has integrated a research model that combines both antecedents and consequences of immersive technology adoption where few empirical investigations were revealed to draw conclusions on this research area. Also, missing relations have been included and tested in the research model.

Purpose

This paper aims to model the price of cellar tours using a hedonic pricing approach. The authors analyze the complex relationship between the price of an add-on (here, cellar tours) and the price of the reference product (here, wine).

Design/methodology/approach

Thanks to a large database containing information on about 1,000 winery experiences, the authors regress the price of cellar tours on wine prices and on a broad set of objective characteristics that are (1) tour specific and (2) common to all tours offered by the winery. These exogenous controls include the type and style of experience offered, amenities and winemaking characteristics.

Findings

The authors show that the price of cellar tours follows the price of the most expensive wine sold by the winery, which is a proxy for reputation. The authors find that one of the main determinants of cellar tour prices is visit length: wineries charge more for longer experiences. The number of wines tasted during the visit also increases the price. Prices are higher in places where there is a high level of wine tourism activity, which might be a sign of authenticity.

Practical implications

Wine producers in different countries need to gain insights on how to price cellar tours, which are composite goods. The results can help practitioners price their winery experience according to common practices in different wine regions. The results may also be of interest to professionals in the tourism sector who are in charge of the pricing of by-products (e.g. tee-shirts, books, etc.), or for luxury fashion labels extending their brand in the catering industry with cafes and restaurants.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first empirical analysis that examines the complex relationship between the price of an add-on and the price of the reference product in the context of wine tourism.

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of metaverse experiences on customers’ offline behavioral intentions: How do customers’ visits to a hospitality business’s virtual property in the metaverse affect their intentions to visit the physical property in the real world?

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the general learning model and social cognitive theory, this research hypothesizes the positive impact of metaverse experiences on customers’ visit intentions and explores two boundary conditions for positive impact: user–avatar resemblance and servicescape similarity. Two experimental studies were conducted.

Findings

Metaverse experience has a significant impact on customers’ visit intentions, and this impact is moderated by user–avatar resemblance and servicescape similarity.

Research limitations/implications

This research addresses the call for empirical studies regarding the effects of metaverse experience on people’s behavioral intentions.

Originality/value

As one of the earliest empirical studies on the marketing effects of the metaverse, this research provides a basis for future metaverse studies in the hospitality field.

Purpose

This paper aims to bridge the extended reality framework and the luxury hospitality literature by providing insights into how immersive technologies using artificial intelligence (AI) can shape luxury value and consumer differentiation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted three experimental studies comparing immersive AI versus traditional hospitality across luxury contexts (hotels, restaurants and spas). Study 1 investigates the effect of immersive AI (vs traditional hospitality) on customers’ behavioral intentions and the need for differentiation using virtual-assisted reality. Study 2 tests the underlying mechanism of the need for differentiation and luxury value in an augmented reality context. Study 3 provides additional support for the proposed underlying mechanism using virtual-assisted reality in luxury hospitality.

Findings

The findings reveal that immersive AI (vs traditional) luxury hospitality reduces customers’ behavioral intentions of using such services and perceived luxury value. Moreover, the findings indicate that the intention to use immersive AI (vs traditional) luxury hospitality services is contingent upon customers’ need for differentiation.

Originality/value

The findings have important theoretical and managerial implications for immersive technologies in luxury hospitality. They shed light on the dynamics between integrating immersive AI into luxury hospitality and its impact on customers’ differentiation motives and perceived luxury value. The findings reveal the detrimental effect of using immersive AI (vs traditional hospitality) within this context.

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a critical reflection on the impact of the gig economy on the hospitality workforce. The impact of the gig economy on hospitality workforce management is explored, with the paper delving into both theoretical insights and practical implications.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper offers reflections on the emerging trend of the gig economy and its impacts on the hospitality workforce, based on evidence collected from the selected literature, industry report and authors’ personal reflections. A micro-meso-macro analytical framework was also applied to assist authors in building the arguments and propositions.

Findings

The findings not only revealed the impacts of the gig economy on the hospitality workforce at micro-meso-macro levels but also underscored its close relationships with various concepts in the hospitality management literature. Both future research directions and practical implications are provided.

Practical implications

Amid the gig economy’s transformative influence, stakeholders must continually innovate for an empowering and secure work environment. A holistic approach is necessary to establish a harmonious gig ecosystem, ensuring fair treatment, benefits and protection for workers while fostering growth and well-being.

Originality/value

Throughout the paper, a critical reflection on the impact of the gig economy on the hospitality workforce is presented, along with suggestions for coping with current labor issues in hospitality and tourism. Future research directions are outlined.

Purpose

This study aims to predict customer churn in resort hotels by calculating the churn probability of repeat customers for future stays in the same hotel brand.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the recency, frequency, monetary (RFM) paradigm, random forest and logistic regression supervised machine learning algorithms were used to predict churn behavior. The model with superior performance was used to detect potential churners and generate a priority matrix.

Findings

The random forest algorithm showed a higher prediction performance with an 80% accuracy rate. The most important variables were RFM-based, followed by hotel sector-specific variables such as market, season, accompaniers and booker. Some managerial strategies were proposed to retain future churners, clustered as “hesitant,” “economy,” “alternative seeker,” and “opportunity chaser” customer groups.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of customer behavior in the hospitality industry and provides valuable insight for hotel practitioners by demonstrating the methods that facilitate the identification of potential churners and their characteristics.

Originality/value

Most customer retention studies in hospitality either concentrate on the antecedents of retention or customers’ revisit intentions using traditional methods. Taking a unique place within the literature, this study conducts churn prediction analysis for repeat hotel customers by opening a new area for inquiry in hospitality studies.

Purpose

This study, rooted in affordance-actualization theory and communication theory, aims to critically examine how ChatGPT influences users’ transition from new adopters to loyal advocates within the context of travel decision-making. It incorporates constructs including communication quality, personalization, anthropomorphism, cognitive and emotional trust (ET), loyalty and intention to adopt into a comprehensive model.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used quantitative methods to analyze data from 477 respondents, collected online through a self-administered questionnaire by Embrain, a leading market research company in South Korea. Lavaan package within R studio was used for evaluating the measurement model through confirmatory factor analysis and using structural equation modeling to examine the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The findings reveal a pivotal need for enhancing ChatGPT’s communication quality, particularly in terms of accuracy, currency and understandability. Personalization emerges as a key driver for cognitive trust, while anthropomorphism significantly impacts ET. Interestingly, the study unveils that in the context of travel recommendations, users’ trust in ChatGPT predominantly operates at the cognitive level, significantly impacting loyalty and subsequent adoption intentions.

Practical implications

The findings of this research provide valuable insights for improving Generative AI (GenAI) technology and management practices in travel recommendations.

Originality/value

As one of the few empirical research papers in the burgeoning field of GenAI, this study proposes a highly explanatory model for the process from affordance to actualization in the context of using ChatGPT for travel recommendations.