International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Denizci Guillet, Basak ; Mohammed, Ibrahim

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-06-2014-0295

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to examine hospitality revenue management (RM) research in the recent decade, to identify emergent issues/topics and suggest directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic process of literature review involving content analysis was adopted. The process involved searching for published articles in three major online databases for hospitality and tourism journals, evaluating and selecting the relevant articles, analyzing and synthesizing the findings of the selected papers and organizing the findings to determine what is known and what is yet to be known. Findings – The paper established a broad range of topics that have engaged the attention of hospitality and tourism researchers in contemporary times. These topics were structured into seven major themes constituting the core activities of hospitality RM process and another eight themes covering the factors influencing the practice of RM. Practical implications – The classification of the literature into core activities of RM process and factors influencing RM serves as a useful guide for practitioners and academics to trace relevant literature on various aspects of RM and to visibly notice the gaps in the existing literature. Originality/value – By developing an RM framework and using it to evaluate existing literature, this study brings cohesion into the hospitality and tourism RM literature.

Wang, Yao-Chin ; Chung, Yeasun

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-01-2014-0031

Purpose – This study aims to develop dimensions and sub-items that explain hotel brand portfolio strategy (HBPS) and explore performance differences among HBPS groups in an effort to improve our knowledge about HBPS. A key ingredient in success for a hotel company is the successful building and management of a strong brand portfolio. Design/methodology/approach – This study proposes four dimensions of HBPS: brand portfolio scope, intra-portfolio competition, brand portfolio location and brand portfolio element. By employing ten additional sub-items, the study evaluates the HBPS practices of hotel firms and tests performance differences. Findings – The findings present current HBPS practices in the hotel industry and identify four groups pursuing similar HBPS. The results also suggest that operational performance differs according to a firm’s particular focus in HBPS. Research limitations/implications – This study enriches our knowledge of HBPS by establishing dimensions and relevant measures and by suggesting the effect that HBPS has on performance. Future research might extend this study to examine the potential impacts of a business’s internal and external environments on the relationship between HBPS and its performance. Practical implications – This study will aid executives in making important HBPS decisions such as whether to add a brand or how to reallocate resources among brands. This study also provides executives with a tool with which to monitor the relative position of their HBPS within the market. Originality/value – This study is the first to establish dimensions and sub-items for understanding HBPS in the hotel industry. It also demonstrates a new approach to the analysis of competitive positioning and its relationship to performance.

Han, Heesup ; Hwang, Jinsoo

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-08-2013-0344

Purpose – This study aimed to examine young, middle-aged and mature air-travelers’ perceptions of the quality levels of in-flight physical surroundings and service encounters, and investigated the drivers of their repurchase intentions in the low-cost airline industry. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 402 passengers on international flights was used. An ANOVA and a series of multiple-regression analyses based on Baron and Kenny’s (1986) suggestion were used. Findings – In general, significant differences in quality attributes were identified across age groups. Additionally, the role of these quality components, perceived level of the airfare and trust in the airline were found to be decisive in low-cost airline passengers’ decision formation. Further, the mediating impact of perceived level of the airfare and trust was identified. Originality/value – Research about air-travelers’ decision formation by considering their age is rare in a low-cost airline context. Results of the present study provided meaningful insights for researchers and practitioners in the airline industry.

Hsiao, James Po-Hsun ; Jaw, Chyi ; Huan, Tzung-Cheng (T.C.) ; Woodside, Arch G

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-11-2013-0533

Purpose – This paper aims to advance a configural asymmetric theory of the complex antecedents to hospitality employee happiness-at-work and managers’ assessments of employees’ quality of work performance. The study transcends variable and case-level analyses to go beyond prior statistical findings of small-to-medium effect sizes of happiness–performance relationships; the study here identifies antecedent paths involving high-versus-low happy employees associating with high-versus-low managers’ assessments of these employees’ performances. Design/methodology/approach – The study merges data from surveys of employees ( n = 247) and surveys completed by their managers ( n = 43) and by using qualitative comparative analysis via the software program, fsQCA.com . The study analyzes data from Janfusan Fancyworld, the largest (in revenues and number of employees) tourism business group in Taiwan; Janfusan Fancyworld includes tourist hotels, amusement parks, restaurants and additional firms in related service sectors. Findings – The findings support the four tenets of configural analysis and theory construction: recognize equifinality of different solutions for the same outcome, test for asymmetric solutions, test for causal asymmetric outcomes for very high versus very low happiness and work performance and embrace complexity. Research limitations/implications – Additional research in other firms and additional countries is necessary to confirm the usefulness of examining algorithms for predicting very high (low) happiness and very high (low) quality of work performance. The implications are substantial that configural theory and research will resolve perplexing happiness–performance conundrums. Practical implications – The study provides useful case-level algorithms involving employees’ demographic characteristics and their assessments of work facet-specifics which are useful for explaining very high happiness-at-work and high quality of work performance (as assessed by managers) – as well as algorithms explaining very low happiness and very low quality of work performance. Originality/value – The study is the first to propose and test the tenets of configural theory in the context of hospitality frontline service employees’ happiness-at-work and managers’ assessments of these employees’ quality of work performances.

Kim, Soyoung ; Yoon, Jihyun ; Shin, Joongwon

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-09-2013-0400

Purpose – This study aimed to investigate consumers’ perception on sustainable business-and-industry (B&I) foodservice and their willingness to pay a premium for it. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted. Among the 978 respondents, a total of 548 respondents who used B&I foodservice equal to or more than five times a month on an average were included for analyses. Findings – The result revealed that consumers tended to perceive the concept of sustainability as “equivalent to (32 per cent) or beyond (28 per cent) being green or eco-friendly”. Consumers appeared to perceive the need for and the quality of sustainable B&I foodservice highly, but their awareness was comparatively low. Consumers’ awareness was significantly different across all demographic and food-related lifestyle variables. However, significant differences in the need and perceived quality were found only among food-related lifestyle variables. The result also indicated that 66 per cent of consumers were willing to pay a premium average of USD 0.72, 21 per cent of the reference meal price (USD 3.53) proposed in the survey. Consumers’ gender and eco-friendly dietary lifestyles were the significant determinants in predicting consumers’ willingness to pay a premium. Originality/value – With concerns over environmental crisis, sustainable development has been a mainstream agenda across the world. However, the issue of sustainable development appears to be relatively overlooked in the field of foodservice research. This study is meaningful, in that it calls attention to the importance and potential of realizing sustainable foodservice and provides a starting point in relevant researches.

Aluri, Ajay ; Slevitch, Lisa ; Larzelere, Robert

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-09-2013-0415

Purpose – The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of embedded social media channels and determine whether the embedded social media channels enhance the overall experience of travelers using the hotel Web sites. Design/methodology/approach – A true-experimental, between-group and post-test-only design was used to address the primary research questions. Two privately accessible complete versions of the Web site (one with embedded social media channels and one without them) were designed for the experiment. The uses and gratifications approach was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Data were analyzed using ANOVA. Findings – The results of this study revealed that embedded social media channels on the hotel Web site enhanced travelers’ social gratifications of perceived social interaction. Apart from these benefits for travelers seeking social gratifications, embedded social media channels did not enhance the overall experience (content and process gratifications) of travelers using the Web site. Practical implications – In the case of embedded social media on hotel Web sites, this study suggests that hotel managers measure return on engagement to examine the effectiveness of embedded social media, instead of return on investment. Social implications – The study revealed that the emergence of embedded social media channels and their integration on hotel Web sites will have significant influence on travelers who seek social gratifications. Originality/value – The findings of this study offer new empirical evidence that embedded social media channels enhance only travelers’ perceived social interaction during their first visit to the hotel Web site.

Zemke, Dina Marie V ; Neal, Jay ; Shoemaker, Stowe ; Kirsch, Katie

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-01-2014-0020

Purpose – This study aims to propose that there may be a marketable segment of guests who are willing to pay a premium for guestrooms that are cleaned using enhanced disinfection techniques beyond the normal room cleaning procedures. Room cleanliness is important to hotel guests. Some hotel brands currently offer allergy-free rooms, charging a premium for this service. However, no hotel brands currently serve the market that is willing to pay more for enhanced disinfection. This exploratory study investigates whether there is such a segment and, if so, what price premium these customers are willing to pay for enhanced disinfection. Design/methodology/approach – Survey methods were used to determine the consumer’s perceptions of hotel guestroom cleanliness; the effectiveness of traditional and enhanced cleaning methods; and willingness to pay for enhanced guestroom disinfection. Findings – Younger travelers and female travelers of all ages may be willing to pay a significant price premium for enhanced disinfection of a hotel guestroom. Research limitations/implications – The survey instrument was administered via the Internet, limiting the sample. The study participants were not asked about hotel brand; thus, the results could not be analyzed by brand or service level. Originality/value – Past research focuses only on traditional cleaning methods. This article provides a template for the hotel industry to explore the feasibility of offering enhanced cleanliness as a revenue-generating amenity.