Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

Ahmad Fareed Ismail; Steffen Frank Zorn; Huey Chern Boo; Sambasivan Murali; Jamie Murphy

2013 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-06-2011-0020

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how three organizational factors – affiliation, sufficient capital and company age – related to 323 Malaysian foodservice companies' diffusion of six information technology (IT) applications. The IT applications, basic or advanced, respectively, represent two innovation diffusion levels, adoption and implementation. Design/methodology/approach – This study drew on a survey of chief executive officers, owners, information system/technology managers, operations managers, and account/financial managers in 323 Kuala Lumpur and Selangor foodservice companies. The study conducted logistic regression to examine factors related to the adoption and implementation of IT applications. Findings – IT adoption and implementation related significantly to sufficient capital. Company age and affiliation showed an insignificant relation with adopting and implementing IT applications. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, this is the first hospitality study to examine simultaneously the diffusion of basic and advanced IT applications. Most studies investigate the adoption of one or two innovations, such as spreadsheets, web sites, and e‐mail, without considering diffusion stages. This study demonstrates multiple innovations, multiple diffusion stages and multivariate analyses.

Eleonora Pantano; Loredana Di Pietro

2013 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-02-2013-0005

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to advance their knowledge on the extent to which tourists use social networks for both achieving information on possible destinations and for expressing negative judgements, in order to figure out the main consequences for tourism marketers and possible solutions, as well as to describe and detail the current shifting from e‐tourism to f‐tourism (from tourism based on e‐channel to a new tourism based on Facebook). Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative analysis was conducted in order to make the tourists' perspective emerge. The content analysis of respondents would figure out important data on the phenomenon for outlining possible organization practices for replying to negative tourists' reviews posted online. Findings – Findings show the still limited usage of social networks like Facebook as an informative channel, but a large usage of this medium as a direct complaining channel. Practical implications – This paper addresses some lines for supporting tourism managers to improve their usage of social networks in order to enhance their relationships with tourists. Originality/value – The emergence of a new phenomenon involving tourism: the shifting from e‐tourism to f‐tourism.

Abdul alem Mohammad; Basri bin Rashid; Shaharuddin bin Tahir

2013 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-01-2013-0002

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between CRM dimensions (i.e. customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM) and various aspects of organization performance (i.e. financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth) in Malaysian hotels. Design/methodology/approach – This is a quantitative study, the response came from the managers of 152 Malaysian hotels (3 to 5 star) and data collected was subjected to correlation and regression analysis in pursuance of the study's stated objectives. Findings – The results of this study suggest that all dimensions of CRM (i.e. customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology based CRM) have a positive and significant impact on different perspectives of hotel performance. However, CRM technology failed to show a significant relationship with learning and growth perspective of hotel performance. Research limitations/implications – An emphasis has been placed on the direct relationship between CRM dimensions and organization performance perspectives as well as, the study concentrated only on 3 to 5 star hotels. Practical implications – Meaningful implications are made that building an extensive and effective CRM dimensions in hotel firms is crucial to face a high competition and improve performance in Malaysia hotel sector. Originality/value – The paper addresses CRM dimensions issues specifically for hotels in Malaysia.

Kelly Virginia Phelan; Juline E. Mills; Alecia C. Douglas; James Brian Aday

2013 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-11-2012-0032

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify whether travel and tourism related web sites derive a certain personality type. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed the ten‐item personality inventory (TIPI) measure to assess personality dimensions of 188 tourism web sites including airlines, hotels, cruise lines, casinos, restaurants, and government funded travel web sites. Data analysis of 413 cases was conducted through mean comparisons and ANOVA. Findings – Data identified web sites representing different segments of the hospitality and tourism industries do vary in relation to online personalities. More specifically, web sites for venues such as casinos were represented as extraverted while lodging web sites were deemed more conscientious. Research limitations/implications – While this study aimed to identify web site personalities of businesses within the tourism segment, not all categories were represented. Furthermore, response choices were limited only 20 of the personality objectives from the TIPI personality scale were examined. Practical implications – This study demonstrated different personality characteristics are represented through tourism web sites, indicating providers may need to focus their web presence in a manner which engages potential travellers based on such features. Originality/value – This paper adds to the body of scholarly research related to TIPI and further demonstrates consumer awareness and preference for web sites which augment their personality.

Albert Barreda; Anil Bilgihan

2013 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-01-2013-0001

Purpose – The broad goal of the study is to determine how travelers communicate in the cyberspace in relation to their positive and negative experiences they had when staying in a particular hotel. Further goals of this study include identifying the main themes that motivate consumers to evaluate hotel experiences in online environments and categorize the most frequently mentioned areas in the online hotel reviews. Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis techniques were applied by using the software tool NVivo 8 in order to analyze comments extracted using an automated web spider. The spider extracted qualitative data in the form of reviews and comments and quantitative data in the form of demographic information and ratings. The reviews were considered as a primary data for analysis, these reviews portrayed both positive and negative experiences. During this process, the spider collected data on 3,124 hotels and 17,357 traveler reviews from the TripAdvisor site. Findings – By reviewing and understanding traveler comments of their hotel experiences, managers could gain knowledge concerning which element influence to form a positive brand image. Cleanliness of the hotel generally is a common concern in traveler's expectations. Words about deficiency of cleanliness (dirty) appeared more regularly when travelers write negative reviews about the hotel. Travelers showed to be more likely to write positive reviews of hotels with convenient location to good areas such as attractions, shopping, airports, and restaurants. The data in this research shows that travelers can be positively influenced by quality of service received a friendly and well trained staff. When travelers are pleased with the quality of human contact offerings of a well‐trained employee, they tend to feel more satisfied and to form a positive brand image that it is translated into a positive review. Research limitations/implications – Limitations could be listed using a relatively small sample size, and a relatively limited geographical capacity. Future studies are advised to include bigger sample sizes and also advised to explore a diverse pool of geographical. Originality/value – The study identifies the possible areas that hoteliers need to pay close attention to improve service. Further, it is one of the first studies in hospitality that highlights strategies to create and reinforce brand image by using online reviews.