Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

Jungsun (Sunny) Kim

2014 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-11-2013-0031

Purpose – This paper aims to extend the technology acceptance model (TAM) to explore the factors influencing a hotel customer’s intention to use a fingerprint system instead of a traditional keycard system and the moderating factors (i.e. gender and age) on the relationships between the proposed factors and the customer’s intention to use fingerprint technology. When hotels add new technologies, the potential vulnerability of their systems also increases. Underestimating such risks can possibly result in massive losses from identity theft and related fraud for hoteliers. Customers who are aware of these risks may become more open to innovative methods of identification or verification, such as biometrics. Design/methodology/approach – The online survey instrument was developed based on TAMs. The authors collected complete 526 responses from hotel customers and tested the hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Findings – This study found seven factors (i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, perceived convenience, perceived data security, perceived property security and personal concerns) which significantly influence a hotel customer’s intention to use fingerprint technology. Gender and age played important moderating roles in the relationships between some of these factors and the intention to use. Practical implications – Recommendations are made as to how hotels can benefit from the implementation of biometrics, particularly fingerprint systems. For example, a hotel’s marketing campaign can be more effective by emphasizing the advantages of fingerprint technology related to “data security and convenience” for younger consumers (i.e. Gen X and Gen Y). Originality/value – Both educators and practitioners will benefit from the findings of this empirical study, as there are very few published studies on a customer’s fingerprint technology acceptance in the hotel context.

Sofia Reino

2014 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-05-2013-0015

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a framework for benchmarking the eTourism capability of a destination’s tourism industry, understanding the eTourism capability of a destination’s industry as the contribution that the information and communication technologies (ICT) uptake of that industry makes to its own performance. The impact of ICT in tourism has been suggested through extensive research. Previous work has urged the development of wide‐angle studies to enable benchmarking of destinations and their industries. However, relevant research is limited. Macro‐level studies in the area tend to focus on a single aspect of technology to evaluate adoption, are not sector‐specific nor take into consideration the different levels of contribution that systems may bring to performance. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature on tourism, eTourism, benchmarking and technology adoption provided the baseline for developing this benchmarking tool. Findings – The literature supported the selection of key tourism industry sectors, i.e. accommodation establishments, visitor attractions and food and beverage; the most suitable methodology, i.e. intermediary performance measures; and the business characteristics that need being taken into consideration when assessing ICT adoption by tourism businesses, e.g. size, type of establishment and area of location. Research limitations/implications – The framework has not been tested yet. It is based on a review of the literature and needs to be validated through primary research. The framework was developed based on the context of Scotland. Further work should be done to adjust the framework to other destinations worldwide. Practical implications – The framework enables destinations to benchmark the eTourism capability of their industries. Originality/value – It provides a comprehensive framework for benchmarking tourism destinations’ industries, which takes into consideration elements of technology adoption, the characteristics of the tourism industry and the particularities of the different ICT elements.

Kunsoon Park

2014 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-05-2013-0016

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate the impact of franchisor support on quick service restaurant (QSR) users’ intranet acceptance; and to examine the technology acceptance model (TAM) to explain QSR users’ attitude toward the franchise intranet usage. Franchisors are building intranet systems as a communication tool to assist their franchisees in performing their jobs better. However, there is a little available literature that discusses in detail the use of the intranet by franchise systems. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopted the TAM to investigate the acceptance of the intranet in the context of QSR franchise systems. The original TAM was modified to include an external variable, franchise support. A total of 161 returned and completed responses were examined. Descriptive analysis, validity, principal component factor analysis and regression analysis were used to estimate the relationships between constructs. Findings – The key finding of this study is that franchise support is a key in the decision for users to use intranet systems in the QSR franchise systems. This study also confirmed that there are positive and significant relationships among key variables: franchise support, perceived usefulness of intranet, perceived ease of use of intranet, attitude toward using intranet and behavioral intentions to use intranet. Regression analysis revealed that TAM is a valid model in predicting intranet adoption in restaurant franchise systems. Originality/value – This study pursued franchise support, which was not included in the original TAM, to see how it affects perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and intention to use. In addition, a list of recommendations for improving the situation in that franchise organization is provided.

Anish Parikh

2014 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-04-2013-0011

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine why and when restaurant consumers use and contribute user‐generated reviews. This research is needed to determine the relevance of user‐generated restaurant reviews in the current marketplace. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology is based on a quantitative approach, and focused on current Yelp.com users as its population. Questions focused on the amount of usage, motives for usage, level of trust, users’ tendencies to seek novelty in restaurants and motives for contribution. Findings – Users tend to trust the reviews on Yelp.com and engage in the community aspects of the platform. Yelp.com users also are altruistic in their motivation for contributing reviews to Yelp.com. Yelp.com users who access it tend to act on the information found within the reviews. Originality/value – Research articles have focused on user‐generated reviews in the past; however, few have examined motivations of using and posting restaurant reviews. The value of conducting research comes from being able to understand the importance of user‐generated restaurant reviews for customers in a comprehensive manner.

Jin Young Im

2014 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-11-2013-0036

Purpose – This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect relationship of utilitarian motivation, hedonic motivation and self‐identity to travelers’ attitude toward travel mobile application usage using the technology acceptance model (TAM). In addition, this study identified the differences in these relationships according to users’ level of experience in general mobile application usage. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a causal research design. Online survey was conducted with a self‐administered questionnaire. Findings – Utilitarian motivation is the most important factor in shaping the attitude in using travel mobile applications. However, hedonic motivation plays a role as an important catalyst for utilitarian motivation. Self‐identity has a positive direct effect on attitude and an indirect effect through perceived enjoyment. There were differences in these relationships by the years of using similar technologies, general mobile application. Practical implications – This study provided meaningful implications for practitioners who utilize mobile applications as their communication channel with customers in the hospitality and tourism industry. For example, using graphic and simple icons helps users make free of efforts from reading and writing in text. Originality/value – This paper presented an important and needed research for the area of hospitality information technology. This study enhances the understanding of travel mobile application usage behavior by investigating interrelationship of utilitarian/hedonic motivation and self‐identity on attitude toward using travel mobile application.

Ahmet Bulent Ozturk

2014 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-12-2013-0038

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of hotel property characteristics and information technology (IT) decision‐maker characteristics on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology adoption in the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach – The data of the study were collected using the subscription list of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP). A Web survey was used to collect the data of the study. An email invitation was sent out to invite the entire list of HFTP subscribers (3,080) to participate in the survey. Approximately 3,000 emails were delivered and 154 questionnaires were returned. Of 154 questionnaires, 125 were used in the study for further analyses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine whether hotel property characteristics (property size and chain affiliation) and IT decision‐maker characteristics (age, education level and job tenure) differed on intention to adopt RFID technology. Findings – ANOVA results indicated that there were significant differences on intention to adopt RFID technology by property size and chain affiliation, IT decision‐makers’ age, education level and job tenure. The results indicated that larger hotels and hotels that are part of a franchise are more likely to adopt RFID technology. In addition, IT decision‐makers who are young, with high level of education and with shorter job tenure are more likely to adopt RFID technology. Originality/value – RFID technology is one of the recent technologies that gained great attention from the hotel operators in recent years. This study is one of the first studies in the hotel industry that provides valuable information to technology vendors for identifying potential RFID technology adopters in the hotel industry.