Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

Liu, Bingjie ; Pennington-Gray, Lori ; Klemmer, Louisa

2015 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-08-2014-0036

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide greater insights into the-state-of-the-art in crisis management and aid in better response to health-related crises, with a specific focus on the hotel industry. This study extends the tourism crisis management model to include social media, concerning the role of monitoring and responding. Design/methodology/approach – This study enhances the classic 4R (readiness, reduction, response and recovery) crisis management model to include social media for hotels facing a bed bug crisis and/or other health-related crises. Findings – This paper discusses the use of social media at different phases of managing a bed bug crisis, which include risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery. Recommendations are also provided for hotel managers to combat health-related crises that are fought out on social media. Practical implications – Social media has helped to bridge the communication gap between customers and hotels. Bed bug infestations are a growing health crisis, and they have obtained increasing attention on social media sites. Without managing this crisis effectively, bed bug infestation can cause economic loss and reputational damages to hotel properties, ranging from negative comments and complaints, to possible lawsuits. Thus, it is essential for hoteliers to understand the importance of social media in crisis communication, and to incorporate social media in hotels’ crisis management plans. Originality/value – This study serves as one of the first attempts in the hospitality field to offer discussions and recommendations on how hotels can manage the bed bug crisis and other crises of this kind by incorporating social media into their crisis management practices.

Kim, Ellen EunKyoo Kyoo ; Lee, Chung Hun

2015 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-09-2014-0045

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how consensus and sequence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) presented on online hotel review Web sites affect consumers’ attitudes toward the company and intention to stay at a hotel. Design/methodology/approach – This experiment used a 2 (consensus: high/low) × 3 (sequence: positive-negative, neutral, negative-positive) between-subjects design. A total of 165 usable data samples were gathered. Both consensus and sequence were manipulated. Findings – The study revealed that the review consensus overrides the impact of the review sequence such that when review ratings are substantially consistent, consumers’ attitudes and intentions to stay at a hotel are not influenced by the sequence of reviews. Research limitations/implications – Other variables such as prior experience with the hotel or biases toward the hotel can affect consumer reactions to such online reviews. Future studies need to reflect on such variables that can moderate or mediate the impact of eWOM consensus and sequence. Practical implications – Our findings suggest that the online consumer review summary information should be used to control the customer message process and when consumer reviews conflict, managers should take note of the sequence in which consumers read the reviews. Originality/value – This paper adds to the body of scholarly research related to consumer information processing and further demonstrates how individuals integrate opinions from several reviews, especially in the online context.

Duffy, Andrew

2015 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-05-2014-0015

Purpose – This paper aims to examine when travelers are more influenced by friends (word-of-mouth (WOM)) with limited knowledge of hotels but an understanding of the traveler, and when by review sites (electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)) which have immense experience of hotels but cannot know the individual traveler. Sites such as TripAdvisor® offer millions of reviews, and travelers often reduce that to a manageable amount by focusing on reviews by writers who show homophily, i.e. are similar to them in terms of travel interests. These sites represent a form of eWOM recommendation; what is not clear is how much they replace or augment traditional WOM. Design/methodology/approach – Dual-method content analysis of semi-structured interviews with a heterogeneous purposive sample of regular users of TripAdvisor ( N = 30), followed by a survey of TripAdvisor users ( N = 237). Findings – Friends were considered the most credible information source, although friends showing greater homophily were more valued than others. However, in some circumstances, subjects found eWOM more credible: when they wanted greater certainty in their hotel choice, so complete information was important; when the hotel was for a special occasion or special people; and for feelings of empowerment. Most subjects compared all sources rather than relying on one. Originality/value – This study reminds hotel managers that while eWOM is accessible and analyzable, it may not fully represent guests’ opinions; hotels’ marketing strategy should balance it with other recommendation networks. As guests compare sources, consistency in all forms of customer engagement is also essential.

Nyheim, Peter ; Xu, Shi ; Zhang, Lu ; Mattila, Anna S.

2015 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-07-2014-0026

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effect of privacy concern, irritation and personalization on Millennials’ perceptions of personalized smartphone advertising avoidance in a restaurant context. The hospitality industry has witnessed a huge surge in mobile activity over the past few years. Mobility opens up a new communication channel and allows industry to connect with their guests in a more personalized way. However, not all customers welcome the personalized advertisements. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 159 Millennials enrolled in a large state university in the Eastern USA using an online self-administered survey. These Millennials were asked to use a restaurant’s smartphone application for 30 days and then complete a survey based on their perceptions of personalized advertising. Descriptive analysis, reliability, factor analysis and regression analysis were used to evaluate the relationships among the four constructs: privacy concern, irritation, personalization and advertising avoidance, with the first three variables as predictors and advertising avoidance as an outcome. Findings – The results suggest that advertising irritation is positively related to advertising avoidance, perceived personalization is related with less advertising avoidance, while privacy concern is not related to advertising avoidance. Originality/value – Although advertising avoidance has previously been studied for the past few decades, little research has explored the underlying mechanisms of the Millennials’ avoidance of personalized smartphone advertising in a restaurant context. The current research suggests information pertinent to strategies for marketing personalized smartphone advertisement for restaurant companies.

Yüncü, Deniz

2015 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-07-2014-0021

Purpose – This paper aims to clarify the relationships between virtual destination environment factors and visitors’ satisfaction and loyalty. Virtual destination environment factors are based upon Kaplan and Kaplan’s preference matrix. Kaplan and Kaplan (1982) developed a preference matrix to describe how people use information to satisfy their needs of making sense and exploration in a physical environment. According to the model, while coherence and legibility help one to understand the place, variety and mystery landscape encourage exploration. Each of the factors can be associated with elements of the virtual destination environment. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected from 170 users who visited My Destination Barcelona Facebook page. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to analyze the data. Findings – The study explored the relationships between virtual destination environment, satisfaction and loyalty based on the Kaplan and Kaplan’s preference matrix. According to the findings, when the virtual destination environment includes a variety of visuals and enough information related to the destination, and at the same time, when it includes environmental factors which stimulate curiosity, excitement and entertainment, the virtual destination environment will provide visitors’ satisfaction and loyalty. Research limitations/implications – Several limitations of the present study should be mentioned. First, data from this study were collected from visitors of only one destination Facebook page (My Destination Barcelona) as a virtual destination environment. Second, although the sample size ( N = 170) in the study seems enough for SEM, it is quite low. In addition, the use of a convenience sampling approach could decrease external validity. Thus, future studies should consider developing a systematic design to better represent the population. Originality/value – This paper examines how online visitors perceive virtual destination environment and how perception directly influences visitors’ satisfaction feelings and indirectly affects their loyalty.

Al-Kwifi, Osama Sam

2015 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-06-2015-0024

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of destination images on tourists’ behavioral intention to select a destination for their next vacation. Most of previous studies investigated this relationship by interacting with tourists during their stay in the destination. However, this research examines the impact of destination images before tourists visit a destination, using functional technological-oriented magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach to track brain activation during the decision to select a destination. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model is adopted from the theory of planned behavior. Study participants divide a set of hotel destination images into two groups: attractive and non-attractive destination images. A blocked design experiment was used during fMRI scan to track brain activities resulting from presenting the two groups of images to participants, and record the strength of their intention to visit the attractive destination. Findings – The level of brain activation at the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) increased when participants were asked to assess the attractive destination images compared with the level of activation for non-attractive ones. Also, the positive attitude toward an attractive destination led to higher intention to visit that destination. Research limitations/implications – This study enhances the authors’ understanding of how tourists analyze destination images to reach a decision on future action. It can also be used to help destination managers define an advertisement strategy that makes their destination more attractive. Originality/value – Although the literature reports considerable research on destination image and its influence on tourists intention, this is the first exploratory study to use the fMRI technology to investigate tourists’ attitude toward destination images.