Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

Ozturk, Ahmet Bulent

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-02-2017-0016

Jeong, Miyoung; Lee, Seonjeong Ally

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-09-2016-0049

PurposeFocusing on hotel managers’ service recovery efforts to service failures, this study aims to explore effects of different types of service recovery strategies on customers’ trust, satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the context of consumer-generated media.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design to examine effects of hotels’ sincere apology, compensation and existing relationship with customers on customers’ subsequent psychological behavior. An online self-administered survey was used to recruit participants who posted their experiences with a hotel on consumer-generated review sites.FindingsResults of this study identified that when managers incorporated authenticity and compensation components, customers were more likely to show a higher level of trust, satisfaction and behavioral intentions.Research limitations/implicationsDerived from the justice theory and the relationship investment theory, this study identified the main effects of three treatments and their interaction effects on customers’ subsequent behaviors.Practical implicationsResults of this study suggested that service recovery communication processes, in particular, authenticity and compensation, be an integral part of the service recovery strategies in the social media context.Originality/valueThis paper investigated the importance of hotel managers’ service recovery communication strategies in the social media context.

Leung, Xi; Tanford, Sarah; Jiang, Lan

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-08-2016-0039

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore the marketing effectiveness of hotel Facebook messages in terms of promoting favorable attitudes and behavior intentions among potential hotel guestsDesign/methodology/approachAn online experiment was conducted with a three (message format) × three (message content), between-subjects factorial design in which three message formats, i.e. word/text, picture and weblink, and three types of message content, i.e. brand, product and interactive, were manipulated.FindingsThe findings indicate that the most effective message format is dependent upon its purpose. Picture messages are most effective for promoting the brand, whereas weblink messages influence intentions to book hotels based on product attributes. Electronic word-of-mouth intention is an important outcome of Facebook marketing, which can be strengthened by word messages and weblink messages about products.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of this study is that the study used pseudo Facebook pages and messages created for each experimental condition. Facebook pages can take many forms, so the findings may not generalize to other Facebook pages.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest several important practical implications for the hotel industry to leverage Facebook marketing. To foster favorable attitudes and build brand awareness, hotel marketers should include picture messages that prominently feature the brand image. To motivate booking a particular product, word messages describing product features should be provided, along with a weblink that takes the customer directly from product information to a hotel-booking engine.Originality/valueAlthough preliminary research has been conducted on Facebook marketing activities, little is known about the effectiveness of Facebook messages. For example, do different types of messages have different effects on marketing effectiveness? What message type is most effective? Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate empirically the effects of different message types on marketing effectiveness. The results of this study will shed light on how hotels can post the most persuasive message content in the most effective message format on their Facebook pages to enhance their fans’ attitudes and increase their purchase intentions.

Kizildag, Murat; Altin, Mehmet; Ozdemir, Ozgur; Demirer, Ilhan

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-10-2016-0074

PurposeThis paper aims to understand the emergence, the revolution and the relevant knowledge of academic research concentrating on social media (SM) and hospitality and tourism firms’ financial performance. The authors not only identified the gaps and critical issues in research but also re-conceptualized profound directions for the future research in technology and finance in the hospitality and tourism field.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted an in-depth review analysis to investigate and review previous scholarly papers published in hospitality, tourism and hospitality and tourism journals from January 2011 to the present. The authors thoroughly analyzed and reviewed peer-reviewed/refereed, blind-reviewed, full-length published articles and working papers within SM and hospitality firms’ financial performance. Editor notes, prefaces, research notes, industry articles, internet publications, conference preceding, books and book chapters were excluded.FindingsHaving examined the empirical content of 26 peer-reviewed scholarly articles, the authors clearly observed that none of the papers went beyond analyzing the effect of SM on hotels’ revenue per available room, revenues, net profit, average daily rate, occupancy rates, net operating income, etc., and all papers ignored the analysis of many critical financial proxies.Research limitations/implicationsThis critique and review paper is limited to the relationship between SM and firms’ financial performance within the hospitality and tourism context.Practical implicationsThis review provides a blueprint to guide future research, facilitate knowledge accumulation and create a new understanding and awareness in practice as well as SM and financial performance research.Social implicationsThis paper complements and adds to previous work by demonstrating various aspects, evidences, findings and inferences regarding the association between online SM platforms and firms’ financial performance and by proposing rigorous abstract and specific future extensions to both practice and discipline-specific knowledge.Originality/valueThere is an absence of the most updated review study of published papers on SM and hospitality and tourism firms’ financial performance. Although how SM contributes to firms’ financial performance is clear to academicians and industry professionals, no solid consensus or theoretical certainty about what the authors know and do not know has been achieved.

Aluri, Ajay

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-12-2016-0087

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the aspects of the Pokémon GO game that influenced travelers to use the app, and to pinpoint aspects of the mobile augmented reality (MAR) game that can memorably engage with them like a travel guide and influence individual traveler experience during and after usage. This current study specifically focused on examining the behavioral intentions to use the MAR app as a travel guide in the future.Design/methodology/approachDescriptive methods were used, with a target population for this study consisting of smartphone users who had downloaded Pokémon GO and had played the game. An exponential non-discriminative sample, snowball sampling method, was chosen by selecting a group of respondents who have played the game and using those to help identify other respondents in the target population who have played the game. A 15-item survey instrument drawing from industry insights and academic literature was created for the purpose of the study.FindingsThe number of downloads, length of usage and frequency of game play declined between the months of July and September. However, a 71 per cent majority of surveyed respondents still had the app on their smartphone at the time of the study. The Pokémon GO app offered all four realms of experiences – educational, entertainment, esthetic and escapist – and enhanced the overall user experience. This study revealed that a majority (77 per cent) of the respondents would be interested in using Pokémon GO as a travel guide. Furthermore, a majority (73 per cent) of respondents stated that they would be interested in using an MAR game as a travel guide in the future.Research limitations/implicationsFor all its interaction with the real world, Pokémon GO is still just an early version of an MAR app, and does not offer a fully immersive and interactive AR experience. The study used snowball sampling due to its exploratory and may not be able to guarantee the representative nature of the sample. Concerning the research method used, such methods were necessary for a review of an existing MAR app as a travel guide to further fill some gaps in literature.Practical implicationsThis study bridged the gap between theory and practice by offering key insights specifically into customers’ intentions to use the Pokémon GO game or other customized MAR game as a travel guide in the hospitality and tourism industry. Pokémon GO and similar MAR games could potentially change the way destinations are marketed in the tourism industry. This current study pinpointed five exploitable qualities of MAR technology and how hospitality and tourism businesses can use them to tap into this new global and social phenomenon.Social implicationsPokémon GO and similar MAR games bring people together. In fact, unlike social media, where users are spending significant amounts of time just browsing without posting or interacting with others, MAR games create face-to-face interactions. MAR games enhance real-life social interaction, which might signify a social media trend back toward real world networking and meeting with friends.Originality/valueSince the early 2000s, several qualitative and a few quantitative studies have been done to explore (MAR) applications as a travel guide; however, none of them have reviewed a MAR game app that can be offered as a travel guide. That makes this a pioneer study, investigating an existing MAR app that was not created with this use in mind and examining the intentions to use it as a travel guide.

Zizka, Laura

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-07-2016-0037

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss how the hospitality industry is communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) to its stakeholders, the premise being CSR communication through social media platforms will increase stakeholder engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is developed based on Schwartz and Carroll’s three-domain approach to CSR motivation, stakeholder theory and a synthesis of previous literature of CSR communication in the hospitality industry.FindingsSuccessful communication through social media is based on two-way participative dialogue. Companies, especially the hospitality industry, have used social media to communicate information through social media in a one-way direction, that of giving information. One example is the communication of CSR actions and intentions as found on hospitality websites, intranets and social media platforms. While previous studies have shown a link between CSR communication through social media and corporate reputation, few studies have examined CSR communication through social media and its effects on specific stakeholder groups.Research limitations/implicationsRather than assuming that CSR communication can be done successfully through a “one-size-fits-all” social media discourse, this paper suggests the need for specific messages and potentially different communication channels to increase engagement from each of the various stakeholders in the hospitality industry.Originality/valueThis is one of the first papers which tries to address how one communication channel, social media, can affect CSR communication and increase stakeholder engagement in the hospitality industry. This paper provides discussion on the usefulness of social media to communicate CSR messages and posits the need for future research projects on a macro and micro level.

Thornhill, Mike; Xie, Karen; Lee, Young Jin

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-10-2016-0068

PurposePrevious literature has discussed the importance of two types of social media exposures: owned social media (OSM) exposures generated by service providers and earned social media (ESM) exposures initiated by consumers. This study aims to examine the relative effects of owned and ESM exposures on brand purchase, as well as their advertising externality to competing brands. Rooted in theory of planned behavior and advertising externality literature, this study hypothesizes that owned and ESM exposures positively influence brand purchase. Such effects, however, can spill over to competing brands that invest in social media marketing and co-exist in the market.Design/methodology/approachThis study collects brand purchase records and social media messages on the Facebook brand pages of a group of service providers over 12 months. The data are assembled for time series analysis with the unit of analysis being “brand × bi-week”.FindingsUsing a blend of fixed-effects models and seemingly unrelated regressions, this study finds that both owned and ESM exposures positively affect brand purchase, the purchase effect of OSM exposures is greater than ESM exposures, OSM exposures generate not only more purchase of the focal brand but also positive advertising externality to competing brands, whereas ESM exposures locks up the advertising effect to the focal brand without spilling over to competing brands.Originality/valueThis study advances the understanding about the externality of social media exposures in an increasingly competitive market where multiple brands invest in social media marketing and co-exist. Important implications on the strategic use of social media exposures to drive brand purchase while competing with similar brands are provided.

Varkaris, Eleftherios; Neuhofer, Barbara

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-09-2016-0058

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore “how social media influence the way consumers search, evaluate and select a hotel within the ‘evaluation stage’ of the wider hotel decision-making process”.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory qualitative research has been carried out, conducting 12 individual face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with social media users, followed by a qualitative thematic analysis.FindingsSocial media transform the consumers’ hotel decision journey by influencing the way consumers search, decide and book hotels. The findings reveal the determinants shaping this process, by shedding light on the perceived value of using social media, consumers’ information search behaviour “then and now”, the advantages and disadvantages of social media use for decision-making, their trustworthiness and the factors that influence the consumers’ hotel decision-journey. The findings are conceptualised in an integrated theoretical model, entitled “hotel consumer decision-journey through social media”.Research limitations/implicationsThe study’s scope for qualitative in-depth insights into the “hotel consumer decision-journey through social media” asked for a compromise on a larger sample size and in turn the transferability of the theoretical model beyond service, hospitality and tourism consumer decision-making contexts.Practical implicationsThis paper provides strategic implications for hospitality marketing and management for a better understanding of the influence of social media on the hotel customer decision journey. The study shows that a variety of social media with associated content sources and levels add to the complexity of hotel-related information search and decision behaviour. The developed framework not only helps hotel professionals understand consumers’ different levels (e.g. type of content, content source, content level) through which social media might influence decision-making. Various real-life scenarios presented also help practitioners understand the fine nuances of how consumers are influenced by social media and how this causes them to iteratively change their minds and make a final decision towards the rejection or selection of a hotel.Originality/valueConsumers use social media for a wide spectrum of scenarios in tourism and hospitality, while the influence of social media on the consumers’ hotel decision-making process remains little understood. This study makes a theoretical contribution in that it addresses these existing gaps and bridges consumer behaviour and social media literature in the hotel context to shed light on the “hotel consumer decision journey through social media”. The core contribution is an integrated theoretical model and real-life scenarios that depict the impact of social media on the hotel decision-making.

Kim, MiRan; Cichy, Ronald

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-10-2016-0064

PurposePrivate club members belong to an organization where people with common interests, experiences, backgrounds and professions meet for social and recreational purposes. This study aims to examine the relationships among private club members’ perceptions of social media regarding perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, attitude toward social media involvement and behavioral intention toward social media usage.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted among private club members across the USA (n = 571). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings of this study center on the perceptions of club members and their beliefs and attitudes associated with their social media usage behavior. This study extends the social media literature by supporting previous studies that suggest a causal flow from perceived ease of use to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment) based on a motivational model.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is meaningful for revealing the perceptions of private club members and their beliefs and attitudes associated with their social media usage behavior. It is untested whether this study’s model applies to other hospitality businesses. Future research could examine other segments and add other variables such as perceived security and trust.Practical implicationsThis study can provide private club managers, and the members of the clubs that they lead, with a better understanding of online social media.Originality/valueThis study is one of a few empirical online social media studies in the area of the private club industry. This study seeks to provide baselines regarding social media perceptions and usage in the hospitality literature by providing a comprehensive model.

Lee, Seonjeong Ally; Lee, Minwoo

2017 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/JHTT-09-2016-0053

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate different types of customer relationships on customers’ interaction with the brand, based on prior social media and relationship marketing research.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional, self-administered online survey was conducted to investigate the role of different types of relationships on customers’ brand-relevant responses in the context of hotel social media platforms.FindingsResults identified customers’ relationships with services and brands, and how other customers influenced their parasocial interactions (PSIs). Customers’ PSIs then positively influenced their self-brand connection and their brand usage intention.Originality/valueThis study was the first attempt to propose a conceptual framework to explain different types of customer relationships on customers’ interactions with the brand in the context of hotel social media platforms.