Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

Okumus, Fevzi; Kuyucak Sengur, Ferhan; Koseoglu, Mehmet Ali; Sengur, Yusuf

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-01-2019-0007

This study aims to investigate what Turkish Airlines as a global airline company reports for corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts on its corporate website by developing a framework assessing reports of airline companies’ CSR practices.Design/methodology/approachContent analysis was conducted on reports, documents and written policies published on the Turkish Airlines corporate website by the end of 2017.FindingsThe research findings suggest that Turkish Airlines publishes numerous reports highlighting their CSR activities. The study results show that Turkish Airlines reports its CSR activities through reports, documents and written policies. While the CSR reporting efforts deal with all CSR areas, the environmental dimension is the mostly emphasized area.Practical implicationsThe study provides a model and data-driven analyzes for decision-makers and policymakers.Originality/valueAs one of the first study in the field, this research examines CSR reporting efforts in the airline industry via a new framework developed for airline companies.

Baggio, Rodolfo; Micera, Roberto; Del Chiappa, Giacomo

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-01-2019-0011

The aim of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the main literature contributions that concern smart tourism development and management, highlighting gaps and logical inconsistencies. In addition, to further stress the importance of the issues at stake, a simulation is performed for showing how technology allows achieving better outcomes when a certain level of efficiency is obtained via re-engineering of main organizational and operational processes.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis of recent relevant literature is performed with the help of machine learning topic modelling algorithms. A network analytic approach to digital ecosystems, then, is used to study the relationship between technological tools and physical entities in a destination and how these and their combination affect the efficiency of the system at local and global levels.FindingsThe literature analyzed lacks a good discussion on the necessity to improve and rationalize the operational and organizational processes while emphasizing mostly the technological aspects. On the other hand, the simulation case presented shows that if information and knowledge flows are reasonably efficient and well organized in the physical world, the integration of digital components further enhances these processes, whereas inefficiencies can hinder the flow of information and reduce its efficiency.Originality/valueApart from the methods used, relatively little explored, the authors show that, as also much of the computer science literature states, a fundamental prerequisite for successful “smart” projects is a logical and effective restructuring of the main operational and organizational processes.

Mhlanga, Oswald

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-09-2019-0111

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of Airbnb on hotel employment.Design/methodology/approachA triple-difference regression framework was used to compare changes in hotel employment in three cities in South Africa where Airbnb started operating relative to cities without this home-sharing platform. Data on hotel employment was drawn from the survey on hotel service conducted by Smith Travel Research whereas the data on Airbnb’s listings was drawn from the Airbnb’s homepage for the period between July 2015 and December 2018. The analysis was restricted to 792 hotels.FindingsAlthough prior studies have showed that Airbnb has an adverse impact on hotel performances, the findings show that total hotel employment expanded after the entry of Airbnb, accompanied by a marked relative shift towards self-employment. Airbnb supply negatively affected permanent employment, which was compensated by increase in temporary employment and self-employment. While the paper finds no evidence of adverse employment impacts, the hourly earnings declined for hotel employees were compensated by increase in income among self-employed Airbnb hosts. Although these findings might be contradictory to the general conjecture, such evidence calls for a comprehensive investigation of Airbnb’s overall economic impact.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the study was based on the impact of Airbnb on hotel employment in South Africa. Caution is therefore required when generalising the findings of this study in other geographic areas. Second, some variables that may affect employment have not been included in this study because of the unavailability of data.Practical implicationsThe results show that the sharing economy plays an important role in solving the unemployment problem, particularly in South Africa, where there is a high rate of unemployment. More practical implications are further discussed.Originality/valueTo the best of author’s knowledge, this paper provides the first systematic evidence of the impact of Airbnb on labour market outcomes in the hotel industry in South Africa.

Wong, Elise; Rasoolimanesh, S. Mostafa; Pahlevan Sharif, Saeed

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-07-2019-0099

This study aims to investigate the relationships between service quality, perceived value and hotel guest satisfaction, drawing upon data from TripAdvisor – an online travel agent (OTA) platform. The study also investigates the mediating role of perceived value on the relationship between service quality and satisfaction, as well as the moderating role of hotel star ratings on all direct and indirect relationships.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were collected via Web scraping from August–October 2018. Data were collected from 192 three- to five star-rated hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Partial least squares – structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Furthermore, importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was performed to identify the most important items of service quality and perceived value in improving customer satisfaction.FindingsThe findings of this study provide support for all direct and indirect relationships for three-star and four- and five-star hotels. Moreover, the results indicate that perceived value mediates the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. These results support the moderating role of hotel star ratings for the relationship between service quality and perceived value. The results also show that after perceived value, three-star hotels looking to improve customer satisfaction should prioritize improving the quality of their services, sleep quality, cleanliness and rooms. Four- and five-star hotels, on the other hand, should prioritize service, cleanliness, room and sleep quality.Originality/valueOTA platforms collect a wealth of data pertaining to large number of hotels; nevertheless, few studies to date have drawn on this data to examine a pre-determined conceptual framework developed based on the literature. As such, this study makes a valuable methodological contribution to the tourism and hospitality literature. In terms of theoretical contributions, this study examines the mediating role of perceived value between service quality and satisfaction using OTA data. In addition, this study assesses the moderating role of hotel star ratings for the direct and indirect effects of service quality on satisfaction. Using IPMA, this study compares the importance and performance of service quality indicators to generate satisfaction between three-star and four- and five-star hotels.

Hua, Nan

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-02-2020-0036

This paper aims to examine the impacts of IT capabilities on hotel competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachThis study adapts and extends Hua et al. (2015) and O’Neill et al. (2008) by incorporating the specific measures of IT expenditures as proxies for the relevant IT capabilities to explore the impacts of IT capabilities on hotel competitiveness.FindingsThis study finds that expenditures on IT Labor, IT Systems and IT Websites exert different impacts on hotel competitiveness. In addition, IT capabilities exert both contemporary and lagged effects on hotel competitiveness.Originality/valueThis study is the first that uses financial data to capture direct measures of individual IT capabilities and tests the individual impacts of IT capabilities on hotel competitiveness from both contemporaneous and lagged perspectives. It uses a large same store sample of hotels in the USA from 2011 to 2017; as a result, the study results can be reasonably representative of the hotel population in the USA.

Yu, Chung-En; Zhang, Xinyu

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-02-2019-0028

This study aims to quantify the underlying feelings of online reviews and discover the role of seasonality in customer dining experiences.Design/methodology/approachThis study applied sentiment analysis to determine the polarity of a given comment. Furthermore, content analysis was conducted based on the core attributes of the customer dining experiences.FindingsPositive feelings towards the food and the service do not show a linear relationship, while the overall dining experiences increase in line with the positive feelings on food quality. Moreover, feelings towards the atmosphere of the restaurants are the most positive in peak season.Practical implicationsThis study provides guidelines for restaurateurs regarding the aspects that need more attention in different seasons.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the knowledge of customer feelings in local restaurants/gastronomy and the role seasonality plays in fostering such feelings. In addition, the novel methodological procedures provide insights for tourism research in discovering new dimensions in theories based on big data.

Osei, Benjamin Appiah; Ragavan, Neethiahnanthan Ari; Mensah, Henry Kofi

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-08-2019-0107

The economy of today has moved toward the fourth industrial revolution (FIR), which is characterized by the adoption of technologies such as cyber-physical systems, internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics. Globally, there is a lot of awareness created on the influence of the FIR on all industries, including hospitality and tourism. A plethora of studies on FIR have been conducted in the setting of manufacturing industries. Nonetheless, there seems to be in-exhaustive and non-consensual agreement among researchers as to the development and prospects of the FIR for service industries. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to comprehensively review the prospects of the FIR for the hospitality and tourism industry.Design/methodology/approachAs a result of the novelty and gaps associated with the FIR in the hospitality literature, the authors explored the concept of FIR using a comprehensive literature review approach. Specifically, this paper reviews existing literature from diverse academic backgrounds, and annotates issues with regard to the evolution and prospects of the FIR for the hospitality industry.FindingsEmphatically, the development and principles of FIR were expatiated. Additionally, an exegesis was carried out on the prospects (positives and challenges) of FIR for the hospitality industry. Finally, practical and social implications were also discussed.Originality/valueIt still remains a discourse among scholars and industry stakeholders as to the prospects of the FIR. This paper clarifies the confusion among researchers and bridges the literature gaps. Moreover, this review serves as a theoretical foundation for future research on the impact of FIR on the hospitality industry.

Gunden, Nefike; Morosan, Cristian; DeFranco, Agnes L.

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-10-2019-0126

This study aims to develop and validate a conceptual model that explains consumers’ persuasion by the information available on online food delivery systems (OFDS). The study validated consumers’ price savings orientation as an antecedent of two types of browsing behaviors (utilitarian and hedonic). Browsing and social influences were examined as predictors of persuasion.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was conducted to determine constructs that constituted the best conceptual model for this study. To test the model, an online instrument was developed, and data were collected with the help of a global marketing panel company from 333 consumers who have used OFDS. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the hypotheses of the model.FindingsThe study found that consumers’ price savings orientation strongly influenced both types of browsing. However, while utilitarian browsing did not influence consumers’ persuasion, hedonic browsing and social influence were strong predictors of persuasion.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the uniqueness of the study that stems from its task-technology context and the type of product being purchased, this study advances the literature in hospitality information technology, especially in the relatively neglected foodservice information technology area. The study also provides implications for both restaurants and OFDS as critical stakeholders in this important area.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine consumers’ persuasion in a food-service online retail context. This study is also the first to examine both types of browsing as distinct constructs in hospitality and to explain their differential role in persuasion.

Gwebu, Kholekile; Barrows, Clayton W.

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-11-2019-0138

The purpose of this study is to expand on the existing literature by specifically examining data security incidents within the hospitality industry, assessing origins and causes, comparing breaches within the industry with those of other industries and identifying areas of concern.Design/methodology/approachA sample of data breach incidents is drawn from the Verizon VERIS Community Database (VCDB). Statistical comparisons between hospitality and non-hospitality industry firms are conducted following the Verizon A4 threat framework.FindingsThe results reveal that breaches between hospitality and non-hospitality firms differ significantly in terms of actors, actions, assets and attributes. Specifically, proportions of breaches in the hospitality industry are larger in terms of external actors, hacking and malware, user devices compromised and integrity violations. Additionally, compared to other industries, point-of-sales (POS) system breaches occur at a higher rate in the hospitality industry. The study finds that company size, hacking and malware predict the likelihood of a POS breach.Research limitations/implicationsThe study uses secondary data and does not include the entire universe of data breaches.Originality/valueIn the quest to reduce data breach incidents, it is imperative to identify and assess the nature of data breach incidents between industries. Doing so permits the development of targeted industry-specific solutions rather than generic ones. This study systematically identifies differences between hospitality and non-hospitality data security incidents and then suggests areas where hospitality companies should focus future attention to mitigate breach incidents.

Truong, Ngan Tuyet; Dang-Pham, Duy; McClelland, Robert James; Nkhoma, Mathews

2020 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

doi: 10.1108/jhtt-02-2019-0030

This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework to investigate the influences of innovative services on customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. As service innovation has been focusing on the influences of product and technology innovation, this paper provides another insight into service innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed conceptual framework is based on findings from reviewing key theories and concepts, together with relevant literature in the service operation management, service innovation and hospitality management.FindingsThe proposed conceptual framework can be used to test empirically and explicate customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions towards service innovation of the hospitability operations. There are seven determinants can influence customer satisfaction: innovative mechanic clues, innovative humanic clues and innovative functional clues to influence customer transaction-specific satisfaction; complexity, meaningfulness, novelty and affordability to influence customer overall satisfaction. Customer expectation is formed by social factors, information, knowledge and their need to influence their actual perception, and the comparison between customers’ expectation and actual perception cause their satisfaction. The relationships amongst transaction-specific satisfaction, overall satisfaction and behavioural intentions can explain customer satisfaction comprehensively as a process of before, during and after their perception.Practical implicationsThis paper highlights the importance of innovative service delivery and customers’ evaluation to contribute to creating service innovation. A synthetic definition of service innovation emphasised can help practitioners to define key determinants to effectively influence customer satisfaction and their behavioural intentions. Thus, marketing strategy aligned with operation management, can be practised appropriately.Originality/valueThis study provides key determinants to influencing customer satisfaction of service innovation through innovative service delivery in the hospitality operation, based on key theories and relevant literature.