Kim, Jinkyung Jenny; Kim, Heather Markham; Hwang, Jinsoo
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-08-2021-0239
This study aims to develop a theoretical model to identify the importance of brand modernity with the moderating role of human baristas and robot baristas.Design/methodology/approachA total of 333 samples were collected from a coffee shop where robots provide the services, and 354 samples were collected in a coffee shop where people provide the services.FindingsThe data analysis showed that brand modernity has a positive effect on brand attitude, which in turn positively affects brand attachment and brand loyalty. In addition, there is a moderating role in regard to the type of employee in the relationship between brand modernity and brand attachment and brand attitude and brand loyalty.Originality/valueThis study is different from the previous studies, because it used two types of employees, which included a human barista and a robot barista, as a moderating variable with the formation of brand attitude, brand attachment and brand loyalty.
Abbasi, Amir Zaib; Schultz, Carsten D.; Ting, Ding Hooi; Ali, Faizan; Hussain, Khalil
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-07-2021-0204
Drawing on Ducoffe’s advertising value model, this study aims to integrate additional constructs (credibility, fantasy and visual appeal) as important antecedents to the perceived advertising value of vlogs. The study also examines the mediating role of place attachment between perceived advertising value and intention to visit a destination.Design/methodology/approachA total of 267 valid online questionnaires were collected among Pakistanis who (regularly, frequently, weekly or at least monthly) watch vlogs of tourist places on social networking sites and YouTube.FindingsThe empirical results using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach show that informativeness, entertainment and credibility have significant positive effects, whereas irritation negatively impacts advertising value. The study also supports the positive effect of advertising value on visit intention and the mediating role of place attachment.Originality/valueThese findings reinforce a paradigm shift in advertising building on personal credibility, experiences and trustworthiness. This study contributes to the line of research that links promotional activities, destination image, tourists’ attitudes, visit intention and behavior.
Barbeitos, Iolanda; Oliveira, Tiago
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-11-2020-0286
When evaluating a booking enquiry, hosts rely on peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation platforms (P2PAP) to make an informed decision. Consequently, accepting or rejecting a booking is influenced by the capacity of the P2PAP to convey to hosts valuable information about guests. This study aims to explain hosts’ task performance in short-term rentals (e-rentals).Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model explains hosts’ task performance in e-rentals as a combination of task-specific user capabilities and technology capabilities. The model was tested using the partial least square path modelling technique.FindingsTask-specific user capabilities of covert observation and interrogation were found to have a positive influence on task performance. Moreover, a moderation effect of representation on the relationship between self-disclosure and task performance was found to be significant, yet contrary to the one hypothesized.Originality/valueThe findings from this study help to develop the concept of task-specific user capabilities in shaping task performance.
González-Rodríguez, M. Rosario; Díaz-Fernández, M. Carmen; Bilgihan, Anil; Okumus, Fevzi; Shi, Fangfang
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-11-2021-0321
This study aims to investigate the relationships between electronic word of mouth (eWOM) source credibility, perceived risk and information usefulness and how they influence tourists’ destination visit intention and online review involvement.Design/methodology/approachData for this quantitative study were collected via an online survey from 460 participants and analyzed using a partial least squares analysis.FindingsAll four dimensions of eWOM source credibility reduce travelers’ perceived risk associated with destination visits, among which homophily has the greatest influence. Lower levels of perceived risk are associated with higher perceived information usefulness, thus boosting tourists’ eWOM involvement and intention to visit a destination.Practical implicationsResults offer practical implications for how the tourism industry can exploit eWOM as an information source that consumers frequently consult. The results are also valuable for Destination Marketing Organizations, allowing them to determine what type of information promotes positive tourist attitudes and behaviors toward destinations.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to examine the interaction between eWOM credibility, perceived risk and information usefulness and their effect on consumer behaviors in the tourism context.
Kou, IokTeng Esther; Wong, IpKin Anthony; Lin, Zhiwei (CJ)
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-12-2020-0329
This study aims to draw upon boundary the crossing theory to examine the transition of casino hotel guests’ revisit intentions from casino social media sites to casino properties, with the influence of the motivation–opportunity–ability model.Design/methodology/approachUnder a quantitative approach, 20 casinos that operated official social media sites were selected, with a quota sampling method designed to assign 20 respondents for each casino. A structural model was used to explore the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe results illustrate that ability and opportunity are crucial in enhancing social media revisit intention. They also reveal that casino and destination revisit intention can be boosted with increased social media revisit intention.Practical implicationsThis study provides a fresh look into the relation across the boundary between the virtual and physical environment and illustrates a means by which casinos can be camouflaged as leisure and entertainment venues to strengthen their competitiveness in attracting tourists through social media.Originality/valueThis study offers new evidence for the linkage between online and offline behaviors with respect to how social media could transit into tangible travel propensity.
Strebinger, Andreas; Treiblmaier, Horst
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-10-2021-0293
Blockchain technology is predicted to revolutionize the tourism and hospitality industry through peer-to-peer hotel bookings with little or no involvement of intermediaries. Outstanding features of this technology are its distributed form of storing data, its collaborative way of identifying the “true state” of a system and the immutability of data. These features may lead to a perceived loss of controllability among travelers. Based on the Agentic Theory of Human Behavior, the purpose of this study is to propose that this assumed loss of control matters more to travelers with an individualistic rather than a collectivistic predisposition.Design/methodology/approachIn two studies (n = 475 and n = 196) using verbal scenarios, this study manipulates the perceived controllability of a blockchain-enabled hotel booking app by varying the number of additional services linked to the app. This study tests for the interaction of controllability with individual-level measures of individualistic versus collectivistic (I-C) predisposition.FindingsCollectivistic travelers are more willing than individualistic travelers to use blockchain technology for their hotel bookings. This effect can be mitigated by offering additional services that give individualistic travelers an enhanced sense of “being in control”.Practical implicationsBlockchain-enabled applications facilitating direct hotel bookings without any additional intermediary services are more readily accepted by travelers with a collectivistic mindset. Blockchain applications addressing individualistic travelers require added services that establish a sense of controllability.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to investigate the interaction of I-C predisposition with perceived controllability in tourism and hospitality. Furthermore, it is the first in the technology-acceptance literature to test this interaction using individual-level measures of I-C predisposition and an experimental manipulation of perceived controllability.
Viñán-Ludeña, Marlon Santiago; de Campos, Luis M.
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-09-2021-0259
The main purpose of this paper is to analyze a tourist destination using sentiment analysis techniques with data from Twitter and Instagram to find the most representative entities (or places) and perceptions (or aspects) of the users.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used 90,725 Instagram posts and 235,755 Twitter tweets to analyze tourism in Granada (Spain) to identify the important places and perceptions mentioned by travelers on both social media sites. The authors used several approaches for sentiment classification for English and Spanish texts, including deep learning models.FindingsThe best results in a test set were obtained using a bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model for Spanish texts and Tweeteval for English texts, and these were subsequently used to analyze the data sets. It was then possible to identify the most important entities and aspects, and this, in turn, provided interesting insights for researchers, practitioners, travelers and tourism managers so that services could be improved and better marketing strategies formulated.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors propose a Spanish-Tourism-BERT model for performing sentiment classification together with a process to find places through hashtags and to reveal the important negative aspects of each place.Practical implicationsThe study enables managers and practitioners to implement the Spanish-BERT model with our Spanish Tourism data set that the authors released for adoption in applications to find both positive and negative perceptions.Originality/valueThis study presents a novel approach on how to apply sentiment analysis in the tourism domain. First, the way to evaluate the different existing models and tools is presented; second, a model is trained using BERT (deep learning model); third, an approach of how to identify the acceptance of the places of a destination through hashtags is presented and, finally, the evaluation of why the users express positivity (negativity) through the identification of entities and aspects.
Dadkhah, Mehdi; Rahimnia, Fariborz; Filimonau, Viachaslau
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-04-2021-0115
The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the potential of the blockchain technology in tourism. The blockchain technology (BCT) holds potential to contribute significantly to tourism policy and practice. Academic interest in the BCT is rapidly growing with studies looking at the opportunities and challenges of its application. The shortcoming of research on the BCT in tourism has however been in its conceptual nature. The lack of empirical investigations hinders an understanding of how the BCT can be more broadly adopted in tourism, especially from the viewpoint of minimizing its risks.Design/methodology/approachThe initial screening of the opportunities, challenges and risks is undertaken via a systematic literature review. The Delphi study is subsequently applied to empirically confirm what opportunities, challenges and risks can be attributed to the BCT use in tourism. Twelve industry and academic experts have contributed to the Delphi study.FindingsThe risks identified have been categorized as societal, technical, financial and legal. Propositions have been made on how these risks can, at least partially, be overcome.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first known attempt to study the BCT from the perspective of academic and industry experts. This research is also one of the first to evaluate the risks of the BCT use in tourism. Most risks are identified as not critical and can be addressed as the BCT develops.
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-08-2021-0223
Existing service research has revealed that customers’ perceived equity influences the sustainability of a business. Despite the importance of food service mobile applications during the COVID-19 pandemic, studies that have examined customers’ loyalty toward mobile applications remain limited. Thus, this study aims to examine the impact of mobile application-related attributes on customers’ behavior in the food delivery industry.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data from 214 US customers to extend knowledge on perceived equity by examining the effect of multidimensional equity (i.e. value equity, brand equity and relationship equity) on loyalty in the mobile food service context.FindingsResults of partial least square structural equation modeling suggest that three aspects of customers’ perceived equity are positively related to customers’ attitudinal loyalty, which is linked to behavioral loyalty. Moreover, the role of attitudinal loyalty and demographic characteristics (i.e. gender and age) is described.Originality/valueThis empirical research explores how food delivery brands can increase customers’ positive behavior by investigating the role of multidimensional equity. Service providers must understand certain aspects of customers’ perceived equity to increase food service brand sustainability.
Zeng, Zhanjing; Chen, Po-Ju; Xiao, Xiao; Liu, Peixue; Zhang, Jie
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-07-2021-0200
The purpose of this paper is to explore external, mediator and moderator factors that influence tourist intention to use GPS-based navigation apps from the perspective of spatiotemporal tourist behavior (STTB).Design/methodology/approachA total of 636 valid questionnaires were selected from tourists visiting Lijiang Ancient Town. The partial least squares-structural equation modeling with the SmartPLS approach was adopted to estimate and validate the model.FindingsThe results of this paper showed that wayfinding efficiency, sensation-seeking behavior and spatial ability (SA) influence tourists’ intention to use (IU) navigation apps. A mediator of perceived location accuracy between SA and IU has been found. A multigroup generation moderator is verified in the model.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a better understanding of the relationship between tourist spatiotemporal behavior and navigation apps, presenting practical suggestions for app developers, destination managers and vacation planners.Originality/valueWhile the effects of information technology on tourist behavior have become a topic of interest among tourism industry stakeholders, this paper examines the effects of STTB on the acceptance of navigation apps in reverse, which enriches the theoretical framework.
Nguyen, Quyet; Nguyen, Cong Van
2022 Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
doi: 10.1108/jhtt-11-2021-0331
This paper aims to examine the impact of the existing information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and the development of the destination’s ICT on the tourism demand of international tourists in an emerging economy, Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachUsing time-series data from 1995 to 2019, this study applies vector error correction model to analyse the impact of ICT infrastructure in the short- and long term.FindingsThe results of analysis show that although ICT infrastructure does not affect the number of international tourists in the short term, it positively contributes to tourism development in the long term. In addition, the results also show that in the short term, consumer prices have a negative impact on tourist arrivals while having a positive effect in the long run.Research limitations/implicationsThis study only considers the impact of ICT infrastructure on the whole without going into each factor reflecting different aspects of the ICT infrastructure. Moreover, this research only stops at the pre-pandemic period, so it has not shown the role of ICT infrastructure in travel and tourism demand during severe pandemic periods.Practical implicationsThe research results are an essential basis to support the Vietnamese Government’s strategy to pursue an accelerated investment policy in ICT infrastructure, especially investment in the tourism and hotel industries. On the other hand, the research results also create more motivation and confidence for managers and operators of destinations in Vietnam to invest in ICT infrastructure and apply ICT in management.Originality/valueThis study adds to the literature on tourism–ICT linkages in an emerging tourism market directly between ICT infrastructure and international arrivals with a dynamic time series–based approach that considers the dynamics in the tourist demand identification model. In addition, this study used consumer price index to assess the impact of price on tourist demand instead of using the exchange rate or using the relative prices between the origin and destination countries.