Influence of sustainable hospitality supply chain management on customers’ attitudes and behaviors

This study aims to identify the impact of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable hospitality supply chain management actions on customers’ attitudes and behaviors including satisfaction, loyalty and willingness to pay a premium for sustainable hospitality goods and services utilizing data collected from U.S. consumers who frequently stay at hotels. Findings suggest that while both environmental and economic dimensions’ actions of sustainable hospitality supply chain management have positive influences on customer satisfaction, loyalty and willingness to pay a premium for sustainable hospitality goods and services, the social dimension actions are found to have a positive influence on customer satisfaction and a negative influence on customer willingness to pay a premium. Results also indicate that customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between social dimension actions and customer loyalty. In addition, customer satisfaction positively influences customer loyalty, which ultimately increases customer willingness to pay a premium. The implications of the research findings are provided.     

Customer acceptance of four types of hospitality value propositions

Although how successful hospitality companies create value propositions has received some interest, how and why customers accept value propositions remains largely unknown. Grounded in theory of acceptance and service-dominant logic, this study examined consumers’ psychological mechanism of acceptance of value propositions at different points of exchange, and investigated the impact of value propositions acceptance on customers’ well-being and perceptions of service advantage. Online respondents (N = 180) assessed four hospitality value propositions: innovation, marketing, production, and recovery. Repeated-measures ANOVA and PROCESS Model analyses revealed that customers accepted value propositions cognitively, emotionally, normatively, and behaviorally, positively influencing subjective well-being and perceptions of firm’s service advantage. Service production and recovery value propositions had higher acceptance compared to innovation and marketing. This study is the first to empirically illustrate the complex process of customer value proposition acceptance and the effects on personal and organizational outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.     

Disentangling green service innovative behavior among hospitality employees: The role of customer green involvement

Regardless of the role of customers in co-creating value with organizations, how customer involvement drives employees, particularly in the hospitality industry, to engage in green service innovative endeavors has been scarcely examined. This study seeks to uncover how and when customer green involvement nurtures green service innovative behavior among hotel employees. The dataset was formed from the responses from 519 employees and 84 managers working in Vietnam-based hotels and analyzed via multilevel structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated the role of hotel employees’ green information management motivations (i.e., green information proactiveness, transparency, and formality) in mediating the positive relationship between customer green involvement and employee green service innovative behavior. Internal green marketing orientation functioned as an enhancer for the effects of customer green involvement on green information management motivations. This research contributes to the stream of green behavior research by bringing together customer green involvement and green service innovative behavior in the hospitality literature and unraveling the mechanisms behind their relationship.     

Linking servicescape and customer engagement: An investigation in the hotel context

Servicescape and customer engagement are important concepts in the hospitality literature, but scant research pays attention to their relationship. To fill the gap, the present study proposes a “servicescape–value–engagement” framework to examine the effects of servicescape elements on different components of customer engagement by addressing functional and wellness values as mediators. Structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the data surveyed from 619 hotel customers in China. Findings indicate that substantive and communicative servicescapes have positive effects on customers’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagements. Wellness value mediates all of these effects whereas functional value only mediates the effects on customers’ affective and behavioral engagements. Through the establishment of the framework, the present study theoretically broadens current knowledge on the servicescape-driven responses and the antecedents of customer engagement. Practically, the findings prompt hotels to effectively design and deliver servicescape elements to improve customer engagement and value perceptions.     

Examining the spillover effect of frontline employees’ work–family conflict on their affective work attitudes and customer satisfaction

This study examines the negative spillover effects of hospitality frontline employees’ work–family conflict on their affective reactions, commitment, and customer satisfaction. A field survey was conducted to obtain a dyadic data set (148 paired employee–customer responses). Our results indicate that frontline employees’ role conflict between work and family results in less positive affective reactions to the job, decreased emotional attachment to the organization, and lower levels of customer satisfaction. These findings suggest that hospitality firms need to understand that factors outside the workplace influence service excellence, thus calling for a family-friendly organizational culture.     

Customer mistreatment and service performance: A self-consistency perspective

The service encounter is an important social context for hospitality service providers who strive to satisfy their need for job competence by delivering excellent customer service. Customer mistreatment may be perceived as a sign of work-related goal failure by hospitality service providers. Building on the literature of goal attainment and failure in the workplace, we propose that hospitality employees, who experience customer mistreatment, undergo diminished organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), decreasing service performance. Moreover, employees’ locus of control is proposed to interact with customer mistreatment and predict service performance through the mediation of OBSE. The results of a multi-wave and multi-source survey, administered to a sample of hotel frontline employees (N = 180) and their direct supervisors (N = 38), show that customer mistreatment has a negative influence on service performance through OBSE, but only among employees with an external locus of control.     

如何提高饭店业一线员工的服务补救绩效:模型与实证

文章应用巴顾兹(Bagozzi)的态度模型,采用结构方程建模方法,构建并验证了基于饭店业一线员工感知视角的服务补救绩效预测模型。实证结果表明:(1)一线员工对授权、培训、奖励以及对饭店进行顾客抱怨管理的感知正向影响其工作满意度;(2)顾客抱怨管理和授权不仅通过一线员工情感变量(工作满意和情感承诺)的中介作用间接正向影响服务补救绩效,还能够直接预测服务补救绩效;(3)一线员工的情感变量是解释员工培训和奖励正向影响其服务补救绩效的完全中介变量;(4)工作满意直接正向影响一线员工的情感承诺,而在工作满意和服务补救绩效之间的间接正向影响关系中,情感承诺变量起到了全部中介效应。文章最后总结了对服务补救理论和饭店业管理实践的贡献。     

Value co-creation and customer citizenship behavior

Drawing on social exchange theory and the service-dominant logic framework this paper explores the association between value co-creation and the willingness to engage in customer citizenship behavior in the hospitality and tourism context. Tourism and hospitality firms are increasingly offering opportunities for co-production and value-in-use not only to increase revisit and repurchase intentions but also to benefit from manifestations of customer citizenship behavior such as customer feedback, advocacy, customer-to-customer assistance and tolerance in less satisfactory future services. The paper offers a building block for future work to investigate the causal relationship between the dimensions of value co-creation (co-production and value-in-use) and customer citizenship behavior.     

Commercial hospitality in restaurants and tourist accommodation: Perspectives from international consumer experience in Scotland

This study investigates international consumer perceptions of their restaurant dining and hotel accommodation experiences to identify the common core elements of hospitality in commercial settings. A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the deep-rooted reactions, feelings, and perceptions of consumers. The empirical data are based on semi-structured interviews with 20 international postgraduate students in Scotland. The data analysis specified five categories of perceived commercial hospitality, including: interpersonal interaction, psychological connection, openness to different cultures, sensation satisfaction, and perceived value. Additionally, this study proposed a model of commercial hospitality for interpreting the dynamic and interactive relationships among different components. Complex hospitality experience relies primarily on customer emotional and social values. Several strategies based on perceived value and cultural differences were also developed to cater to various customer needs.     

Customer mistreatment and employee well-being: A daily diary study of recovery mechanisms for frontline restaurant employees in a hotel

Research on customer mistreatment towards frontline service employees in the hospitality industry has been steadily rising in recent years, but little is known about the mechanism underlying its detrimental impact on the non-work life of employees and why some of them could handle it effectively. By integrating conservation of resources theory with the stressor-detachment model, this daily diary study examined the effect of daily customer mistreatment on employees’ daily well-being at home (vigor and exhaustion) through daily psychological detachment. Employees’ recovery self-efficacy and the trait of resilience, which might mitigate the process were also examined. An experience sampling methodology was applied, and the survey data were gathered from 54 frontline restaurant employees conducted across 5 consecutive workdays. Results of hierarchical linear modeling supported all the hypotheses in this study. Our findings revealed a spillover effect of customer mistreatment and the importance of improving employees’ recovery in the hospitality context.     

What is hospitality?

Some health care organizations looking to improve customer satisfaction have tried to redefine their customers as guests, applying the concept of hospitality to their operations. It is not clear, however, just what hospitality means. This paper reviews the literature of hospitality and proposes a model of hospitality. Some implications for delivering hospitality in a customer service organization are discussed.     

社会化视角下接待业服务机器人对顾客体验的影响研究

随着人工智能和自动化技术日渐普及,服务机器人被越来越多地引入旅游接待业,但其应用尚处于探索阶段。在已有文献和理论基础上,本文依据互联网、社交媒体中接待业顾客对服务机器人的评价信息,以及对接待业顾客和员工进行深度访谈的数据,分析顾客对机器人服务的感知及体验。研究发现:(1)对机器人服务的感知涉及工具、社会化两个属性,社会化属性对顾客的愉悦体验产生重要影响;(2)服务机器人通过提升服务和营造愉悦氛围两条路径改善顾客体验。在此基础上,本文构建了服务机器人影响顾客体验的概念模型。本文从社会化视角探讨服务机器人的顾客体验感知,对服务机器人设计、服务场景管理和体验设计具有启示意义。     

A theoretical link between corporate giving and hospitality firm performance

This study makes a unique contribution to the hospitality literature by offering a theoretical model of the link between corporate giving (CG) and hospitality firm performance based on a duopolistic competition model with rational profit-maximizing hospitality firms. The equilibrium outcomes of the proposed model explicitly explain the mixed findings of the relationship between CG and hospitality firm performance found in the previous empirical studies. Specifically, the optimal level of a hospitality firm’s CG is positively related to the total market demand and the competitive advantage of CG, and negatively related to the induced cost of giving practices. Moreover, a positive or neutral relationship between CG and hospitality firm performance depends on whether CG could induce a competitive advantage of brand differentiation and customer loyalty to increase profit.     

Customers’ Perceptions of Employee Engagement: Fortifying the Service–Profit Chain

This study investigated the three dimensions of employee engagement: dedication, energy, and absorption from the customer’s perspective. The service–profit chain (SPC) and employee behavior that promotes customer satisfaction and loyalty were examined. The results revealed that certain aspects of employee engagement are more readily perceived by consumers and more likely to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty. Findings showed that energy and dedication combined were most likely to foster feelings of satisfaction and loyalty among hospitality patrons. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to the literature by enhancing the SPC, revealing new insight into employee engagement, and linking employee engagement to positive consumer outcomes. Hospitality industry professionals may find that employee engagement benefits the customers’ perceptions of the establishment, ultimately increasing profitability. This study utilizes the SPC in the hospitality context and proposes a new link in the chain: employee engagement.     

Quality,Satisfaction and Customers’ Future Intention: The Case of Hotels’ Fitness Centers in Cyprus

In an era of fierce competition, financial hardship, and volatile customer expectations the hospitality industry is seeking out new revenue centers that can both enrich the customer experience, and contribute to financial success. Capturing the attention of the industry, fitness centers have become a fundamental component of the contemporary hospitality experience with numerous strategic, operational and tactical implications. Responding to the need for further empirical investigation, the study, by adopting a quantitative methodology, holistically investigates quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in fitness centers currently operating in upscale hospitality establishments in Cyprus. Findings suggest that satisfaction with the provision of fitness services in hotels is primarily associated with the dimensions of employee behavior and workout facilities. Moreover, workout facilities was the only quality dimension which was significantly associated with the respondents’ intention to renew their membership, whereas a strong relationship between satisfaction and future intention was substantiated.     

Antecedents of loyalty toward rural hospitality enterprises: The moderating effect of the customer's previous experience

This paper aims to identify the consumer behavior variables and the moderating effect of customers’ previous experience that generate greater customer loyalty toward rural hospitality enterprises. A model is proposed that encompasses the moderating effect of customer experience on the relationships between: the functional and affective perceived value of the firm's offer; the firm's reputation; and customer satisfaction – and the effect of these variables on loyalty-driven behaviors (recommendation and repurchase intentions). The work finds that functional and affective perceived value influence reputation and satisfaction, and that this effect is moderated by the customer's experience. When they have prior experience of the firm, affective perceived value takes precedence over functional perceived value. However, functional perceived value constitutes the most valued element when customers are using the services of the firm for the first time. Reputation and satisfaction are also found to contribute to the generation of better recommendation and repurchase intentions.     

基于顾客价值的经济型酒店顾客满意度测评研究

培育和维护满意的顾客是经济型酒店获得和保持竞争优势的重要条件,而顾客对酒店产品感知利得和利失的比较对顾客满意度的形成具有重要的影响。该研究以现有的顾客满意度理论为基础,结合经济型酒店的顾客需求和产品服务特征,从顾客价值获得的角度构建经济型酒店的顾客满意度测评模型,建立了顾客满意度测评指标体系,并进行了实证分析。研究表明,经济型酒店的卫生状况、支持系统、交通便利程度以及价格等方面的顾客满意度较低。最后,根据实证分析结果提出了经济型酒店提高顾客满意度的建议和对策。     

Understanding the dimensions of customer relationships in the hotel and restaurant industries

The purposes of this research were, first, to examine the dimensionality of hospitality customer relationships and, second, to develop a multi-dimensional customer relationship scale validated with both antecedent measures of marketing effectiveness and effect measures of financial performance. While hospitality marketing research has frequently focused on the relationships between various marketing actions and different dimensions of customer relationships, there is a lack of research examining customer relationships as a multi-dimensional construct. For both the hotel and restaurant industries, scale development procedures with confirmatory factor analyses were used to identify the dimensions of customer relationships: engagement, motivation, commitment, cross-buying, word of mouth, and defection. The nomological validity of these dimensions was tested using the antecedent of service quality and the effect of customer lifetime financial value. The paper concludes by articulating, first, the theoretical and practical applications of the proposed scale and, second, an agenda for future research.     

Core and supplemental elements of hospitality in the sharing economy: Insights from semantic and tonal cues in Airbnb property listings

Advances in peer-to-peer sharing, made popular by platforms like Airbnb, have altered previous conceptualizations of the lodging hospitality product. This study performs semantic and tonal analyses on a large-scale dataset collected from Airbnb. Our results support a concept of lodging hospitality that comprises core products and services, supplemental customer care, and a third factor we term ‘host sharing.’ Furthermore, the study offers insight into the topics and rhetorical tactics currently defining lodging hospitality marketing on the Airbnb platform. These findings can be used to provide guidance for Airbnb hosts to provide suitable information in their listings.     

Improving employee service levels through identifying sources of customer satisfaction

A major source of satisfaction for customers of hospitality operations is the service employees provide. In order for employees to be trained to perform activities which provide customer satisfaction, it is necessary for the hospitality manager to determine what service actions bring about satisfaction. The major thrust of this article is to describe an objective approach for designing an instrument that may be used to identify components of customer satisfaction. The identification of these specific measurable behaviours will be a great asset to hospitality managers in training and evaluating their employees, ultimately leading to a higher level of customer satisfaction.