The COVID-19 pandemic and organisational commitment of senior hotel managers

The COVID-19 pandemic will reduce the attractiveness of hospitality occupations. This particularly concerns senior management positions whose holders may substitute hospitality jobs with more secure and rewarding employment in other economic sectors. Organisational resilience of hospitality businesses, including their response to COVID-19, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices may, however, affect perceived job security of senior managers and, thus, influence their commitment to remain in their host organisations. This paper quantitatively tests the inter-linkages between the above variables on a sample of senior managers in hotels in Spain. It finds that the levels of organisational resilience and the extent of CSR practices reinforce perceived job security of managers which, in turn, determines their organisational commitment. Organisational response to COVID-19 affects perceived job security and enhances managers’ organisational commitment. To retain senior management teams in light of future disastrous events, hotels should, therefore, strengthen their organisational resilience and invest in CSR.     

Organizational trust in times of COVID-19: Hospitality employees’ affective responses to managers’ communication

During a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, what managers communicate to their employees can greatly impact important organizational attitudes, such as organizational trust. There is, however, very little research focusing on the mechanisms explaining how managers’ messages during a crisis can influence employees’ organizational trust. To address this gap, the current study examined the role that emotions play in developing organizational trust using a 2 (following CDC norms vs. ignoring CDC norms) by 2 (employee focus vs. bottom-line focus) between-subjects factorial experiment, with COVID-19 as the context. The results showed that a manager’s communication that followed the CDC social norms made employees feel grateful, whereas communication that ignored CDC social norms enhanced fear and anger toward the organization. The feelings of gratefulness and fear influenced organizational trust. These results provide important theoretical and practical implications for understanding organizational trust during a crisis.     

In darkness we seek light: The impact of focal and general lighting designs on customers’ approach intentions toward restaurants

For many hospitality businesses, environmental lighting design can be a powerful tool to be leveraged to stage the servicescape when creating marketing collateral to attract customers. Addressing this underexplored topic, the current research examines how and why focal and general lighting designs, as presented in the restaurant’s ambient images, influence consumers’ approach intentions: namely, the perceptions of attractiveness of the restaurant and their visit intention. Our findings demonstrate that images that present focal lighting (e.g., table lighting) against a generally dimmed dining ambience can effectively boost the restaurant’s perceived attractiveness and visit intention among diners who are of high (vs. low) relational intimacy. Moderated-moderated mediation analysis (Hayes, 2018) further reveals that it is ambient intimacy that explains such effects. Theoretical and managerial implications of this research are presented before discussing limitations and future research opportunities.     

From angels to demons: Uncovering the relationships between tipping,social dignity,OCB and incivility intentions

Building upon equity, expectancy-disconfirmation, and social exchange theories, this research broadens the tipping literature by examining employees’ psychological and behavioral responses when receiving tips that differ in size from expectations, and how managers’ support influences perceptions. Using a 2 (actual-expected tipping discrepancy: higher vs. lower-than-expected tip size) x 2 (manager delivered social praise: presence vs. absence) between-subjects experimental design, the study finds that employees receive higher-than-expected tip size (vs. lower-than-expected tip size) have a higher level of social dignity, which promotes employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The results also support an interaction effect of manager delivered social praise and tipping discrepancy on employees’ social dignity. The results provide important theoretical and managerial implications to the tipping, social dignity, OCB, incivility, and social praise literature.     

How being envied shapes tourists’ relationships with luxury brands: A dual-mediation model

Positive reviews of luxury brands on social media provide tourists with an opportunity for self-presentation. Recent studies have suggested that these reviews can easily trigger envy in receivers, yet few studies have discussed the effect of envy on review writers. This research examined the effects of review writers’ perceptions of being envied on their relationships with the luxury brands they shared on social media. The results of three experiments in vacation scenarios showed that writers were more likely to feel pride (anxiety) when they were benignly (maliciously) envied, eliciting a stronger (weaker) self-brand connection. Moreover, social tie strength played a moderating role. The effect of being envied was stronger when writers and receivers had strong (vs. weak) ties. Our findings provide luxury brand managers with managerial insights into content customization and platform selection in buzz marketing strategies.     

女性高管会提升旅游企业绩效吗?——来自旅游上市公司的经验研究

旅游业是女性就业较为集中的行业。近年来,我国旅游企业中女性高管不断增加,文章以2003-2016年期间我国旅游上市公司作为样本,基于高阶理论构建研究假设,并利用非平衡面板数据建立计量经济学模型,实证研究我国旅游上市公司中女性高管对企业绩效的影响。研究发现,旅游上市企业中女性高管对企业绩效具有显著促进作用;然而,对酒店行业的进一步分析表明,女性高管对酒店企业绩效的正向作用,会因为行业高度竞争压力的存在而受到抑制。研究结果丰富了现阶段女性研究相关文献,也为旅游企业管理决策提供了理论依据和经验支持。     

The joint effects of need for status and mental imagery perspective on luxury hospitality consumption in China

Given the increasing influence of social media on the hospitality industry, luxury hotels have begun to utilize social media platforms as primary marketing tools. This research reveals the joint effects of mental imagery perspective and need for status on Chinese consumers’ intentions to partake in luxury hotel experiences after viewing social media photos about luxury hotel consumption. For affluent consumers with high need for status, photos taken from a first-person (vs. third-person) perspective lead to higher behavioral intentions. This research further demonstrates that immersion serves as an underlying mechanism. The findings have important implications for luxury hotel managers.     

Rapid responding to the COVID-19 crisis: Assessing the resilience in the German restaurant and bar industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally impacted the restaurant and bar industry. Simultaneously, this industry is already undergoing structural change. Using the concept of organisational resilience, we analyse the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on owner’s assessment of resilience in the German restaurant and bar industry. Findings from an online survey with 623 owners and managers show that ex-ante business problems, and financing by loans or credit, reduce the likelihood of owners perceiving their business as resilient; while, delivery and takeaway service, ownership of property and higher age of owners, increase the likelihood of enterprise resilience. The paper contributes to understanding how restaurants and bars absorb and cope with the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, we make recommendation for future research on the recovery and adaptability of the business sector.     

Philanthropic giving of China’s hotel firms: The roles of state ownership,corporate misconduct and executive remuneration

This study utilizes value enhancement theory, agency cost theory and crisis management theory to scrutinize the philanthropic giving (PG) of China’s listed hotel companies from 2003 to 2018. The results of dynamic panel regression tests reveal that state ownership (company character), corporate misconduct (crisis management determinant) and executive remuneration (agency cost determinant) are influential factors in hotel firms’ PG, but none of the value enhancement determinants can explain PG. Specifically, state ownership is negatively correlated with PG, reflecting low PG in government dominated hotel firms in China. PG is negatively associated with executive remuneration, indicating that hotel managers care more about self-interest than social responsibility. PG is also positively related to corporate misconduct, suggesting that hotel firms use philanthropy to manage a crisis. Finally, the lagged PG has a positive effect on PG, implying that PG is intended to avoid damage to social image and reputation of China’s hotel firms.     

Diners’ responses to talent vs. effort of restaurant employees

When presenting employees’ laudable performance, shall restaurant managers emphasize effort or talent of their employees as the source of such performance? This study is proposed to answer this question. We suggest that diners’ responses to employees’ effort vs. talent hinge on diners’ need to belong and restaurant type. Study 1 shows that diners’ need to belong moderates their responses to effort- vs. talent-focused messages. Study 2 finds that restaurant type (casual vs. fine dining) moderates diners’ responses to effort- vs. talent-focused messages. Diners’ perceptions of fit with employees (Study 1) and persuasiveness of a message (Study 2) are mechanisms underlying the proposed moderating effects. Restaurant managers may benefit from tailoring their messages conveying employee performance on the basis of diners’ need to belong and restaurant type.     

Examining traditional restaurant diners’ intention: An application of the VBN theory

Prior research has demonstrated the significance of traditional food in the marketplace. However, there is a lack of studies that elucidate the consumer behavior of traditional restaurant patrons, particularly local residents. By utilizing the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory, the current study develops a consumer behavior model to enhance our understanding of the effect of consumers’ attitudes toward traditional restaurants. To this end, the study examines the structural relationships among traditional values, beliefs, social norms, personal norms, and purchase intention. The results show that individuals’ value of cherishing traditional culture has a significant effect on their purchase intention through beliefs and norms. In addition, we find that age and gender serve as partial moderators. The results of this study provide traditional restaurateurs with insights for developing effective marketing strategies to attract and retain local customers.     

Restaurant chain’s corporate social responsibility messages on social networking sites: The role of social distance

Considering the large influence of social media on the restaurant chain industry, finding effective communication strategies to interact with customers is critically important. The purpose of the study was to investigate how restaurant chain’s CSR messages on social networking sites affect brand value and social distance. Data were collected from 403 social media users with a dining experience at a U.S. restaurant chain. A two-step structural equation model and a two by two between-subject experimental design were conducted for this study. The perception of CSR messages on SNS positively affects customer’s social distance and the restaurant’s brand credibility, and consequently enhance the brand equity. Restaurant chain’s concrete (vs. abstract) CSR messages on SNS has a positive influence on customers’ brand equity when their social distance is close (vs. distant). The study highlights the importance of shortening social distance to enhance brand equity when developing CSR messages on SNS.     

The Effect of Social Media on Reputation During a Crisis Event in the Cruise Line Industry

ABSTRACT

This research evaluates social media’s role in shaping perceptions of reputation during crisis management in a cruise line setting. Data were collected from respondents in the United States and Germany (N = 334) to explore the influence of speed and clarity of corporate response, brand familiarity, and cultural values on the perception of corporate reputation of a cruise line experiencing a crisis. Results indicated that speed of response using social media, brand familiarity, and cultural values of the respondent affected perceptions of corporate reputation of a cruise line after a crisis.     

The determinants of hotels' marketing managers' green marketing behaviour

Little is known about the factors underlying the pro-environmental behaviour of marketing managers. This paper explores the determinants of green marketing practices in the Red Sea hotel sector in Egypt. The research model assesses green marketing practices against the personal and organisational values of the marketing managers, together with a range of organisational and demographic variables expected to influence hotels' environmental behaviour. From a valid sample of 89 marketing managers responsible for 194 hotels, it was found that organisational contextual variables, and in particular targeting Western tourists, being affiliated to an international hotel chain and the marketers' own demographics, including age, academic subject studied and gender, were the best predictors of more proactive green marketing. Personal environmental values did not explain the pro-environmental behaviour of marketers, and the organisational environmental values that had explained part of their ethical behaviour had resulted from voluntarism rather than utilitarian or conformance-based values. Government policies also appeared to be ineffective determinants. The implications for green marketing practices are also discussed.     

Women,shopping and leisure

This paper examines the social antecedents, occupational experiences and problems currently challenging executive managers within the public leisure services in Britain. It describes those processes involved in an historic development which has seen leisure managers moving from the margin to occupy a more central role in local government, and explores the major dificulties currently challenging senior managers who have experienced this process of status transition, including: power conflicts with established professional groups, difficulties associated with one's role, mission, occupational identity and philosophy. All of these problems are addressed by different types of managers in different ways. The paper identifies four characteristic types of managerial executive in leisure: ‘The Traditionalist’, ‘The Sports Centred’. ‘The Generalist Graduate’ and ‘The Second Chance Careerist’, and relates each of these to different class, cultural, gender and occupational experiences. It suggests that, whereas in the past, work in leisure management was conventionally perceived to be a low status and marginal occupational largely colonized by the aspirant working class, this pattern is now rapidly changing. A new type of confident middle class generalist graduate who extols the virtues of ‘the amateur’ and ‘the good all-rounder’ is rapidly colonizing elite roles in leisure management. These people provide a new cohort of leadership which will face both the professional and social problems challenging the public leisure services in the 1990s.     

Responding to the bed bug crisis in social media

The increasing trend in social media changes the landscape of crisis communication and thus, calls for innovation in hotel crisis management practices. This research examined how New York City hotels responded to recent issues surrounding the bed bug crisis on the social media site TripAdviosr. This study adopted a mixed methods research design. The quantitative findings revealed that hotels’ response behaviors were associated with organizational factors (e.g. hotel's popularity, average rating, and star rating) and the rating of online reviews. The qualitative findings indicated that hotels employed various types of strategies in the response, which were dominated by strategies of bolstering and enhancing. In conclusion, this study addressed the need for a proactive approach in hotel crisis management and provided practical implications.     

Hotel guests’ perceptions of environmental friendly practices in social media

Despite hotels’ managers spend substantial time and money on environmental initiatives; they are not sure whether their guests perceive their green efforts appropriately. The purpose of this study is to analyze guests’ perceptions of hotels’ environmental practices expressed through social media. Main results suggest that even though customers perceive green efforts regarding six items: Energy, Water, Purchasing, Waste, Site and Education & Innovation, they do not discern hotels' level of environmental commitment. Moreover, guests' perceptions of hotel efforts in environmentally friendly practices do not significantly differ by the mode of travel nor by the reviewer's experience in travel platforms. A relevant implication is that the communication about environmentally friendly practices needs to be redesigned and intensified by hotel managers in order to take advantage of these efforts.     

Destination marketing during and following crises: combating negative images in Asia

The goal of this study is to analyze which strategies Asian officials and marketers have adopted in order to combat stereotypes, negative perceptions, and crises in order to repair destination images and bring back visitors. The study includes qualitative content analyses of news reports, press interviews, and campaigns in order to uncover media policy, strategies, events, and marketing initiatives used since 2008. The conceptual framework used was the “multi-step model for altering place image”, which offers three types of strategies to use in order to repair a destination’s negative image during and after a crisis: source, message, and audience.     

Influences of Campus Recruiting on Applicant Attraction to Hospitality Companies

ABSTRACT

Many hospitality companies use college recruiting to attract managers to work for them. This study expands on previous research to further investigate initial reaction to recruiter behavior, during campus interviews, as it relates to the pursuit of the job in regard to expectancy (of a job offer) and attractiveness of the job. The study findings confirmed that applicant perceptions of recruiter behaviors influence applicant attraction, particularly in regards to a perceived interest in candidate and professionalism. Given the highly competitive atmosphere for recruitment of qualified hospitality managers, this study could prove useful regarding attraction of potential hospitality managers.     

Stress and food choices: Examining gender differences and the time horizon framing effect

The number of people facing daily stress is on the rise in the United States. Further, there is increasing evidence of stress induced obesity and other food-related health risks. This study tested the effects of self-reported stress on choosing indulgent and healthy food options in the context of menu promotions at restaurants. The study proposed that time horizon message framing (expansive vs. limited) on restaurant menus influences the effectiveness of advertising messages aimed at preventing unhealthy food choices and promoting healthy choices. Further, this study examined gender differences in stress induced eating. The current findings shed new light on time horizon message framing, which encourages stressed consumers to make healthy choices. The results showed that food choices can be altered using time horizon messages. That is, stressed individuals tend to choose healthier options when the message is framed in terms of expansive time and more indulgent food than when the message is focused on a limited time frame. Restaurant managers are advised to establish creative marketing strategies to spur interest in healthy menu items and emphasize the benefits of healthy food items.