Revisiting importance–performance analysis

As a tool to develop marketing strategies, importance–performance analysis has gained popularity among hospitality and tourism researchers for its simplicity and ease of application. This article revisited several conceptual and methodological issues inherent, but often overlooked, in using the importance–performance analysis framework. The author conducts a critical review of past studies, reanalyzes published data to raise questions, and develops suggestions for future hospitality and tourism research applying importance–performance analysis. The primary goal of this article was to stimulate further discussion and research on the validity and reliability of widely adopted importance–performance analysis.     

Do airline self-service check-in kiosks meet the needs of passengers?

This study aims to (i) explore the importance and performance of services provided by kiosks and (ii) identify managerial strategies to increase kiosk attractiveness in order to be a viable option for passengers. The service attributes influencing service quality were first determined via the critical incident technique (CIT), following which a questionnaire was designed for data collection. Relative to an identified distribution (Ridit) values were applied to conduct the importance–performance analysis (IPA) rather than the mean values of raw ordinal scores. Our results indicate that potential kiosk users expect their check-in environment to be highly controlled. Airlines may mitigate frequent flyers’ resistance to kiosks by providing additional benefits or seat-selecting privileges. Finally, kiosks are expected to be light and compact, and should be installed near the luggage conveyor belt to provide satisfactory service for both airlines and passengers in the limited space available.     

Cross-cultural comparison of the image of Guam perceived by Korean and Japanese leisure travelers: Importance–performance analysis

As international tourism becomes a global phenomenon and its volume increases rapidly, understanding cultural differences and similarities provides destination marketers in a host country with a strategic platform upon which any planning and marketing efforts should be grounded. Based on the theory of cultural value orientation, the current study focuses on a cross-cultural comparison between the two markets most important to Guam tourism: Japanese and Korean leisure travelers. Using Importance–performance analysis, the evaluative image of Guam perceived by Korean travelers is compared with that perceived by Japanese travelers to uncover any differences between these two nationality groups. The results clearly indicate a contrast between the two groups in terms of destination evaluations and behavioral patterns.     

Prioritizing convention quality attributes from the perspective of three-factor theory: The case of academic association convention

This study examines the asymmetric effects of convention attribute performance on attendee satisfaction (AS) from the perspective of three-factor theory through impact range-performance analysis and impact-asymmetry analysis. This approach enables classification and prioritization of convention attributes as frustrators, dissatisfiers, hybrids, satisfiers, and delighters for the effective management of AS. Moreover, this approach allows assessment of each attribute's range of impact on AS. Through these methods, researchers/practitioners are able to easily pinpoint areas of concern for performance improvement. Findings are to offer industry practitioners insights into prioritizing attributes and effectively addressing AS.     

The impact of the servicescape on the desire to stay in convention and exhibition centers: The case of Macao

This study examines the important role of the servicescape in relation to customers’ cognitive (beliefs about servicescape quality), affective (affect and satisfaction) and behavioral responses (desire to stay) in the context of convention and exhibition centers in Macao. Unlike previous servicescape studies, we include two personal customer characteristics, namely perceived sacrifice and value-for-money considerations, as potential moderators of the relationship between customers’ satisfaction and the desire to stay. Overall, our results suggest that servicescape elements positively influence customers’ perceived quality of the service, their affect, customer satisfaction and desire to stay. Furthermore, this study reveals that value-for-money considerations enhance the positive impact customer satisfaction has on customers’ desire to stay in convention centers and that customers’ perceived level of sacrifice has a direct effect on their desire to stay. Theoretical and managerial implications are also presented.     

Failure of play on asset disposals and share buybacks: Application of game theory in the international hotel market

The principal purpose of this study has been to investigate the impact of an asset disposal strategy, often coupled with share repurchase programs, by international hotel companies on financial performance, earnings stability and share values. Utilising ratio analysis, stock returns and risk-adjusted measures, the study analyses the differences in performance, stability and market valuations between asset light and more capital intensive hotel companies. The findings of the study indicate negligible differences in most accounting measures of earnings growth and stability between asset light hotel companies and traditional hotel companies with significant holdings of owned or leased property. Drawing on game theory, we conclude that international hotel companies dispose of their assets in an effort to manipulate financial markets and make their stocks more attractive to investors and traders. Notwithstanding the absence of significant differentiation in accounting measures of performance fundamentals, market based measures show that hotel groups failed in the aim of manipulating financial markets. This study recommends avoiding playing this game as dual asset light/share repurchase strategy generated superior risk-weighted returns to that of more capital intensive traditional hotel companies across the period of the study.     

Service in the restaurant industry: an American and Irish comparison of service failures and recovery strategies

The literature on service failure and recovery has to date tended to focus on American experiences or on single nation studies. As large numbers of service firms continue to seek opportunities in foreign markets, more effort needs to be directed at assessing cross-national similarities and differences so that appropriate strategies can be developed. This study compares the effects of failure and recovery strategies in the restaurant sector of two countries with very different dining traditions—the United States and Ireland. Analysis of over 700 personal interviews with restaurant customers shows that there is much commonality with regard to service failures but significant differences in recovery efforts. Especially noteworthy, however is that American customers are much more likely to expect such measures. In both countries, overcompensation methods do not appear to influence customer repeat patronage intentions, nor do they have significant influence on the rating of recovery effort. This last finding suggests that restaurants could and should use less expensive recovery methods.     

Transformational leadership and service recovery performance: The mediating effect of emotional labor and the influence of culture

The current study examined the relationship between transformational leadership and service recovery performance and the mediating effect of emotional labor. To uncover potential cross-cultural differences, a sample of 217 front-line hospitality employees from the United States (Study 1) and 219 front-line hospitality employees from China (Study 2) were used. The results demonstrate transformational leadership was positively related to deep acting and negatively related to surface acting emotional labor strategies. Additionally, deep acting was positively related to service recovery performance, while surface acting was negatively related to service recovery performance. These findings were consistent between the U.S. and Chinese sample; however, the mechanisms and paths between transformational leadership and service recovery performance differed between the two samples suggesting culture influenced how transformational leadership is related to service recovery performance through deep acting (Study 1) or surface acting (Study 2) emotional labor strategies.     

Corporate social responsibility reporting in the cruise tourism industry: a performance evaluation using a new institutional theory based model

This paper creates a conceptual model that helps explain the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting behaviour of cruise lines in the context of institutional theory. It presents findings from an analysis of 50 cruise lines' websites and sustainability reports and discusses the findings within this conceptual context. The study investigated cruise line reporting on commitments to specific CSR goals, the extent of reporting on initiatives contributing to those commitments and the extent of reporting on progress towards those goals. The analysis indicates limited use of formal international reporting guidelines, an almost complete absence of third-party assurance of reported information, and unclear presentation of information on websites, failing to specify time frames and the scope/source of information. Although most cruise lines reported on commitments, fewer reported on specific initiatives, and still fewer provided meaningful assessments of their impacts or performance. Environmental issues and social and community well-being issues received most attention, while issues of economic prosperity, employment quality, and diversity and accessibility were reported to a much lesser extent. Access to information, its credibility, ease of interpretation, and comparability between companies were found to be poor. Since 2009, industry reporting declined, but recently shows signs of resurgence.     

Impact of brand recognition and brand reputation on firm performance: U.S.-based multinational restaurant companies’ perspective

Given the importance of a firm's performance, which is of significant interest to many groups of people including management, shareholders and governments, this study aims to examine the impact of brand recognition and brand reputation on firm performance within the U.S. multinational restaurant company context. The study findings suggest that brand reputation, in general, has a positive influence on a firm's value performance but no significant relationship with accounting performance. Brand recognition shows no significant relationship with both value and accounting performance measures controlling for the degree of internationalization of a multinational restaurant company.     

Psychological contract fulfillment in the hotel workplace: Empowering leadership,knowledge exchange,and service performance

This study developed and tested a group-level model involving empowering leadership, psychological contract fulfillment, knowledge exchange, and service performance. In 28 Taiwan's tourism hotels, data stem from 56 hotel departments and comprise 258 employees was used to test the research hypotheses through structural equation model. We found that, as anticipated, empowering leadership was positively related to psychological contract fulfillment and knowledge exchange; psychological contract fulfillment was positively related to knowledge exchange and service performance; and knowledge exchange was positively related to service performance. This study highlighted that psychological contract fulfillment partially mediated the relationship between empowering leadership and knowledge exchange; knowledge exchange fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and service performance. Theoretical and practice implications, limitations, and suggestions for future were presented.     

CSR and financial performance: The role of CSR awareness in the restaurant industry

Initiatives for corporate social responsibility (CSR) often have served business as a source of competitive advantage. However, despite firms’ attempts to capitalize on their CSR efforts, stakeholders’ low awareness of these initiatives makes it difficult to realize the full value of the strategic CSR. In this study, we propose and test in the context of the restaurant industry whether CSR awareness, measured by CSR media coverage, moderates the relationship between the social and financial performance. Our results support the notion that stakeholders’ CSR awareness affects the manner in which CSR initiatives can result in financial gain. Our research has implications both for firms’ investment policies in social initiatives and for highlighting the importance of communicating CSR initiatives to relevant stakeholders.     

Personal values and the theory of planned behaviour: A study of values and holiday trade-offs in young adults

Prior studies have ignored information inherent in the structure of people's values when investigating their impact on tourism decisions. This study examined how personal values trade-offs along two bipolar values dimensions (self-enhancement versus self-transcendence and openness-to-change versus conservation) impacted young adults' travel decisions. A two-staged survey of 299 young adults obtained personal values (at time 1) and value-expressive holiday preferences within a theory of planned behaviour (at time 2). Both bipolar values dimensions predicted attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control towards value-congruent holidays. The total effect of personal values on intentions was larger than that of subjective norms for both dimensions and larger than that of perceived behavioural control for the self-transcendence verses self-enhancement dimension.     

Strategic planning and business performance in the quoted UK hotel sector: results of an exploratory study

The purpose of this study was to conduct an exploratory investigation of the relationship between strategic planning and business performance. A multidimensional model of 11 variables was formulated after a review of the strategic planning-performance literature. Data were obtained from 63 hotel units representing eight quoted hotel companies, and various planning-performance relationships were examined. The results indicated that the key planning characteristics of throughness, sophistication, participation, and formality were positive, and in most cases significantly related, to seven indicators of business performance.     

Culinary tourism as living history: staging,tourist performance and perceptions of authenticity in a Thai cooking school

This study examined how a cooking school in Thailand acted as a site of living history in its staging and touristic experience of authenticity. The cooking school was one of the oldest, most visited and most comprehensively “staged” cooking schools in Bangkok. Research focused on understanding: (a) the nature of spatial and temporal staging of authenticity in the school, (b) tourists’ perceptions of authenticity and (c) parallels between the cooking school and living heritage sites. Findings showed that the cooking school was carefully designed to transport tourists from the heterogeneous tourist spaces of present-day Bangkok to the idealized, enclavic space of an imagined Thai culinary past. Tourists took on multiple roles, had rich sensory experiences, felt a sense of play and space–time transcendence, and revelled in close social relations with hosts and other tourists. These factors allowed them to experience multiple forms of both modernist and post-modernist authenticity. In its scenography, interpretative performance, narrative and rituals, the cooking school did indeed resemble a living history site. However, the school made no particular claim to expertise in Thai history, place or culinary culture, and tended more towards touristic entertainment, and less towards accurate historical and cultural visitor education.     

Brand knowledge and non-financial brand performance in the green restaurants: Mediating effect of brand attitude

The restaurant business has been increasingly recognized for its ability to help mitigate many negative environmental impacts. To develop a competitive advantage, green restaurants may adopt an innovative branding strategy. Marketing management recognizes that understanding brand attitude is critical for marketing strategies. Studies have examined the relationship between brand knowledge and non-financial brand performance. However, it remains unclear how the green restaurant brand attitude affects this relationship.This study aims to fill this research gap by identifying the composition and structure of the brand attitude in Taiwan’s green restaurants and examining the mediating effects of brand attitude on the relationship between brand knowledge and brand performance. The findings of this study broaden and deepen the current knowledge of the role of brand attitude in Taiwan’s green restaurant industry. In practice, it is suggested that green restaurant management should develop well-known brand knowledge to form brand attitudes and foster brand performance.     

An exploration of actor-network theory and social affordance for the development of a tourist attraction: A case study of a Jimmy-related theme park,Taiwan

Differing from traditional approaches to exploring issues of tourist attractions, this article uses insights from actor-network theory (ANT) and social affordance to conceptually examine how a postmodern tourist attraction, a Jimmy-themed tourist attraction, has been enacted into a relational network composed of multiple and heterogeneous actors/actants. The paper scrutinizes the transformation of figures from Jimmy-related picture books into the social affordances of a postmodern tourist attraction via evolving mechanisms of ordering and valuating attractiveness to connect human and nonhuman actors into a relational web. It is argued that the conceptual application of ANT and social affordance may help provide an alternative approach to the study of tourist attractions.     

The relationship between CRM, RM, and business performance: A study of the hotel industry in Taiwan

This study aims to investigate the implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) and its effect on relationship marketing (RM) and business performance, through an analysis of the hotel industry in Taiwan. A survey on hotels, including general and tourist hotels, and bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) was conducted, and a total of 560 questionnaires were returned. The results showed that implementing CRM has a significant and positive influence on the RM effect, positively affecting business performance for both hotels and B&Bs. However, a comparison of the influential paths of relationship models between hotels and B&Bs showed that, for hotels, the Internet service and customer support functions of the CRM strategy are the main sources of influence on the RM effect and business performance, whereas for B&Bs, the marketing support function of the CRM strategy alone influences the RM effect and business performance. To achieve higher performance, the different types of hotel enterprises should understand their main advantage before implementing key CRM strategies.