Severe service failures and online vindictive word of mouth: The effect of coping strategies

This study proposes an integrative model that investigates the role of coping strategies in the relationship between severe service failures and online vindictive word of mouth (OVWOM) behavior. While the mechanism of online negative word of mouth (ONWOM) have been widely studied, the underlying processes by which OVWOM develops remain unclear, specifically when it comes to the use of OVWOM as a coping mechanism. Achieving a better understanding of the mechanism by which OVWOM develops is important given its potential to significantly harm a firm’s image, loyalty and market share. The results of a survey of restaurant customers confirm the role of the psychological and situational factors that result in OVWOM behavior as a strategy to cope with severe service failures. Accordingly, this study provides an initial response to calls for research on the role of situational and personal factors that explain retaliation behavior in response to severe service failures.     

The impact of website quality on customer satisfaction and purchase intentions: Evidence from Chinese online visitors

With the increasing popularity of online shopping and being the most populated country in the world, China is one of the major online markets now and is likely to become the largest market in the future. In the academic literature, website quality has generally been recognized as a critical step to drive business online. As such, numerous studies have been devoted to website quality and evaluations. Research efforts are, however, in need of understanding the use of websites in regards to online customers’ behavior, especially Chinese customers. This study developed and empirically tested a conceptual model of the impact of website quality on customer satisfaction and purchase intentions. Results indicated that website quality has a direct and positive impact on customer satisfaction, and that customer satisfaction has a direct and positive impact on purchase intentions. While the influence of website quality on purchase intentions exists, customer satisfaction does significantly mediate this effect. Drawing on the empirical findings, managerial implications and recommendations for future research are offered.     

The effect of atmosphere on customer engagement in upscale hotels: An application of S-O-R paradigm

Research suggests that atmosphere plays an important role in creating emotional connections between a hotel customer and the hotel and that these connections lead to improved customer satisfaction and customer engagement. The purpose of this research is to identify some of the atmosphere elements within a hotel that might enable customers to better engage with the hotel. A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to test the relationships. Social and room design were found to be significant antecedents to customer satisfaction. The research also found that while satisfied customers were more likely to promote the hotel to others through WOM behavior, they had fewer suggestions for improvement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well.     

Should I book another hotel? The effects of sickness and ethnicity on customer brand loyalty and positive word of mouth

Sickness presenteeism is working despite feeling sick. Although presenteeism prevails across different job sectors, few studies have focused on how it affects the hospitality sector. This study applied a quasi-experimental method to investigate how sick employees’ presence affects customers’ fear of contagion and, consequently, customer brand loyalty (i.e., return intentions) and positive word of mouth (i.e., recommendation intentions) due to perceived service failure. The effects of ethnicity on customers’ intentions were also explored. Data were collected from 581 participants. The results reveal that, when hospitality employees appear to be sick, customers have weaker recommendation and return intentions compared to when employees do not show any sickness. In addition, our results show that due to perceived ethnic dissimilarity, customers do not tend to withdraw from non-similar sick employees, not showing weaker recommendation and rebooking intentions toward tourist accommodations. This research enriches the very well stablished literature on consumer-brand relationships, sickness presenteeism and social cognition, as well as furthering practice by showing that sickness presenteeism, when correctly managed, can generate organizational advantages.     

The joint effect of consumer and service providers’ culture on online service evaluations: A response surface analysis

National culture exerts substantial influence on consumers' expectations, satisfaction, and evaluations. Despite that, within a service-based context, two cultures are met, that of the customer and that of the service provider, the existing literature systematically explores the effect of customer culture in isolation neglecting the impact of the provider's culture or their joint effect. We fill this gap by considering the concomitant effect of customer and provider cultural factors on passenger evaluations of airline carriers using a large dataset of reviews that covers the majority of countries. Employing a response surface methodology, our study provides significant advantages over methods based on cultural distance scores in revealing more complex non-linear relationships. This multi-dimensional approach provides new insights for assessing the impact of national culture on customers' service perceptions and evaluations, thus bringing significant implications for researchers and service providers.     

Let your algorithm shine: The impact of algorithmic cues on consumer perceptions of price discrimination

How can hospitality and tourism firms reduce consumers’ perceptions of unfairness regarding their price discrimination practices? We propose that pricing algorithms, as advanced revenue management tools, can play a role. We demonstrated the effects of an algorithmic cue through a tweet analysis and four experiments. We found that informing consumers that the offered price is determined by algorithms mitigated their negative responses in the disadvantaged price discrimination context. Also, such algorithmic cue effects only occur when the algorithm is less anthropomorphic (vs. highly anthropomorphic or human). The positive impact of an algorithmic cue was identified not only when customers directly experienced disadvantaged price discrimination but also when they obtained the information from different channels. The results suggest hospitality and tourism firms that have implemented pricing algorithms in their revenue management can benefit from disclosing an algorithmic cue to customers.     

Linking AI quality performance and customer engagement: The moderating effect of AI preference

Drawing upon affordance theory, this study positions artificial intelligence (AI) as a commercial service in examining its influence on customer engagement in the hotel context. In particular, we seek to understand linkages between customer perceptions of AI service quality, AI customer satisfaction and engagement. Given the multiplicity of services offered by service organisations, customers’ preference for AI service is modelled as a moderator of customer perceptions and attitudes towards AI. Data was collected from a sample of hotel customers in Australia who had previously used AI tools or services. Our results reveal a significant chain effect between AI service indicators, service quality perceptions, AI satisfaction and customer engagement. AI preference has a significant moderation effect on information quality and satisfaction. These findings provide new insights into the consumer services literature and have important implications for marketing practitioners.     

The effects of tipping policies on customer satisfaction: A test from the cruise industry

Many in the media have called for the abolition of the practice of tipping and at least some resorts, private clubs, hotels, and restaurants have replaced tipping with automatic service charges or service inclusive pricing. Particularly notable in this regard is the cruise industry, where several of the largest brands have switched to an automatic service charge system. Given the popularity of tipping and its perceived role as an incentive/reward for service, such moves to replace tipping with service charges seem likely to have negative effects on customer satisfaction. We test this expectation by examining the effects of Carnival Cruise Line's tipping policy change in the early 2000s on its customers’ evaluations of their cruise experience. After controlling for the effect of ship and review date, we found that Carnival Cruise Line's guests rated their cruise more positively when they sailed under a voluntary-tipping policy than when automatic service charges were added to their onboard bills. However, this effect was small and need not deter firms from replacing voluntary tipping with service charges. Discussion of this finding focuses on ways services marketers might be able to mitigate this modest negative effect of service charges.     

Hotel revenue management and the Internet: The effect of price presentation strategies on customers’ willingness to book

A decision that is intrinsic to the application of hotel best available rate (BAR) pricing is how to present the BARs for individual nights within a multiple-night stay to prospective hotel guests. We discuss two alternative price presentation strategies, a blended and a nonblended rate approach, and examine their effect on customers’ willingness to pay in the context of Internet-based reservation requests. Study findings indicate that a nonblended rate presentation approach generates higher willingness to book ratings than a blended rate presentation approach. Furthermore, when it comes to nonblended rates, familiarity with BAR pricing moderates the effect of rate sequence on customers’ willingness to book.     

Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Customer Satisfaction: The Case of a Budget Hotel Chain

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can bring many benefits to the hotel business, though there are some associated challenges. Such challenges often bring a significant risk of failure, and these risks become more significant in budget hotels. This study considers the changes that have emerged in the last decade as regards customer expectations when staying in budget hotels. We use qualitative approaches to investigate the overlaps between customer expectations and managers’ perceptions of CRM applications. The findings reveal that regardless of all changes, value for money and core products continue to play a critical role in customers’ overall satisfaction with budget hotels.     

The impact of information technology on hotel operations,service management and transaction costs: A conceptual framework for full-service hotel firms

This paper develops a conceptual framework that describes the impact of information technology (IT) on service management and transaction costs in full service hotel firms. It details how IT would help such firms to lower operations-related transaction costs. Further, the underpinnings of how IT would impact service management in full service hotel firms is discussed more specifically from a customer satisfaction point of view while focusing on two aspects, i.e. managing customer delight and the customer's role as a co-producer. Propositions are developed and a discussion on the impact of IT on firm profitability from a transaction cost perspective ensues while concluding with managerial implications.     

The effects of perceived service quality on repurchase intentions and subjective well-being of Chinese tourists: The mediating role of relationship quality

The current study provides and tests an integrated model that examines two relationship quality constructs (overall customer satisfaction, customer-company identification) as mediating variables between Chinese tourists' lodging service quality perceptions and two outcomes (repurchase intentions, subjective well-being). The results of a study with domestic Chinese hotel guests (n = 451) provide support for the proposed model. Specifically, the results indicate that overall customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between perceived service quality and repurchase intentions and subjective well-being, respectively. Customer-company identification partially mediates the relationship between perceived service quality and repurchase intentions and subjective wellbeing, respectively. We provide empirical validation that customers do, indeed, identify with hospitality providers, and this, in-turn, provides positive consequences for both the service provider (i.e., repurchase intentions) and the customer (i.e., subjective well-being). Managerial implications are provided, limitations noted, and future research directions suggested.     

Influencing factors on restaurant customers’ revisit intention: The roles of emotions and switching barriers

This study was designed to examine the relationships among consumption emotions, customer satisfaction, switching barriers, and revisit intention. Four positive and negative categories of switching barriers (preference, switching costs, relational investment, and lack of alternatives) were identified through a qualitative approach. Using structural equation analysis, the proposed relationships were tested in a full-service restaurant setting. The results showed that multiple components of consumption emotions significantly affected customer satisfaction, and satisfaction mediated the effect of emotion factors on revisit intention. The findings from the tests for metric invariances also indicated that the strength of the relationship between satisfaction and revisit intention was different across high- and low-switching barrier groups. In particular, the satisfaction-revisit intention relationship was stronger in each low-switching barrier group than in each high-switching barrier group.     

Responding to negative online reviews: The effects of hotel responses on customer inferences of trust and concern

Our research examines the perceptions and evaluations of prospective customers toward an online negative review and any accompanying hotel response. The study explores two main issues: whether the presence (versus absence) of an organizational response to negative customer reviews affects the inferences potential consumers draw about the target business, and which aspects of responses affect their impressions. We test the effects of four variables associated with a response: source of response, voice of responder, speed of response, and action frame on two outcomes variables (i.e., customer concern and trust inferences). The provision of an online response (versus no response) enhanced inferences that potential consumers draw regarding the business's trustworthiness and the extent to which it cares about its customers. Using a human voice and a timely response yielded favorable customer inferences. Inferences did not vary with response source or action frame. Implications are drawn for effective management of negative online reviews.     

Effects of price sorting display on extreme option choice aversion: The role of ease of comparison in multiple option displays

Due to the popularity of online travel agency (OTA) booking platforms, OTAs display diverse information, including features of products, on their websites. Based on choice architecture literature, this study aimed to examine the effect of product quality and price sorting (vs. non-sorting) on extreme option choice aversion and identify the moderating effect of displays that made it difficult to read information. The results of a series of four experimental studies (total n = 2838 online panel members) demonstrated that the tendency to choose the non-extreme or middle-attributed options was stronger when quality and price were displayed sorted (vs. non-sorted). It was theorized that easy comparison of multiple options leads to decision-making. The positive effect of quality and price sorting on extreme option choice aversion was significantly reduced when customers had difficulty reading the displayed information.     

The effect of mobile application-driven customer participation on bakery purchase behavior: Evidence from a field experiment

This paper empirically examines individual and joint effects of two types of customer participation (CP)—mandatory and replaceable—within a mobile app on bakery purchase behavior. This research conducts a field experiment to track customer decisions on whether to participate in in-app CP events—store loyalty program enrollment and store satisfaction survey—and whether to change their purchasing amount and frequency. After controlling other influencing factors, the authors performed ANOVA with the sample of 19,065 bakery customers’ behavioral decisions. The results confirm that mandatory CP has a positive effect on purchase behavior, while replaceable CP has mixed effects across stores. In addition, the results confirm that customers who engaged in both types of CP increased their purchase amount and frequency, compared to customers who engaged in one type or neither. The study suggests hospitality firms should motivate customers to engage in mandatory and replaceable CP to enhance customer loyalty cost-effectively.     

The effect of relational benefits on perceived value in relation to customer loyalty: An empirical study in the Australian coffee outlets industry

Retaining and cultivating customer loyalty has become increasingly important for coffee outlet marketers and operators due to the highly competitive environment. This study aims to develop and test a model investigating how relational benefits enhance perceived value to win customer loyalty. Using a self-administered questionnaire survey, 949 respondents from coffee outlets were used for this study. The findings show that relational benefits have direct effect on perceived value and customer loyalty. In addition, relational benefits also have indirect effect on loyalty via perceived value. Finally, perceived value positively influenced customer loyalty. The findings suggest that coffee outlet operators with a better understanding of their customers’ perceptions, and help them in developing competitive strategies that differentiate themselves from competitors and win customer loyalty in an aggressive market.     

The impact of Halal tourism,customer engagement on satisfaction: moderating effect of religiosity

The research aimed at finding out the relationship between Halal tourism, religiosity, customer engagement, and tourist’s satisfaction. The population of the study were Muslim tourists who visited West Sumatra, Indonesia. The data were 450 respondents, but only 393 were useable responses. It is found that Halal tourism and customer engagement have significant impacts on the tourist’s satisfaction. Religiosity is a significant moderating variable on this relationship. Thus, this study gives some contribution to tourism sector especially on Halal tourism, religiosity, and customer satisfaction.     

The effect of airport atmospherics on satisfaction and behavioral intentions: testing the moderating role of perceived safety

International airports have been notable spaces due to their reinforced roles and the increase in the number of users. Nevertheless, there are not many studies on the relationships among the physical environment of the airport, perception of airport safety, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. To fill this gap, this study has attempted to (1) examine the relationships among the physical environment of the airport, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions; (2) discover which element of physical circumstances has an influence on satisfaction; and (3) ascertain perceived airport safety as a moderator between satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The data were collected through wireless channels, using the snowball method. The findings disclosed that facility aesthetics is the strongest component of the physical surroundings of the airport in eliciting satisfaction, and satisfaction has a major impact on behavioral intentions. Despite the invalid moderation effect of perceived airport safety, safety was clarified as a direct driver of satisfaction through additional analysis.     

The effect of destination social responsibility on tourist environmentally responsible behavior: Compared analysis of first-time and repeat tourists

Utilizing a Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study presents and examines an integrated model that investigates consumption emotions (positive and negative) and tourist-destination identification as mediating variables between perceived destination social responsibility and the environmentally responsible behavior of Chinese tourists (n = 539). Previous research has suggested that prior experience with a service can impact the relationships between constructs; as such, this study also investigates the potential moderating impact of visitation frequency on the proposed model. Findings indicate that consumption emotions (positive and negative) and tourist-destination identification do mediate the effect of perceived destination social responsibility and environmentally responsible behavior. Only positive emotions were found to significantly impact tourist-destination identification. A moderating effect for first-time, relative to repeat visitors, was found for some paths between the investigated constructs in the proposed model. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, limitations provided, and future research directions suggested.