Regionalism in Tourism-The Case for Kenya and Ethiopia

Abstract

To understand the behavior of tourists from different cultures, a cross-cultural study was conducted to examine Japanese and American college students' travel preferences. A psychographic approach based on value orientations was used to understand the relationship between travel preferences and students' cultural tendencies of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. The study confirmed previous findings that Japanese and American college students have different cultural tendencies and travel preferences. In addition, horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism significantly correlated with several travel preferences among Japanese and American college students.     

Restaurant revenue management: Do perceived capacity scarcity and price differences matter?

Revenue management (RM) has become an indispensable strategic tool in capacity-constrained service industries whose total revenue often depends on the abilities of firms to use capacity efficiently. The restaurant business is similar enough to traditional RM industries such as hotels and airlines, but restaurants also have unique characteristics that pose special challenges to restaurant operators. Among the unique characteristics of restaurants are the relative flexibility of service capacity and the flexible duration of a meal, which are important subjects to be considered in the implementation of RM practices. In addition, when a restaurant operator practices a demand-based variable pricing policy to adjust demand, the magnitude of the price differences may influence fairness perceptions of the policy. Based on the commodity theory and the equity theory, this study hypothesizes that two main effects, namely, perceived scarcity of capacity in a restaurant and price differences, influence the perceived value of a restaurant's offerings and the fairness perceptions of a restaurant's RM practices. As hypothesized, the negative effects of price difference on fairness perceptions are supported by the results. However, findings suggest that perceived scarcity of capacity influences neither the perceived value of a restaurant's expected offering nor the fairness perceptions for a restaurant's RM practices.     

Culture,Self-Construal,and Leisure Motivations

The purpose of this study is to examine Canadian and Mainland Chinese students' leisure by investigating the role self-construal plays as an intervening variable between culture and motivation. Separate hierarchical multiple regressions are performed on each motivation with culture entered first followed by a block composed of four types of self-construal: vertical collectivism (i.e., dutiful), horizontal collectivism (i.e., cooperative), horizontal individualism (i.e., unique), and vertical individualism (i.e., achievement oriented). Results suggest that: (a) higher levels of horizontal collectivism are associated with higher levels of introjected reward (i.e., pride), identified (i.e., personally important), integrated (self-identity), and intrinsic (i.e., interesting and enjoyable) motivations; and (b) higher levels of horizontal individualism are associated with higher levels of introjected reward, identified, and integrated motivations.     

Effect of Price Change Alert on Perceptions of Hotel Attribute-based Room Pricing (ABP) versus Traditional Room Pricing (TRP)

Aside from marketing information on traditional room rates, hotels and online travel agents (OTAs) are trying a new pricing technique based on the attributes of guestrooms. This research investigates how attribute-based room pricing (ABP) differs from traditional room pricing (TRP) in influencing consumer reactions when consumers receive a price change alert before (vs. after) sales. Through a series of experiments, we found that TRP and ABP result in similar alert attitude, brand attitude, and visit intention for presale price change alert. However, ABP leads to more favorable results for postsale price change alert. We examined the underlying mechanism and found that perceived fairness mediates the effect of pricing strategy on brand attitude, price alert attitude, and visit intention for postsale alert only. This research provides hotel managers and OTA marketers with guidance on when to send either type of price change message to consumers.     

Serious Leisure as an Avenue for Nurturing Community

Using a communitarian framework to explore relationships between individuals and community, survey research was used to examine relationships among volunteers’ personal value orientations of individualism and collectivism, experiences of volunteering as serious leisure, and perceptions of sense of community and social cohesion. Based on survey responses from 300 current volunteers at ten voluntary organizations, findings linked collectivism and individualism to serious leisure, which in turn strongly associated with sense of community and social cohesion. In these empirical findings, serious leisure emerged as a pathway for nurturing community.     

Culture As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Service Quality And The Tourist'S Satisfaction With Different Distribution Channels

The present research analyzes the influence of culture on the relationship between each of the dimensions of service quality and tourists' satisfaction with the distribution channel, differentiating between travel agencies and the Internet. More specifically, the research seeks to understand the influence of the cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism on the relationship between each of the dimensions of service quality and satisfaction, depending on the medium through which the service is purchased. The sample was made up of 600 tourists. Of these, 300 tourists (150 Spanish and 150 English) had purchased hotel accommodation for their last holiday via a travel agency, and the other 300 (150 Spanish and 150 English) had purchased hotel accommodation for their last holiday via the Internet. The findings indicate that there are variations in the relationships between each of the dimensions of service quality and satisfaction, and that these variations are shaped by the cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism.     

The Antecedents and Consequences of Brand Prestige in Luxury Restaurants

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents and consequences of brand prestige in luxury restaurants. Based on the existing theoretical background, it was proposed that four types of brand-related stimulus form brand experience in consumer memory and thus influence the formation of brand prestige. Through a review of the literature, it was also hypothesized that brand prestige can result in five managerial outcomes: patrons' well-being perception, information costs saved, perceived price fairness, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Based on the theoretical relationships between the conceptual constructs, a model was proposed and then tested utilizing data collected from 527 luxury restaurant patrons. The results of data analysis indicate that two types of brand-related stimulus (sensory and intellectual) aid in the creation of brand prestige, and can thus help to: enhance patrons' well-being perception; reduce patrons' information searching efforts; and enhance perceived price fairness. As a result, patron satisfaction and positive behavioral intentions can be induced. The critical managerial implications of these findings are then discussed in the latter part of the article.     

Exploring effective price presentation format to reduce decision difficulty and increase decision satisfaction

Variable pricing is frequently employed by service firms that adopt revenue management practices. This strategy is effective in stimulating and increasing revenue by appealing to customers with different levels of price sensitivity. However, by providing excessive price options, a company may cause choice overload for customers. Within the framework of behavioral economics, this study explores an effective price presentation strategy to mitigate choice overload due to a large assortment size of price options in the context of hotels. The findings of the experimental design study suggest that the number of categories that distinguish and organize price options positively affects consumers' perceived decision difficulty and consequent decision satisfaction when a large assortment size of price options is provided. This research extends the understanding of the effect of variable pricing on consumers' responses and provides marketers with guidance on how to manage variable pricing and its price presentation format.     

You’re the Only One,or Simply the Best. Hotels differentiation,competition, agglomeration,and pricing

Drawing on competition, signalling and agglomeration perspectives, we investigate how vertical and horizontal differentiation influence price, and how hotel competition and agglomeration may moderate any such effects. We argue that vertical differentiation should include online reputation to complement category, and that hotel clustering can provide benefits for incumbents. Hypotheses are tested using quantile regression on a sample of 1870 hotels. In order to account for any service dimensions, an index of differentiation is estimated. We found that local competition and agglomeration moderates the relationship between differentiation and pricing. Furthermore, online reputation effects are more intense for low priced hotels. Indeed, when competition is intense, the positive effect of horizontal differentiation is lower for low priced hotels. Similarly, hotel clustering reinforces the impact of category on price, but it reduces the benefits of offering more services.     

Influence of culture on purchase decision: Integrative models development of amusement park customers

The current study developed and examined integrative models to analyze the influence of national culture on purchase decision attributes (PDAs) between American and Chinese amusement park customers using the consumer style inventory (CSI), attributes of purchase decisions, and cultural dimensions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the dimensions (i.e., cultural dimensions and PDAs); the prevalent estimate of error covariance; the validity of the integrative models and the group invariance; and the effects among the latent variables. Structural equation modeling suggested significant impacts of power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance (UA) and long-term orientation (ORI) on PDAs. The group invariance model analysis showed significantly more positive impacts of PD and ORI on PDAs among Chinese amusement park customers. Theoretical and managerial implications such as insignificance of individualism/ collectivism, perception of price appropriateness, niche markets development for American customers, and more diverse products and service packages for Chinese customers, are discussed.     

Community involvement and place identity: the role of perceived values,perceived fairness,and subjective well-being

This research aims to discuss the community residents’ place identity to rural tourists site by exploring residents’ perceived values, perceived fairness, and subjective well-being in their involvement behavior. The evidence of relationship among those constructs in theory and practice is provided in this study. With the samples gained from a typical and representative rural tourists site in China, the outcomes of a structural equation modeling approach demonstrated that community members’ involvement at rural tourists site positively affects perceived values and fairness; they, thereby, contributes to residents’ subjective well-being. At last, subjective well-being plays an effective predictor of place identity to the rural tourists site.     

OUTCOMES OF RELATIONAL BENEFITS: RESTAURANT CUSTOMERS' PERSPECTIVE

Research in business and marketing increasingly indicates the significance of relational benefits, perceived price, and perceived value in retaining customers. However, little research has considered three types of relational benefits and perceived price and value together in the customer retention process. Thus, this study was designed to propose and test a behavioral intention model by incorporating these constructs in a full‐service restaurant setting. Although the direct link between the special treatment benefit and perceived value was not significant; consistent with our hypotheses, social, special treatment, and confidence benefits appeared to boost perceived price and value, which subsequently enhanced intentions to revisit and recommend. In addition, perceived price and value mediated the relationships between relational benefits and behavioral intentions. Furthermore, the prominent role of the special treatment benefit in increasing intentions was verified. A parsimonious best‐fit model was produced through the process of testing intricate relations among study constructs. Implications of the findings and future research avenues are discussed.     

Effects of concealing vs. displaying prices on consumer perceptions of hospitality products

This study was designed to empirically test the psychological consequences of concealing (vs. displaying) the prices of hospitality products on perceptions of expensiveness, quality, value, and purchase intention. To achieve this objective, seven hypotheses were proposed and a series of four experimental studies were conducted. It was found that a cafe that did not (vs. did) display price information was evaluated relatively highly in terms of perceived expensiveness, but relatively low in perceived quality, value, and purchase intention. Specifically, we found that the heightened perception of expensiveness of a price-concealing cafe, along with relatively weak change in quality perception, negatively influenced both perceptions of value and purchase intention in Studies 1 and 2. Further, we found that these relationships are moderated by the consumer personal trait of price consciousness (Study 3) and mediated by price fairness (Study 4).     

Exploring consumers’ bidding results based on starting price,number of bidders and promotion programs

Online auctions are a core dynamic pricing mechanism that is now used widely in the tourism market, and consumers enjoy the exciting experience of bidding for products and services. The rapid development of the online auction market has lead scholars to call for more research into the factors that influence the results of such auctions and how they are related to consumers’ online bidding behavior. To this end, the current study designs a lab environment and mainly explores the influences of the start bidding price (US$0.33 versus US$60), the number of bidders and promotion programs (low price versus quality) on the results of online auctions of hotel coupons. The research results indicate the following market dynamics. (1) Regardless of whether there is a low or high start-bidding price, more bidders lead to higher end-prices, especially with high start-bidding prices. (2) When a seller provides a higher start-bidding price, the end-prices will be higher. (3) Different promotion programs result in different end-prices, especially when the product characteristics are integrated effectively with such programs. When hotel coupons are the main auction product, they are associated with high-quality leisure and lifestyle factors, thus indicating that the integration of high accommodation quality with quality promotion programs can attract consumers to join the bidding process and lead to higher end-prices. (4) Regardless of whether there is a low or high start-bidding price, winners will always report higher ratings regarding distributive fairness, procedural fairness and information fairness than will losers. The research results have important theoretical and practical implications, which are discussed in the conclusions.     

Free add-on services and perceived value in competitive environments: Evidence from online hotel reviews

This study investigates how free add-on services affect customers’ perceived value in horizontal and vertical competition. We collected 349,879 reviews about over 3000 hotels in 25 U.S. cities from TripAdvisor. Using three balanced data sets generated by coarsened exact matching, the ordered logistic regressions show that free hotel add-on services (including free breakfast, parking, and WiFi) positively affect consumers’ perceived value. However, increased horizontal and vertical competition differentially weakens the positive effects of free add-on services. We not only observe a negative moderating effect of horizontal competition, but also identify three patterns of the marginal effects of these three add-ons in horizontal competition. The moderating effect of vertical competition exists from the higher-grade hotel segment to a lower-grade hotel, but such an effect is insignificant from the lower-grade hotel segment to a higher-grade hotel. Therefore, hotel managers should consider diverse external competitive environments and design appropriate differentiated service strategies.     

Cross-Border Restaurant Patronage

ABSTRACT

This research takes a cross-cultural view of the variables influencing dining consumers' perception of the attractiveness of a neighboring country as a venue for dining, and satisfaction with the cross-border dining experience. Specifically, it studies consumers' attractiveness perceptions of neighboring country restaurants as a venue for dining and satisfaction, with the cross-border dining experience as a function of three key individual-difference variables associated with Western and Asian consumers. In a survey of 636 cross-border diners at United States/Canada and Hong Kong/China borders, perceptions of attractiveness and satisfaction were found to vary as a function of variables associated with the cultural attributes of individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and time perspective.     

Does it matter who gets a better price? Antecedents and consequences of online price unfairness for advantaged and disadvantaged consumers

This study examines the moderating role of price inequalities in the antecedents and consequences of perceived price unfairness. We test a moderated mediation model on a sample of 994 consumers exposed to a hotel booking scenario either with an advantaged price (n = 496) or a disadvantaged one (n = 498). Our results show that the mechanisms through which perceived price unfairness is formed and its influence on price satisfaction and WOM significantly differ based on price inequalities. Furthermore, these findings highlight the importance of managing the potential negative consequences of unfair pricing not only for disadvantaged consumers, but also for advantaged ones.     

Fairness of prices,user fee policy and willingness to pay among visitors to a national forest

Imposing user fees in Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) contexts has been a controversial issue. Based on the notions of justice and fairness, this study extended previous work examining the relationship between attitudes toward user fees and spending support. In a proposed structural model of price fairness, fee spending support, and willingness to pay (WTP), this paper identified the antecedents of WTP user fees, and empirically examined to what extent the data fit the model. Furthermore, the moderating role of place attachment in the model was investigated by using multiple-group structural equation modeling. Subjects (n = 562) were recreational tourists to a forest area in the southeast U.S. Results revealed that spending support partially played a mediating role in the relationship between perceived price fairness and WTP user fees. A multiple-group invariance test also demonstrated that while the degree of place identity moderated the effect of price fairness on spending support, the degree of place dependence did not influence the relationships among the antecedents of WTP.     

Investigating customer loyalty formation for wellness spa: Individualism vs. collectivism

Visitor retention is undeniably a major issue for every destination marketer. This study was an attempt to develop an international tourists’ loyalty framework for wellness spa tourism destination by considering quality and value of spa tourism in Thailand, affect, satisfaction, desire, and culture. Our proposed framework and hypothesized relationships were evaluated by using a structural analysis. A field survey was used. Results indicated that our conceptual model included a satisfactory fit to the data. Quality and value were found to have a critical role, and other study constructs were identified to act as direct/indirect driving forces of loyalty intentions. In addition, mediating role of affect, satisfaction, and desire was found. Moreover, moderating impact of culture (individualism vs. collectivism) on the loyalty formation was identified. Overall, our theoretical framework was demonstrated to be capable of explicating wellness spa tourists’ destination loyalty formation. Implications for destination marketers in Thailand are discussed.     

Antecedents of the intention to visit ecotourism destinations that suffered environmental disasters

This study investigated how utilitarian reference group influence, socially responsible consumption, activism orientation and collectivism affect the intention to visit ecotourism destinations that have suffered environmental disasters. Quantitative research was carried out, with a sample of 397 individuals analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicated that the potential visitors of this segment do not have their choices determined by the evaluations and opinions of their closest groups, but rather the ones with whom they identify themselves with. Still, the reference groups are important contributors to the individuals' responsible consumption, but the latter, contradictorily, does not predict the intention to visit ecotourism destinations, which seems to be more of a hedonistic than a utilitarian attitude. Moreover, collectivism was perceived as a cultural dimension instead of an individual personality trait, which was not enough for the conception of a potential demand. The study's key finding is in the identification of politically and socially engaged individuals as the main potential visitors of locations which have faced environmental disasters.