How do foreigners perceive? Exploring foreign diners’ satisfaction with service quality of Chinese restaurants

China has received 138 million inbound trips in 2016. The purpose of travel may vary but these international travelers visit Chinese restaurants as an integral part of their travel experience. Our study tries to comprehend their dining experience and regional differences in service quality (SQ) perceptions. The findings indicate that food and process quality significantly influence satisfaction and behavioral intentions. More importantly, the results reveal that international travelers roving through all the six continents hold significantly different perceptions regarding SQ attributes of Chinese restaurants. Additionally, we found proficiency in Chinese language as a significant contributor in generating dissimilar perceptions.     

An examination of students’ perceptions for guest speakers in hospitality and tourism programs

The current study aimed to identify students’ perceptions about guest speakers in hospitality and tourism programs. A total of 222 participants were surveyed at a large, public university in southwestern United States. The mean scores of 10 attributes were plotted on an importance-performance analysis grid to illustrate each attribute of one guest speaker’s lecture. The findings showed a discrepancy between the students’ perceived importance and the performance level. The results indicate that students expect that guest speakers not only provide industry-specific knowledge and current issues but also deliver them appropriately. Therefore, guest speakers should realize that students are eager to learn about strategies for career success and current issues in order to stimulate their interest. These findings provide meaningful information for guest speakers on how to improve their effectiveness because students’ reflection and ideas about guest speakers help faculty members better utilize guest speakers and develop curriculums and programs, which ultimately will benefit students in their learning.     

Positive emotions and behavioral intentions of customers in full-service restaurants: Does aesthetic labor matter?

Based on the Mehrabian–Russell model, this study investigates whether aesthetic labor performance affects the positive emotions and behavioral intentions of customers in full-service restaurants. This research also identifies the mediating effects of positive emotions on aesthetic labor and behavioral intentions. A total of 320 valid questionnaires were collected from the customers of a well-known chain of restaurants in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate a model linking aesthetic labor, positive emotions, and behavioral intentions. The results revealed that aesthetic labor positively and significantly influences positive emotions and behavioral intentions, and that positive emotions positively and significantly influence behavioral intentions. However, when the control variables of food quality, ambiance, and service quality were added, aesthetic labor did not positively influence behavioral intentions. In addition, positive emotions did not mediate the relationship between aesthetic labor and behavioral intentions. Finally, we provide a discussion on practical implications and suggestions for future research.     

An examination of the role of booking lead time in consumers’ reactions to online scarcity messages

Scarcity messaging is frequently employed by travel marketers to drive consumer conversion rate in the online sales environment. This study examines the effects of two types of scarcity messages, unit and option scarcity, on consumer booking intentions and explores the role of booking lead time on the scarcity messaging-booking intentions relationship in the context of the purchase of hotel accommodation. Findings suggest that when booking lead-time is long, unit scarcity messages will be more effective than option scarcity messages in influencing booking intentions as they are perceived as more credible, and induce higher perceptions of a sellout risk. When booking lead-time is short, consumers perceive no differences in the credibility of unit and option scarcity messages: both are equally effective in driving booking intentions. This research provides marketers with guidance on how and when to leverage scarcity appeals to drive consumer conversion rate.     

‘Bin it and forget it!’: The challenges of food waste management in restaurants of a mid-sized Hungarian city

Although research on food waste and its management in foodservices is gradually evolving in developed countries, it remains limited in transitional economies. This holds true for many EU-28 member states located in East-Central Europe, where no studies have assessed to date the magnitude of food waste occurring in foodservices, identified its key drivers and established the scope for minimisation. By interviewing 18 managers of foodservice businesses in a historical, mid-sized, city of Veszprem, this paper explores the phenomenon of food waste in the foodservice sector of Hungary, an EU-28 economy in transition. It provides a first benchmark of food waste generation in Hungarian foodservices. It also identifies institutional, contextual, locational, organisational and cultural factors that impede food waste prevention and mitigation. Drawing on international experience and best practices in food waste management, recommendations are made on how these factors should be addressed.     

Does the geographic proximity of products influence a consumer’s decision? An evaluation in a restaurant

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Does ECO certification deliver benefits? An empirical investigation of visitors’ perceptions of the importance of ECO certification's attributes and of operators’ performance

Certification is highlighted as a key sustainable tourism management tool. Yet, very little is known about visitors’ perceptions of such schemes. This is an important gap: the success of certification schemes depends on consumers’ confidence in the quality of products and services that the schemes endorse. This paper surveyed 610 visitors to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and surrounds in Queensland, Australia about (1) the perceived importance of various attributes of the ECO certification scheme; and (2) the perceived performance of operators based on those attributes. Data analysis identified aspects of ECO certification and of operator performance that may need improvement. It found that importance of attributes varied across products and visitor groups; at accommodations, most attributes were perceived to be important, Nature (as an aesthetic experience) and Marketing being more important than others, while at attractions and on tours, visitors were indifferent. Younger visitors rated Environment and Conservation more highly than their older counterparts and females rated Conservation more highly than males. Visitors – notably at accommodations – considered that ECO certified operators were performing “better” than non-ECO certified operators on many attributes. How these visitor perceptions translate into reality remains an important topic for future research.     

Does the sequence of presentations matter for academic conferences? An application of the peak-end rule in event management

Abstract

In psychology, the peak-end rule has been used to describe the effects of emotional factors on live experiences. However, it has yet to be examined in the contexts of events and conferences. This study investigated the influence of conference presentation order, excitement following peak experience, previous conference experience, and time since one’s last visit on conference satisfaction and loyalty. Although no significant differences in satisfaction and loyalty were found with regard to the order of presentations, previous experience and time since last visit were found to have significant effects on attendees’ outcomes. End-of-conference peak experiences exhibited the strongest influence on loyalty.     

Does living in the vicinity of heritage tourism sites influence residents’ perceptions and attitudes?

Abstract

This study investigates whether the perceptions and attitudes of residents living within the vicinity of heritage tourism sites differ from those living further afield. It examines residents’ attitudes toward tourism development; community attachment; environment and culture attitudes; economic gain; and involvement, alongside the moderating role of distance from heritage tourism sites. In doing so, it investigates how the aforementioned factors influence residents’ perceptions of tourism development in their city. Data was collected from inhabitants of Kashan and Tabriz, two historic cities couched within Iran’s growing heritage tourism sector, and analyzed using partial least squares - structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrate significant differences between the perceptions of tourism impacts, economic gain, environmental and cultural attitudes, and involvement between residents living within the vicinity of heritage tourism sites and those living further afield. However, these findings contradicted the hypotheses; identifying higher positive perceptions, environmental and cultural attitudes, economic gain, and involvement for residents living far from heritage tourism sites. Further, the findings did not support the moderating role of distance for the effects of influencing factors on residents’ perceptions. Therefore, this study proffers significant theoretical contributions and practical implications with regards to developing sustainable tourism in Iran.     

Do employees’ satisfied customers respond with an satisfactory relationship? The effects of employees’ satisfaction on customers’ satisfaction and loyalty in a family restaurant

The purpose of this study is to understand the interrelationships among employees’ satisfaction and customer's satisfaction and loyalty in a family restaurant. The study was administered to 69 employees and 258 customers. The results showed a positive relationship between employees’ satisfaction and customer satisfaction. However, employees’ satisfaction did not have a significant, direct impact on customer loyalty, but showed an indirect influence via customer satisfaction. In addition, customer satisfaction was positively associated with customer loyalty. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.     

The negative spillover effect of food crises on restaurant firms: Did Jack in the Box really recover from an E. coli scare?

Despite the enormous impact of food crises on restaurants, limited understanding of their long-term impacts and associated factors has undermined crisis managers’ ability to handle crisis situations effectively. This article investigated the long-term impact of food crises on the financial performance of restaurant firms and identified the factors that influenced this impact. This explanatory study examined the case of Jack in the Box, whose 1993 Escherichia coli scare was the first and largest restaurant-associated food crisis in modern times. An event study method was used to uncover stock price movements of Jack in the Box, in conjunction with 73 unrelated food crises that occurred from 1994 to 2010. Stock prices of Jack in the Box exhibited significantly negative responses to other firms’ food crises, moreover, the negative spillover effect was stronger if the crisis occurred closer in time, was similar in nature, and was accompanied with no recall execution. These findings shed light on the long-term financial impact of food crises and offer insights for crisis managers to develop more effective crisis management strategies.     

How do Mainland Chinese travelers choose restaurants in Hong Kong?: An exploratory study of individual visit scheme travelers and packaged travelers

The introduction of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), which allows Mainland Chinese travelers (hereafter called Chinese travelers) to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis, has been beneficial to the fast recovery of the local economy in Hong Kong from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The IVS travelers, together with the packaged travelers who visited Hong Kong by joining packaged tours, are presently forming the largest segment of inbound travelers to Hong Kong. Despite the significant economic contributions of Chinese travelers to Hong Kong in general, and to the foodservice sector in particular, there has been an absence of prior studies on IVS travelers’ behavior of selecting restaurants in the existing hospitality and tourism literature. This paper reports on an exploratory study that investigated the perceived importance of attributes that pertain to the selection of restaurants from the perspective of IVS and packaged travelers from Mainland China. Empirical findings of a questionnaire survey with 230 Chinese travelers, including 127 IVS travelers and 103 packaged travelers, showed that the respondents in general viewed the included attributes as relatively important. In addition, only two attributes exhibited significant differences between IVS and packaged travelers. Findings of this research would be useful for hospitality and tourism practitioners to better prepare for receiving the growing number of Chinese travelers.     

How geographic,cultural, and institutional distances shape location choices of China’s OFDI in tourism? – an empirical study on B&R countries

This paper examines how bilateral distances shape Chinese enterprises' outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in tourism in Belt and Road (B&R) countries. The results indicate that while geographic distance is not a key factor explaining the location choice of Chinese tourism OFDI in B&R countries, cultural distance hinders this location choice in a linear and monotonic way. Chinese enterprises prefer B&R countries with a short institutional distance from China for OFDI in tourism to avoid the “outsider disadvantage”. Moreover, market scale is found to be a moderating factor influencing the impacts of various distances on tourism OFDI location choice.