Exploring tourists’ stress and coping strategies in leisure travel

Leisure travel can mediate daily stress, but also provoke stress. Tourists experience multiple stress during their vacations. The aim of this study was to identify what types of stress tourists encounter during their travel experiences and what strategies they use to cope with stress. Using semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the study findings reveal that tourists encounter four major types of stress (i.e., service-provider-related stress, traveler-related stress, travel-partner-related stress, and environment-related stress) during their vacations and use many strategies (i.e., problem-focused and emotion-focused coping) to cope with stress. These findings not only contribute to tourism research by documenting specific types of stress in the travel context and exploring new insights into ways of coping with stress, but also provide suggestions for how tourism and hospitality professionals should modify programs/experiences in response to tourists’ stress and the need to cope with stress during travel experiences.     

The effect of algorithmic management and workers’ coping behavior: An exploratory qualitative research of Chinese food-delivery platform

While algorithmic management provides new options for organizing service work, it is underexplored in tourism and hospitality research. From food-delivery platforms in China, this qualitative study sources interviews and online reviews to explore the impact of algorithmic management on workers' service behavior and how they cope in response. Our study uncovers an algorithm-human hybrid approach for managing workers, where algorithms and humans function distinctly but complement each other. Algorithmic management influences deliverers’ work either positively, by improving service efficiency, reliability and customer-orientated behavior; or negatively by causing impersonal service behavior, frequent service recovery and extra-role workload. Deliverers employ both problem-focused (i.e., compliance, flexible response and resistance) and emotion-focused (i.e., relief) coping strategies in algorithmic management. In addition to individual resistance, we firstly revealed that deliverers collude with other parties to resist the algorithms. We proposed a conceptual framework that contributes to understanding the dynamic, mutual relationship between algorithms and workers.     

Customers’ Perceptions of Employee Engagement: Fortifying the Service–Profit Chain

This study investigated the three dimensions of employee engagement: dedication, energy, and absorption from the customer’s perspective. The service–profit chain (SPC) and employee behavior that promotes customer satisfaction and loyalty were examined. The results revealed that certain aspects of employee engagement are more readily perceived by consumers and more likely to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty. Findings showed that energy and dedication combined were most likely to foster feelings of satisfaction and loyalty among hospitality patrons. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to the literature by enhancing the SPC, revealing new insight into employee engagement, and linking employee engagement to positive consumer outcomes. Hospitality industry professionals may find that employee engagement benefits the customers’ perceptions of the establishment, ultimately increasing profitability. This study utilizes the SPC in the hospitality context and proposes a new link in the chain: employee engagement.     

Chinese international students’ psychological adaptation process in Korea: the role of tourism experience in the host country

This study aims to shed light on the effect of international students’ lifelong learning and dining experience during the trip in a host country on their psychological adaptation, place attachment, and sharing of tourism experience. Employing responses from 247 Chinese students in South Korea, a SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) technique was used for the analysis. The study found that lifelong learning positively influences dining-out flow experience, which in turn placed positive effects on psychological adaptation, place attachment, and sharing of tourism experience, whereas place attachment mediates the relationship between flow experience and both sharing of tourism experience and psychological adaptation.     

Nutrition Labeling for Restaurant Menu Items: College Students’ Preferences for Nutrition Information and Its Influence on Purchase Intention

During the college years, young adults develop eating habits and concerns that follow them throughout their lives. Understanding college students’ menu selections in dining-out situations can provide insight into their eating habits. This study aimed to investigate college students’ preferences for types of nutrition information (such as macronutrients and total calories, specific nutrients, and health claims) on restaurant menus, and the impact of nutrition information on purchase intention. The presence of caloric and macronutrient information on restaurant menus was found to significantly affect purchase intention. The findings provide a foundation for future hospitality studies investigating dining-out menus as a persuasive tool for better health, and suggest strategies for industry professionals.     

Corporate social responsibility signaling,evaluation, identification,and revisit intention among cruise customers

Abstract

Improvements in customer knowledge and interest in cruise tourism have facilitated the growth of the cruise industry. However, the cruise industry has limited research attention from tourism and hospitality scholars. Furthermore, in the cruise setting, although a large number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages are sent to customers, it seems reasonable to suspect that not all CSR activities are effective to achieve the sustainable growth of the company. Therefore, this study aims to expand the existing knowledge of cruise CSR by examining the impact of customers’ perceived value of socially responsible consumption behavior on brand-related outcomes. Data from 292 cruise customers in the United States are collected through online surveys. Findings support the evidence that CSR signaling influences customers’ positive evaluation and identification with a cruise brand, but no direct impact on their behavioral intention is observed. Also, the mediating role of evaluation and identification in the relationship between CSR signaling and revisit intention is examined. In this study, the signaling and social identity theories are supported by an empirical study to addresses the importance of customers’ socially responsible consumption trait in sustainable growth.     

Smartphones in Tourism and Hospitality Marketing: A Literature Review

Smartphones are a growing marketing platform whose increasing popularity affects tourism by helping tourists communicate and share information while traveling. Considering the growing significance of smartphones in tourism and hospitality, this study analyzed 104 articles related to smartphones that were published in academic journals and papers presented at conferences from the perspective of both marketers and consumers. The number of studies on smartphones was found to have increased between the years 2000 and 2013. In particular, the number of studies focused on the consumer perspective was larger than that focused on the marketer perspective. This paper contributes to academic research by identifying areas that lack emphasis and providing an agenda for future research.     

Using segmentation to compete in the age of the sharing economy: Testing a core-periphery framework

Airbnb has emerged as a credible competitive threat to the hotel industry. Consequently, hotel brands are having to rethink the experiences they provide to customer in an increasingly competitive environment. Despite these trends in the industry, experience-related research that examines and informs these developments remains under-represented in the hospitality and tourism literature. The present study offers a systematic approach to examine the potential differences in experiential consumption in the accommodations industry. Using a multiple-group analysis approach, it examines the moderating effects of individual characteristics and situational factors on the nature and dynamics of experiential consumption in the accommodations industry. The findings of the study culminate in the core-periphery framework of the hospitality consumption experience that can provide a relevant theoretical lens for future research into the different sectors and types of experiences within the hospitality and tourism industry. The study also outlines important implications for the hotel industry’s strategic experience design initiatives, from the standpoint of product development, the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) process, and marketing communications.     

What makes Airbnb likeable? Exploring the nexus between service attractiveness,country image,perceived authenticity and experience from a social exchange theory perspective within an emerging economy context

As a result of the growth of the notions of collaborative consumption and sharing economy in the tourism industry, this paper applies social exchange theory to investigate how the Airbnb platform influences the Airbnb experience and authenticity, which might lead consumers to like Airbnb and influence their behavioural patterns. By recruiting 466 tourists who had stayed in Airbnb accommodation in Istanbul, Turkey via travel-related Telegram, Twitter, travel blogs, and Facebook groups, this study revealed the importance of the platform and its features in enhancing service attractiveness, perceived authenticity and experience. Furthermore, the results revealed that visitors’ experiences have an influence on Airbnb likability, where Airbnb likability influences their intention to re-visit and to recommend. Significant implications for tourism planning, management and researchers are highlighted.     

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM: A REVIEW OF PUBLICATIONS FROM 2005 TO 2007

The tourism and hospitality industries have widely adopted information technology (IT) to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and most importantly to improve service quality and customer experience. This article offers a comprehensive review of articles that were published in 57 tourism and hospitality research journals from 2005 to 2007. Grouping the findings into the categories of consumers, technologies, and suppliers, the article sheds light on the evolution of IT applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. The article demonstrates that IT is increasingly becoming critical for the competitive operations of the tourism and hospitality organizations as well as for managing the distribution and marketing of organizations on a global scale.     

Service robots and perceived discrimination in tourism and hospitality

This study explores the influences of the incorporation of service robots in the service delivery systems of tourism and hospitality companies on the perceived discrimination of tourists and tourism employees. In doing so, a conceptual framework is proposed to explain the relationships between robots-based service delivery systems in tourism and hospitality (e.g., fully robotised and mixed service delivery systems) and discrimination. This paper demonstrates that although service robots may be advantageous in eliminating/mitigating perceived discrimination (from employees to tourists, tourists to tourists, tourists to employees, employer/employee to employee), using robots can also create or aggravate perceived discrimination. Though this study is the first attempt on the subject and presents beneficial knowledge for tourism and hospitality service providers and service robot designers, future empirical studies could shed more light on the relationship between robots-based service delivery systems and discrimination in the tourism and hospitality context.     

Operating small tourism firms in rural destinations: A social representations approach to examining how small tourism firms cope with non-tourism induced changes

This study explores the representation that owners and managers of small tourism firms ascribe to their rural destination and how non-tourism induced changes interfere with this representation and motivate coping as guided by social representations theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-four owners and/or managers of at least one small accommodation property in Gloucester, New South Wales, Australia. The informants became involved in the area's accommodation sector primarily driven by the lifestyle goals embedded in their representation of Gloucester. The perception that mining-induced changes might transform Gloucester into a mining town as opposed to its current representation as a town with a mine has motivated many informants to cope. However, coping is impeded by feelings of powerlessness, perceived uncertainties, and distrust in both government and industry. The findings provide preliminary insight into why and how small tourism firm owners/managers cope when faced with change from the perspective of social representations.     

Control,use and ownership of big data: A reciprocal view of customer big data value in the hospitality and tourism industry

While the large-scale harvesting of consumer data is a common practice in the hospitality and tourism industries, the seemingly unassailable right of companies to collect and share consumer data is not without critics. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of data-based value co-creation under varying conditions of consumer control and benefits. Academic and press articles were used to explore the nature of big data value co-creation in a wide range of hospitality, tourism, and other industries. A forward-looking approach was adopted by considering the implications of policy and technology as key mechanisms for sharing the power dynamic regarding the ownership, control and use of personal data. The results suggest that reciprocal big data value creation can be seen as a function of the level of benefit and control afforded to consumers regarding the use of their data. Four types of reciprocal big data value creation are proposed.     

Online travel purchasing: A literature review

Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing focus on the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as the impact that they have had on the tourism industry and on travelers’ behaviors. However, research on what drives consumers to purchase travel online has typically been fragmented. In order to better understand consumers’ behavior toward online travel purchasing, this article offers a review of articles that were published in leading tourism and hospitality journals, the ENTER proceedings, and several articles from other peer-reviewed journals, found on the main academic search databases. The antecedents of online travel shopping found are classified into three main categories: Consumer Characteristics, Perceived Channel Characteristics, and Website and Product Characteristics. Finally, this study identifies several gaps and provides some orientation for future research.     

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.     

Job insecurity,subjective well-being and job performance: The moderating role of psychological capital

The article illuminates one of the central concerns in organizational study; the extent to which job insecurity (JI) affects employees’ subjective well-being (SWB) and consequently their job performance (JP) in hospitality industry. Building on the transactional theory stress and coping, the study analyses the buffering role of psychological capital (PsyCap) as a strategy by which employees overcome the negative impact of JI on SWB and JP. Respondents include 250 four and five star hotel employees in Tehran, Iran. The results highlighted the mediating role of SWB, affirming that JI negatively impacts employees’ JP via decreasing their SWB. Furthermore, the results show that employees with high level of PsyCap are able to cope with JI. Hotel management teams should make appropriate decisions to minimize or eliminate stressful stimuli, particularly JI in the workplace, which has been found to have severe mental, emotional and behavioural consequences.     

The Effects of Local Hospitality,Commercial Hospitality and Experience Quality on Behavioral Intention in Cultural Heritage Tourism

The main aim of this study is to examine the influence of the two domains of hospitality—local hospitality and commercial hospitality—on behavioral intention in the cultural heritage tourism context. This study anticipated that the above relationships were mediated by the tourism experience quality. A total of 500 foreign tourists visiting the Malaysia’s first World Heritage City, Malacca City were surveyed using structured questionnaire. The results revealed that both local and commercial hospitality have positive relationships with experience quality, and experience quality fully mediated the relationships between each of the two domains of hospitality and behavioral intention.     

Influence of sustainable hospitality supply chain management on customers’ attitudes and behaviors

This study aims to identify the impact of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable hospitality supply chain management actions on customers’ attitudes and behaviors including satisfaction, loyalty and willingness to pay a premium for sustainable hospitality goods and services utilizing data collected from U.S. consumers who frequently stay at hotels. Findings suggest that while both environmental and economic dimensions’ actions of sustainable hospitality supply chain management have positive influences on customer satisfaction, loyalty and willingness to pay a premium for sustainable hospitality goods and services, the social dimension actions are found to have a positive influence on customer satisfaction and a negative influence on customer willingness to pay a premium. Results also indicate that customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between social dimension actions and customer loyalty. In addition, customer satisfaction positively influences customer loyalty, which ultimately increases customer willingness to pay a premium. The implications of the research findings are provided.     

To dine or not to dine? Collective wellbeing in hospitality in the COVID-19 era

The hospitality industry has been hard hit by the ongoing pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. As restaurants develop comprehensive reopening plans, consumers may still have mixed feelings about simple things such as going out for a meal. This paper explores wellbeing perceptions of restaurant diners. Based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews, this paper reveals that wellbeing in hospitality is a collective concept comprised of multiple domains of a service system, including macro, meso, and micro levels. Furthermore, this paper provides strong support to show that wellbeing is not only sought collectively, but also is determined by consumers’ wellbeing perceptions of both themselves and others around them, and thus contributes to the wellbeing literature in the hospitality domain. Finally, this paper identifies potential concerns regarding crowding and behaviors of other guests, which extends the hospitality literature on perceived territoriality. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.