Testing the Moderation Effect of Hotel Ambience on the Relationships Among Social Comparison,Affect, Satisfaction,and Behavioral Intentions

This study incorporated the social service environment in the hotel guest affect–satisfaction–behavioral intention model in order to elucidate the effect of social comparison on consumption-based affect by factoring in the moderation effect of hotel ambience on relationships. Structural equation modeling of survey data from hotel guests revealed that social comparison significantly influences hotel guests’ affect, and that affect has a critical role in inducing satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Hotel ambience moderates the model’s relationships – high ambience strengthens the relationships more so than low ambience. Results affirm the inclusion of social environments in predicting hotel guest experiences and shed light on managerial implications for bettering service provision.     

Assessing the Effects of Service Quality,Past Experience,and Destination Image on Behavioral Intentions in the Spring Training Camp of a Japanese Professional Baseball Team

This study aimed to examine the theoretical relationships between service quality, past experience, destination image, and behavioral intentions in the spring training camp of a professional baseball team in Japan. The results indicate that the service quality of spring training camps was divided into five factors: (1) place, (2) enjoyment, (3) information, (4) fan interaction, and (5) operating time. The findings suggest that service quality and past experience had positive effects on both destination image and behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions were also highly influenced by destination image. Future research and managerial implications are also discussed.     

The Relationships of Destination Image,Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions: An Integrated Model

Built upon the tourism and marketing literature, a conceptual model depicting the relationship among tourism destination image components, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions was proposed. A conceptual model consisting of six hypotheses was empirically tested using survey data from 550 Chinese tourists who visited Zhang-Jia-Jie, a major Chinese tourism destination shown on the list of the World Natural Heritage. The empirical findings reveal that: (a) overall tourism destination is reflected by both cognitive image and affective image, and (b) overall tourism destination image has an indirect impact on behavioral intentions through satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed before the article concludes with limitations and directions for future research.     

Influence of Experiences on Memories,Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: A Study of Creative Tourism

To date, few empirical studies have focused on the constituents of creative tourists’ experience and its consequences. This study aims to bridge this research gap by examining the effect of creative tourists’ experience on their memories, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Data were collected from 296 creative tourists, selected through purposive sampling, at selected resort hotels in the Malaysian states of Terengganu and Kedah. The results show that creative-tourist experience is a second-order factor with five dimensions, namely escape and recognition, peace of mind, unique involvement, interactivity, and learning. The results of structural equation modeling show that creative tourists’ experience is a good predictor of their memories, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. The proposed model and findings can greatly help researchers and practitioners understand the concept of creative-tourist experience and its complex relationships with their memories, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions.     

Service Fairness,Consumption Emotions,Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions: The Experience of Chinese Heritage Tourists

Drawing on the cognitive appraisal theory and the justice theory from the marketing and tourism literature, this study attempts to illuminate the embedded impact of tourist experience on overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions in a cognitive-affective-behavioral framework. The findings suggest that service fairness is an antecedent of consumption emotions (positive and negative) that, in turn, influence satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the context of Chinese natural heritage tourism. Notably, the results highlight the mediating role of tourists’ consumption emotions. This article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications to heritage tourism researchers and managers.     

Understanding the Relationship of Service Fairness,Emotions, Trust,and Tourist Behavioral Intentions at a City Destination in China

This study presents a cognitive appraisal model that identifies consumption emotions and trust as key mediators in the relationship between perceived service fairness and behavioral intentions (i.e., revisit intentions and word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals). The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed to examine empirically a conceptual tourist behavior model using questionnaires answered by 541 tourists in Xiamen, a “garden city” in China. The findings confirmed the mediating role of emotions and trust, which imply that the travel behavioral intentions formation process is both an emotional experience process and a relationship building process between tourists and the destination service providers. By understanding the relationship and linkages between perceived service fairness and behavioral intentions, city managers, urban tourism managers, and service providers can formulate more effective marketing strategies to strengthen tourists’ loyalty, revisit and WOM referral intentions.     

Effects of hotel website photograph size and human images on perceived transportation and behavioral intentions

Travelers have been shown to use the Internet as their primary source of information for locating and booking hotel accommodation, while various website dimensions have been known to influence consumer behavior. Yet, there is no consistency in the way that hotels display their website photographs, especially in relation to photograph size and content, and few studies have investigated this important domain. This study examines the influence of hotel websites’ pictorial information (i.e., photograph sizes and human images) on perceived transportation, booking intentions and willingness to pay more. Analyzing 247 responses with structural equation modeling, large photographs increase transportation, which, in turn, increases booking intention and willingness to pay more. Large photographs are most effective when human presence is absent, while the effect of small photographs is improved with human presence. This study extends transportation theory by demonstrating that transportation can occur in non-narrative scenarios, specifically through photographic images.     

Examining How Country Image Influences Destination Image in a Behavioral Intentions Model: The Cases of Lloret De Mar (Spain) and Cancun (Mexico)

Understanding the importance of a country’s image in the behavioral intentions of tourists is essential for sun-and-sand destinations. This study examines an integrated model of behavioral intentions regarding two international tourist destinations, namely Cancun (Mexico) and Lloret de Mar (Spain). The results indicate that country image influences destination image; destination image influences value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions; value influences satisfaction; and satisfaction influences behavioral intentions. These findings confirm that the country and destination images are different constructs, and that destination image is the key to attracting tourists. Additionally, there are some differences in the relationships hypothesized in the model among the destinations.     

Web reviews influence on expectations and purchasing intentions of hotel potential customers

The objective of the paper is to study the impact that hotel guests reviews posted on consumer-generated websites have on the consumer decision-making process and service expectations.An experimental study has been conducted to test the hypotheses and the research question. 349 young adults were involved in an online survey that asked to imagine searching for a hotel and reading other customers’ reviews of a hypothetical chosen hotel. Three scenarios were created by studying a few comments posted by customers on the main websites used by tourists.Results show a positive correlation between both hotel purchasing intention and expectations of the customers and valence of the review. On the contrary, the presence of hotel managers’ responses to guests’ reviews has a negative impact on purchasing intentions.The study enriches the stream of research on word-of-mouth in the hospitality industry and analyses a new operational problem for lodging managers. Hotels should reply to online customer reviews or not?     

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.     

Investigating the Structural Relationships Between Food Image,Food Satisfaction,Culinary Quality,and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of Malaysia

This study was designed to test a theoretical model determining the relationships among tourists' perceived food image, food satisfaction, culinary quality, and behavioral intentions. The structural relationships between the variables were examined by adopting a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, and the empirical data was collected in Malaysia. Analysis of findings revealed that (a) tourists' perceived food image played a role in directly influencing food satisfaction and quality of culinary experience (culinary quality); (b) food image influenced tourists' behavioral intentions through culinary quality; (c) tourist satisfaction with their food experience directly affected perceived quality of their culinary experience and behavioral intentions; and (d) tourists' behavioral intentions were directly affected by their evaluation of culinary quality. This study concluded that food was an imperative contributor in destination tourism due to its capability in influencing tourists' perceived image, food satisfaction, culinary quality, and consequently impacting tourists' behaviors in the selection of a travel destination.     

生态住宿体验和个人涉入度对游客环保行为意向的影响研究

本文从游客对旅游住宿产品体验和感知的视角,研究生态住宿体验和个人涉入度对游客环保行为意向的影响。结果表明:(1)游客的生态住宿体验和个人涉入度对游客的环保行为意向具有显著的正向影响;(2)个人涉入度包括"感知重要性与娱乐价值"、"符号价值"、"风险可能性"和"风险重要性"4个维度;其中"感知重要性与娱乐价值"及"符号价值"对游客的环保行为意向表现出显著的正向影响,而"风险可能性"和"风险重要性"对环保行为意向的影响不显著;(3)生态意识的调节效应显著。该结论对于丰富国内外相关研究具有一定的理论价值,为旅游住宿企业开发产品的价值诉求提供决策参考。     

An Empirical Study of Behavioral Intentions in the Food Festival: The Case of Macau

The behavioral intentions of visitors play an important role in predicting future profits in the food festival. The purpose of this study is to identify the dimensions of festival quality and examine the interrelationships between behavioral intentions and the other constructs related to behavioral intentions as perceived by visitors to the food festival using structural equation modeling (SEM). The dimensions of festival quality are built and a multi-dimensional and hierarchical model is used as a framework to synthesize the effects of festival quality and visitor satisfaction on behavioral intentions of visitors to the Macau Food Festival (MFF). The findings of this study are based on SEM analysis of a convenience sample of 428 respondents. The findings reveal that there are four primary dimensions and 11 sub-dimensions of festival quality in the MFF.     

The Effect of Service Climate on Perceived Service Value and Behavioral Intentions: The Mediating Role of Service Quality

The purpose of the current study is to assess the influence of employees’ perceived service climate on customers’ perceived service value and behavioral intention. Furthermore, the paper investigates the extent to which service quality mediates the relationship among employees’ perceived service climate, customers’ perceived service value, and behavioral intention. Data were collected from convenience samples of 400 customers and 375 hotel employees. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) employees’ perceived service climate has a positive and significant influence on service quality, customers’ perceived service value, and behavioral intention and (2) service quality has a positive and significant influence on customers’ perceived service value and behavioral intention. Additionally, this study revealed that the indirect effect of employees’ perceived service climate on customers’ perceived service value and behavioral intention through service quality is more than the direct effect of employees’ perceived service climate, customers’ perceived service value, and behavioral intention.     

An empirical study on the influence of economy hotel website quality on online booking intentions

This study investigates the potential theoretical relationships among economy hotel website quality, eTrust, and online booking intentions in China. A questionnaire survey was performed, and 298 samples were collected from the users of three economy hotel websites (7 days, Home Inns, and Hanting Hotel) in Guangzhou, China. Results of a detailed data analysis demonstrate the influence of the four dimensions of economy hotel website quality (usability, ease of use, entertainment, and complementarity) on eTrust and online booking intentions. Specifically, (1) the usability, entertainment, and complementarity of economy hotel websites significantly positively affected eTrust; on the contrary, the influence of ease of use on eTrust was insignificant; (2) complementarity showed a more positive influence than the three other attributes on online booking intentions; and (3) eTrust significantly positively influenced online booking intentions. These findings contribute to economy hotel online marketing in China by bridging the gap between the exploration of hotel website quality and its influence on online booking intentions.     

A Study of Experiential Quality,Equity, Happiness,Rural Image,Experiential Satisfaction,and Behavioral Intentions for the Rural Tourism Industry in China

This study aims at examining the interrelationships among experiential quality, equity, happiness, rural image, experiential satisfaction, and behavioral intentions for the rural tourism industry in China. The data used in this study were based on a sample of 694 rural tourists staying in Sansheng Flower Town of Chengdu, indicating that the proposed model fits the data. The result of this study will assist rural tourism management in developing and implementing market-orientated service strategies to increase experiential quality and equity, and enhance the image and experiential satisfaction of rural tourists in order to generate favorable intentions to return or revisit the same rural village.     

The Effects of Ambivalence on Behavioral Intention in Medical Tourism

This article attempts to understand the consequences of ambivalence on perceived values, perceived risks, and the relationship between perceived values and perceived risks-behavioral intention. The fundamental theme of this study is ambivalent attitude, a term used to describe conflicting states in which individuals have both positive and negative ratings toward the same object. Using the Amos statistical program, we analyze these relationships by asking 230 Chinese potential medical tourists about their attitudes toward medical tour service. The results of this study show that in ambivalent states, medical service is mainly dependent on cognitive judgment, while tour service is mainly dependent on affective judgment. It is also shown that in the relationship between perceived values and risks-behavioral intention, the perceived functional value is the only variable related to behavioral intention. These findings suggest that the role of ambivalence in decision-making is taken into consideration in the field of consumer behavior.     

Event Quality,Perceived Value,Destination Image,and Behavioral Intention of Sports Events: The Case of the IAAF World Championship,Daegu, 2011

This study proposes a conceptual model to investigate visitors' perceptions of an event's quality according to value and the destination image, and visitors' resulting behavioral intentions in the context of a mega-sports event. This study also examines whether or not perceived value and destination image determine visitors' future behavioral intentions. Using structural equation modeling analysis, this study determines that an event's quality and its perceived value have a significant effect on behavioral intentions. Moreover, perceived value exerted a direct influence on behavioral intentions, and destination image determined visitors' perceptions of value. However, the impact of destination image had an insignificant effect on behavioral intentions. The implications have merit for academic researchers and sports event organizers.     

旅行社网站服务公平性对顾客行为意向的影响研究

企业坚持公平性原则,才能建立和维系与顾客的长期关系.笔者以旅行社网站的顾客为研究对象进行了一次实证研究,探讨了旅行社网站服务公平性对顾客行为意向的影响.数据分析结果表明:旅行社网站服务公平性直接影响顾客信任感和满意感,间接影响顾客的行为意向.