Determinants affecting comprehensive property-level hotel performance: The moderating role of hotel type

It is crucial for hotel managers to understand the main drivers of each property's financial performance. This study examines the key antecedents of both service-profit chain frameworks (customer and employee satisfaction) and strategic perspectives (size, customer mix) that influence a comprehensive hotel performance. The findings of this study show that customer satisfaction is a prominent driver of performance and that hotel size and customer mix also have significant effects on performance. This study also examines the moderating effects of hotel type on the following three determinants: customer satisfaction, hotel size, and customer mix and performance. The findings will offer useful insights to hotel chain firms and hotel investors who manage or own a portfolio of different hotel types.     

The effects of customer voice on hotel performance

This paper investigates the effects of two critical customer voice variables on hotel performance. Specifically, the research provides a customer equity model in which the influences of both customer satisfaction and complaints are considered. The impact of the customer voice variables on hotel performance is investigated while considering the potential for moderating effects by hotel size and star rating. We use a more robust approach to measure firm performance than is traditionally used in satisfaction-performance studies. Finally the paper reports on the results of these investigations and outlines implications for both theory and practice.     

Corporate social responsibility in international hotel chains and its effects on local employees: Scale development and empirical testing in China

This study aims to investigate the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of international hotel chains operating in China and their effects on local Chinese employees. As CSR practices vary across countries and contexts, this study developed a scale of CSR metrics, which was based on CSR reports published by international hotel chains in China and a comprehensive literature review. Subsequently, the proposed model, which depicts the relationships between CSR practices and local employee work metrics, was tested with a PLS-SEM. Multiple phases of qualitative and quantitative investigations of 2451 local Chinese employees of international hotel chains allowed for validating a formative construct of CSR with four dimensions: environment protection, employee wellness, business ethics, and customer wellness. The PLS-SEM results confirmed the significant effects of CSR practices of international hotel chains in China on local Chinese employee engagement, commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are presented.     

How does hotel pricing influence guest satisfaction by the moderating influence of room occupancy?

Whether the product price increases customer satisfaction or rather decreases it has been actively debated for some time. A non-linear correlation between the hotel price and guest satisfaction, explored empirically in this paper, implies that the two phenomena are actually not inconsistent with one another At the low price level, room price and food and beverage (F&B) price leads to an increase in guest satisfaction whereas the high price level could have just the opposite effect The results suggests an inverse U shaped relationship between price level and guest satisfaction On the other hand, the room price guest satisfaction link could be affected by the moderating influence of room occupancy to be a U shaped function This paper reports results from a study on the influence of hotel pricing on guest satisfaction in the context of room products and F&B products in Taiwanese international tourist satisfaction It is found that the hotel pricing has a quadratic effect on guest satisfaction     

A hotel sustainability business model: evidence from Slovenia

This research explores and develops a hotel sustainability business model (HSBM) to study the sustainability orientation of the Slovenian hotel industry. Based on a comparative analysis of the existing sustainability and triple bottom line models, the usual content of a three-line HSBM (economic, environmental and sociocultural) was extended to include customer satisfaction, environmental education and power to implement changes. Financial, marketing and tourism sustainability experts investigated best practices in sustainability measurements and gathered appropriate sustainability indicators; expert opinion and the Delphi method refined and reduced an initial 79 indicators to 36 operational indicators, able to fulfil the HSBM's sub-categories within the extended triple bottom line. The HSBM's concept was used to study the sustainability of Slovenian hotel firms to reveal how important these indicators are for hotel managers and do they monitor them. Results indicated strong importance and measurement of economic and marketing indicators, such as profitability and customer satisfaction. Following the socialist tradition, companies recognise the importance of human resources, but the importance of environmental education and awareness building, biodiversity, and the establishment of partnerships with stakeholders to implement sustainable tourism development are neglected. Economic performance was, for example, monitored by 66% of respondents, environmental performance by 28% and social performance by 42%.     

Profiling satisfied and dissatisfied hotel visitors using publicly available data from a booking platform

We develop a set of models for predicting hotel visitor satisfaction and the probability of complaints about various service aspects. Our empirical analysis is based on 3630 reviews from one of the Dubai hotels. We identify profiles of visitors who are likely to be dissatisfied with the hotel service and need special attention, as well as of visitors, who are likely to be satisfied with the service and, therefore, do not require extra attention. The predictions are based on observable characteristics of visitors, thus making it possible for hotel managers to apply the models in their everyday work. Using content analysis we also reveal specific problems that different groups of visitors encountered and infer which of the problems has the highest impact on the overall satisfaction with the hotel.     

Service climate and customer satisfaction in a casino hotel: An exploratory case study

Given the global escalation in gaming availability, this paper proposes a service management framework for the study of competitive advantage in casino hotels. Using data collected from 303 employees at an Australian casino hotel, an exploratory case study in service climate and customer satisfaction is presented. The findings suggest that while service climate is highly correlated with customer satisfaction, internal dynamics result in significant differences in the perceptions of casino employees versus non-casino employees, highlighting the need to tailor organisational strategies to different types of employees.     

Government and social trust vs. hotel response efficacy: A protection motivation perspective on hotel stay intention during the COVID-19 pandemic

Based on protection motivation theory (PMT), this study conceptualizes a research framework to explain and examine customer intentions regarding hotel stays during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 700 U.S. consumers via a crowdsourcing website in July 2020. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data for testing proposed hypotheses. The analytical results showed that the level of threat perceived by customers significantly reduced their intention to stay at a hotel. On the contrary, individual customer response efficacy significantly enhanced their intention to stay at a hotel. Additionally, both government and social trust, as well as hotel response efficacy, were found to significantly increase hotel stay intention by mediating the effects of threat perception and individual response efficacy. To the best of our knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to apply PMT to explain customer hotel stay intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Organizational injustice and emotional labor of hotel front-line employees

Using equity and appraisal theories to integrate four dimensions of organizational justice and emotional labor, this study examines effects of organizational injustice and emotional labor. Perceptions of front-line hotel employees of customer injustice (interpersonal and informational), procedural and distributive injustice and their perceived effect on employees’ emotional labor and subsequent job satisfaction were examined. Our finding suggests the distributive injustice had an effect on hotel employees’ emotional labor, while effects of informational and procedural injustice on emotional labor were moderated by gender.     

“货币补偿”总是最优策略吗?——高星级酒店不同服务失误归因下的情境研究

酒店服务的异质性和顾客需求的多样性使得服务失误在所难免。服务补救成为酒店修复服务失误,赢得顾客口碑和再次光顾的重要举措。在酒店管理实践中,货币补偿颇受管理者青睐,通常被作为应对服务失误的首要选择。然而,货币补偿是否为服务失误发生时的最优选择?文章以高星级酒店为研究背景,对服务失误进行情境设计,检验不同失误归因下货币补偿和非货币补偿的补偿满意度差异。数据分析结果显示:酒店因素导致的服务失误情境下,相比货币补偿而言,非货币补偿具有更好的补偿效果;其他顾客因素和顾客自身因素导致的服务失误情境下,货币补偿与非货币补偿间没有显著效果差异。此外,补偿满意度对顾客信任、重购意向与口碑有显著正向影响。     

Unraveling the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands

This study unravels the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands by investigating a multi-step model linking these two variables, in which emotional attachment and relational quality constructs (i.e., brand satisfaction, brand trust, and brand commitment) act as a bridge, while customer involvement acts as a moderator. Based on a self-administered survey dataset of 249 international tourists who are customers of luxury hotel brands, partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that all proposed hypotheses are supported. As such, this study discovers and clarifies the nature and dynamic mechanism underpinning the co-creation and reciprocation process of customer engagement with luxury hotels. In particular, the positive service experience is found to contribute to customer engagement via emotional attachment and relational marketing. Furthermore, the moderating role of customer involvement in the luxury hotel setting is confirmed.     

Weekend vs. midweek stays: Modelling hotel room rates in a small market

Using a hedonic model, we estimate the willingness to pay for different hotel characteristics for a small market environment. We uniquely collected a data set from a meta-booking engine including their detailed customer review ratings compiled from numerous individual hotel search engines. We argue that meta-search engines are well suited to gather prices to be used in hedonic models. In our estimation, we distinguish hedonic models for single room stays during the week potentially relevant for business travellers and double room stays during the weekend intended for leisure. Important determinants of hotel room prices are popularity ratings (derived from customer reviews), the hotel star rating, weeks of advance booking, and certain hotel characteristics such as express checkout, room service, or Internet access. A number of important characteristics such as wellness offers or wireless Internet in the rooms are insignificant pointing to the conclusion that these may be regarded as standard attributes and do not fetch additional economic value in terms of higher consumer willingness to pay.     

Customer accounting and marketing performance measures in the hotel industry: Evidence from Australia

Increasingly competitive environments have focused hotel managers’ attention on gaining competitive advantage by maximising the potential of their customer base. This paper provides the results of a study of the use and antecedents of customer accounting and marketing performance measures in the Australian hotel industry. The findings of a survey of 165 Australian hotel managers provide evidence that large, highly market orientated hotels with a decentralised structure use more customer focused accounting and marketing practices. Additionally, support was also found for a significant positive relationship between market orientation and a prospector-type strategy, as well as market orientation and both financial and non-financial performance.     

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 signaling and reputational effects of customer ratings on hotel revenues: Evidence from TripAdvisor

This study aims to examine whether customer ratings and online reviews affect hotel revenues, and if so, to quantify the effects. To achieve this objective, we articulate the mechanisms grounded on reputation theories whereby customer ratings exercise the influence on hotel performance through reputational and signaling effects. Using customer rating data from TripAdvisor and hotel revenue data from Texas, we estimate fixed effects regressions and adopt a regression discontinuity design to separate the signaling effect of customer ratings from reputational effect. We found that the signaling effect of a 1-star increase is an increase of 2.2–3.0% in hotel monthly revenues whereas the reputational effect of a 1-star increase is an increase of around 1.5–2.3% in hotel monthly revenues. Our findings are robust across alternative model specifications and provide insightful implications for hotels to manage their customer ratings.     

Mediating effects of attitude,subjective norms and perceived behavioural control for mobile payment-based hotel reservations

The impacts of website functionality and usability on the repurchase intention of consumers have been proven by previous literature. However, these impacts, along with the wide adoption of mobile payment for hotel reservations, remain unclear. Hence, this study integrates the conceptual model of website evaluation into theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to examine theimpacts of functionality and usability towards mobile payment on the repurchase intention of consumers within a Chinese context by mainly testing the mediating effects of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control. Based on a quantitative research design, findings revealed that mediating effects exist between mobile usability and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the mediating effect of customer satisfaction are identified within the context of mobile payment for hotel reservations. Practical implications and ideas for further research are discussed.     

The impact of customers’ prior online experience on future hotel usage behavior

Service experience model stipulates the importance of service experience in increasing satisfaction, price acceptance, revisit intentions, etc. It has been extensively tested and validated in hotel management studies. However, the online service experience which, in these days, precedes the physical service experience has not be considered together in most hotel service experience studies. In hotel management literature, studies on online experiences are largely segregated from physical service experience model. In this study, prior online experience model is proposed which includes online experience preceding the physical service encounter, and a survey is administered. Result indicates the strong influence of online experience as a leading construct of the service experience model in hotels. Online experience strongly conditions the customers’ perception of physical service experience and, also, provides good ground for price acceptance. Interestingly, the influence of physical service experience on price acceptance seems to be rather alleviated with online experience, indicating the important role the online experience plays in managing customer perception on hotel service experience. Hotel management needs to pay close attention to their customers’ online experience beyond simple esthetics as the online experience seems to influence all the subsequent components of hotel service model.     

The managerial implications of an analysis of tourist profiles and international hotel employee service attitude

Numerous studies indicate that customer satisfaction is closely related to hotel employees’ service attitude, and that distinct segments of a target tourist market require distinct customer service emphases. The enclosed study finds, for example, that Taiwanese tourists generally appreciate friendliness and enthusiasm, Japanese tourists admire courteousness and propriety, and American tourists value immediacy and efficiency. Marketers and personnel managers are therefore well advised to develop training strategies emphasizing empathy, gracious problem solving, and prompt individual attention for Taiwanese, Japanese, and American tourists, respectively. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) can be used to identify crucial aspects of appropriate service and recommend managerial strategies to support their implementation.     

An online reviews-driven method for the prioritization of improvements in hotel services

Service improvement is of great importance for hotels to gain advantages. Several studies determined the prioritization of service improvement by identifying the relationship between service performance and customer satisfaction but ignored the impact of consumer expectations and managers' subjective opinions. This paper provides an online reviews-driven method for hoteliers to determine the prioritization of improvements in hotel services. Firstly, the improved penalty–reward contrast analysis that quantifies the sentiment tendencies and intensities in online reviews is used to identify types of service attributes. Secondly, based on the categorization of attribute types, three types of consumer expectations that affect consumer satisfaction are mined. Thirdly, the improved three-way decision model is used to determine the priority of allocation resources combining with managers’ subjective opinions. Finally, the proposed method is applied to the case study of Four Seasons Hotel service improvement, and the advantages of this method are illustrated by comparative analysis.