Impact of Online Reviews on Consumer’s Hotel Booking Intentions: Does Brand Image Mediate?

Abstract

The recent trend suggests that people are more inclined to online hotel reviews to take online hotel booking decisions. The present study argues that when consumers are exposed to online hotel reviews, it draws an impression of the hotel brand in the mind of consumers, resulting in influence their hotel booking intentions. The current study determines the mediation effects of brand image between credible online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. To ascertain the uni-dimensionality of the scales, the present study executes exploratory factor analysis. The ensure the internal consistency of the variable scales, the study determines Cronbach’s alpha. To measure the mediation effects, the present study performs structural equation modeling bootstrapping method. Data analysis reveals that marketers should look at hedonic brand image, which ultimately influences consumers’ hotel booking intentions. This is a unique study that ascertains the type of brand image that actually mediates between the impact of online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. In addition, the paper furnishes theoretical background on how people interpret online hotel reviews and its effects.     

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.     

品牌形象对消费者行为倾向影响的实证研究

本文认为,品牌形象影响并决定着人们的购买和消费行为,独特的品牌形象可以帮助企业确立品牌定位,阻止品牌竞争,改善品牌的市场表现。品牌形象由品牌表现、品牌个性、公司形象三个维度构成,三者不存在层级关系。其中,品牌表现是影响消费者行为倾向的主要因素;品牌个性影响消费者行为倾向,但影响程度较弱;公司形象通过品牌表现和品牌个性间接影响消费者行为倾向,对消费者行为倾向无显著影响。文章提出,企业可以通过三种品牌形象进行品牌定位,即品牌功能属性定位、品牌个性定位、公司形象定位,品牌形象管理即企业进行品牌定位的过程。对于中国企业来讲,品牌个性和公司形象的定位更值得关注。开发独特的品牌形象,建立吸引人的差异化的品牌形象的品牌战略,加强企业品牌形象的推广,是提高顾客忠诚度的根本途径。     

Predator or prey? Effects of farm growth on neighbouring farms

We provide explorative insights on how farms which manage strong and successful growth affect farms in their neighbourhoods through spatial competition for land. The study is based on an exploratory analysis of repeated framed experiments within the business game FarmAgriPoliS (Appel & Balmann, Ecological Complexity, 40, 2019). In particular, we analyse the spatial influences of different behavioural clusters of farm managers. Our analysis finds that farms which manage strong growth substantially affect the development of farms in a spatial neighbourhood of some 10 km. Although the influence on the neighbourhood decreases with distance, the functional correlations of farm growth as well as exits are neither linear nor exponential, but eventually rather wave-like. We further discuss the spatial interdependence of farms and the related overlaps of the predator–prey phenomenon with the phenomena of farms' path dependency and agricultural structural change. We conclude that along with farmers' strategies and their abilities, the characteristics of their neighbours and the distances between neighbouring farms also determine who is ‘predator’ and who is ‘prey’.     

Effect of price increases on future intentions of sport consumers

This work analyzes the relationships between perceived value, satisfaction and future intentions among users of a public sport service who experience a price increase in the service they receive. A self-administered survey provides data from two samples (before and after the service price increase). After confirming the reliability and validity of the measures, hierarchical multiple regression provides the means for analyzing the data. The results show that the increase in the service price worsens the perception of service performance. As expected, satisfaction, perceived value and future intentions decrease following an increase in the service price. Perceived value also serves as a more effective predictor of future intentions than satisfaction. Finally, price increase has a low direct effect on predicting future intentions of sport users.     

基于扩展计划行为理论的乡村旅游经营者从众行为研究——西安市上王村实证

乡村旅游是实现巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接的重要路径选择。乡村旅游经营者的从众行为能够促进旅游地的规范化与规模化发展,但一味地盲从也必然会给旅游地造成不可挽回的损失,理性对待乡村旅游经营者的从众行为对旅游地的可持续发展意义深远。本文基于扩展的计划行为理论基本框架,引入精英影响感知和模糊情境感知两个变量,对乡村旅游经营者从众行为意向的影响因素进行实证研究,并构建乡村旅游经营者从众行为形成机制的理论模型。研究发现,行为态度、指令性规范、知觉行为控制、精英影响感知和模糊情境感知与从众行为意向呈显著正相关关系。另外,乡村旅游经营者的受教育水平对从众行为意向存在显著影响,且呈现受教育水平越高从众行为意向越低的趋势。为了进一步发展乡村旅游,助推乡村振兴,建议提升乡村旅游经营者的经营能力;发挥乡村旅游精英的信息传递与示范带动作用;落实政府的引导与监管职能;防范政府决策层的盲从行为。     

Understanding how consumers view green hotels: how a hotel's green image can influence behavioural intentions

As the public is increasingly concerned about environmental issues, green management is rapidly becoming a strategic tool that can enhance a hotel's competitive advantage. This study explores how to develop the image and branding of a green hotel using the concepts of cognitive, affective and overall images. The study, based on a survey of 416 hotel users, also investigates how a green hotel image can affect behavioural intentions (i.e. intention to revisit, intention to offer positive recommendations to others and willingness to pay a premium). The findings confirm that cognitive image components (namely value and quality attributes) can exert a positive influence on a green hotel's affective and overall images. The affective image is also found to positively affect a green hotel's overall image. A green hotel's overall image, in turn, can contribute to more favourable behavioural intentions. Quality attributes were found to be more powerful than value attributes. The importance of the concept of selfish altruism and obtaining a feeling of wellbeing from a purchase were shown to be very strong. A range of theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Market overreaction and investment strategies

We investigated the overreaction of the Korean market in response to shocks in the US stock market, and analysed the dynamic relationship between these two markets since 1996. We found that the KOSPI 200 index futures overreacted to the S&P 500 index returns during the period from 2000 to 2009 when the Korean market was in its growth stage. As the Korean market matured and the KOSPI 200 overnight futures were introduced in 2009, the overreaction disappeared. When investors employed the Kelly model or Value-at-Risk to exploit the overreaction, their trading strategies produced significant profits during the growth stage even after considering transaction costs and risk, but the profits attenuated once the overnight futures market was launched in 2009.     

Determinants of retirement planning behaviour and differences by age

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the determinants of retirement planning behaviour and differences among three age groups: 21‐ to 39‐year‐olds, 40‐ to 59‐year‐olds and those aged 60 years and older. A national survey of 911 individuals from households with incomes of $75 000 or greater was conducted in the US. The significance of socio‐demographic variables, the ability to recover from loss, behavioural tendencies and perceived or actual personal control were investigated; together with their role in the prediction of maximization of retirement contributions and ownership in the personal individual retirement account (IRA) or Keogh accounts. The results identified several significant variables in the prediction of ownership in a personal IRA or Keogh, including age, sources of financial information, being an early investor and investor activity. The results also identified several significant variables in the prediction of the maximization of retirement contributions, including employment, income, savings activity, ex ante research, review of investment performance, early investor, investor activity, such as planning for financial future, setting up automatic deposits and reviewing financial information in the mail.     

A two-dimensional model of trust–value–loyalty in service relationships

The study examines the relationships between consumer trust (cognitive and affective), perceived value (utilitarian and hedonic), and loyalty behavioral intentions (repurchase and advocacy) in a two-dimensional (affect- and rational-based) consumer–service provider model. It provides an alternative theoretical representation of consumer behavior in service relationships and implications for service providers about consumers' loyalty intentions. A mail survey analyzed by SEM supports the model of loyalty as a function of consumers' expressive and instrumental responses resulting from intrinsic and extrinsic perceptions of trust and heuristic and rational-based perceived value. Implications for designing loyalty programs are explored and future research opportunities recommended.