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The landscape of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism: a systematic review

Fei Hao (School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 5 May 2020

Issue publication date: 23 May 2020

3020

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to deliver a systematic review of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism by synthesising existing literature, thus presenting a state-of-art landscape of customer engagement research.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 173 peer-reviewed articles were collected from seven databases, spanning from 2007 to 2020. A systematic review was conducted by analysing, categorizing and synthesising existing studies to examine the evolution, conceptual nature, typology and measurement of the existing literature on customer engagement in hospitality and tourism.

Findings

This study provides an overview of the temporal, spatial, sectoral and journal-wise distribution of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism. A comprehensive definition of customer engagement is proposed based on five fundamental propositions. Scrutiny of customer engagement studies in hospitality and tourism presents four sub-forms, including online customer engagement, tourist engagement, customer brand engagement and customer engagement behaviour. Additionally, the research methods, dimensionality and measurement scales of customer engagement are systematically reviewed.

Originality/value

This study is the first systematic review of customer engagement research in the field of hospitality and tourism. The original definition leads to an improved understanding of customer engagement. This study is also the first to propose a clear typology of customer engagement to enhance consistency in usage.

Keywords

Citation

Hao, F. (2020), "The landscape of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism: a systematic review", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32 No. 5, pp. 1837-1860. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2019-0765

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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