Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2009), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 21 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2009.04121gaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 21, Issue 7

This issue consists of six full research articles, one viewpoint article and one research-in-brief article. The first research article, by Kevin D. O’Gorman, discusses different historical roots of commercial hospitality in three distinct epochs. The author claims that, contrary to established and often fanciful rhetoric, commercial hospitality has at least 4,000 years of history in the area of investigation. The rich and incredibly diverse heritage of the hospitality industry is illustrated and the conclusions emphasise that hospitality research should focus on deepening understanding of the industry through empirical research, learning from the past helps to inform the future.

In the second article, Aikaterini Vassilikopoulou, George Siomkos, Kalliopi Chatzipanagiotou and Amalia Triantafillidou investigate the consumer responses associated with crises in the hotel industry. The results reveal that reputation, external effects and organisational response significantly influenced consumers. Specifically, consumers were more likely to have a positive impression of a hotel in crisis, to perceive the hotel as being more socially responsible, and to revisit the hotel when it was highly reputed, accepted responsibility, and was viewed favorably by the media.

In the next article, Mercedes Marzo-Navarro and Marta Pedraja-Iglesias investigate the opinions of potential wine tourists by asking about the importance given to various items regarding intention to participate in wine tourism. According to the research findings, the services offered by wineries, the possibility of increasing knowledge about the wine product, the possibility of providing leisure activities, and interest in the wine product positively affect the intentions of potential wine tourists.

In the next article, Kevin Murphy and Michael Olsen present their exploratory study findings on the set of work practice dimensions in high performance management systems (HPMS) for restaurant managers in the US casual restaurant sector. They identify 13 dimensions that are common to unit management in US casual restaurants. This translates into a difference of seven work practices between a manufacturing work system and a restaurant work system, which are either excluded or included in a restaurant work system.

Eric Chan and Louisa Lam examine the expectations and perceptions of private kitchen diners regarding their dining experiences. Most of the private kitchen diners valued the undisclosed dining area as the best thing about private kitchens, followed by privacy and a special dining feeling. Their findings suggest that four factors are likely to influence people’s intention to dine in private kitchens:

1. 1.

   responsiveness to guest needs;

2. 2.

   professional chef and staff;

3. 3.

   homely feeling and privacy; and

4. 4.

   intimate dining experience.

The findings of this study can be viewed as a preliminary step to understand the private kitchen business.

In the next article, Bharath Josiam and Charles Foster measure consumers’ need for, and attitudes toward, nutritional information (NI) on menus in full-service restaurants. Data were collected from 502 participants at a full-service restaurant on a university campus through a survey questionnaire. A deeper understanding of consumers’ concerns could permit restaurateurs to use NI on menus to their competitive advantage, by effectively deploying a market segmentation strategy. Results will assist managers by providing insights into the specifics of the target markets of who needs NI, and the context in which they will use NI on menus.

The viewpoint article by Leonard Jackson discusses use of biometric technology in the hospitality industry. The paper highlights the fundamentals of biometric technology, and its application in the lodging industry. The paper also addresses factors that should be considered to ensure successful deployment in the lodging industry. The author suggests that the use of biometric technology will continue to increase and prudent hospitality executives should pay close attention to this trend so that they can adopt the technology into their operations and enjoy the benefits it offers.

Finally, in the research-in-brief article, Heather Hartwell and John Edwards conducted a pilot study to evaluate consumers’ perceptions towards descriptive menus and branding in hospital foodservice. Menu description was welcomed, with patients preferring familiar foods. The general consensus was that an unfamiliar dish would not be selected on brand name alone. The potential impact of the proposed work could be significant with regard to hospital foodservice strategy, particularly as greater emphasis has been given to the role of food in clinical outcomes.

Fevzi OkumusEditor