Search results

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of celebrity endorsers on consumer advocacy, customization and entertainment intentions based on the notion of the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework. In addition, this study aims to examine the mediating and moderating role of customization and entertainment intentions on the proposed relationships. The authors also intend to highlight the comparative effects between male and female young social media consumers on those proposed associations.

In the pursuit of comprehensive and rigorous data collection, this study adopted a quantitative methodology using a meticulously crafted questionnaire. The questionnaire survey was conducted in major cities of Malaysia using the convenience and snowball sampling techniques. A total of 576 responses were collected, even though 549 retorts were used for data analysis. In this investigation, the authors strategically used covariance-based structural equation modeling through the use of AMOS v. 24 as the primary data analysis tool. Augmenting the analytical depth, the authors also conducted a supplementary bootstrap analysis. The additional layers of examination were crucial for appraising the mediating and moderating effects inherent within the model, in which the PROCESS MACRO v.4.20 was used.

The results of this study revealed the significant direct positive effects of celebrity endorsers on consumer customization, entertainment and advocacy intentions. Consumer customization and entertainment intentions also found significant direct affirmative effects on consumer advocacy intention, along with the significant direct positive effects of consumer entertainment intention on consumer customization intention. The results further revealed that consumer customization and entertainment intentions cannot mediate the relationship between celebrity endorsers and advocacy intention. The entertainment intention also declined the mediating effects between celebrity endorsers and consumer customization intention. On the contrary, consumer customization intention significantly and positively, and entertainment intention also significantly but negatively, moderate the association between celebrity endorsers and consumer advocacy intention. This study also illustrates that the effects of those examined relationships differ between male and female young social media consumers.

This study investigates the impact of celebrity endorsers on consumer behavior, focusing on their customization, entertainment and advocacy intentions. It extends current SOR framework, enhances source credibility theory, fills gaps in the literature on social media brand engagement and underscores the significance of customization and entertainment intentions. The findings provide insights for managers aiming to harness consumer brand advocacy through celebrity endorsers effectively.

The purpose of this study is to propose and develop an antecedent model from star hotel employee viewpoint and a consequence model for star hotel customers’ evaluation of the brand equity development process.

In terms of the study setting, structural equation modelling was conducted. Study 1 used the views of 323 star hotels’ employees on the mutual relationships among employee-based brand equity, and Study 2 used 516 star hotels’ customer perspectives concerning the mutual relationships among customer-based brand equity.

In the antecedent model of Study 1 from an employee viewpoint, service quality is a foundational attribute of the indirect influences of brand equity development through brand promise, values and message. A moderating role of brand identity is also found. In the consequence model of Study 2 from the perspective of customers’ evaluation, mutual relationships of brand equity are identified, and social interactions are established that enhance the positive relationships among the different critical attributes of brand equity.

Although numerous hotel branding studies have identified the consequences of hotels for employees, few have simultaneously considered employees and customer feedback in terms of star hotel branding. This research considers the bidirectional effects of such a comprehensive perspective.

This paper aims to investigate the links between daily review sentiment and the hotel performance measures of occupancy rate (OR), average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR).

The authors conducted review sentiment analyses in three moments (−1, −7 and −14 days) before arrival time using a data set of budget hotel performance and online reviews. The aim was to identify the effect of review sentiment in the budget hotel market on the three performance metrics.

Daily sentiment positively affects ADR and negatively affects OR and RevPAR, but only up to a certain threshold, after which the trend reverses. Prices increase with the level of sentiment, and high prices lead to low OR and RevPAR only when the sentiment scores are low. When they are high, they are associated with low rates, which lead to high OR and RevPAR.

Daily review sentiment can be viewed as a valuable “barometer” indicating a hotel’s daily operational effectiveness. Daily sentiment can thus allow hotel managers to adjust their dynamic pricing strategies more accurately.

This study identifies daily sentiment as an alternative predictor of hotel performance. In addition to the roles of valence and volume in the decision-making process, the authors found that daily review sentiment can be an “in-the-moment” factor with a high impact, encouraging consumers to complete their transactions. This study suggests that aggregated measures such as the total number of reviews and overall ratings of the hotel should not be the sole consideration in reputation management.

Property developers identify the vital role of social media brand engagement (SMBE) in sustaining their businesses in competitive marketplaces, but it remains underexplored. This paper examines how SMBE mediates the effects of firm-generated content (FGC) and user-generated content (UGC) on brand trust, considering the moderating effects of social media influencer endorsement (SMIE) and self-image congruence (SIC) for luxury residential properties (LRPs).

Around 516 high-income homebuyers in Vietnam who shared information about LRP on social media were targeted to test the research model empirically. The primary data collected from paper-based surveys were analysed using SPSS 26 and AMOS 24.

Results indicate that FGC and UGC positively impact SMBE and consequently significantly affect brand trust. Further, results confirm the moderating roles of SMIE and SIC in the effects of FGC and UGC on SMBE.

Data and sample size were limited to meet the generalisation from different nations and cross cultures.

The authors' findings suggest that marketers should apply the authors' integrated SMBE model to strengthen brand–consumer interactions and increase their sales revenue.

This study is the first in its application of the uses and gratifications theory and self-congruence theory to investigate how SMBE mediates the relationship between FGC and brand trust as well as between UGC and brand trust. Noticeably, this study makes a novel contribution as the first to quantitatively explore the moderating effects of SMIE and SIC in the authors' research model.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the hard and soft measures of service quality and visitors' satisfaction, which ultimately contribute to visitor loyalty to the destination, specifically in the context of the Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) in Sibu, Sarawak (Malaysia).

The study uses a quantitative research approach with 427 valid responses from domestic and international tourists of BCF and employs the cognitive-affective-conative theory to examine how the festival impacts visitor loyalty.

The findings indicate that both hard and soft measures significantly contribute to the service quality and visitor satisfaction at the BCF. Additionally, service quality and visitor satisfaction were found to positively influence destination loyalty, while the relationship between legibility and visitor satisfaction was not significant.

The findings encourage the ministry and event organisers to adopt a destination event strategy that positions Sibu as an attractive event destination capable of attracting domestic and international tourists.

The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on event tourism and destination loyalty by applying the cognitive-affective-conative theory. This study marks the first of its kind, analysing both the tangible (hard) and intangible (soft) measures of service quality and their impact on visitor satisfaction, ultimately influencing visitor loyalty to the destination, particularly in the context of the BCF in Sibu, Sarawak.

The purposes of this paper are to examine the factors persuasive in building competitive advantage strategies for the co-living and co-working service operators and study the sustainability of the business model for co-living and co-working space.

In this research, a structured literature review of journals, articles, reports, conference proceedings, websites published in recent times and e-newspapers has been conducted. The first step of the research included identifying the relevant literature. For this step, multiple keywords were used in searching for literature on Google.com, Google Scholar, Proquest, Taylor & Francis, Emerald, Elsevier. Upon literature identification, the procured reports were divided into the following three parts: co-living reports, co-working report and others. More than 250 content reports were analyzed, and finally, 105 relevant literature reports from various sources were recorded for further analysis. Focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews were also conducted.

This study concluded after analyzing the literature, focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews that co-working and co-living space would be sustainable business if proper competitive strategies were leveraged, in accordance with the increase in demand over time. This study also serves as a wakeup call for the operators in the co-living and co-working sphere to work on their competitive advantages and differentiate themselves to tap business opportunities. The sustainability of the model by identifying the factors was also emphasized in this study. Further studies of co-living and co-working models should be conducted in the Indian context to analyze the multifarious potential that this new trend of shared accommodation can open up.

This study is based on content analysis, focus group discussion and semi-structured interview analysis. More content and literature were found to be evidenced mostly in Western literature. This is a limitation to the study. This study also had a limitation in including bigger sample of focus groups discussion and interviews; however, the analysis effectively set out a landscape of co-living and co-working space in India.

It is an original research work based on an existing concept and services. As co-living and co-working service operators are cropping up in major cities, enticing the target potential with a platter of services primarily linked with many of the beneficial factors, the researchers in this work attempt to examine the factors persuasive in building the competitive advantage strategies for the co-living and co-working space and the sustainability of these two business models. A ripe market with multifarious possibilities waiting to be tapped with the right plan of action is the need of the hour.

This paper aims to model the price of cellar tours using a hedonic pricing approach. The authors analyze the complex relationship between the price of an add-on (here, cellar tours) and the price of the reference product (here, wine).

Thanks to a large database containing information on about 1,000 winery experiences, the authors regress the price of cellar tours on wine prices and on a broad set of objective characteristics that are (1) tour specific and (2) common to all tours offered by the winery. These exogenous controls include the type and style of experience offered, amenities and winemaking characteristics.

The authors show that the price of cellar tours follows the price of the most expensive wine sold by the winery, which is a proxy for reputation. The authors find that one of the main determinants of cellar tour prices is visit length: wineries charge more for longer experiences. The number of wines tasted during the visit also increases the price. Prices are higher in places where there is a high level of wine tourism activity, which might be a sign of authenticity.

Wine producers in different countries need to gain insights on how to price cellar tours, which are composite goods. The results can help practitioners price their winery experience according to common practices in different wine regions. The results may also be of interest to professionals in the tourism sector who are in charge of the pricing of by-products (e.g. tee-shirts, books, etc.), or for luxury fashion labels extending their brand in the catering industry with cafes and restaurants.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first empirical analysis that examines the complex relationship between the price of an add-on and the price of the reference product in the context of wine tourism.

This study aimed to identify distinctive characteristics of hotel guests and understand their perception of guestroom technologies (GRTs) in hotels by utilizing the theory of consumer innovativeness and the social influence theory.

The data were collected from 268 hotel guests. The K-means clustering algorithm was employed to identify participants based on their views on the significance of technologies provided in guest rooms. A multivariate analysis of variance was applied to investigate if there were significant differences among clusters regarding social influence on hotel bookings, technology innovativeness and technology expertise and knowledge.

Two clusters were identified: technology compassionates and casual users of technology. Findings revealed that technology compassionates are more influenced by their friends when booking a hotel compared to casual users of technology. The ability to link up multiple wireless mobile devices, accessible outlets and mobile websites were the most critical GRTs for technology compassionates.

Technology should be considered a crucial part of the hotel guest experience. Hoteliers ought to continue investing in smart technologies to improve their guests' experiences. GRTs can reduce overhead staff costs while giving guests more control over their stay by utilizing everyday items like smartphones and offering them more power over their lodging experience.

This study advances the existing literature on GRTs by identifying which GRTs produce the most customer satisfaction. Moreover, this study explores the impact of social influence, innovativeness as a personality trait and having expert knowledge of technologies on preferences for GRTs.

This paper aims to examine the role of social media communication, tourist satisfaction and destination brand equity components in enhancing destination brand equity based on the Stimulus – Organism – Response (S-O-R) theory.

The conceptual model and research hypotheses were assessed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM). An online survey was used to collect data from 369 domestic tourists who had traveled to Danang and knew about content related to Danang generated by either DMOs or other users on social media.

Except for the effect of DMO-generated social media communication on tourist satisfaction and the impact of destination brand awareness on destination brand loyalty, the findings confirmed the sequential causal relationships between research concepts based on the S-O-R model.

Future research should explore the proposed model based on comparisons of different nationalities to better understand the impact of cultural factors.

DMOs should associate social media with their marketing strategies to enhance destination brand equity, using cutting-edge technologies to create content and update information in a significant way to make communications by DMOs more effective. The findings especially suggest that UGC plays a vital role in improving brand equity dimensions, so DMOs could exploit UGC to engage existing customers and build relationships with potential customers. This research provides guidance for DMOs to improve their brand equity based on social media.

This study has contributed to the destination marketing literature by applying the S-O-R theory to propose a pathway for effectively increasing destination brand equity and highlight the importance of social media communication as a driver to achieve a hierarchical relationship between destination brand equity components and tourist satisfaction from stimulus to organism (e.g. cognition to affect).

This study aims to examine the impact of the structural linkages between memorable tourism experiences, destination attachment, tourists’ satisfaction and customer-based destination brand-equity on tourists’ storytelling intentions.

The authors proposed a conceptual model that examines how memorable experiences contribute to tourists’ sense of attachment to a destination, which can lead to their willingness to share their trip stories. Using partial least square estimation, the authors analysed the conceptual model through data generated by a survey of 448 Indian domestic tourists.

Study confirms the validity and usefulness of the conceptualized model, as it shows significant correlations between the key variables. Specifically, the authors found that positive and memorable tourism experiences significantly affect tourists’ attachment and their satisfaction with destinations. As a result, tourists who form a strong customer-based destination brand equity are more likely to develop storytelling intentions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, current study is the earliest to explore the association between memorable tourism experiences, tourist satisfaction, attachment, customer-based brand equity and how they impact storytelling intentions of tourists.