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Underpinned by the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA), this study aims to investigate whether leisure involvement, object-based and existential authenticity, host sincerity and engagement stimulate positive memorable visitor experiences in a distinctive commercial hospitality setting: a living history site.

Quantitative data were gathered from living history site visitors (n = 1,004), with partial least squares structural equation modeling used to test the hypothesized relationships.

The results confirm the inclusion of the hypothesized relationships between leisure involvement, sincerity and authenticity, relative to engagement and subsequent memorability. The findings suggest that engagement can be a predictor of a positive memorable experience, contingent on CBA constructs (sincerity; object-based authenticity; existential authenticity). The significant association between object-based authenticity and memorable experience identified herein differs from some published studies, while other results are broadly consistent with extant research. Results also reveal significant differences for visitors who purchased souvenirs when compared to those who did not.

The research extends the CBA by positing sincere hospitality as a relationship-based encounter between host and guest that influences social interaction, engagement and memorability within the novel living history site context. Further, the ability to differentiate visitors based on their purchases at the site is illustrated.

Given the ubiquity of engagement and authenticity as precursors to memorable experiences within contemporary commercial hospitality and heritage discourses, the findings apply to hospitality experiences beyond the living history site context examined herein.

This study aims to develop a framework to identify the drivers underpinning food tourists' behavioral intentions (BIs). This framework centers on examining how local food consumption value (TLFCV), local food experiential value (TLFEV) and social media influencers (SMIs) impact upon tourists’ attitudes toward local food (ATLF) and food destination image (FDI). The impact of ATLF and FDI on tourists’ BIs is also examined.

PLS-SEM was used to test the hypothesized relationships using survey responses from 379 tourists visiting Rasht, Iran.

The results demonstrate that TLFCV, TLFEV and SMIs can be used to populate a theoretical framework for predicting and understanding the factors influencing tourists’ ATLF and FDI. Specifically, positive ATLF and FDI stimulated positive BIs (e.g., intending to recommend Iranian food to others and intending to revisit Iran in future for culinary tourism purposes).

The findings provide managers and practitioners within the culinary tourism industry with suggestions for how best to strategically market their offerings to increase inbound food tourism.

This study is one of the first to empirically evaluate the drivers of food tourists' BIs, presenting a newly developed model for deployment in future research. Originality is also established by simultaneously investigating TLFCV and TLFEV within the context of food tourism.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication of the Fortune top-100 companies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Specifically, the authors examine the messages of international companies' CSR communication to customers during the pandemic, focusing particularly on the companies' posts on Twitter. In addition to identifying what international companies communicate, the authors determine the motives of companies' COVID-19-related CSR communication as well as how companies strategically approach CSR communication.

Using Nvivo, the authors carried out content analysis of the COVID-19-related tweets of the Fortune top-100 companies using Twitter's ‘advanced search’ tool. The analysis included tweets posted between 1 February 2020 and September 2021, a period that represents the peak of the pandemic.

Study findings indicate that COVID-19-related CSR responses of international companies are driven by commitment to organizational values, attainment of recognition for timely response to COVID-19, altruistic motives to combat COVID-19 and congruence with social movements that create expectations from customers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most companies adopt a response strategy to CSR communication, by informing customers of their COVID-19 responses in relation to several issues such as alterations in companies' processes and the impacts of the pandemic on health.

The study suggests that the CSR practices of companies should be strategically embedded in organizations' international marketing plans and not remain just on-off responses to crises should marketing-related benefits be obtained. Several recommendations are made to strengthen companies' adoption of a proactive, engagement-oriented approach to CSR communication.

The CSR communication of international companies during external crises has not been sufficiently studied in relation to international marketing, as most studies considered internal corporate crises. Focusing on an external crisis (COVID-19 pandemic) with global impacts, this study advances existing knowledge on international companies' CSR communication to their customers. Additionally, this study offers new insights on the role of integrated, coordinated and consistent CSR messages and strategies, which are targeted to the needs and expectations of domestic and international customers in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Conducting mixed methods (MM) research is one of many ways to study a research topic in the hospitality and tourism domain. This paper aims to offer a synopsis and guidelines on the application of MM research design within hospitality and tourism.

This paper summarizes the pivotal information on how to write high-quality MM research papers. In doing so, the paper draws on common practices and advice from previous books and articles as well as advice from the editor-in-chief and one of the associate editors of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

This study provides explanations, guidelines and examples of MM research design.

It offers specific recommendations and examples of MM research design in the hospitality and tourism field. This study concludes with a discussion of common mistakes, useful tips and a framework for the self-assessment of MM research.

This is one of the few studies providing specific guidance and recommendations on designing MM research papers in hospitality and tourism studies.

Heritage management is underpinned by preservation, sustainability and generativity; concerns of obvious interest to domestic audiences. However, domestic tourists are not homogenous and can be differentiated by various characteristics, including proximity to the sites they visit. Drawing upon the consumer-based model of authenticity, this study investigates whether the influence of authenticity, self-connection and serious leisure hold over experience memorability differs for distinct domestic visitor groups.

To investigate perceptual differences between “local” and “non-local” domestic visitors, the authors developed and tested a conceptual model using a sample of 320 heritage site visitors within Tabriz, Iran, investigating the effects of self-connection, serious leisure and perceived authenticity on memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) for both groups.

Significant inter-group differences regarding the influence of serious leisure and self-connection on visitors' perceptions of authenticity emerged. Similarly, the extent to which serious leisure, self-connection and authenticity influenced MTEs also differed. The effect sizes for all proposed relationships were larger for local visitors.

Hospitality and tourism literature often focuses on the boon that inbound international and non-local domestic tourism can bring to local sites and attractions. However, the findings encourage heritage tourism managers to focus greater attention on attracting custom from “closer to home”. With local visitors demonstrating strong pre-, during and post-visit outcomes, the findings suggest local domestic visitors are a market ripe for greater investigation given ongoing international travel restrictions and Iran's historically-limited international appeal.

This study aims to examine how comprehensive performance measurement systems (CPMS) influence entrepreneurial orientation, market-focussed learning (MFL) and employees’ perceptions of firm performance within a service-provision context. It also considers the moderating effect of low and high levels of perceived market-turbulence (low-turbulence environments [LMT] vs highly turbulent environments [HMT]) on the relationships between these concepts.

PLS-SEM was used to test the hypothesised relationships using survey responses from 198 employees of a leading multi-branch travel agency in Iran.

The findings demonstrate that CPMS positively influence MFL and, in doing so, have a positive effect on perceptions of firm performance. However, the findings also suggest that CPMS negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation, and therefore can also negatively influence perceptions of firm performance. Further, the relationships between CPMS, entrepreneurial orientation, MFL and firm performance are stronger for HMT when compared to LMT for all relationships.

Industry managers should adapt their CPMS to include measures specific to intra-organisational entrepreneurship and innovation and should pursue greater understanding of changing customer preferences.

This study highlights the importance of MFL as a means of avoiding the negative impact of underdeveloped market research on performance in the turbulent Iranian context. Contrary to previous literature, it provides an example of how CPMS can negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation in such environments.

This study examines the mediating effects of relationship quality (RQ) on the relationship between six antecedents and loyalty and the moderating effects of gender on these relationships.

Data were collected from a convenience sample of 300 respondents as they exited well-known casual dining restaurants in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia.

With the exception of physical environment, food quality, customer orientation, communication, relationship benefits and price fairness were significant predictors of RQ. RQ partially mediates the relationships between its antecedents and loyalty. Multi-group analyses reveal significant differences between males and females on these relationships.

At the theoretical level, the study contributes to the conceptualization of RQ in tourism and hospitality research. The sample is not representative of all casual dining restaurants in KL, but findings have important implications for restaurant management in terms of relationship marketing, advertising strategies and customer loyalty development.

The study extends existing models of RQ in the hospitality and tourism literature by confirming that RQ is best modeled as a second-order construct consisting of three first-order dimensions: trust, satisfaction and commitment. The study also demonstrates that RQ mediates the relationship between the antecedents of RQ and loyalty. Finally, this research confirms the moderating effects of gender on the hypothesized relationships.

Recognising tourists’ increasing desire for authentic destination-specific experiences, the hospitality industry has responded by increasing provision of innovative culinary activities. This study aims to use the concepts of serious leisure and terroir to examine how knowledge, physical environment and service quality influence co-creation within the culinary tourism context.

Following cooking class participation, 575 domestic Iranian tourists were surveyed. These educational classes provide opportunities to learn about local foods alongside peers in an interactive setting. Consistent with the benefits of serious leisure, this consumption context could prove conducive to stimulating co-creation.

Prior knowledge strongly influences tourists’ reflective and recreational motives for participation (i.e. the benefits of serious leisure). This shapes how tourists evaluate physical environments and service quality therein; influencing value co-creation and supporting serious leisure as the conceptual lens through which to understand experiential culinary consumption.

The proposed conceptual model was tested on domestic tourists following class participation. However, in suggesting that visually-stimulating, tactile premises with the olfactory appeal can encourage co-created experiences, the findings are relevant to service touch-point management more generally.

Recognizing the influential role played by the physical and social aspects of experiential consumption, the serious leisure framework improves an extant understanding of value co-creation.

This study aims to investigate the combinations of religiosity, cosmopolitanism and perceived destination image leading to satisfaction and loyalty amongst Muslim consumers within the Maldivian tourism and hospitality context.

Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study reveals that diverse combinations of religiosity, cosmopolitanism and destination image dimensions stimulate satisfaction and loyalty in Muslim consumers.

Multiple recipes can be used to design compelling destinations that balance the desire for religiosity and cosmopolitanism characteristic of contemporary Muslim consumers. The results confirm the applicability of complexity theory in explaining Muslim consumer behaviour within the Islamic destination context.

Several implications for the hospitality and tourism industry are drawn from the results, with suggestions for future research provided. Each fsQCA recipe identifies distinct suggestions to shape the design of destination attributes and hospitality offerings to stimulate consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Complexity theory was applied to assess the complex causal relationships among Muslim consumers’ religiosity, perceived destination image, cosmopolitanism, satisfaction and loyalty.