Search results

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.

This study aims to investigate whether the antecedents of co-creation influence braggart word-of-mouth (WoM) in a participative leisure context, theorising the concept of co-created food well-being and highlighting implications for interactive experience co-design.

A sequential mixed-method approach was used to test a theoretical model; 25 in-depth interviews with cooking class participants were conducted, followed by a post-experience survey (n = 575).

Qualitative results suggest braggart WoM is rooted in active consumer participation in co-designing leisure experiences. The structural model confirms that participation in value co-creating activities (i.e. co-design, customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction), alongside perceived support from service providers, increases consumer perceptions of co-creation and stimulates braggart WoM. Degree of co-creation and support from peers mediate some relationships.

Limited by cross-sectional data from one experiential consumption format, the results nevertheless demonstrate the role of active participation in co-design and C2C interactions during value co-creation. This implies that co-created and co-designed leisure experiences can intensify post-consumption behaviours and potentially enhance food well-being.

The results highlight that integrating customer participation into service design, while also developing opportunities for peer support on-site, can stimulate braggart WoM.

Extends burgeoning literature on co-creation and co-design in leisure services. By encouraging active customer participation while providing support and facilitating C2C interactions, service providers can enhance value co-creation, influencing customer experiences and food well-being. Accordingly, the concept of co-created food well-being is introduced.

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 examine residents’ perceptions of environmental impacts and certification for the Milan World Expo 2015 as well as their overall attitude toward the mega-event.

A survey of Milan residents based on a convenience sample led to 221 useable questionnaires.

Residents perceived that the Expo will have minimal negative and positive environmental impacts. A minority of residents were aware of the environmental certification of the event. The less agreeable residents were with the perceived negative environmental impacts of the event, the more agreeable they were that a certification of event sustainability should limit the damage to the natural environment. Residents’ perceptions of the certification were positively related to their overall attitude toward the event.

The findings cannot be generalized to other mega-events but have several managerial implications in relation to the need for information provision to residents and better communication of the certification by event organizers and planners.

Despite rising concerns about environmental issues related to hosting mega-events, there is no research on perceptions of a certification of event sustainability by residents.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between self-image of women travelers, accommodation preferences and the post-consumption behaviors of satisfaction and loyalty.

Accommodation preferences were measured using multi-items adapted from the literature and multi-phases of qualitative research. Female guests recruited from a resort’s membership database in Malaysia resulted in 540 useable surveys. Data were analyzed using both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling was used to identify relationships between the various dimensions of accommodation preferences, self-image, satisfaction and loyalty.

A significant negative relationship was found between women actual self-image and the dimension of hotel activities. Several significant positive relationships were found between women ideal self-image and various room amenities factors. A significant relationship was also found between overall satisfaction and loyalty of guests.

The results provide hoteliers with significant insights into women’s accommodation preferences and identify opportunities for the packaging of accommodation attributes as well as promotion of hotel amenities that would appeal to the girlfriend getaway market.

This study is the first to evaluate significant relationships between self-image and accommodation preferences of women travelers from the girlfriend getaway market in Malaysia.

Using social capital theory, this study aims to investigate internal social capital (ISC) and external social capital (ESC) as determinants of knowledge sharing intention (KSI) and new product development (NPD) in high-end restaurants.

A theoretical model is developed and tested using data collected from 523 respondents (owners/proprietors, partners and managers) from high-end restaurants in Karnataka, India. Partial least square structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data.

The results suggest that ISC has a significant and positive influence on ESC. This highlights the important role of ISC in building ESC. While ISC has a positive relationship with KSI, ESC has no influence on KSI. KSI has a positive effect on NPD.

Restaurant managers and owners should invest time and resources in building ISC by nurturing relationships with employees and partners. Encouraging and rewarding collaborative behaviors internally will facilitate the development of external relationships. Results also suggest the existence of an optimum level of knowledge sharing with external partners in restaurants.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between ISC and ESC, and test the effects of both KSI and NPD in high-end restaurants.

This study evaluates consumption displacement, the shift in consumption that occurs when consumers experience a change in the availability of goods, services and amenities to which they are accustomed as the result of an external event, and which is characterised by the points in space and time where consumption occurs and by the movements to, from, and between those points, that is occurring as a result of the effects of COVID-19 on the services sector in the Canterbury region of New Zealand.

Based on consumer spending data, the authors identify patterns of consumption displacement for the hospitality and retail sectors as defined by ANZSIC. We answer where, when, how, what and why consumption displacement happens.

The findings provide evidence of spatial and temporal displacement of consumption based on consumer spending patterns. Evidence of increased spending in some consumption categories confirms stockpiling behaviours. The hospitality sector experiences a sharp decline in consumer spending over lockdown.

Given the lack of studies analysing the impacts of crises and disasters on the services sector and consumption displacement, this study provides evidence of different forms of consumption displacement related to COVID-19.

Importance-performance analysis (IPA) remains one of the lesser used quantitative techniques to analyze cultural differences in image perceptions. Therefore, this chapter analyzes differences in international visitors' image perceptions for the island of Mauritius in its key generating markets. Using the mixed method, the study identifies image attributes in a qualitative phase initially, followed by the administration of a survey instrument to a quota sample of 1,000 visitors, resulting in 705 useable questionnaires. IPA reveals the existence of significant differences between importance and performance scores on image for the whole sample as well as significant differences by nationality sub-groups. For example, Germans on average have the lowest importance scores, whereas Indians have the highest in comparison with other nationalities. For each market, the study also identifies the influence of fluency levels in main languages spoken on importance and performance scores. Using IPA, the gaps in scores reflect degrees of product customization and re-positioning that is needed for the different markets of Mauritius. Similarities in scores across nationalities suggest the universal importance of some image attributes in destination selection. The chapter contributes to the dearth of literature on cultural differences in image perceptions for island destinations.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the brand image of Cape Town as a tourist destination using a progressive method of unstructured and structured techniques such as word association and free association.

A mixed method study was designed incorporating two phases. Phase one involved in‐depth interviews with a convenience sample of 85 international visitors to Cape Town. Phase two consisted of a survey, which resulted in 585 useable questionnaires that incorporated both open and closed‐ended questions.

The results indicate the strengths and weaknesses of each technique used. For example, word association is effective at eliciting positive images and holistic impressions but weak at identifying affective images. The free‐choice technique offers a more balanced perception of positive, negative, cognitive and affective images of a brand.

It is possible through the use of unstructured and structured techniques together to identify commonality in image perceptions but also differences in such perceptions on the basis of visitors' demographic and travelling characteristics.

The findings highlight the strengths and weaknesses of techniques such as word association and free association. The results indicate that some image attributes may not always adequately differentiate the brand from its competitors.

The paper contributes to understand the relationship between three components of brand knowledge namely, image, differentiating attributes and choice factors in the context of an African city brand.