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1 – 10 of over 10000Feng Hu, Rohit Trivedi and Thorsten Teichert
This study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables hotel managers to use introduced methodology to measure and monitor frontline employees’ role behavior and optimize their service.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors’ approach links text mining and importance-performance analysis with role theory’s conceptual foundations taking into account the hotel industry’s specifics to assess the effect of frontline hotel employees’ actions on consumer satisfaction and to derive specific management implications for the hospitality sector.
Findings
This study identifies different actors involved in hotel frontline interactions revealing distinct role behaviors that characterize consumers’ perspectives of service encounters with different role types associated with front-office employees. This research also identifies role performance related to role behavior to improve service encounters.
Practical implications
Customer–employee interactions can be assessed by user-generated contents (UGC). Performance evaluations relate to frontline employee roles associated with distinct role scripts, whereby different hotel segments require tailored role designs. Insights of this study can be used for service optimization, market positioning as well as for improving human resource management practices in the hotel industry.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the service encounter literature by applying role theory in the text mining of UGC to assess frontline employees as actors and the effects of their actions on service quality delivery.
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Abdul Rauf, Marius Zurcher, Ioannis Pantelidis and Johan Winbladh
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of the hospitality industry. In times of staff shortages, AI used in the industry can have advantages, but it also…
Abstract
Purpose
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of the hospitality industry. In times of staff shortages, AI used in the industry can have advantages, but it also brings with it the possibility of customer backlash. The purpose of this paper is to understand the potential response of millennial guests to the potential applications of AI in the hotel industry. The emphasis was on which hotel service encounter categories are most suited to replacing employees with AI in the context of the millennial guest experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This quantitative research used a survey questionnaire for the data collection. Responses from 169 millennials from six continents were analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics, t-tests, MANOVA tests and Bonferroni tests.
Findings
Four service encounter categories were studied: (i) “Check-in”, (ii) “Reception Services (excl. check-in)”, (iii) “Wellness” and (iv) “Food and Beverage Services”. The results showed that of these four categories, “Food and Beverage Services” is more suited to replacing employees with AI than “Wellness”.
Practical implications
The findings of this research are important as they contribute to the body of knowledge related to the implementation of AI in the hospitality industry and provide useful information to policymakers and hotel managers who may wish to identify suitable areas for investment related to AI in their operations.
Originality/value
This study offers useful insight on a cutting-edge topic of AI application for service encounters within the hospitality sector and confirms the suitability of some encounters.
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Dora Yeboah, Masud Ibrahim and Kingsley Agyapong
This study aims to investigate the drivers that motivate employees and guests' hotel service participation to understand how that can influence the implementation of Value…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the drivers that motivate employees and guests' hotel service participation to understand how that can influence the implementation of Value Co-Creation (VCC) in sub-Saharan African context.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an interpretive paradigm, the study draws on 32 in-depth interviews, 6 focus group discussions involving 32 participants and participant observation field notes. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The study unravels nine motives that drive employee–guest VCC participation: passion, relationship, belongingness, shared and enhanced experiences, satisfaction, reputation development, openness, communication and rewards.
Research limitations/implications
This exploratory, cross-sectional study was undertaken in hotels within sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, findings cannot be generalised. However, it provides an opportunity for future quantitative approaches within different contexts involving other stakeholders.
Practical implications
Considering the numerous challenges from COVID-19 pandemic on the service industry, hotel managers might want to use the findings to not only formulate policies that support employee–guest co-creation for service improvement and survival but also introduce enhanced innovative service practices that deliver on employee and guest service expectations for retention. The findings encourage hotel managers to identify employee and guest context-specific motivations to be able to match with value-driven service activities, aimed at attracting positive behaviours to better respond to the numerous COVID-19-related challenges.
Originality/value
This work adds to the VCC literature by investigating the collective and individual drivers at the employee and guest dyadic level within sub-Saharan African hotel context. The authors propose a comprehensive model to guide the successful implementation of employee–guest VCC.
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IpKin Anthony Wong, Ya Xiao, Zhiwei (CJ) Lin, Danni Sun, Jingwen (Daisy) Huang and Matthew Liu
This paper aims to answer questions pertinent to whether or not services provided by smart hotels are really what customers are looking for, as well as to ascertain what are some…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to answer questions pertinent to whether or not services provided by smart hotels are really what customers are looking for, as well as to ascertain what are some unintended experiences guests may encounter. In essence, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first in the field to acknowledge the paradox of smart service.
Design/methodology/approach
This inquiry adopts a qualitative approach with data-driven from online customer reviews and semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis was undertaken to interpret review comments.
Findings
Results point to a new phenomenon, which is coined as the smartness paradox. In particular, customers on one hand enjoy an array of smart-infused experiences that jointly offer patrons a sense of a futuristic lifestyle. On the other hand, smart devices superimpose a number of hindrances that bring guests dismay and annoyance.
Research limitations/implications
This investigation brings smart service failure to the fore to highlight several key failure themes that could jeopardize the entire operation with debased customers’ satisfaction and loyalty inclination.
Originality/value
The smartness-paradox framework used in the present inquiry entails both approach and avoidance consequences customers enact depending on their smart experiences.
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Ashutosh Pandey and Ruchika Kulshrestha
This study examines changes in customer service encounter patterns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during stays at hotels. The study re-visits the hotel services delivery…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines changes in customer service encounter patterns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during stays at hotels. The study re-visits the hotel services delivery process and examines how the hotel service blueprint has been re-framed.
Design/methodology/approach
The study implemented an exploratory and qualitative research design to identify changes in customer service encounters and the hotel service delivery process. The research applied a cross-sectional survey-based design, which involved open-ended and closed interview questions with hoteliers in the Delhi/NCR region.
Findings
The study identified an increase in contactless service during the service delivery process and in customer service encounters while staying at hotels. In so doing, the various service touchpoints in hotels need to transition from personalized service to contactless service encounters such as at check-in and payment, contactless room key access with available and accessible hand sanitizers, masks, room purifiers, automated room cleaning machines and the deployment of other smart artificial intelligence-based technologies.
Practical implications
This paper profiles a revised service blueprint model for hotels, which could assist hotel service managers to address potential sources of customer dissatisfaction and service failure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
The paper explores ongoing changes in the hotel service delivery process during the COVID-19 situation and reveals ways in which the service blueprint has been re-framed.
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Santiago Melián-González and Jacques Bulchand-Gidumal
The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of information technology (IT) in the performance of front office employees in hotels. This is done by testing and analyzing up to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of information technology (IT) in the performance of front office employees in hotels. This is done by testing and analyzing up to what level the task performance content of receptionists depends on IT and by testing and analyzing up to what level the contents of the service encounters in which they participate depend on IT.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper includes in-depth interviews with 30 receptionists, using the job task performance model and the critical incident technique in the service encounter model.
Findings
IT takes part heavily in the task performance of front office workers, who rely on IT to get their job done. On the other hand, in service encounters, the value of the human presence is still high, and in most critical incidents, IT do not participate.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was located in the same destination with only two types of hotels.
Practical implications
The dependence of front office employees with IT is so high that some of the receptionists could be substituted by IT in the near future. However, human participation in satisfactory critical incidents is very high.
Social implications
Receptionists should get ready and trained taking into account that the value they provide is higher in tasks that are both not routine and in which face-to-face interactions take place.
Originality/value
Usually, front office employees are managed with human resources view, without taking into consideration specifically how IT has spread into the hospitality industry.
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Over the last two decades, the hospitality industry has witnessed a considerable shift of focus towards customer orientation, however, the vast body of the relevant hospitality…
Abstract
Over the last two decades, the hospitality industry has witnessed a considerable shift of focus towards customer orientation, however, the vast body of the relevant hospitality research literature – with few exceptions concentrating on the concept of internal marketing and internal service constructs – is focused on the external customer neglecting the importance of the quality of internal service encounters, where one department in the hotel serves another. The purpose of this study was to explore an “internal service chain” in three international city hotels and identify the events and behaviours (service dimensions) that distinguish a successful internal service encounter from a non‐successful one. Although internal customers were usually not recognised as such, it was found that interpersonal relations affect to a great extent all internal service encounters in a hotel. Other factors influencing the internal service encounters are the professionalism, the dependability, the conscientiousness of the internal suppliers, their communication skills and the consideration they show to their internal customers.
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Naeem Akhtar, Xianglan Chen, Umar Iqbal Siddiqi, Guojun Zeng and Tahir Islam
To address critical research gaps in the extant literature, the present study develops a model that links language constraints in hotel attributes—core and facilitating––with…
Abstract
Purpose
To address critical research gaps in the extant literature, the present study develops a model that links language constraints in hotel attributes—core and facilitating––with consumers' offendedness (CO) and examines the consequent behavioral intentions of an offended consumer. For this purpose, it investigates (1) the role of language constraints in core and facilitating attributes in shaping CO, (2) how CO relates to adverse behavioral outcomes and (3) the moderating role of attribution of service failure (ASF) between language constraints and CO.
Design/methodology/approach
The present research used convenience sampling and collected data from 398 inbound tourists in Beijing through a survey questionnaire. The study performs measurement and structural evaluation by employing Amos Graphics 24.0 and moderation analysis through IBM SPSS 25.0.
Findings
The study examines language constraints in China's hospitality context, which restricts its generalizability. However, it serves as a better approach to examine the tourists who visit other Western hotels in China and unveils the factors contributing to CO.
Research limitations/implications
The study examines language constraints in Chinese hotels, which restrict its generalizability. It serves as a better approach to examine the tourists who visit other Western hotels in China and unveils the factors contributing to CO.
Originality/value
Few studies validate communication barriers in service encounters in hotel services and apprehend related outcomes. The present study takes a unique initiative in the context of China and examines the role of language constraints in core and facilitating hotel attributes in service encounters at Chinese hotels. This study informs the Chinese hotel industry and international destination firms to understand the language constraints in service encounters to further their strategies to overcome threats and tap potential opportunities.
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Xiangjie Tang, Lawrence Hoc Nang Fong and Amy Siu-Ian So
This study aims to conceptualize the potential stimuli and consequences of perceived yuanfen in the accommodation service encounter by interpreting how Chinese customers perceive…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to conceptualize the potential stimuli and consequences of perceived yuanfen in the accommodation service encounter by interpreting how Chinese customers perceive yuanfen during their stay in accommodations.
Design/methodology/approach
Online accommodation reviews containing yuanfen perception were interpreted using a grounded theory approach. Group interviews were conducted to verify the interpretations.
Findings
Positive outcome-generated emotional accommodation experiences (e.g. happiness) can elicit perceived yuanfen, which then evokes customers’ feelings of gratitude, emotional attachment to an accommodation and memorable accommodation experiences. Also, perceived yuanfen facilitates customers’ tolerance of service failures and promotes customers’ intention to stay longer at, recommend and revisit the accommodation.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the literature on accommodation experiences, loyalty, word-of-mouth and service recovery. Future research can explore the interventions that trigger Chinese customers’ perceived yuanfen during accommodation.
Practical implications
This study informs practitioners of the importance of perceived yuanfen in enhancing accommodation experiences and service recovery. Moreover, the conceptualized characteristics and stimuli of perceived yuanfen offer possible guidelines for practitioners on how to stimulate customers’ yuanfen perception.
Originality/value
This study fills the gap of how perceived yuanfen functions in the service encounters in accommodations.
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Ruiyu Feng, Yao-Chin Wang and Bill Ryan
This chapter conceptualizes a framework that can be applied to examine the service experiences of business tourists at luxury hotels. A synthesized literature review results in…
Abstract
This chapter conceptualizes a framework that can be applied to examine the service experiences of business tourists at luxury hotels. A synthesized literature review results in the identification of three service constructs − surprise, recovery, and sweetness − that constitute the service experiences. In the development of five propositions and in views of emotional appreciation and reciprocity, the chapter posits that emotional value from these three constructs of service experiences can enhance business tourists’ attitude of gratitude and consequently their willingness to pay a price premium. The proposed conceptual framework extends the three service constructs to, and integrates them with, a value–attitude–behavior model.
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