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1 – 10 of 376Ana Isabel Lopes, Edward C. Malthouse, Nathalie Dens and Patrick De Pelsmacker
Engaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the…
Abstract
Purpose
Engaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the effects of specific webcare strategies on business performance. Therefore, this study tests whether and how several webcare strategies affect hotel bookings.
Design/methodology/approach
We apply machine learning classifiers to secondary data (webcare messages) to classify webcare variables to be included in a regression analysis looking at the effect of these strategies on hotel bookings while controlling for possible confounds such as seasonality and hotel-specific effects.
Findings
The strategies that have a positive effect on bookings are directing reviewers to a private channel, being defensive, offering compensation and having managers sign the response. Webcare strategies to be avoided are apologies, merely asking for more information, inviting customers for another visit and adding informal non-verbal cues. Strategies that do not appear to affect future bookings are expressing gratitude, personalizing and having staff members (rather than managers) sign webcare.
Practical implications
These findings help managers optimize their webcare strategy for better business results and develop automated webcare.
Originality/value
We look into several commonly used and studied webcare strategies that affect actual business outcomes, being that most previous research studies are experimental or look into a very limited set of strategies.
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Marcelino Sánchez-Rivero, Milagros Gutiérrez-Fernández, Yakira Fernández-Torres and Clara Gallego-Sosa
This study aims to use a novel approach, focusing on the manager’s gender, to explore whether it acts as a differentiator in the following aspects of tourist accommodation…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use a novel approach, focusing on the manager’s gender, to explore whether it acts as a differentiator in the following aspects of tourist accommodation companies in Extremadura (Spain): the level of information and communication technology (ICT) specialisation of employees, managers’ knowledge of ICTs and the social media and online tourism platform use intensity of managers.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was sent to 238 accommodation companies. The data collected from the questionnaire were analysed using statistical inference techniques and linear and logistic regression.
Findings
In general, ICT specialist profiles are more common amongst the employees of male-led companies. Male managers also use Booking and analyse online feedback more intensively. There appear to be no gender-based differences in terms of the ICT knowledge of managers.
Practical implications
These results highlight issues of major practical interest for the sector’s managers and decision makers, especially in Extremadura. They reveal the digital divide in certain aspects between men- and women-led firms in Extremadura. This finding has important consequences for the sector in terms of competitiveness. It highlights the need to continue working to eradicate gender gaps in digital settings.
Originality/value
The study shows the role of the manager’s gender as a differentiating factor in terms of the existence of specialist ICT profiles and ICT use intensity in tourism companies. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides the first evidence of such a finding for the tourism sector in general, as well as for the specific case of a rural destination such as Extremadura.
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Shixuan Fu, Xusen Cheng, Anil Bilgihan and Fevzi Okumus
Images and caption descriptions serve as important visual stimuli that influence consumer preferences; therefore, the current study focuses on property images and captions…
Abstract
Purpose
Images and caption descriptions serve as important visual stimuli that influence consumer preferences; therefore, the current study focuses on property images and captions illustrated on the home pages of accommodation-sharing platforms. Specifically, this study investigates the relative importance of hue, brightness and saturation of a property image and caption description styles on potential consumers’ preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method approach was used, and a total of 293 valid responses were collected through a discrete choice experiment approach. Interviews were conducted for additional analyses to explore the detailed explanations.
Findings
The utility model demonstrated that the image’s saturation was the most critical attribute perceived by the respondents, followed by caption description style, hue and brightness.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to investigate the display of attributes on a digital accommodation platform by exploring potential customers’ stated preferences. This study focuses explicitly on images and captions illustrated on the home page of an accommodation booking platform. Detailed image investigation is also a new research area in sharing economy-related research.
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In order to better optimize the internal management system of book publishing and to cope with the changes in the external market environment, the purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to better optimize the internal management system of book publishing and to cope with the changes in the external market environment, the purpose of this paper is to carry out cross-border publishing with the help of a transmedia storytelling model to realize the transformation and upgrading of the industry. Focusing on the relationship between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, the moderating effect of the innovation environment on different variables is assessed.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes several feasible hypotheses based on existing research. The research data came from 365 managers of Chinese book publishing organizations, and the scale was validated by Cronbach’s a, composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). Reliability and validity were verified, and correlation and regression analyses were used to test the impact of the book publishing transmedia storytelling model on business performance and to analyze the moderating role of the innovation environment.
Findings
The results show that the book publishing transmedia storytelling model (content production, technology integration, organizational innovation, marketing integration) helps to improve business performance (market performance, financial performance), and the innovation environment has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, which provides a guarantee for the transformation and upgrading of book publishing. The market information reflected in the innovation environment has a certain role in promoting the innovation and business performance of the book publishing transmedia storytelling model.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical evidence provides a theoretical link between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, but there are still some shortcomings, and more factors, such as equity structure, government subsidies and research and development investment, should be included in future research. In addition, the scope of the research should be broadened on this basis to make the results of the data analysis more objective.
Practical implications
This paper introduces the transmedia storytelling model and deeply analyzes the relationship between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, which is of great practical significance for optimizing the application and service quality of book publishing, prolonging the industrial chain, enhancing the interaction and participation of users and perfecting the business management system of the book publishing industry.
Originality/value
The application and research of the book publishing transmedia storytelling model are imperfect. Therefore, this paper not only helps to promote the innovation of book publishing organizational structure and improve the management system of business performance, but also may help to improve the innovation environment of book publishing enterprises and promote the diversification of industrial structure.
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Alessandra Schopf da Silveira, Carmen Brum Rosa and Julio Cezar Mairesse Siluk
This work sought to analyze targeted innovation strategies used during the pandemic to maintain companies’ competitiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
This work sought to analyze targeted innovation strategies used during the pandemic to maintain companies’ competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology was a systematic literature review, analyzing how these factors can be used as leverage in decision-making and suggesting a framework tool.
Findings
As a result, nine factors were identified as drivers to stimulate competitiveness, bringing insights to structure actions in times of crisis to support agribusiness.
Research limitations/implications
With this work, it is possible that other companies can base themselves and use the strategic drivers of innovation evidenced to remain competitive in the market during a period of crisis. As this is a systematic review of the literature, the application of a case study, for example, is a limitation, which could be a continuation of the work.
Practical implications
As this is a systematic review of the literature, the application of a case study, for example, is a limitation, which could be a continuation of the work.
Originality/value
This work has high value because it brings insights into strategic drivers of innovation that tend to leverage or maintain the competitiveness of agribusinesses in times of crisis. With the discussion carried out on the data obtained, it is possible that agribusinesses or other types of companies can be based for decision-making in a crisis scenario from innovative actions that generate competitive advantage.
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Positive reviews can enrich the favorable impression of peer-to-peer accommodation products, and seizing this impression is vital for hosts. This study aims to focus on hosts’…
Abstract
Purpose
Positive reviews can enrich the favorable impression of peer-to-peer accommodation products, and seizing this impression is vital for hosts. This study aims to focus on hosts’ response strategies to positive reviews and their effects.
Design/methodology/approach
This study categorizes hosts’ response strategies to positive reviews into cordial and tailoring responses. This study empirically analyzes the influence of these response strategies on subsequent review volumes using 1,283 valid listings and zero-inflation negative binomial regression models.
Findings
While hosts use cordial responses more, tailoring responses are more likely to drive subsequent reviews. In addition, when the host chooses entirely shared accommodation or sets a high price, the facilitating effect of the two response strategies on subsequent reviews weakens.
Research limitations/implications
This study enriches the knowledge system on managerial responses by proposing two specific response strategies to positive reviews that can be adopted by peer-to-peer accommodation hosts and by finding the promoting impact of these strategies on subsequent review volumes.
Practical implications
This study recommends that peer-to-peer accommodation hosts adopt cordial and tailoring responses to encourage subsequent consumer reviewing behavior.
Originality/value
As an early attempt to explore hosts’ responses to positive reviews and their impacts on subsequent review volumes, this study provides valuable insights into further research on positive review response strategies in the digital space.
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Shu Zhang, Lixun Su, Weiling Zhuang and Barry J. Babin
Given resource constraints such as time and staffing, hotels cannot respond to all negative online reviews (NORs). Therefore, this study investigates (1) what types of NORs hotels…
Abstract
Purpose
Given resource constraints such as time and staffing, hotels cannot respond to all negative online reviews (NORs). Therefore, this study investigates (1) what types of NORs hotels should prioritize responding; and (2) what response strategies are more effective in handling different types of NORs to minimize the negative ramifications.
Design/methodology/approach
Four experiments in the context of hospitability were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Our findings show that NORs with implicit conclusions (e.g. “I do not believe that is a good choice, you know what I mean.”) are more dissuasive than NORs with explicit ones (e.g. “Do not buy it.”) because the former NORs are perceived as more objective than the latter NORs. More importantly, our results show that firms do not need to respond to explicit NORs. When responding to implicit NORs, firms should prioritize those related to service failures caused by external (e.g. weather, technological misfunction) rather than internal (e.g. poor management, employee skills) factors.
Research limitations/implications
Our studies focus on the language styles of Chinese NORs, and future research should investigate how language styles influence dissuasion in other languages.
Practical implications
Our results show that NORs with implicit conclusions negatively impact consumer attitude and thus hurt performance more significantly than those with explicit conclusions. Therefore, firms should allocate limited staffing and resources to NORs with implicit conclusions. When responding to implicit NORs, firms should select NORs that can be attributed to external factors.
Originality/value
Our findings shed light on the importance of the language styles of NORs and provide marketers with insights into how to handle NORs. Our results reveal that consumers perceive higher objectivity of NORs when these reviews are implicit than when they are explicit. Furthermore, this study contributes to the online review literature by suggesting that firms should tailor their response strategies for NORs based on the reviewers’ language styles.
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Fatemeh Binesh, Amanda Mapel Belarmino, Jean-Pierre van der Rest, Ashok K. Singh and Carola Raab
This study aims to propose a risk-induced game theoretic forecasting model to predict average daily rate (ADR) under COVID-19, using an advanced recurrent neural network.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose a risk-induced game theoretic forecasting model to predict average daily rate (ADR) under COVID-19, using an advanced recurrent neural network.
Design/methodology/approach
Using three data sets from upper-midscale hotels in three locations (i.e. urban, interstate and suburb), from January 1, 2018, to August 31, 2020, three long-term, short-term memory (LSTM) models were evaluated against five traditional forecasting models.
Findings
The models proposed in this study outperform traditional methods, such that the simplest LSTM model is more accurate than most of the benchmark models in two of the three tested hotels. In particular, the results show that traditional methods are inefficient in hotels with rapid fluctuations of demand and ADR, as observed during the pandemic. In contrast, LSTM models perform more accurately for these hotels.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited by its use of American data and data from midscale hotels as well as only predicting ADR.
Practical implications
This study produced a reliable, accurate forecasting model considering risk and competitor behavior.
Theoretical implications
This paper extends the application of game theory principles to ADR forecasting and combines it with the concept of risk for forecasting during uncertain times.
Originality/value
This study is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to use actual hotel data from the COVID-19 pandemic to determine an appropriate neural network forecasting method for times of uncertainty. The application of Shapley value and operational risk obtained a game-theoretic property-level model, which fits best.
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Yixuan Zhao, Guangyuan He, Danxia Wei and Shuming Zhao
The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of digitalized transformation in organizations’ human resource management (HRM). This study summarizes three basic factors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of digitalized transformation in organizations’ human resource management (HRM). This study summarizes three basic factors driving the digital transformation process in China: level of perception, level of application and speed of transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzes the strategic transformation process of HRM in Haier, Hisense and Chambroad to explore the human resource digital transformation mechanism in Chinese enterprises.
Findings
The results of this study show that three HR value chain models can be constructed based on how well HRM deals with business: the efficiency-oriented HRM value chain, quasi-business-oriented HRM value chain and business-oriented HRM value chain. The basic factors – level of perception, level of application and speed of transformation – are observed in the entire HRM digital transformation process.
Originality/value
This study provides theoretical and empirical insights for enterprises to explore the value of digital technology in HRM and facilitate the digital transformation of HRM.
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This study aims to explore how social media affects decision-making among tourists and whether there is a potential effect of age, which is studied through generations. For this…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how social media affects decision-making among tourists and whether there is a potential effect of age, which is studied through generations. For this purpose, baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z tourists are studied and real-time implications are offered.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a descriptive and exploratory design where the conceptual model of social media-based decision-making is developed through a review of the literature. Quantitative analysis is conducted on primary data from 600 Indian tourists. This is done using a self-administered questionnaire adopted from Gulati (2022) after checking its validity and reliability. The statistical analysis for hypothesis testing is done using PLS-SEM path modelling on pooled data. To study the categorical moderating effect of generations, partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) is performed as a paired comparison on every successive generation.
Findings
After testing every successive younger generation with an older generation through PLS-MGA, none of the pairs found any significant differences in path coefficients, as the values obtained were 0.05 < p < 0.95 for all five paths (SM → NR, SM → IS, SM → E, SM → P, SM → PPB). This indicates all the generations behave in a similar manner irrespective of them being older or younger, and age does not moderate social media’s impact on decision-making among Indian tourists.
Research limitations/implications
The study establishes India as a unique geographical market and suggests tourism marketers to treat all generations at par, irrespective of age, as they behave and interact with social media in a similar manner. But, because this study is restricted to a single geographical location, i.e. India, further regions can be explored for global generalisation. Future research can also explore other demographics for combined, moderated analysis. Findings from the study suggest that marketers should ensure that equal attention is given to all generations as they engage with social media in a similar manner. Targeted marketing using artificial intelligence can help in ensuring custom ads. Personalisation according to generations can also facilitate greater purchases.
Originality/value
The study fills a major population and knowledge gap by exploring a topic that has been highly under-researched. Also, the study adopts an inclusive approach by analysing all the generations, both younger and older, to understand the potential effect of age on moderating the impact that social media has on tourist decision-making. Further, real-time suggestions and implications are offered to tourism marketers with special reference to the Indian tourism industry.
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