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The purpose of this study is to assist hoteliers to design hotel rate restrictions that are in the interest of hotels and of customers, under the joint influence of room rates and rate fences.

This study used a questionnaire as the data collection instrument. Conjoint analysis was applied to examine customers’ preferences regarding hotel rate fences.

The results indicate that refundability, price and advance requirement, in that order, are identified as the most important attributes in the overall decision-making process of customers. Changes allowed and rule type are comparatively less important attributes.

This study extends the hotel revenue management literature by examining customer preferences for hotel rate restrictions based on their socio-demographic characteristics and travel behavior. This study also illustrates the usefulness of conjoint analysis in determining the utility values of hotel-room rates and rate fences.

The findings of this study may help professional hoteliers to better understand customers’ decision-making process and underlying needs, thus helping them to design attractive rate fences that are in the interests of both hotels and customers.

This study is the first to investigate customer preferences regarding hotel rate restrictions based on demographic and travel behavior information. The identification of these preference values should help hoteliers to identify the decision-making processes and needs of customers.

This paper aims to examine the impact of hotel discount strategies on consumers’ emotional and behavioral responses in the presence of differential levels of involvement in discount acquisition.

Discount strategies and the high- and low-involvement variables were fully cross-examined, yielding a 2 × 2 factorial quasi experimental design. In all, 120 surveys were collected, and multivariate analysis of variance was used for data analysis.

The results suggest that fenced discounts that require consumers to accept restrictions to receive a discount generated more positive emotion and stronger behavioral intention. Moreover, an interaction effect was found between consumer’s involvement and discounts on emotional and behavioral responses toward discount-acquiring experience. Highly involved consumers resulted in more positive emotional and stronger behavioral responses (e.g. pride, gratitude, word-of-mouth and retention) from obtaining a fenced discount that requires consumers’ efforts or sacrifices. On contrary, consumers with low involvement tend to appreciate more of a fixed discount given to anyone without restrictions.

Hotels should implement a fenced discount when they design discounts targeting at high-involvement consumers. For low-involvement consumers, a fixed discount appears to generate more positive emotion and stronger behavioral intention.

The study enhances the theoretical understanding of consumers’ emotional and behavioral responses toward discount-acquiring experience with different levels of involvement.

The internet has significantly changed the ways hotels distribute and price their products. The imminent success of online intermediaries caused financial problems for hotel chains since online travel agencies offered better prices than the hotel brand websites. The existing literature on hotel online distribution has focused on pricing strategies and room availability issues for different segments of hotels. This paper, however, aims to compare online room prices of global hotel chains across online distribution channels and their own brand websites.

By using only the internet, 2,800 room rates were collected and analyzed. Descriptive statistics such as means and percentage were used to answer the research questions. Personal interviews with a CEO of an e‐business company and an area revenue director of a global hotel chain were conducted to confirm our findings and to gain additional insights in the related issues.

Descriptive statistics indicated that US properties are doing a much better job than their international partners in regards to “best rate guarantee,” “rate parity,” and room availability across online channels. Rate consistency still remains a problem within US properties.

A limitation of this study is the use of convenience sampling methods, sample size, and currency conversion instruments.

Findings of this study would benefit revenue managers, general managers, hotel owners, and corporate brand managers to make decisions and to formulate new policies concerning their online distribution, revenue, and brand optimization strategies.

This paper aims to (1) organize the open literature on hotel revenue management systems, (2) compare practitioner systems in terms of functionality and (3) integrate (1)-(2) into research stream recommendations for the open literature with an empirical focus.

The authors use Nickerson’s taxonomy development method from the field of information systems to build the taxonomy.

New forecasting areas include developing a metric for the degree of strategic fit of a hotel’s pricing strategy and using it in conjunction with quantifications of online reviews for predictions. New price optimization avenues include determining whether a lack of congruence between customer perceptions of fairness and trust and pricing history has a detrimental effect on overall hotel performance and determining which combinations of flexible products, decision-maker risk aversion, nonparametric forecasting and reference effect optimization features work best in which situations.

This is the first study to combine vendor activities outside the technical realms of forecasting and price optimization with an emphasis on the choice modeling technical framework. This study points to several promising studies using qualitative methods, action research and design science.

The paper aims to use the Trilobal® polyester (Y cross-section) for producing fabrics suitable for fencing suits and evaluating their various properties.

Double weave structure was chosen to produce the samples by using six different face structures and two back structures divided into two groups according to the back structures. They were evaluated by their physical and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, puncture resistance, air permeability and humidity properties in horizontal and vertical wicking, drying rate and water vapor transmission.

Fencing sport recently is one of the most growing sports in the world, which necessitates special requirements and properties of fencing suit, either mechanical properties, which allow the easily and freely movement for the athlete, or the comfort properties that save the player’s effort and energy for a long time to improve his performance.

ANOVA test analysis showed highly significant results in some properties comparing back and face structures of the double weave fabric high correlation coefficient were found between packing density factor of produced fabric and the weft material types. The final results showed the produced sample that weaved with plain 1/1 for back structure and warp rib 2/2 for face structure achieved the best results, followed by the produced sample weaved with plain 1/1 for back structure and weft rib 2/2 for face structure compared with the other produced samples.

This study aims to examine the statutory provisions as it concerns the practice of valuation for compensation of expropriated communal properties in Zimbabwe. The primary motivation was to have informed policies that would regulate the practice of landed property assessments for compensation purposes and further contributes to existing compensation debates.

A multiple case study approach was adopted, in which property valuation projects for Chiyadzwa and Tokwe-Mukosi, provinces were selected. These two projects were chosen because they are the most recent property valuation for compensation on expropriated communal properties. Content analysis was used to analyse the statutory provisions guiding property valuation and compensation rates adopted and used during the Chiyadzwa and Tokwe Mukosi valuation projects.

The study found an absence of statutory guidelines on the choice of valuation methodologies, leading to inconsistencies in compensation estimates for the communal properties.

The study dwells on data from the previous assessment of communal properties that triggered discontentment amongst the people to build a framework for future valuations of communal properties.

This study reviewed the existing expropriation and compensation laws and built a comprehensive guiding framework for property valuers to choose appropriate valuation methodologies and procedures for the assessment of expropriated communal properties in Zimbabwe.

The main motivation for this study is to find a lasting solution to frequent court cases and clashes between the government of Zimbabwe and the displaced people.

No study unravels the detailed property valuation processes used in determining the amount of payment for the expropriated communal properties in Zimbabwe. This study built a framework that will serve as a guide to the property valuers in the assessment of compensation for communal properties.

Security, safety, environment and health have become an integral part of facility management (FM). Therefore, FM departments within organisations are required to put measures in place to safeguard facility users. This paper thus aims to investigate and compare the safety and security measures that are provided in the student housing of two universities in South Africa.

A mixed method approach was adopted; interview was used to collect qualitative data, whereas a questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect quantitative data. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data, whereas both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data.

It became evident that university B had a better provision of safety and security measures in the student housing than university A. The study also found that both universities had some lapses in the safety and security measures provided in the student housing. Measures that were lacking in both universities were weapon detector, closed-circuit television (CCTV), water sprinkler system, burglar bars on the doors, lift for disabled students, disabled toilet facility, traffic light, tags for vehicles, first aid box, accident book and medically trained personnel.

Data were collected from only two universities, making it difficult to generalise the findings of the research. For a broader perspective, a study that expands the number of participating universities is recommended.

The facility management and safety department in the universities can use the recommendations to improve on the safety and security measures required in the student housing. Moreover, the recommendations can contribute to the development of policy frameworks for student housing safety.

There is a paucity of studies on student housing safety/security worldwide, and South Africa in particular. With this study, the authors contribute to the body of knowledge in this area of research.

In the hotel industry today, web site marketing and third party distribution metrics are of critical importance in understanding the effectiveness of hotel revenue management objectives. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new model which tests hotel web‐effectiveness using the following variables: reach, content, consistency and price parity (RCO2P).

For the current RCO2P study, the hotel sample was broken down into two segment groupings of five hotels: luxury; and upper‐upscale. The ten full‐service hotels were monitored over a 90‐day period using room rate quotations and ordinal values across 14 dimensions based on three pre‐selected arrival dates.

Results of the RCO2P study indicated preferential display sequencing emerged as a significant factor in the reach category among all hotel properties reviewed. Only six of ten properties were measured as having achieved optimal web‐effectiveness, while poor price‐parity competency reflected the most situation‐critical performance among sampled hotel properties.

International comparative research methodologies were examined and determined to be effective models of certain hotel web‐effectiveness dimensions; however, a comprehensive hotel web‐effectiveness measurement model is still lacking which can better inform hotel industry executives. Therefore, future research should incorporate a best practice research approach combining the current RCO2P study elements with other web‐effectiveness measurement criteria based on the collective best practices identified among the research studies reviewed.

The business-to-business (B2B) marketing literature is heavily focused on the manufacturing sector. However, it is the B2B service sector that shows the highest growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Beyond a vibrant stream of literature on servitization, the B2B literature has neglected drawing on the wider service literature. This paper aims to examine recent streams of service research that have promising implications and research opportunities for B2B marketing.

Together, the author team has decades of research, managerial and executive teaching experience related to B2B marketing and services marketing and management. The observations and reflections in this paper originate from this unique perspective and are supplemented by insights from 16 expert interviews.

The authors identify and discuss in this paper four broad and related themes from the service literature that can stimulate B2B research and practice. First, the authors highlight the implications for capturing value in economies with their rapidly increasing specialization and related growth in B2B services. Specifically, the authors explain where B2B firms should focus on to gain bargaining power in the value chains of the future. Second, an additional strategy to enhance a B2B firm’s power to capture value is servitization, which allows firms to get closer to their customers, increase their switching costs and build strategic partnerships. The authors explore how firms can use service productization to enhance their chances of successful servitization. Third, servitization is expensive, and productivity and scalability are often a challenge in B2B contexts. These issues are tackled in a recent service research stream on cost-effective service excellence (CESE) where the authors derive implications for B2B firms. Fourth and related to CESE, latest developments in intelligent automation offer exciting opportunities for B2B services to be made more scalable.

This paper is based on the unique perspective of the author team and a panel of experts and connects major streams of service research to the B2B literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of revenue management practices to the restaurant industry. The author wants to observe customers’ readiness to accept revenue management practices based on price variation, booking policy, table management, and control duration. The author also wants to measure the impact of these four practices on customer patronage intention.

A survey was conducted with 251 respondents. As the author had several latent variables, partial least squares, a variance-based structural equation modeling method, was used.

The author found that the majority of these practices are perceived unfair. The only two practices that are considered as fair are price variation between lunch/dinner, and cancellation in case of late. The most unfairly felt practice is the policy-related time spent at the table. The results also showed that the perceived fairness of these practices influences customer patronage intention. The author observed that price variation according to the lunch/dinner period, weekday/weekend period, and time of the day will influence the desire to frequent the restaurant. Booking policy will also impact customer patronage intention. The table management and control duration policies do not impact customer patronage intention, even if these practices are perceived unfair.

Restaurant managers, desiring to apply revenue management practices, should be aware of the fact that practices linked to price variation will have a stronger influence on the customer intention to revisit the company than control duration practices. Moreover, restaurant managers must “educate” their clients by clearly communicating the advantages of these practices for the customers.

Even if several studies focused on the fairness perceived of revenue management practices in hospitality industry, there is a lack of research about the impact of price variation and control duration on patronage intention, especially for the restaurant industry. This is the first time the author measured the concrete impact of price variation, booking policy, table management, and control duration on patronage intention. Moreover, the author integrated several new practices that have never been studied in the past such as the date of booking (e.g. 5 percent reduction if the booking was done four days in advance) or the fact of changing tables for dessert and coffee.