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The purpose of this paper is to draw upon the theory of consumption values and the experiential value scale to develop a conceptual model concerning hospitality customer’s use of self-service technologies (SSTs) and their impact on consumers’ service experience.

Questionnaires were administered to 220 hotel and restaurant customers. The researchers tested the hypotheses by using descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis.

Both extrinsic and intrinsic attributes of SSTs influence consumers’ satisfaction with SST usage significantly, while the extrinsic attributes play a stronger role. It is worth noting that while the intrinsic attributes have a significant impact on consumers’ transcendent service experience, the extrinsic attributes negatively influence such experience.

The findings help managers create effective strategies to better match consumers’ needs and to deliver more customized self-service experience. The role of SSTs can be expanded beyond functional attributes to satisfy consumers’ curiosity, foster customer–customer interactions and personalize consumer experience.

Although most SSTs research focus on technology adoption intention, features, functionality and benefits to the service provider, this research is among the first attempts to examine the role of SSTs in creating better consumer experience. The bidimensional conceptualization of SSTs experience developed in this research suggests that SSTs in the hotel and restaurant sector should be utilized for reasons beyond their utilitarian attributes: SSTs should be designed to help create a transcendent service experience.

This study aims to investigate the effects of consumers’ motivations on behavioral intention to use self-service technology (SST) in airline services exploring multimediating effects of flow experience and SST evaluation in Stimulus-Organism-Response model.

An online survey was conducted with quota sampling based on age group who had experiences of SSTs usage at the Incheon International Airport in South Korea. A total of 286 responses were used for the data analysis with structural equation modeling to examine the proposed model and the multimediating effects.

The results showed that consumers’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations had positive impacts on their flow experience, SST evaluation and behavioral intention to use airline SSTs. Their flow experience had a positive influence on SST evaluation, and their SST evaluation influenced behavioral intention to use airline SSTs. Consumers’ flow experience and SST evaluation mediated the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and behavioral intention to use airline SSTs.

It is important for customers to perceive extrinsic motivation such as speed, convenience and efficiency for the smooth process of airline SSTs at the airport. SST evaluation plays a key role to increase customers’ behavioral intention to use airline SSTs.

This study extends the understanding of consumers’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, flow experience, SST evaluation and behavioral intentions to use SST in airline services by building on a model. Especially, findings of the (multi)mediating effects of customers’ perceived flow and SST evaluation on the relationship between motivations and behavioral intention to use airline SSTs might provide better guidelines for managers to incorporate SSTs, to increase operational efficiency and to boost customer experiences.

This study aims to investigate consumers’ intention to use onsite restaurant interactive self-service technology (ORISST) using a modified value attitude-behavior model. To extend the understanding of how consumers’ dining value focus could influence their intention to use ORISST, this study examines the conditional indirect effects of restaurant type (quick-service vs fine-dining) within the proposed model.

An online survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected respondents in the USA. A total of 588 (quick-service: 295; fine-dining: 293) responses were used for the data analysis. Structural equation modeling with a robust maximum likelihood method was used to examine the proposed model. To investigate the moderated effects of restaurant type, a latent moderated mediation model was used.

The results showed that consumers’ value perceptions toward technology use in restaurants influenced their intention to use ORISST via both hedonic and utilitarian expectations. Latent moderated mediation analyzes revealed that the mediation effect of hedonic expectation between perceived value and the intention was stronger in fine-dining than in quick-service restaurants.

This study extends the understanding of consumer intentions to use interactive self-service technology in restaurants by building on a model that is customer-oriented instead of tech-specific. Furthermore, the conditional effects of restaurant type are investigated using the latent moderated structural equation method. The findings of this study provide guidelines for managers of quick-service and fine-dining restaurants to better incorporate ORISST in their restaurants, to boost customer experiences and to increase operational efficiency.

Technological disruptions such as the Internet of Things and autonomous devices, enhanced analytical capabilities (artificial intelligence) and rich media (virtual and augmented reality) are creating smart environments that are transforming industry structures, processes and practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore critical technological advancements using a value co-creation lens to provide insights into service innovations that impact ecosystems. The paper provides examples from tourism and hospitality industries as an information dependent service management context.

The research synthesizes prevailing theories of co-creation, service ecosystems, networks and technology disruption with emerging technological developments.

Findings highlight the need for research into service innovations in the tourism and hospitality sector at both macro-market and micro-firm levels, emanating from the rapid and radical nature of technological advancements. Specifically, the paper identifies three areas of likely future disruption in service experiences that may benefit from immediate attention: extra-sensory experiences, hyper-personalized experiences and beyond-automation experiences.

Tourism and hospitality services prevail under varying levels of infrastructure, organization and cultural constraints. This paper provides an overview of potential disruptions and developments and does not delve into individual destination types and settings. This will require future work that conceptualizes and examines how stakeholders may adapt within specific contexts.

Technological disruptions impact all facets of life. A comprehensive picture of developments here provides policymakers with nuanced perspectives to better prepare for impending change.

Guest experiences in tourism and hospitality by definition take place in hostile environments that are outside the safety and familiarity of one’s own surroundings. The emergence of smart environments will redefine how customers navigate their experiences. At a conceptual level, this requires a complete rethink of how stakeholders should leverage technologies, engage and reengineer services to remain competitive. The paper illustrates how technology disrupts industry structures and stimulates value co-creation at the micro and macro-societal level.

This study aims to identify different approaches to conceptualize value co-creation and analysing firms’ co-creation strategies aided by various advancing technologies. This study further discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these strategies and suggests solutions to overcome the limitations.

Following a critical literature review, the authors propose a conceptual framework to denote the relations between evolving technologies and co-creation activities.

On one hand, technology influences the co-creation processes by empowering consumers, offering greater ability to connect, providing greater access to information and furnishing a platform that facilitates co-creation; on the other hand, technological advancements may add complexity, variability and lead to loss of control for service organizations. A role of customers and value definitions are identified and elaborated in the value co-creation process.

Advanced information and communication technologies transcend the traditionally defined service encounters by enabling co-creating actors to exchange resources through virtual interfaces, thus redefining the strategies of value co-creation. Though many studies have discussed value co-creation in diversified standpoints, a perspective from its relationship with technological progression over time remains nascent. The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of technology-enabled value co-creation in service ecosystems.

Understanding customers’ experiences with self-service technology (SST) is of high importance to service research. Previous research, however, has mainly focused on customers who are adept in using SST services. This study aims to provide insights into the under-researched field of the experiences of customers’ with difficulties in using SST.

Drawing on self-determination theory, the role of motivational aspects in SST usage behavior is proposed. A model involving perceived needs and intrinsic motivation is developed and empirically tested in a survey among 213 American customers with difficulties using SST in restaurant service settings.

The results show that customers’ perceived competence strongly influences their motivation to engage with SST, followed by autonomy and relatedness. Results also find the positive and significant impact of intrinsic motivation on satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Finally, multi-group analysis is performed to examine differences between customers with low and high technology anxiety. Results show that perceived autonomy and competence from SST usage are strong indicators among customers with low technology anxiety, and that relatedness is a major determinant of intrinsic motivation among customers with high technology anxiety.

As a neglected area of research has been in customers who have difficulty in using SST, the findings of this study provide useful guidelines to address customers’ difficulties in using SST.

了解客户对自助服务技术（SST）的体验对于服务研究非常重要。然而, 以往的研究主要关注于熟练使用SST服务的客户。本文探索了使用SST存在困难的客户的体验, 为这个尚未被研究的领域提供见解。

基于自我决定理论, 本研究提出了SST使用行为中动机方面的假想, 并设计了一个包含感知需求和内在动机的模型。通过对213名在餐厅服务环境中使用SST存在困难的美国客户进行调查, 该模型得到了实证测试。

结果显示, 客户的感知能力强烈影响他们使用SST的动机, 其次是自主性和关联感。结果还发现, 内在动机对满意度和行为意图有积极而显著的影响。最后, 本研究进行了多组分析, 以检查技术焦虑程度高和低的客户之间的差异。结果显示, 在技术焦虑程度低的客户中, SST使用的自主性和能力是强烈的指标, 而在技术焦虑程度高的客户中, 关联感是内在动机的主要决定因素。

由于以前的研究主要关注于熟练使用SST服务的客户, 因此SST使用存在困难的客户是一个被忽视的研究领域。本研究的发现为解决客户在使用SST方面的困难提供了重要的指导。

This study aims to expose the challenges associated with theory development and its implementation, as it relates to services marketing and hospitality management. The author summarizes the literature, creates a conceptual model and proposes directions to bridge the theory–practice divide.

The author synthesizes and extends the literatures of services marketing, general marketing and hospitality management through a systematic literature review. A conceptual model is created to illustrate the challenges related to theory development and implementation.

Four types of theory challenges and three contemporary practical challenges are presented. The challenges for theory development include a communications gap, difficulties in applying universal theories into idiosyncratic organizations, researchers disconnected from practice and practitioners disconnected from research. Contemporary practical concerns include: human resource constraints, customer behavior and misbehavior and the organizational and business environment.

Managers can bring contemporary business challenges to the forefront by collaborating and writing with scholars. Similarly, keeping abreast of the latest advances in customer service, applying best practices in human resource management, educating and cocreating with customers are among several recommendations proposed to managers and marketers. Internal and external scanning can assure that managers engage in efforts to reduce barriers to implementation and improve services in their organizations.

Despite the decades-long study of customer service, organizations still struggle to deliver exceptional service. This study informs scholars on developing and communicating theories and managers on how to better access and interpret the latest research. In order for research to be successfully generated and implemented, scholars can engage in efforts aimed at joint (researchers and managers) idea generation, publication in multiple outlets, sampling that resembles real life, adoption of contingency theories and reconsidering journal editorial and institutional policies.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a key player in the food services and restaurants sector; thus, the aim of this work consists in studying the previous research on ICTs in food services and restaurants in the context of tourism and hospitality through a systematic literature review.

The systematic literature review is performed on full papers published in journals included in the Journal Citation Report of the WoS in the category of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism. A total of 165 articles from 28 journals are analyzed, following different criteria, such as the research methods, perspectives, statistical techniques, geographical focus, topics, technologies, authors and universities.

The restaurant sector is more and more based on the creation of experiences and ICTs, through their multiple possibilities, can undoubtedly contribute to adding value to the simple meal and create and recreate experiences to attract and retain customers who are increasingly sophisticated and hooked on ICTs. ICTs are basic for managers taking decision at the highest level in food services and restaurants, so ICTs should not be seen as a technical tool but as an essential element for top management.

This paper examined articles from very well-known tourism and hospitality journals, leaving aside others as well as different publication formats such as books or papers presented at conferences.

A significant contribution made with this paper is the availability of a list of topics in the context of ICTs in food services and restaurants. These topics are classified into three areas (Consumers, Suppliers and Environment and Tendencies) that can serve as a future research framework. The paper also provides useful information to restaurant managers about ICTs, to researchers for their future projects and to academics for their courses.

Future service interactions are anticipated to use humanoid robots in a society that is shifting to a digitalized era. Currently, it is evident that many businesses are replacing service interactions with self-service technologies (SSTs). This movement creates substantial societal changes that researchers have not paid sufficient attention to comprehend. In this setting, the purpose of this study is to examine the social drivers that influence customer mobility toward co-creating value via SSTs. The study also seeks to discover variations in customers' willingness and capacity to adopt SSTs.

To fulfill the research aims, a qualitative technique was adopted, with semistructured interviews conducted with 25 SST users from varied demographic backgrounds. To recruit individuals for the study, a nonprobabilistic purposeful sampling technique was adopted, with the goal of employing information-rich instances. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

The study identified eight social drivers that are important in the customer transition toward co-creating value with SSTs. According to the study, SSTs are characterized as a social trend in which adoption is accepted (social norm) and modifies social connections in a new direction. Using SSTs has evolved into a socializing tool that gives people social acknowledgment. Some people see SSTs as social pressure, putting them at a disadvantage if they do not adopt. People, on the other hand, acquire sufficient social support and independence to use SSTs. Customers were categorized into four groups depending on their willingness and ability to embrace SSTs: trendsetters, dreamers, old-fashioned and stragglers.

In practice, service providers can use this knowledge to successfully promote their SSTs and create enhanced client experiences through technological interfaces.

The study adds new knowledge by identifying social determinants in customer shifts toward SSTs, a phenomenon that has not been studied previously, and it adds to marketing theory by proposing a typology to group customers based on their ability and willingness to embrace SSTs.

The purpose of this paper is to compare customer perceptions of hotel and peer-to-peer (e.g. Airbnb) accommodation advantages and disadvantages and examine their influence on customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. The advantages of each accommodation type are conceptualized through perceived travel experience authenticity, whereas the disadvantages are evaluated through the risks associated with staying at each accommodation type, including product performance risk, time/convenience risk and safety and security risk.

A cross-sectional survey was designed and disseminated to gather the data necessary to fulfill the study objectives. A total of 391 usable responses were collected for a multi-group analysis of the structural model designed to test the proposed relationships.

The multi-group comparison revealed similarities between the peer-to-peer (Airbnb) and hotel guest structural models. Model testing revealed a strong positive relationship between satisfaction and repurchase intention. Perceived authenticity was identified as a statistically significant satisfaction predictor for both accommodation types. Time/convenience and product performance risks were found to be insignificant predictors of guest satisfaction, while safety and security risk appeared to be statistically significant only in the Airbnb sample.

This study’s recruited sample represented a higher concentration of younger travelers, and, therefore, might only be generalized to the corresponding US traveler group population. Additionally, samples recruited via Amazon’s MTurk may be subject to self-selection bias as any other non-probability samples. Consequently, further research with a larger and more diverse sample is recommended.

It is recommended for both hotels and Airbnb to strengthen the authenticity of their accommodation offerings to provide a better guest experience and increase consumer satisfaction.

To develop the authenticity component, Airbnb hosts and hotels may offer local experiences to their customers, where guests would be able to engage with the community and to see and feel how the city lives. Such partnerships may not only improve the traveler experiences but also support the local community and strengthen the ties between local businesses.

This study contributes to the literature by advancing understanding of peer-to-peer (Airbnb) versus hotel accommodation consumer preferences. This study offers relevant theoretical constructs for assessing both accommodation types’ advantages and disadvantages.