A study of the effect of computer/Internet usage on slot/video machine players\u27 gambling behaviors

The Age of Information has changed the way we live since personal computers outsold TV sets, and the number of emails exceeded the number of regular stamped letters. For the last decade, the Las Vegas gaming market has changed toward not only the lavish gambling field that houses computerized slot/video machines and high speed Internet ready hotel rooms, but also a family entertainment resort and a major convention destination. These facts raised the question of how many computer/Internet literate gamblers are in Las Vegas, and whether it would influence on their slot/video machine gambling behaviors. This study found that 70% of slot/video machine players in Las Vegas use computer/Internet. Non-computer/Internet users, however, visited Las Vegas more often, played slot/video machines longer with larger budgets than other tested groups. They were more likely loyal to their chosen casinos and less likely to desire exceptional customer service

Exploring Gender Differences on Generation Y’s Attitudes towards Green Practices in a Hotel

One of the early green measures, the Save the Earth campaign, has offered significant bottom-line savings for hotels since 1993. In the current economic recession, new green measures for emerging group of customers could offer another way of saving operating cost and conserving local environment for the hotel. As environmentally conscious Gen Yers become a frequent traveler segment, identifying green attributes they are willing to accept becomes vital. Thus, this study examines the attitudes of Gen Yers toward green practices and identifies green attributes that Gen Y males and females prefer. The results show significant differences in the attributes that each gender prefers, and offer segmentation guidelines and suggest specific environmental friendly services that would result in cost saving for Gen Yers. According to the results of a proposed model, hotel companies should make more efforts to promote their green practices to Gen Y hotel guests who are willing to pay more for them

Demographic, Behavioral and Perceptual Comparisons of the U.S. Visitor Experience with Group Package Tours and Free Independent Travel to China

U.S. visitor demand for the China travel experience is anticipated to rise significantly through 2105, causing the Chinese government to employ 100 million service providers over the next six years and raising concern about service delivery and perceptions of the on-site China experience. In an effort to better understand these issues concerning U.S. visitors, this study investigated two specific types of U.S. travelers to China: Group Package Tour (GPT) visitors and Free Independent Travel (FIT) visitors. Results indicated that GPT visitors were more likely to be older and have higher household income than FIT visitors. Four trip-related characteristics of GPT and FIT visitors were found to be significantly different, with GPT visitors showing higher levels of satisfaction with the overall China on-site travel experience

The Relationship between Types of Tourist and Destination Authenticity

Since the 1960s and 1970s, the issues of both types of tourist and authenticity in tourism have been popular topics among tourism academics. However, their socio-cultural approaches and contributions have been limited to the theoretical stage. These arguments need to move to the next level of debate for tourism literature. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationships between the types of tourist and authenticity in tourism based on a summary of three decades of tourism literature. The findings of the study are expected to reveal a new approach to tourism destination segmentation supported by strong theoretical foundations

Customer Counterfactual Responses to Restaurant Service Failure and Its Recovery

The objective of this study is to examine how customers build emotions, perception, and future intentions through counterfactual reasoning in situations of service failure and its recovery effort in a restaurant setting. The experiment survey was conducted online with the assistance of Gallup Korea. As confirmed by prior research in service failure, respondents in a normal event exhibit a rising degree of recovery satisfaction and revisit intention as the level of recovery increases. Training wait staff about first-time customers’ counterfactual reasoning will help restaurant managers to expand their customer bases by increasing the market share of new customers

Exploring a New Attribute in Determining Food Quality: Safe Cookware

Americans spend almost 50% of their food dollars on restaurant meals, and approximately 44% of adults eat at a restaurant each day (NRA, 2009). As the trend of eating out continues to increase due to challenges associated with work and social life, customers expect to receive safe food served in a clean and sanitary environment (Binkley, Nanivadekar, Thompson, & Brashears, 2010). Therefore, the successful restaurant needs to meet and exceed the customer’s expectations. In particular, HACCP and Servsafe certifications have been a critical in providing customers with safe food. In the academic domain, food safety has been a vital research subject in the food science and hospitality journals, which mostly highlight food-borne disease outbreaks that result from biological food hazards (Arnout & Lynn, 2008; Redmond & Griffith, 2003; Worsfold, 2006). Another prevailing trend reflecting food safety in the food retail and restaurant industry is the consumption of organic food. Consumer’s concerns over the quality and safety of conventional food have driven the increasing demand for organically grown food, which is perceived as healthier and safer. It is believed that organic food contains fewer agrochemical residues, such as endogenous plant toxins, biological pesticides, and pathogenic microorganisms, as well as fewer environmental contaminants (e.g., cadmium and other heavy metals) compared to conventionally grown alternatives (Magkos, Arvaniti, & Zampelas, 2006). With respect to other food hazards, a certain substance from a particular cookware can seep into the food. For example, cooking with utensils like aluminum skillets, roasting pans, and saucepans can expose customers to the ingestion of a potent neurotoxin that leached from the aluminum cookware into the food (Flaten, 1996; Karbouj, Desloges, & Nortier, 2009). Recently the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised red flags about one of the chemical constituents of nonstick coatings, perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA), claiming that research in laboratory suggests that it may be carcinogenic (Weise, 2006). The agency believed that scratching or overheating the material may leach toxins into food or release fumes into the air. Thus, the EPA called on cookware manufacturers to phase out PFOA in January 2006. Spurred by the voluntary ban on PFOA, DuPont, which supplies the nonstick coating used by cookware manufacturers, is committed to removing 95 percent of the PFOA in Teflon by 2010. The company is striving toward a complete phase-out by 2015. Hence, these headlines in the media increased consumer awareness of health risk associated with using Teflon cookware. However, this issue has never been a primary concern for restaurant operators or customers alike although customers have become increasingly concerned about risks related to food. Unlike restaurant customers, U.S. households’ concern over risks related to food might have reflected on recent sales volume of safer and healthier cookware, such as anodized aluminum or stainless steel cookware. Even celebrity chefs entered into the market by endorsing safer and healthier cookware sets for the household kitchen market. For example, Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, and Paula Deen have apparently helped consumer awareness of safe cookware and increase the sales volume. With an increasing number of consumers chooses safer cookware for a healthy meal at home, fewer restaurants are meeting customer’s needs concerning safe cookware at our present state of knowledge. It is hard to find a restaurant providing the customer with information about what type of cookware they use for a specific food. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate whether using safe cookware and educating the customer about it would improve customer’s perceived quality of food and overall value and to examine whether they can play a role as an attribute in selecting a restaurant. This study also aims at indentifying which socio-demographics is likely to weigh more on safe cookware in selecting a restaurant

Why Cleaning the Invisible in Restaurants is Important During COVID-19: A Case Study of Indoor Air Quality of an Open-kitchen Restaurant

During the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurant sanitation and disinfection have become more important than ever although customers can hardly check visually. The most recent research argues that one invisible element leaving people vulnerable to the health effects of COVID-19 is particulate matter (PM), micron-sized particles known to cause acute or chronic respiratory illnesses, including lung cancer. While research shows PM is emitted from cooking, this study examines indoor PM pollution of an open-kitchen full-service chain restaurant, where commercial cooking occurs in the dining room, as a case study. The results of a week-long field test showed offensively harmful levels of PM10 and PM2.5, far beyond US EPA and WHO standards, while ambient outdoor PM associated with the sample restaurant was safe. The study reveals that working or frequently dining in an open-kitchen restaurant where grilling or frying takes place is likely to cause respiratory health problems and elevate susceptibility to COVID-19 unless surveillance and preventative measures are taken. Based on our findings, implications and recommendations for the industry are provided