Impact of Airbnb on customers' behaviour in the UK hotel industry

Airbnb is one of the sectors of the sharing economy that is disrupting the hotel industries. In order to find approaches for hotels to mitigate the threat from Airbnb, this research will focus on the major elements influencing customers to choose Airbnb and the issues for the future of the hotel industry. Previous studies have looked at how Airbnb influences customer behaviour, and the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry, but so far no study has been conducted focusing on the impact of Airbnb on the UK hotel industry. Therefore the purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of Airbnb on customers’ behaviour within the UK hotel industry in order to determine how the hotel sectors can mitigate the threats posed by Airbnb. This paper highlights managerial and industrial implications

A study of negative customer online reviews and managerial responses on social media— case study of the Marriott Hotel Group in Beijing

Putting customers at the center of business is the priority for the global hospitality and tourism companies. The importance of customer satisfaction and perceived higher quality of service dictate the branding images for global hotels within this era of social media. Managers need to understand the nature of online customers' reviews, which can help hotels to reflect on their operations and improve their service quality. The purpose of this paper is to explore the major reasons for hotel customers’ complaints on social media, and discuss how hotel managers respond to these. Researches have showed that negative online reviews have much greater impacts on customers decision making compared with positive reviews in hospitality industry. Limited negative reviews can influence hotels business performance in a long period of time, while many hospitality organisations ignore this challenging issue or not pay enough attention. This study chooses the Marriott Hotel Group in Beijing as a case study. A quantitative content study of customers' online reviews and hotel managers’ responses to these on TripAdvisor was conducted through a netnographic analysis process. The authors aim to analyze in greater detail the effects of hotel attributes on hotel business performance considering customers’ voice as expressed through their negative reviews. It was found that employees' lack of empathy is the main factor underlying customer complaints, followed by reliability, tangible factors, amenities and availability. The managerial responses were analyzed to identify the patterns and key words. The outcome provides a guidance tool for hotel management regarding which service elements to improve and how to respond appropriately to negative reviews

A study of negative customer online reviews and managerial responses on social media - case study of the Marriott Hotel Group in Beijing

Putting customers at the center of business is the priority for the global hospitality and tourism companies. The importance of customer satisfaction and perceived higher quality of service dictate the branding images for global hotels within this era of social media. Managers need to understand the nature of online customers' reviews, which can help hotels to reflect on their operations and improve their service quality. The purpose of this paper is to explore the major reasons for hotel customers’ complaints on social media, and discuss how hotel managers respond to these. Researches have showed that negative online reviews have much greater impacts on customers decision making compared with positive reviews in hospitality industry. Limited negative reviews can influence hotels business performance in a long period of time, while many hospitality organisations ignore this challenging issue or not pay enough attention. This study chooses the Marriott Hotel Group in Beijing as a case study. A quantitative content study of customers' online reviews and hotel managers’ responses to these on TripAdvisor was conducted through a netnographic analysis process. The authors aim to analyze in greater detail the effects of hotel attributes on hotel business performance considering customers’ voice as expressed through their negative reviews. It was found that employees' lack of empathy is the main factor underlying customer complaints, followed by reliability, tangible factors, amenities and availability. The managerial responses were analyzed to identify the patterns and key words. The outcome provides a guidance tool for hotel management regarding which service elements to improve and how to respond appropriately to negative reviews

Educational immigrants: Evidence from Chinese young entrepreneurs in the UK

Purpose While the contribution of educational students to the economies of developed countries is critical, educational immigrants rarely find employment in the regulated unionized sectors of these countries and are found instead setting up their own business. The purpose of this paper is to understand how educational immigrants use their cultural and social heritage for entrepreneurial purposes. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative method was undertaken, comprising face-to-face in-depth interviews with 12 respondents, involved in the hospitality industry for various purposes such as inspiration, challenges, frustrations and attracting investments. A convenience sampling method coupled with snowball sampling was chosen because of the availability of the informants and their willingness to be a part of the study. A thematic analysis was conducted in the transcripts of interviews to understand the aim and motivation factors of each individual followed by content analysis process. Findings The findings reveal that, while the informants suffer of language barriers, lack or shortage of experience in understanding the laws and legislations, unfamiliarity with the host culture, as well as financial constraints, the entrepreneurial sprite drives them to establish their businesses. Research limitations/implications This study has important consequences for understanding how educational immigrants transition from an educational to a business setting. Practical implications As the increase in educational immigrants becomes more important to the economic and social performance of countries, it is important to understand how young entrepreneurs start their businesses. Originality/value Educational immigrants are an important source of regional innovation and development. This paper focuses on the role of international higher education and the link to entrepreneurship by focusing on young Chinese entrepreneurs

Potential application of template analysis in qualitative hospitality management research

This paper is primarily intended for researchers examining hospitality management who are unlikely to be familiar with Template Analysis (TA) as a form of thematic analysis. It demonstrates the use of TA in a specific setting and how TA contributed to developing a conceptual model and theory of cultural centrism in a hospitality setting. The paper offers new perspectives even for those who have prior experience in thematic analysis

Discourse to the factors of decision-making of students in choosing a university major

The purpose of this paper to investigate the factors that influence students' choice of major, by conducting a literature review and identifying research gaps. There was adopted a methodical approach PRISMA that included a systematic literature review based on the Scopus database. The results of this study indicate a noteworthy trend in the literature related to major choice within the Scopus Database. The number of papers on this topic has exhibited consistent growth since 2008, reaching a peak in 2021, albeit with an annual publication count not exceeding 12 articles. Prominent authors have primarily contributed to discussions surrounding major choice, with a focus on the medical and engineering fields, while engagement with business-related disciplines, such as marketing, management, remains limited. Notably, most retrieved documents were articles (85%), with a minority being reviews (15%), some of which did not directly align with the research question. The affiliations of these documents were predominantly associated with research centers and universities in the United States, underscoring a gap in contextualizing major choice within the Kazakhstani and broader Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. In summary, this study underscores a growing interest in major choice research since 2008, predominantly concentrated in specific disciplines and geographic regions, with notable disparities in representation among academic fields. Key factors that play a pivotal role in shaping students' decisions regarding their majors were identified. This paper emphasizes the foundation for the empirical research related to customers in roles of students and stakeholders in higher education institutions based on CIS countries

Conceptualising the impact of culture and language upon hospitality service management

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and definitions of culture and its relationship to language and cultural sensitivity in hospitality management services. Design/methodology/approach: The paper takes the form of a critical literature review followed by a phenomenological exploratory pilot study, using template analysis. Findings: Previous studies indicate that the more individuals understand and embrace notions of intercultural sensitivity, then the better they become at being able to recognise and discriminate between cultural differences. Furthermore, as a by-product, there is an increased appetite and tendency towards adopting cultural perspectives other than ones’ own. However, the operationalisation of this process encourages benchmarking along linear scales, which is problematic and over-simplifies the dynamic and fluid nature of effective cultural transmission. The paper’s findings suggest that rather than there being singular cultural and language constructs, there are cultures, which in places overlap, but elsewhere do not and therefore cannot be placed on universal scales; second, the critical success factor is less about linguistic literacy linked to vocabulary and explicit rational comprehension, and more about a pre-emptive cultural interpretive intelligence which identifies emotion and sentiment. Research limitations/implications: This is largely a conceptual paper, which, it is suggested, needs further empirical investigation – both longitudinally and on a larger scale. Originality/value: This perspective moves management, marketing and service delivery away from zero-sum games and transactional exchanges, whether financial, social or linguistic, towards collective wealth creation and empowerment – manifest in social cultural capital and the generation of tacit knowledge. The challenge that remains is how this process can be formalised and the tacit and implicit knowledge gained and created can be preserved

Exploring the impact of culture in ethnic restaurants : case study of a Spanish restaurant in London

Literature suggests that culture is a powerful force, but this concept is difficult to define and characterise. Service interactions occur between customers, service providers and their stakeholders, and their individual and organisational culture affect all parties. This study examines why Londoners are attracted to ethnic restaurants and whether culture acts as an attraction or a barrier their visit. These service interactions are rich and simultaneous phenomena that are best explored through qualitative research. Accordingly, customer interviews and observational data were taken in a Spanish restaurant in London. The case study data reinforces the view that restaurants satisfy more than biological needs, acting as a social meeting place for like-minded people. The conclusions emphasise the strength of culture as a formative force and how difficult it may be to change cultural behaviour

Menu labelling and customer decision-making: case of calorie information on the menu of the quick-service restaurants

In the last few decades, the obesity rate has increased along with the increasing of away-from-home food consumption at restaurants (Wei & Miao, 2013), especially the food consumption at quick-service restaurants (QSRs). Previous research stated that the main factors that influence the customers’ food selection are found. Price and quality of food are the most significant things that mostly concerned customers when they are in decision-making process. There is a controversial argument between several studies that identified calorie labelling on menu influences consumers on food choice, while others said vice versa. However, several studies argued that calorie information does not have as much impact on customers’ food purchasing as other factors such as food’s quality, ranges of food, price of food, restaurant’s atmosphere, and speed of food service (Carey & Genevive, 1995). The aim of this chapter is to examine the importance of representing calorie information on menu and its effects on customer decision-making especially at QSRs. Therefore, the following questions have been addressed in this chapter: What are the factors that influence consumer choice at QSRs? Does calorie labelling on menus impact customer purchasing at QSRs? This chapter starts with the introduction of the topic and reviewing previous research on menu labelling and calorie information at QSRs. This chapter aims to provide a better understanding of customer decision-making when ordering a food with regard to calorie information on the menu and the customer preference

Ethnic female entrepreneurs in the service sector: challenges and motivations

Although the issues related to the motivation of entrepreneurs have been widely studied, there is a less study focussing on the immigrant women’s entrepreneurial motivation under challenging environment such as COVID-19. Existing studies on entrepreneurs’ motivations mainly adapt the concepts that have often been developed in male-dominated paradigm. According to Shmailan (2016), male entrepreneurs focus on making sure costs are under control and are more profit driven. Women seek to make social contributions and want to ensure their quality. Some of the literature suggests that men are inclined to start businesses because of financial considerations and are more likely to be pulled into entrepreneurship. Conversely, women are likely to start business because of lifestyle issues and are more likely to be pushed into self-employment (Clain, 2000; Georgellis & Wall, 2005; Takahashi, Lourenço, Sander, & Souza, 2014). This chapter focuses on the motivation of immigrant females in developed economies and what makes them continue especially during difficult times such as recent crisis ‘new normal’, COVID-19 pandemic. The study explores the challenges ethnic female entrepreneurs are facing and what motivated them to continue. The study also seeks their responds and strategies during challenging time such as the pandemic. The findings indicate that women often pursuit business opportunities to satisfy social needs, rather than focussing on traditional business outcomes such as growth or profit. The study found a stronger desire to contribute to a society, community and family’s needs among female founders in the UK . The immigrant female entrepreneurs have shown strong resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis