Choosing a Compensation Strategy in the Hotel Industry: An Exploratory Study

One of the key human resource decisions made by any organization is the design of its compensation strategy. When choosing a compensation strategy, hospitality executives must make a variety of complex decisions that will ultimately impact a company’s recruitment and retention efforts, as well as the attainment of organizational goals. This exploratory study looks at the decision making patterns of hospitality executives as it comes to compensation

Towards a Model of Electronic Word-of-Mouth and Its Impact on the Hotel Industry

Scholars and practitioners recognize that spreading word-of-mouth can play an important role in the formation of a hotel’s image. However, the relationships among various measures of online customer engagement are relatively unknown. The present study analyzes the relationships and quantifies the impacts of various measures of online engagement including the number of online reviews, overall rating, and relative ranking. The researchers used path analysis on a sample of 178 hotels to study the relationships among relevant variables and build a model to explain the impact of such measures (Figure 2). The results reveal there is a positive direct effect of the number of reviews on a hotel’s TripAdvisor rating. A negative direct effect was found between TripAdvisor rating and a hotel’s comparative ranking. Finally, the researchers discovered that TripAdvisor rating fully mediates the relationship between the number of reviews and a hotel’s comparative ranking. This article concludes with a discussion of both the theoretical and practical implications of such findings

Stepping into a Brighter Future

The hospitality sector presents a range of unique workplace challenges, which can affect the implementation and success of wellness initiatives. In a recent study, Dr. Edwin N. Torres and Dr. Tingting Zhang from UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management conducted a wellness intervention incorporating a wearable device, with the aim of improving various aspects of hotel employee wellness. The results from the study showed a range of benefits following the two-week intervention, both to employees and their employers. However, the authors also noted key drawbacks which should be taken into account in the design of any future employee wellness programs

Theme Park Experiences and Customer Emotions

Theme parks are places of great excitement, anticipated joy, intense emotions and lasting memories. UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management researchers Dr. Edwin N. Torres, Dr. Wei Wei, Dr. Nan Hua and a collaborator report on the service aspects of theme parks that impact positively or negatively on customers’ emotions. Customers’ first impressions of the theme park, their experiences of the rides, and dining and retail offerings were all found to impact on the positive and negative emotions and memories that customers formed of their theme park experience

Help Yourself: Are Self-service Technologies Doing Enough to Elicit a Positive Response from Consumers?

The use of self-service technologies (SSTs) has grown significantly over the last ten years. In their research paper, Dr. Wei Wei, Dr. Edwin N. Torres and Dr. Nan Hua from Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, aim to identify gaps in current research into the value of SSTs within hotels and restaurants. They also look at the role extrinsic and intrinsic attributes play and how an SST can lead to a transcendent service experience (TSE)

Playing for First Place: An Analysis of Online Reviews and their Impact on Local Market Rankings

Whereas past research studied the impact of online reviews on a hotel’s image, the present study analyzes the impact of various measures of customer engagement on the local market ranking of a hotel. For these purposes, the researchers collected data on a sample of hotels including the number of reviews, absolute rating (i.e. 1-5 stars), and market ranking (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd place) on TripAdvisor. The authors tested the relationships between number of reviews, market ranking, overall rating and number of booking transactions. Results revealed that the absolute rating of the hotel was a significant factor in determining its market ranking, whereas other elements such as the number of reviews were not. Since the logarithm used by TripAdvisor and other review sites is of a proprietary nature, research that illuminates the relationships between overall rating, market ranking, and number of reviews, helps illuminate scholar’s and practitioner’s understanding of how to improve hotel performance and online image

Customer and Employee Incivility and Its Causal Effects in the Hospitality Industry

The present research sought to understand customer and employee incivility in the hospitality industry. The study identified customer actions that are perceived as uncivil by employees and coping strategies used by employees after experiencing uncivil behavior. Finally, service-recovery situations are differentiated from security-related incidents and guidance is offered to hospitality managers regarding the minimization of customer incivility. An empirical survey was distributed to 297 hotel employees. Regression analysis indicated that the effects of customer incivility were an increase in: customer aggression, employee negative emotions, employee-to-customer incivility, employee-to-employee incivility, and employee sensitivity to uncivil acts. The effects of employee-to-employee incivility were increased customer aggression and negative emotions, but decreased sensitivity to uncivil acts. Uncivil behaviors by customers included insulting comments, anger, frustration, verbal attacks, and condescending behavior. The identification of uncivil behaviors and their effects can assist in training staff in identifying and managing such actions and in devising mitigation strategies

Hungry for Food and Community: A Study of Visitors to Food and Wine Festivals

The present study explored the effects of various food and wine festival experience elements (e.g. authenticity, entertainment, and spending time with others) on visitors\u27 sense of community, identification, and place attachment. The authors conducted survey research with 304 former visitors to food festivals. Data were analyzed using partial least square – structural equation modeling. Results revealed that food and wine festival experience elements (e.g. authenticity, entertainment, and spending time with friends and family) positively influenced visitors\u27 sense of community, identification with the event, and attachment to the hosting destination. Significant findings relating to the mediating effect of sense of community were also disclosed throughout this study. The present research exposes some of the expectations held by visitors to food and wine festivals. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature by exposing the role of community and customer interactions in creating the overall food and beverage experience and forming a destination\u27s image

Let\u27s \u27Meetup\u27 at the Theme Park

Many people enjoy theme park and other leisure experiences with their families; however, today a great number of single, geographically mobile individuals desire to partake in such experiences. \u27Meetup\u27 is the world’s largest social network of local groups and thus allows for both online and off-line (in person) interactions. Using an ethnographic approach, this study examines how individuals can enjoy activities centered on common activities, interests, and opinions (AIO) via immersion in a Meetup group over the course of a year. Notably, members visited with greater frequency, had less tolerance for long lines, and were more likely to attend special events, eat at specialty restaurants, and consume alcohol. Group members also exchanged travel advice and both contributed and detracted from the enjoyment of the theme park experience. Membership in this Meetup group increased the frequency of visits and deeper exploration of the theme park resort, thus improving behavioral loyalty among annual pass holders. Managers can learn from these online communities to foster interactions among their guests and better target this new market

Consumer-led experience customization: A socio-spatial approach

Purpose: Adopting a socio-spatial approach, this study develops a consumer-centric conception of service experience customization. In contrast to existing service customization research, which has focused on company-centric approaches, this study examines the practices through which consumers use, abuse, subvert, transform or complement organizational resources to construct their consumption experiences. Design/Methodology: The empirical context for this study is a Meetup group: a consumer network organized around members’ shared interests and activities in theme parks. The research utilized participant observation of members’ face-to-face activities during two years and over 80 events, interviews with key informants, and content analysis of online interactions. Findings: The findings outline how consumers interact across physical and virtual spaces utilizing technologies and material objects. The data are used to propose a new consumercentric conceptualization of experience customization, distinguishing between three modes: collaborative co-production, cooperative co-creation, and subversive co-creation. Originality/Value: It is argued that the three modes of customization provide a way to understand how consumers mobilize and (re)deploy organizational resources to create experiences that may complement existing service propositions, but may also transform them in ways that challenge the service provider’s original goals and expectations. Furthermore, this study identifies the factors that shape which modes of customization are possible and how they are enacted. Specifically, the discussion examines how experiential complexity, governability, the compatibility of consumer and organizational practices, and the collective mobilization of resources may determine the scope and form of customization