Hyun-Woo Joung

Purpose: Hotels use direct-booking incentives to compete with online travel agencies (OTAs). Drawing on acquisition–transaction utility (ATU) theory, cue diagnosticity and dual-process perspectives, this study examines how monetary sales promotion (MSP) and non-monetary sales promotion (NMSP) function as distinct value cues shaping attitude toward direct online booking (ADOB), with perceived offer value (POV) as a mediator and value consciousness (VC) as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach: A 3 × 2 between-subjects experiment with 512 US consumers manipulated MSP discount depth (0%, 10% and 20%) and NMSP room-upgrade presence (absent versus present). A moderated-moderated mediation model tested the direct effects of MSP and NMSP on ADOB, the indirect effects through POV, and the moderating role of VC in these relationships. Findings: MSP increased ADOB both directly and indirectly through POV. Although the two-way interaction between MSP and NMSP was not significant for either ADOB or POV, a significant three-way interaction among MSP, NMSP and VC on ADOB showed that a 20% discount combined with a free room upgrade strengthened ADOB among consumers high in VC. The indirect effect was primarily driven by MSP, indicating that monetary savings dominate direct-booking evaluations, while the combined effect of monetary and non-monetary cues emerges at the attitudinal level only among consumers high in VC. Originality/value: This study advances hospitality research by integrating ATU theory, cue diagnosticity and dual-process perspectives in the direct online hotel booking context. It shows that MSP functions as a dominant transaction-utility cue, while the joint influence effect of MSP and NMSP depends on VC, clarifying how hotels can design value-differentiated offers.

The hospitality industry is one of the most affected by the pandemic, and because of its human close interaction and labor-intensive characteristics, it has left Human Resource Management (HRM) puzzles with organizations’ stabilization and recovery. This study aimed to summarize current research on hospitality HRM research outcomes and trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing the PRISMA technique and NVivo software, 102 research articles were extracted and analyzed to highlight to overall achievement and movement of hospitality HRM research under the shadow of the COVID-19 crisis. Considering the main purpose of this study, which was to show the status and prospects, the findings indicated 309 free nodes and 26 secondary nodes based on grounded theory. 7 key themes clustered from the analysis and include “environmental factors”, “industrial factors”, “HRM practice”, “organization”, “employee”, “external outcomes”, and “methodology”. The results demonstrated the COVID-19 pandemic driven HRM transformation. In addition, it sheds light on how research responds to the shifting navigation of HRM within the hospitality context under the COVID-19 conditions.

Festivals are experiential products heavily depending on the recommendations of previous visitors. With the power of social media growing, understanding the antecedents of positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intentions of festival attendees is immensely beneficial for festival organizers to better promote their festivals and control negative publicity. However, there is still limited research regarding eWOM intentions in the festival context. Thus, this study aims to fill such a gap by investigating the relationships among festival attendees’ enjoyment seeking motivation, perceived value, visitor satisfaction, and eWOM intention in a local festival setting. Additionally, the moderating role of gender was tested as it is one of the most important demographic variables to show individual differences in behavioral intentions. The results of structural equation modeling showed a positive effect of enjoyment seeking motivation on perceived value, visitor satisfaction, and eWOM intention. Moreover, gender differences in eWOM intention and a full mediating effect of visitor satisfaction between perceived value and eWOM intention for female respondents were revealed. The findings of this study extend the existing festival literature and provide insights for strategically organizing and promoting festivals to generate more positive eWOM which can be utilized as an effective marketing tool and a feedback channel.

The current study aimed to identify students’ perceptions about guest speakers in hospitality and tourism programs. A total of 222 participants were surveyed at a large, public university in southwestern United States. The mean scores of 10 attributes were plotted on an importance-performance analysis grid to illustrate each attribute of one guest speaker’s lecture. The findings showed a discrepancy between the students’ perceived importance and the performance level. The results indicate that students expect that guest speakers not only provide industry-specific knowledge and current issues but also deliver them appropriately. Therefore, guest speakers should realize that students are eager to learn about strategies for career success and current issues in order to stimulate their interest. These findings provide meaningful information for guest speakers on how to improve their effectiveness because students’ reflection and ideas about guest speakers help faculty members better utilize guest speakers and develop curriculums and programs, which ultimately will benefit students in their learning.

As the significance of frontline employees increases in the foodservice industry, organizations are paying more attention to internal marketing and customer-oriented behavior for the success of their business. Thus, this study surveys restaurant employees to investigate the impact of development and rewards on job satisfaction and customer-oriented behavior from the perspective of restaurant employees. This study not only supports aspects of previous literature, but also proposes a testable and parsimonious research model by exploring development, rewards, job satisfaction, and customer-oriented behavior simultaneously and revealing how those factors are correlated. Finally, limitations and future research directions are addressed.

This study investigated the effects of gender, perceived quality and perceived value of campus foodservice on customer satisfaction. A total of 346 participants were surveyed at a large, public university in the Southwest United States. The relationships among three latent constructs (perceived quality, perceived value, and customer satisfaction) were measured using structural equation modeling. The findings showed that both perceived quality and perceived value had significant effects on customer satisfaction. Furthermore, gender had a significant moderating role on the relationship between perceived quality and perceived value.

This study examined relationships among service quality, food quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention regarding dining experiences in continuing care retirement communities in the United States. Specifically, the effects of service quality and food quality on residents’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions were investigated. Overall, the results of this study indicated that both service and food quality have positive impacts on residents’ satisfaction. However, only food quality positively influenced behavioral intention. This implies that service quality did not have a direct impact on behavioral intention. However, service quality influenced behavioral intention by mediating residents’ satisfaction. Practical implications based on the findings were also discussed.