Haemoon Oh

Measuring Experience Economy Concepts: Tourism Applications

The authors develop a measurement scale tapping Pine and Gilmores (1999) four realms of experience that is applicable to lodging and, potentially, tourism research across various destinations. Focusing on the bed-and-breakfast industry, the authors conducted preliminary qualitative studies and a subsequent field survey to collect data from bed-and-breakfast owners and guests to develop and test a proposed model of experience economy concepts. The proposed measurement model includes four realms of experience and four theoretically justifiable nomological consequences. The data supported the dimensional structure of the four realms of experience, providing empirical evidence for both face and nomological validities of these realms and a starting point for measuring emerging experience economy concepts and practices within lodging and tourism settings. The authors discuss ways the measurement scale can be further refined for adoption by destination marketers and directions for future research.

A Customer-Based Brand Equity Model for Upscale Hotels:

The authors propose a customer-based brand equity model for use in global branding efforts and research, based on a series of qualitative and quantitative studies. They find new dimensions of brand equity that need to be considered by lodging researchers and operators. Components of brand equity generated from literature review and focus groups are ordered in theoretical relationships and the model structure is assessed against rival structures. The model is tested with data collected from travelers in 12 major cities in China and validated across several subgroups of travelers. Results support the validity and reliability of the proposed model.

Effective communication strategies for hotel guests' green behavior.

Green marketing in hotel rooms relies particularly on the hotel’s communication to the guest, with a goal of gaining the guest’s voluntary participation in sustainable programs. Developing a persuasive message, therefore, is critical to the effectiveness of the hotel’s green efforts. To explore effective in-room green communication strategies of the hotel industry, we propose application of several widely adopted information processing theories. We review relevant theories, develop key propositions for the hotel industry, and offer a theoretical framework and propositions for future research. Our content analysis of the contents of thirty-six guestroom message cards finds that many hotels are using some of these information theories, but a more scientific approach is indicated.

Customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer value: years 2000-2015

Purpose n n n n nThis paper aims to review hospitality and tourism research on customer satisfaction (CS), service quality (SQ) and customer value (CV) published in several established hospitality and tourism journals over the past 15-16 years. A parallel review of research on the same topics published in several leading marketing journals is also conducted to show comparisons in research trends across the two different, but closely related, fields of study. By doing so, this paper aims to summarize lessons learned from previous research and provide suggestions for future research on the topics in the hospitality and tourism discipline. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nThis study reviewed 242 articles appearing in six selected hospitality and tourism journals and 71 articles in four business journals that were published on CS, SQ and CV over the period of 2000-2015. A comprehensive coding scheme was developed to sort each study by more than 50 criteria. n n n n nFindings n n n n nWhile research on these topics has grown constantly during the period in the hospitality and tourism field, it has declined in the general business discipline over the same period. Hospitality and tourism research relied heavily on cross-sectional data through a survey approach, whereas business studies used experimental designs more frequently. Research on CS has sustained both interest and productivity, but research on SQ and CV has dwindled over time. Another notable finding is that most studies are not grounded in strong theories, although CS studies tended to be more theory-embedded. n n n n nPractical implications n n n n nThis study provides many useful insights into the research practice and trends of related research and suggestions for future research, especially for hospitality and tourism researchers. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nThis study provides an unprecedented, comprehensive review of theories, methods, discussion points, implications, limitations and conclusions of studies on CS, SQ and CV published in selected hospitality and tourism journals over the past 15 years.

Motivations and Goals of Slow Tourism

The concept of slow tourism is gaining attention, and this study provides new insights into the phenomenon from the perspective of a goal-driven consumption process. The authors conduct primary qualitative research to define slow tourism, build a conceptual model, and develop measurement scales. Based on the data collected from four popular U.S. tourist destinations, the authors find that goal-driven consumption theory exhibits compelling explanatory power for the slow behavioral process in the tourism context. The slow tourism process also appears to coexist with fast modes of travel and they contribute differently to general tourism experience outcomes. Discussion includes approaches to understanding the slow tourism phenomenon, issues around slowness in human behavior, and future directions for research on slow tourism.

Measuring the Experience Economy of Film Festival Participants

Abstract Building on Pine and Gilmore’s experience economy concepts and recent related travel research, this study newly investigated the relationships among the experience of film festival visitors, their satisfaction, and their behavioral intention. In particular, the study focused on how an escapist experience and traveler satisfaction mediated the effects of the other experiential dimensions on behavioral intention. The data supported the proposed theoretical relationships among the constructs and the applicability of the experience economy scales to festival management. The results also validate a mediating role of the escapist experience between the tourist’s perceptions of festival performance and behavioral intention toward future film festival participation.

Evaluating stability of the performance-satisfaction relationship across selected lodging market segments.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate new methods of examining structural differences among segmented markets beyond comparing merely univariate variable mean scores, so as to help marketers and researchers gain better insights into segment differences for meaningful strategy development.Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive dataset covering various lodging market segments was constructed from Tripadvisor.com. The data then were sorted into lodging customer segments by star rating, type of operation, and level of price charged. Structural equation modeling with the −2 log‐likelihood difference test was conducted to illustrate how effectively the differences, if any, of market segments could be assessed in contrast to the traditional mean‐score comparison approach.Findings – Guest satisfaction was influenced by the same performance variable to the same magnitude and direction across different lodging segments examined. Such stability in the amount of influence of performance on guest...

Attitudinal and Situational Determinants of Self-Service Technology Use

The authors test an extended technology acceptance model by incorporating two situational and two attitudinal variables as new predictors of self-service technology adoption. The situational variables are waiting line and service complexity, whereas the attitudinal variables are technology trust and technology anxiety. The study employs an experimental approach with hypothetical hotel check-in situations. The authors apply structural equation modeling techniques to provide additional insights into the main effects. They find significant main effects of all situational and attitudinal variables but no interaction effects between the situational and attitudinal variables. The main effects on intention to use self-service technologies occurred primarily through the mediation of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The technology acceptance model needs extension to include nontechnology variables as predictors of new technology adoption.

Bayesian Approach for the Measurement of Tourism Performance A Case of Stochastic Frontier Models

Despite its rapid growth across several social science disciplines, the use of the Bayesian approach to measure tourism performance has yet to gain strong attention in tourism research. This article reviews the foundation of the Bayesian approach and discusses its benefits and the flexibility it provides in the estimation of highly complicated performance models. With the lack of tourism studies focusing on the Bayesian approach, we take first a general approach and provide a description of the Bayesian approach, illustrating its advantages, and its key differences from the frequentist approach. We then discuss its specific benefits in the measurement of tourism performance within the context of stochastic frontier (SF) models. We introduce several advanced versions of SF where the use of the Bayesian approach becomes necessary. We also provide simulation evidence about the advantages of the Bayesian approach and discuss how it can be used to estimate various SF models.

Student Evaluations of Courses and Instructors: An Exploratory Insight into the Process and Its Implications

The authors examine the process of students course and instructor evaluations in application of the expectancy theory framework. A modified conceptual model is proposed and six related hypotheses are tested with hospitality students from four courses. Results suggest the applicability of expectancy theory to understanding students course and instructor evaluation process. Students learning expectations are found to influence their perceptions of instructional performance and course-related satisfaction, which in turn affect the students sense of belonging to the academic program. Practical implications such as student recruitment and retention issues are explored within the study framework.