Heesup Han

Understanding how consumers view green hotels: how a hotel's green image can influence behavioural intentions

As the public is increasingly concerned about environmental issues, green management is rapidly becoming a strategic tool that can enhance a hotels competitive advantage. This study explores how to develop the image and branding of a green hotel using the concepts of cognitive, affective and overall images. The study, based on a survey of 416 hotel users, also investigates how a green hotel image can affect behavioural intentions (i.e. intention to revisit, intention to offer positive recommendations to others and willingness to pay a premium). The findings confirm that cognitive image components (namely value and quality attributes) can exert a positive influence on a green hotels affective and overall images. The affective image is also found to positively affect a green hotels overall image. A green hotels overall image, in turn, can contribute to more favourable behavioural intentions. Quality attributes were found to be more powerful than value attributes. The importance of the concept of selfish altruism and obtaining a feeling of wellbeing from a purchase were shown to be very strong. A range of theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Roles of the Physical Environment, Price Perception, and Customer Satisfaction in Determining Customer Loyalty in the Restaurant Industry:

This research aims to examine the relationships among three components of the physical environment (i.e., décor and artifacts, spatial layout, and ambient conditions), price perception, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in the restaurant industry. A total of 279 cases from a survey were used to assess overall fit of the proposed model and test hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The three factors of the physical environment strongly influenced how customers perceived price, and this price perception, in turn, enhanced customer satisfaction level and directly/indirectly influenced customer loyalty. Décor and artifacts were the most significant predictors of price perception among the three components of the physical environment. Furthermore, both price perception and customer satisfaction played significant partial/complete mediating roles in the proposed model. The paper provides potential ways for restaurateurs to increase customer loyalty by improving their understanding of the roles of physical environment, price perception, and customer satisfaction.

Influence of the Quality of Food, Service, and Physical Environment on Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention in Quick-Casual Restaurants: Moderating Role of Perceived Price

This study examined the relationships between three determinants of quality dimensions (predictors: food, service, and physical environment), price (moderator), and satisfaction and behavioral intention (criterion) in quick-casual restaurants. Despite the importance of foodservice quality, academics and managers know relatively little about how the combined effects of quality (food, service, and physical environment) elicit customer satisfaction which, in turn, affects behavioral intention. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis with interactions showed that quality of food, service, and physical environment were all significant determinants of customer satisfaction. In addition, perceived price acted as a moderator in the satisfaction formation process. Finally, the results indicated that customer satisfaction is indeed a significant predictor of behavioral intention. The findings may provide restaurateurs with a guideline for enhancing customer satisfaction and behavioral intention level.

Relationships among hedonic and utilitarian values, satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the fast‐casual restaurant industry

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the relationships among hedonic and utilitarian values, customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the fast‐casual restaurant industry.Design/methodology/approach – The measures were developed based on a thorough review of the previous literature. Questionnaires were collected in classroom settings at a mid‐western university in the USA. Anderson and Gerbings two‐step approach was employed to assess the measurement and structural models.Findings – The findings indicate that hedonic and utilitarian values significantly influence customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction has a significant influence on behavioral intentions. Utilitarian value shows a greater influence on both customer satisfaction and behavioral intention than does hedonic value. This study also reveals that customer satisfaction acts as a partial mediator in the link between hedonic/utilitarian value and behavioral intentions.Research limitations/implications – Study findings will greatly ...

Intention to pay conventional-hotel prices at a green hotel – a modification of the theory of planned behavior

Numerous studies have employed the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand customers’ behaviors in various fields, but none has tested and extended the theory to explain customers’ decision formation to pay comparable regular-hotel prices for a green hotel. This is the first study designed to test and modify the TPB by including environmental concerns, perceived customer effectiveness and environmentally conscious behaviors, which are critical in explaining eco-friendly consumer behaviors. Salient belief items were identified using an elicitation method (focus group and open-ended survey). A survey obtained 389 respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that measurement items for all study variables had an adequate level of reliability and validity. The findings from the structural equation modeling showed that the proposed model had a satisfactory fit to the data and better predicted hotel customers’ intention than the original TPB. The results also indicated that all antecedent variables of intention significantly contributed to forming the intention to pay conventional-hotel prices for a green hotel. Respondents were happy to have minor inconveniences, e.g. reusing towels and using recycled products, and were keen to learn about the positive environmental attributes of green hotels. Benefit awareness was shown to be important in customer decision-making.

Relationships Among Image Congruence, Consumption Emotions, and Customer Loyalty in the Lodging Industry

The authors investigated the relationship between image congruence and consumption emotions and the possible influence of this relationship on customer loyalty in the lodging industry. Overall fit of the proposed model and research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The results showed that their model, which links image congruence, consumption emotions, and customer loyalty, was generally supported, whereas the linkage between social image congruence and consumption emotions was not significant. Findings in this study integrate recent work of image congruence into the growing body of research on the role of consumption emotions in forming customer loyalty in the lodging industry.

Moderating Role of Personal Characteristics in Forming Restaurant Customers' Behavioral Intentions: An Upscale Restaurant Setting

ABSTRACT This study attempted to investigate the relationships among overall service quality (OSQ), customer satisfaction (CS), and behavioral intentions (BI), such as repeat visit intention (RVI) and word-of-mouth intention (WOMI) by considering the moderating role of personal characteristics (gender and age) in an upscale restaurant setting. Structural equation analyses showed that OSQ was an antecedent of CS, and CS was a significant predictor of RVI and WOMI. In addition, metric invariance test revealed that the strength of the relationships among study constructs was, in general, strongly influenced by personal characteristics. Specifically, the CS-RVI link was stronger for women than for men, and the OSQ-CS-WOMI link was stronger for the high-age group than for the low-age group. However, the OSQ-CS-WOMI link was found to be equal across genders, and the influence of age on the CS-RVI link was identical across groups. The findings from this study will provide restaurant managers/marketers with a guideline for developing effective marketing/service strategies for customer retention.

Investigating the effects of consumption emotions on customer satisfaction and repeat visit intentions in the lodging industry.

ABSTRACT This study addressed the impact of positive and negative consumption emotions on customer satisfaction and repeat visit intentions. A total of 248 cases were used to test the hypotheses using a series of multiple regression analyses. Generally, the findings were consistent with the literature. Two dimensions (positive and negative) of consumption emotions were confirmed in this study using a confirmatory factor analysis. Positive and negative consumption emotions showed significant effects on customer satisfaction and repeat visit intentions. Customer satisfaction was a significant determinant of repeat visit intentions. Customer satisfaction appeared to be a full mediator in the relationship between positive and negative consumption emotions of customers and their repeat visit intentions. Negative emotion had a greater influence on customer satisfaction and customer repeat visit intentions than positive emotion, so the loss aversion of the prospect theory was empirically supported in its explanation of customer repeat visit supported in its explanation of customer repeat visit intentions in the lodging industry.

Assessing Customers' Emotional Experiences Influencing Their Satisfaction in the Lodging Industry

Abstract The objectives of this study were to revise the Consumption Emotion Set to be applicable in the lodging industry, specifically by excluding emotion descriptors unlikely to be experienced by hotel guests and by uncovering underlying dimensions of consumption emotions and to identify key emotion factors that have significant effects on customer satisfaction. The reliability, item-to-correlations, and factor structures indicated that seven factors and the 38-emotion item scale were statistically robust and showed the applicability of scale to the lodging industry. While there was no significant relationship between “worrisome” factor and satisfaction, six of the seven factors were found to be key determinants of satisfaction.

Determinants of Restaurant Customers' Loyalty Intentions: A Mediating Effect of Relationship Quality

ABSTRACT. This study examines the relationships among perceived quality, perceived value, relationship quality (customer satisfaction and trust), and loyalty intentions in the full‐service restaurant industry. Following Baron and Kennys guidelines, the current study also tested a mediating effect of relationship quality on loyalty intentions. Data were collected using an on‐line survey. The results of a series of regression analyses using five regression equations supported the hypothesized relationships among study constructs. In addition, relationship quality was found to be a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived value and loyalty intentions. Theoretical/managerial implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.