Jeong-Yeol Park

An Experimental Investigation on the Determinants of Online Hotel Booking Intention

ABSTRACT Online hotel booking is a common practice among potential travelers. When booking a hotel room, potential travelers make their decisions by analyzing limited information, such as number of rooms sold at a specific price, availability of rooms, and consumer ratings. Considering the importance of information clues that facilitate potential travelers’ decision-making, this study attempted to identify main effects and interaction effects of diverse information clues, such as scarcity, popularity, and consumer ratings, when booking a hotel room. Utilizing a 2Scarcity × 2Popularity × 2Ratings factorial design, popularity and consumer ratings had main effects on the booking intention. In addition, the interaction effect of scarcity and popularity was identified. More implications are discussed in the main body of this paper.

Effects of Social Perceptions and Organizational Commitment on Restaurant Performance

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of employees’ organizational commitment and social perceptions of their coworkers and managers on key restaurant performance indicators (i.e., customer satisfaction, restaurant sales change, and employee turnover rate). This study enhances the existing literature related to the influence of the work environment and employees’ job attitudes on organizations’ performance, and includes two fundamental social dimensions that are often used to evaluate other individuals or groups, namely warmth and competence. In order to examine such effects, structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized. Results suggest that managers’ warmth and employees’ organizational commitment have significant effects on restaurants’ turnover rates. Moreover, employees’ organizational commitment improves restaurants’ sales change and customer satisfaction. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed in detail.

Which restaurant should I choose? Herd behavior in the restaurant industry

ABSTRACT People, in general, follow others’ choices or opinions. This phenomenon has been defined as herd behavior. Accordingly, this study utilized the concept of herd behavior, and examined whether restaurant customers follow others’ choices or opinions, especially when they choose a restaurant in an unfamiliar place. Two different stimuli were considered “others’ choice”—online review ratings and consumers’ last minute observations on the crowdedness of the restaurant. By adopting experimental design (3 Crowdedness × 2 Review Rating), this study found that customers’ intention to choose a restaurant was significantly influenced by crowdedness when customers are choosing a dine-in restaurant. Comparably, a high review rating stimulated customers’ intention to choose in the case of both dine-in and take-out restaurants. Interaction effects were significant, suggesting that individuals make decisions based on both the crowdedness and review ratings of restaurants. Detailed results and discussion are followed by theoretical and managerial implications.

The impact of sold-out information on tourist choice decisions

ABSTRACT Travelers encounter sold-out situations when purchasing a vacation package during peak season. However, the influence of sold-out information has drawn little attention in tourism research. This study aims to understand the influences of sold-out products on travelers’ purchase intentions and final choices. To fulfill the research objective, 526 samples were collected by the online marketing firm in the United States. Results suggested that presenting information about sold-out products increases purchase intention toward a target product similar to the sold-out product, regardless of prior experience with a destination. Further discussions are provided in the main body of paper.

Why do They Come Back? The Effects of Winery Tourists’ Motivations and Satisfaction on the Number of Visits and Revisit Intentions

ABSTRACT Few studies have examined the influence of winery tourists’ motivations and satisfaction on number of visits and revisit intentions. This study examined these relationships through 1602 online survey responses from former winery visitors. The data were analyzed through a series of multiple regression analyses. Findings show that among tourists’ motivations, the reputation, reviews, and perceived quality of the winery and its wines significantly affect the number of visits and revisit intentions, while media exposure affects revisit intentions. Further, visitors’ satisfaction with the winery significantly impacts revisit intentions. While visitors’ geographic proximity to the winery increased the number of visits, as expected, distance from the winery is shown to increase revisit intentions. Finally, the number of previous visits had a significant positive effect on revisit intentions.