Makarand Mody

The accommodation experiencescape: a comparative assessment of hotels and Airbnb

Purpose Accommodations providers in the sharing economy are increasingly competing with the hotel industry vis-a-vis the guest experience. Additionally, experience-related research remains underrepresented in the hospitality and tourism literature. This paper aims to develop and test a model of experiential consumption to provide a better understanding of an emerging phenomenon in the hospitality industry. In so doing, the authors also expand Pine and Gilmore’s original experience economy construct. Design/methodology/approach Using data from a survey of 630 customers who stayed at a hotel or an Airbnb in the previous three months, the authors performed a multi-step analysis procedure centered on structural equation modeling to validate the model. Findings The authors demonstrate that the dimensions of serendipity, localness, communitas and personalization represent valuable additions to Pine and Gilmore’s original experience economy construct. Airbnb appears to outperform the hotel industry in the provision of all experience dimensions. The authors further define the pathways that underlie the creation of extraordinary, memorable experiences, which subsequently elicit favorable behavioral intentions. Practical implications The findings suggest the need for the hotel industry to adopt a content marketing paradigm that leverages various dimensions of the experience economy to provide customers with valuable and relevant experiences. The industry must also pay greater attention to its use of branding, signage and promotional messaging to encourage customers to interpret their experiences through the lens of these dimensions. Originality/value The study expands a seminal construct from the field of services marketing in the context of the accommodations industry. The Accommodations Experiencescape is offered as a tool for strategic experience design. The study also offers a model of experiential consumption that explains customers’ experiences with accommodations providers.

Rationality of social entrepreneurs in tourism: Max Weber and the sociology of tourism development

Despite increasing recognition of its contribution to development in many parts of the world, academic research about social entrepreneurship remains in its infancy. There has been little inquiry into the rationale for social entrepreneurship, despite its potential to clarify many conceptual ambiguities associated with this emerging phenomenon. In response to such a gap, the present article advances a compelling framework from classic sociology, that of Max Weber’s typology of rationality, as a means to explain the motivations of social entrepreneurs in the tourism industry. It emphasises the concepts of formal and substantive rationality, which are Weber’s most significant contributions to the understanding of human behaviour. The article also presents methodological considerations for the use of Weber’s typology. A constructivism paradigm and the narrative approach to inquiry are suggested as most readily aligned with Weber’s own methodological stance towards sociological explanation.

Examining the motivations for social entrepreneurship using Max Weber’s typology of rationality

Purpose This paper aims to utilize a framework from classic sociology – Max Weber’s Typology of Rationality – to understand the motivations for social entrepreneurship in responsible tourism in India. The critical role of the social entrepreneur in effecting the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship has been largely under-recognized. The authors seek to explore, develop and enhance Weber’s theoretical arguments in the context of the tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a constructivism paradigm and Seidman’s (2006) Three Interview Series technique to obtain the narratives of two social entrepreneurs in India. Data were analyzed using a hybrid thematic coding procedure. Findings Findings indicate that there exists a dynamic interplay between the formal and substantive rationalities that underlie the behavior of social entrepreneurs. The authors also discuss how entrepreneurs draw upon their formal and substantive repertoires to create their identities through the simultaneous processes of apposition (“Me”) and opposition (“Not Me”). Practical implications The findings provide an important recognition of the impact of formal and substantive rationalities on the conceptualization, implementation and manifestation of social enterprise for a variety of stakeholders. Originality/value This paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the why and the how of social entrepreneurship in responsible tourism. It provides a framework that can be widely applied to develop and enhance Weberian theory and further the understanding of the fundamental nature of human behavioral phenomena in tourism and beyond.

The influence of hospitable design and service on patient responses

ABSTRACT A study of 216 respondents examined a medical center environment’s influence on patient responses. A stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model was adapted to the theory that more hospitable healthcare servicescape elements will affect patients’ overall satisfaction with healthcare experience, loyalty intentions, and willingness to pay out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare services. Servicescape elements included atmospherics of the healthcare environment, service delivery by healthcare staff, physical design of the healthcare environment, and wayfinding. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that the four servicescape elements – had a significant impact on patients’ overall satisfaction with the healthcare experience. Furthermore, overall satisfaction with the healthcare experience predicted patients’ loyalty intentions and willingness to pay out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare services. The study makes a significant contribution to the empirical modeling of patients’ behavioral responses to hospitable healthcare environments.

Social Entrepreneurship Typologies and Tourism: Conceptual Frameworks

The chapter examines the ways that social entrepreneurs (SE) and Socially-Entrepreneurial Organizations (SEO) have been categorized. SEs have been categorized in terms of their personal traits and character, their organizational context, their work/leadership style, their motivations and the types of activities they undertake. SEOs have been categorized by the way they balance their social mission with revenue generation, the types of social benefits they provide, funding, and their use of tangible and intangible assets. Each of these typologies can be effectively applied to tourism. While, the terms SE and SEO are relatively new to tourism, they are closely linked to established fields of tourism study. Ecotourism, pro-poor tourism, and community based tourism are all areas of tourism that rely heavily on the work of SEs and SEOs. The new focus on SEs and SEOs provides new perspectives for the study of tourism. The chapter concludes by suggesting a number of typologies for tourism-related SE and SEO studies.

Examining the Personal and Institutional Determinants of Research Productivity in Hospitality and Tourism Management

ABSTRACT The transition toward a post-capitalist knowledge-oriented economy has resulted in an increasingly competitive academic environment, where the success of faculty is dependent on their research productivity. This study examines the personal and institutional determinants of the quantity and quality of the research productivity of hospitality and tourism management faculty in US institutions. A survey of 98 faculty found that a different set of determinants impact the quantity and quality aspects of research productivity. Also, institutional determinants were found to play a larger role, indicating the need for administrators to strive for a culture that is supportive of and an infrastructure that is conducive to their faculty’s research success. The authors use the field of hospitality and tourism management as a case study to develop a holistic and cohesive framework for knowledge worker productivity that can guide the evaluation, hiring, and development of researchers.

Heroic Messiahs or Everyday Businessmen? The Rhetoric and the Reality of Social Entrepreneurship in India

While the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship is not new, there remain several ambiguities associated with its definition and theoretical formulation. To understand how social entrepreneurs create value in their quest to resolve social issues, it is important to appreciate the motivations that underlie their behavior. This chapter uses the cases of two social entrepreneurs in responsible tourism in India to identify a range of value-oriented and traditional entrepreneurial motivations. It further identifies how these motivations are intricately woven into a process of identify creation that illuminates the performative aspects of social entrepreneurship. Through their association and dissociation with a host of entities in the ecosystem, the social entrepreneurs tend to maintain their organizations’ legitimacy as heroes, thus adhering to the popular social discourse surrounding social entrepreneurship. While such conformity, validated by the entrepreneurs’ life stories, is beneficial in shaping the social entrepreneurial narrative, we argue that the need to further the social entrepreneurship agenda must incorporate alternative forms of thinking and talking about the phenomenon. These alternative discourses illuminate the duality of social entrepreneurship—its rhetoric as a grand, Schumpeterian style innovation and its reality as bricolage.