Milos Bujisic

Airport service quality drivers of passenger satisfaction

Purpose – Considering the complexity of the airport industry service palette, it is important to identify which air travel factors are distractors and which factors are enhancers of passenger satisfaction. Building on Herzbergs two-factor motivation theory, this study aims to explore most frequently mentioned attributes of airport service quality and distinguish key drivers for passenger satisfaction/dissatisfaction in the airport context. Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis of 1,095 traveler comments posted between 2010 and 2013 on an airport review web site was performed in order to identify satisfiers/dissatisfiers. The web spider randomly selected consumer comments related to 33 popular destinations. Findings – The study results indicated key satisfiers in the airport context such as cleanliness and pleasant environment to spend time in. On the other side, security-check, confusing signage and poor dining offer are recognized as major dissatisfiers in the airport setting. Practical impli...

Online experiences: flow theory, measuring online customer experience in e-commerce and managerial implications for the lodging industry

The past decade has perceived a significant development of various Internet technologies including HTML5, Ajax, landing pages, CSS3, social media and SEO to name a few. New web technologies provide opportunities for e-commerce companies to enhance the shopping experiences of their customers. This article focuses the phenomenon of online experiences from a services marketing aspect by concentrating online hotel booking. Successful lodging management strategies have been associated with the creation of experience, which in turn leads to fruitful performance outcomes such as superior financial performance, enhanced brand image, customer loyalty, positive word of mouth and customer satisfaction. E-commerce researchers and practitioners also focus on the phenomenon of online customer experiences. Plentiful of previous studies investigated the precursors and consequences of positive online customer experiences by utilizing various marketing and Information Systems theories, and it was found that online customer experience has numerous positive outcomes for e-commerce companies. This study analyses the previous studies on customer experiences by utilizing flow theory and develops a conceptual framework of customer experiences. Later it proposes and tests a measurement model for online customer experiences. Our findings indicate that for successful e-commerce practices, online shoppers need to reach a state of mind where they engage with the website with total involvement, concentration and enjoyment. The traditional approaches to attract customers in brick-and-mortar commerce are not applicable in online contexts. Therefore, interaction, participation, co-creation, immersion, engagement and emotional hooks are important in e-commerce. Managerial and theoretical implications of positive online customer experiences were discussed.

The effects of restaurant quality attributes on customer behavioral intentions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationships between restaurant quality attributes and customer behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach – An experimental design was chosen to provide a high level of internal validity. Three separate 3 × 2 factorial design experiments were conducted through 18 separate vignette scenarios for three levels of quality (below average, average and above average) of three common restaurant attributes (food, service and ambience) in two types of restaurants (quick service and upscale). Findings – The results indicated that the type of restaurant moderated the relationship between restaurant service and ambience quality and customer behavioral intentions. Practical implications – The results of this study suggest that management of quick-service and upscale restaurants should focus on food quality, but establish different resource allocation priorities with respect to service and ambience quality. Originality/value – This study examined the l...

Change in Consumer Patronage and Willingness to Pay at Different Levels of Service Attributes in Restaurants: A Study in India

Consumer patronage and consumer willingness to pay are the two most important criteria for business development. The current study investigates the changing preferences of consumers in a developing economy with respect to three major service attributes from the restaurant industry: food quality, service, and ambiance. Results indicated that consumers give greater preference to quality over service in high-end restaurants and prefer service compared with ambiance in quick-service restaurants. Food quality was found to have strong interaction effect with two other variables. When food quality was improved from low to high, consumer preferences for ambiance and service tended to change accordingly in the same direction, but not necessarily at the same level. Thus, restaurateurs have a strategic advantage when they choose high quality food and an appropriate level of service or ambiance. Consumer expectations are significantly different for high-end, full-service restaurants and quick-service restaurants in service attributes.

Why Restaurants Fail? Part IV: The Relationship between Restaurant Failures and Demographic Factors

Although location is a significant factor in a restaurant’s survival chances, contrary to the commonly held belief, the presence of nearby homes did not help in lowering failure rates between 2000 and 2010 for restaurants in Boulder, Colorado. Instead, having a substantial population of apartment dwellers and transient residents (notably, university students) enhanced the restaurants’ success, as did the presence of people aged eighteen to twenty-four, those with higher educational levels, non-household families, and low- to middle-income families. Larger restaurants and those with chain affiliation had a greater probability of success than small, quick-service operations. Among the factors that had little effect on restaurant success or failure were unemployment rates, the nature of nearby residents’ profession, and the geographical presence of families with children under eighteen. The study’s results also support the long-held industry perception regarding avoiding locations where restaurants have already failed. When a location had experienced three ownership turnovers, the study found that the location generally ceased to host restaurants as tenants. As explained further in this article, this is the fourth in a series of examinations of the elements of restaurant success and failure.

Hotel guest preferences of in-room technology amenities

Purpose Advances in technology and in subsequent guest-related amenities have the potential to improve the guest experience and also increase both guestroom revenues and ancillary room revenues. Innovative technologies will be one of the prime differentiators of hotel companies in the twenty-first century. However, it is important for hoteliers to answer questions such as which technology amenities do their guests desire when choosing overnight accommodations? Further, what are the importance levels assigned by guests of these various technology amenities? This study aims to answer the question of how leisure travelers may differ or be similar to business travelers with regard to in-room technology amenities. Design/methodology/approach The target population of this study consisted of 2,500 US residents whose email addresses were randomly drawn from a national database company. A series of t-tests and ANOVA were conducted to answer the research questions. Findings High-speed internet access and guest device connectivity were perceived more important by business travelers than by leisure travelers. Research limitations/implications Recognizing guests’ technology needs and answering those needs are important for hotel operators to remain competitive. While some segments perceive more value in certain technologies, for others it might be an indifferent amenity. Practical implications The amount of time guests spend in their rooms directly correlates to increased revenues from in-room dining, in-room amenities offered and, in general, all pay-for-use products and services such as the internet and movies. Therefore, with the right assortment and offering of technology amenities, hotels will increase their revenues from these ancillary revenues. Moreover, a hotel property with the right mixture of desired in-room amenities and services can charge higher rates for their guestroom sales. Originality/value The results of this study provide insights into the changing attitudes toward in-room entertainment technology that many hotel developers should take note of.

Hotel Cancelation Policies, Distributive and Procedural Fairness, and Consumer Patronage: A Study of the Lodging Industry

ABSTRACT Hotel cancelation policies (CancPols) are designed to minimize losses for the lodging companies. Liberal CancPols have resulted in revenue forecasting errors and eventual loss of revenues. The current study investigates the effect of different CancPols on consumer patronage and willingness to pay. In addition, the effects of distributive and procedural fairness in hotel CancPols are addressed. Results indicate that there is no loss of consumer patronage between open option policies and 48-hour CancPols. No-refund policies were found to be too restrictive and affected consumer’s patronage. Consumer patronage was also significantly affected when fairness policies were violated.

Relationship between guest experience, personality characteristics, and satisfaction: moderating effect of extraversion and openness to experience.

Based on the experience economy concept, this study develops a model that incorporates guest experiences, satisfaction, return intention, word of mouth (WOM), and personality traits. Quasiexperimental design has been used with the manipulation of different experience scenarios. This allows for the testing of causal relationships between the different types of experiences and the three dependent variables of satisfaction, return intention, and WOM. The final elements of the proposed model are personality traits measured using the “Big Five” model. MANOVA was utilized to test the effect of manipulations on the dependent variables. Additionally, the moderating effect of openness to experience and extraversion was tested. The second stage involved the creation of a structural equation model that tested the relationship between four different experience dimensions

The Application of Revenue Management in Beverage Operations

In recent years, beverage establishments have grown in popularity among millions of people seeking leisure activities, nightlife attractions, and entertainment venues. Despite the prevalence of this well-established industry, beverage establishments have received little academic attention. The present study was designed to compare basic revenue management principles and characteristics with existing beverage establishments and suggest adaptations of those principles in the context of those beverage operations to optimize prices of their food and beverage products and entrance fees. This study involves a qualitative approach based on the interviews with 20 beverage operations managers from the United States and Europe.

Assessing Faculty Productivity by Research Impact: Introducing Dp2 Index

Assessing hospitality faculty-research output has become a subject of research in its own right. Unfortunately most of the currently available assessment instruments are limited in their ability to consider consistency, productivity, originality, and longevity of productivity in hospitality research. Thus, this article introduces a new research productivity index using secondary sources of data for evaluating faculty research productivity, based on four criteria: quantity, quality, consistency, and longevity. The proposed Dp2 index uses publicly available secondary data sources in assessing the research productivity of hospitality faculty. The proposed Dp2 index is parsimonious, effective, flexible, adaptable, and easy to implement.