Peter Beomcheol Kim

Application of Construal-Level Theory to Promotional Strategies in the Hotel Industry

Effectively promoting products and services is important for the success of tourism companies in the competitive business environment. Based on construal level theory, this study examines whether psychological distance (temporal and spatial) influences preferred promotional messages in the tourism industry. The results from three experimental studies indicate that people who plan a vacation in the distant-future/to a far-destination prefer abstract promotional messages, while those who plan in the near-future/to a near-destination prefer concrete ones. We also find that informational media (textual vs. pictorial) have significant influences regarding the impact of psychological distance on travelers’ preferred promotional information. Further, using a field study, we investigate whether the current advertisements produced by tourism organizations are properly designed to be congruent with spatially driven construal levels (e.g., concrete promotional information for a near destination) but find them incongruent with what this study suggests. Implications of the findings are discussed for both researchers and practitioners.

Influence of the Work Relationship Between Frontline Employees and Their Immediate Supervisor on Customers’ Service Experience

The primary purpose of this study is to develop and test a research model that links the work relationship between subordinates and their immediate supervisor (i.e., leader-member exchange [LMX]) to customers’ evaluation on their dining experience through job satisfaction. This study utilized an employee–customer matched sample drawn from 14 restaurants with customer-contact employees (n = 426) and their customers (n = 1,212) in the United States. In order to test research hypotheses, we used the structural equation modeling (SEM) using LISREL 8.8. The results indicate that LMX is not directly related to customer responses to service directly; however, the relationship is fully mediated by employees’ satisfaction with their job. Our study offers theoretical and managerial insights into the importance of quality of leadership and how it is perceived by customers during the employee–customer interaction, and further, calls for future research that links employees’ contribution to customers’ perceptions of service experience.

An Examination of Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Agreement Between Employees and Their Supervisors and its Influence on Work Outcomes

Abstract This study examines the concept of leader–member exchange (LMX) agreement, which reflects subordinates’ and supervisors’ perceptions of LMX, and its relationship with employees’ organizational commitment and turnover intent in the Indian hospitality industry. The sample studied includes 240 frontline employees and their 35 supervisors in Indian hospitality businesses, providing data on 240 employee–supervisor dyads. Structural equation modeling was used to test research hypotheses. Results indicate that LMX agreement has a positive relationship with organizational commitment and a negative relationship with the turnover intentions of hospitality workers. In particular, the relationship between LMX agreement and organizational commitment is stronger for older and longer tenured employees than for their younger and shorter tenured counterparts. This study attempts to understand both subordinates’ and supervisors’ perspectives of LMX simultaneously. It is also one of few studies to examine a relatively new concept, LMX agreement, and its relationships with work outcomes in the hospitality context.

Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) and Its Work Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Gender

ABSTRACT This study examines the effect of leader–member exchange (LMX) on frontline employees’ turnover intentions and their levels of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) mediated by organizational justice in the New Zealand hospitality industry. Adopting cognitive learning theory, the study investigates whether gender moderates the relationships between LMX and its consequences among frontline workers. A self-administered survey that investigated the work relationship between hospitality workers and their immediate supervisor/manager, as well as its impact on various work outcomes, was completed by 118 frontline employees in hospitality businesses in New Zealand. The findings of the study indicate that organizational justice fully mediates between LMX and OCB, and that there is a significant moderating impact of gender on the relationships of LMX with organizational justice and OCB, and the organizational justice and OCB relationship. The implications of the findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Different or Similar Choices: The Effect of Decision Framing on Variety Seeking in Travel Bundle Packages:

This research investigates whether different ways of framing decisions influence travelers’ variety-seeking tendencies in choosing bundled product options. Based on the literatures of bundling, variety-seeking, and the decision-framing effect, we empirically test whether travelers show higher variety-seeking in travel package decisions when the bundle package is selected from a combined decision rather than from two single decisions. We also examine whether this different variety-seeking tendency is influenced by travelers’ preference for consistency. The results of six experimental studies support our main proposition, and the substantive theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Organizational Drivers and Outcomes of Casino Employees’ Work Adaptability

Abstract This study investigates work adaptability and its relationships with organizational drivers (i.e., schedule flexibility and career development opportunity) and outcomes (i.e., job performance and turnover intention) among employees in a casino company in South Korea. A total of 488 casino workers participated in the self-administered survey during their shift meetings. Research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling using LISREL (version 8.80). The results indicate that schedule flexibility and career development opportunity have a significant effect on work adaptability, which promotes employees’ job performance and lessens their turnover intention. Further, this study finds that the effect of work adaptability on employee outcomes is stronger for casino dealers than those in other jobs. Implications of the findings are discussed for hospitality researchers and practitioners, followed by limitations and future research.

Agreement on service performance ratings between frontline employees and their supervisor

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether agreement between frontline employee self-ratings and supervisory ratings of service performance functions as an indicator of healthy supervisor-subordination relationships above and beyond what might be indicated simply by either supervisory ratings or self-ratings. Design/methodology/approach Research hypotheses were tested using a sample of 220 matched pairs of frontline service workers and their immediate supervisors from nine full service hotels in the USA. Findings The results show that higher levels of agreement in service performance ratings between employees and supervisors is associated with higher levels of leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational commitment. Practical implications Senior managers can refer to the level of performance rating agreement between customer service employees and their supervisors in assessing supervisors’ competency to manage their work relationship with their subordinates. Originality/value This study examined rating agreement in a service performance context and found rating agreement between subordinates and their supervisor may have a unique effect on service worker effectiveness, producing a unique incremental effect on LMX and organizational commitment. This is important given that few attempts have been made to examine service performance from both subordinates’ and supervisors’ perspectives and the implication that rating agreement may have for improving employee service performance.

Effects of service experience attributes on customer attitudes and behaviours: the case of New Zealand café industry

ABSTRACT This study examines major café experience attributes and their impacts on customers’ attitudinal and behavioural outcomes in the New Zealand café industry. Based on an extended model of the consumption system approach, a set of hypotheses were developed and tested using hierarchical multiple regression. Using a sample of 205 respondents, the study found that service quality is the strongest predictor of all outcome variables (i.e., value for money, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty intentions) which were predicted by either tangible or intangible café experience attributes. Both practical and theoretical implications of the findings are provided.

The Influence of Decision Task on the Magnitude of Decoy and Compromise Effects in a Travel Decision

This research assesses the effects of choice alternatives on the travel destination decisions of travelers. The decoy effect involves the addition of a new inferior alternative into a choice set, thereby increasing the choice of an existing option. Meanwhile, the compromise effect involves the addition of a new alternative into a choice set that increases selection of an existing option with nonextreme attributes, and decreases selection of options with extreme attributes. In this study, a series of scenario-based experiments is performed to determine if the decoy and compromise effects influence travel destination decisions. Results show that the decoy effect is stronger in a choice (vs. rejection) task, whereas the compromise effect is stronger in a rejection (vs. choice) task when deciding travel destinations.

Benchmarking hotel service quality using two-dimensional importance-performance benchmark vectors (IPBV)

Purpose Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is an effective tool for firms to prioritise service quality attributes, but has limitations in evaluating and enhancing service quality within a competitive environment. The purpose of this paper is to present an evolved model of IPA – importance-performance benchmark vectors (IPBV) – as a benchmarking tool and investigate its applicability in the context of hotel service quality. Design/methodology/approach Empirical studies based on self-completion survey data from 150 customers of two full-service hotels in Taiwan were conducted in to examine the practical utility of IPBV. Findings Eight key benchmark typologies were identified and expressed as vectors in the IPBV model which are as follows: “sustainable advantage”, “potential strength”, “false advantage or outstanding advantage”, “cease-fire competition”, “false disadvantage or on-hand disadvantage”, “potential weakness”, “dangerous warning” and “head-on competition”. Research limitations/implications The paper extends the methodology to more cases, and other service industries to test further the discriminatory power of the model and to explore the descriptors in the IPBV vector model. Alternative seven-point or nine-point Likert scales could be explored to test the discriminant validity using means. The alternative IPA diagonal approach focussing on GAP analysis may reveal alternative interpretations for the IPBV vector model. Other extended models of IPA, which include competitor analysis, should be compared in practice using a data set where both quantitative and qualitative data could be generated. Practical implications The paper proposes the two-dimensional IPBV model which retains the advantages of IPA, but also includes competitor or benchmark comparisons which enable organisations to analyse their relative competitive position. The two-part model provides both quantitative information and qualitative interpretation of relativities. The graphical matrix models provide simple quantitative analysis of attributes, whilst the IPBV vector model provides qualitative interpretations of the eight competitive market positions. Vector analysis enables the development of competitive strategies relative to benchmarks, or within a competitive set. Importance is retained and means that organisations can benchmark against a range of competitors prioritising specific attributes for resource allocation. Social implications The interpretive utility of the model should be explored with practitioners and decision makers in the service industries. The model has been designed for practical use in industry to inform operational and strategic decision making, its usefulness in practice should be explored and the attitudes of practitioners to the model should be tested. Originality/value Traditional approaches to benchmarking have adopted a one-dimensional approach that does not include a measure of the relative importance of the service quality dimensions in specific markets. This research develops a two-dimensional advanced model of IPA, called IPBV, which is based on vector relationships between key attributes of service quality. These vectors are explored and described in competitive terms and the model is discussed with regard to its implications for industry, practitioners and researchers.