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Purpose With the increasing importance of technology in hospitality and tourism, technology-driven service innovation has been a salient topic discussed from both customers’ and suppliers’ perspectives. However, there has been a lack of research that provides an overview of research on technology-driven service innovation. The purpose of this study is to review current discussions on technology-driven service innovation and provide directions for future studies in the hospitality and tourism literature. Design/methodology/approach A total of 82 articles on technology-driven service innovation were collected from top-tier hospitality and tourism journals. The papers were analyzed using content analysis to derive key topics discussed in the literature. Such discussions were made by different service innovation categories, antecedents, outcomes and theories. Future research agendas were suggested based on the research gap found in the literature. Findings The results indicate that prior discussions on technology-driven service innovation viewed technology as a service or service delivery method, with limited focus on management, marketing and institutional service innovation. In addition, the study reveals five key topics that need further discussion, such as cocreative technology, human resources management, strategy management, emerging technology and digital transformation. Research limitations/implications While there have been increasing studies that reveal determining roles of technology in service innovation, scarce research introduced the new concept of technology-driven service innovation, suggesting a comprehensive approach. By adopting the unique approach of technology-driven service innovation, the research reveals the multifaceted roles of technology in service innovation and areas that need further discussion to implement highly sustainable strategies. Originality/value The research adds to the knowledge of technology-driven service innovation by providing a holistic view of current discussions, finding research gaps and proposing future research agendas for extended discussion.

Purpose This study aims to integrate reviewers’ and readers’ discrepant perspectives on extremely negative reviews. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between negative emotion intensity levels and reviews helpfulness on two platforms: integrated websites and social networking sites (SNS) to emphasize the role of platform types on customers’ purchase decisions. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a mixed-method approach of business intelligence approach and quasi-experimental design. Study 1 performed text mining and Welch’s t-test to compare reviewers’ negative emotion intensity levels on two platforms. Study 2 adopted a 2*2 factorial quasi-experimental design to examine how intense negative emotions impact the perceived reviews helpfulness on two platforms. A 3*2 factorial design in Study 3 also tested social tie strength’s moderating effect between the intensity of negative emotions and review helpfulness. Findings The current study reveals that integrated website reviewers tend to express more extreme negative emotions than SNS reviewers. SNS and integrated website readers deem reviews that embed severe negative emotions as less helpful. The moderating role of social tie strength between extremely negative emotions on review helpfulness was insignificant in the study. Research limitations/implications This study enriches the online review literature by comparing writers’ and readers’ perspectives on online reviews with extremely negative emotions across two online platform types: integrated websites and SNS. From the writers’ perspective, this study highlights anonymity and the presence of an audience as essential factors that reviewers consider in selecting an online review platform to express themselves. This research also sheds light on how readers’ perspectives on extremely negative reviews conflict with the presumptions of writers of extremely negative reviews on integrated websites by demonstrating that content embedding extremely negative emotions is less helpful regardless of platform type. Practical implications This research provides online negative review management strategies to platform and hotel managers. The findings suggest hotel and review platform managers should consider adopting review alignment or monitoring systems based on negative emotions intensity levels since readers on both platforms perceive reviews embedding extremely negative emotions as less helpful. Additionally, hotel managers can progress promotions to guests who share online reviews on SNS since SNS reviewers are more likely to attenuate their extremely negative emotions when writing reviews. Originality/value This research innovatively provides a comprehensive overview of negative reviews’ production and consumption process from reviewers’ and readers’ perspectives. This research also provides practitioners insight into the nature of two different platform types and the management of negative reviews on these platforms.

Purpose Big data analytics allows researchers and industry practitioners to extract hidden patterns or discover new information and knowledge from big data. Although artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the emerging big data analytics techniques, hospitality and tourism literature has shown minimal efforts to process and analyze big hospitality data through AI. Thus, this study aims to develop and compare prediction models for review helpfulness using machine learning (ML) algorithms to analyze big restaurant data. Design/methodology/approach The study analyzed 1,483,858 restaurant reviews collected from Yelp.com. After a thorough literature review, the study identified and added to the prediction model 4 attributes containing 11 key determinants of review helpfulness. Four ML algorithms, namely, multivariate linear regression, random forest, support vector machine regression and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), were used to find a better prediction model for customer decision-making. Findings By comparing the performance metrics, the current study found that XGBoost was the best model to predict review helpfulness among selected popular ML algorithms. Results revealed that attributes regarding a reviewer’s credibility were fundamental factors determining a review’s helpfulness. Review helpfulness even valued credibility over ratings or linguistic contents such as sentiment and subjectivity. Practical implications The current study helps restaurant operators to attract customers by predicting review helpfulness through ML-based predictive modeling and presenting potential helpful reviews based on critical attributes including review, reviewer, restaurant and linguistic content. Using AI, online review platforms and restaurant websites can enhance customers’ attitude and purchase decision-making by reducing information overload and search cost and highlighting the most crucial review helpfulness features and user-friendly automated search results. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first to develop a prediction model of review helpfulness and reveal essential factors for helpful reviews. Furthermore, the study presents a state-of-the-art ML model that surpasses the conventional models’ prediction accuracy. The findings will improve practitioners’ marketing strategies by focusing on factors that influence customers’ decision-making.

Purpose This study aims to uncover how heuristic information cues (HIC) and systematic information cues (SIC) of online reviews influence review helpfulness and examine a moderating role of social influence in the process of assessing review helpfulness. In particular, this study conceptualizes a theoretical framework based on dual-process and social influence theory (SIT) and empirically tests the proposed hypotheses by analyzing a broad set of actual customer review data. Design/methodology/approach For 4,177,377 online reviews posted on Yelp.com from 2004 to 2018, this study used data mining and text analysis to extract independent variables. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Findings The present study demonstrates that both HIC and SIC have a significant relationship with review helpfulness. Normative social influence cue (NSIC) strengthened the relationship between HIC and review helpfulness. However, the moderating effect of NSIC was not valid in the relationship between SIC and review helpfulness. Originality/value This study contributes to the extant research on review helpfulness by providing a conceptual framework underpinned by dual-process theory and SIT. The study not only identifies determinants of review helpfulness but also reveals how social influences can impact individuals’ judgment on review helpfulness. By offering a state-of-the-art analysis with a vast amount of online reviews, this study contributes to the methodological improvement of further empirical research.

Purpose This study aims to investigate ways in which hotel loyalty programs can be designed to enhance customer’s identification with a hotel brand and develop a sustainable customer-brand relationship. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a cross-sectional design survey questionnaire for data collection and used structural equation modeling data analysis to test the conceptual model. Findings The three loyalty program experiences proposed (member-to-member similarity, memorable loyalty program experience and loyalty program social benefits) exerted significant positive effects on customer-brand identification (CBI), which, in turn, influences customer-brand relationship elements, including trust, commitment and switching resistance. Originality/value This study expands the scope of CBI literature, which previously focused substantially on brand level experiences, by being the first to explore a new set of CBI antecedents with a focus on loyalty program experiences. Furthermore, the current study’s findings delineate specific strategies to uphold the social and experiential aspects of loyalty programs that can develop sustainable customer-brand relationships.

Purpose This study aims to provide an understanding of the concept of service innovation resulting from emerging technologies and suggest areas for future hospitality and tourism research. By thoroughly reviewing previous literature, this study provides the basis for improving customer service with service innovation. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the existing body of knowledge from leading hospitality, tourism and business journals by performing content analysis. Findings This study reveals the multifaceted aspects of service innovation practices using emerging technologies. Findings provide an evidence base to future studies by highlighting the role of technology in hospitality and tourism service innovation. Originality/value The major contribution of this study is the demonstration of an approach for both academic researchers and service providers how they can use the technology to improve customers’ perceived value, experience and engagement.

Purpose Experience and value creation have become integral themes for tourism service providers. This study aims to understand the role of different types of experiences in formulating customers’ perceived value. Studies on this area are scarce, especially in the cruise industry. Design/methodology/approach A research model that includes two value variables, namely, functional and wellness values, and four cruise brand experience variables, namely, sensory, affective, behavioral and intellectual factors, was tested through partial least-squares (PLS) structural equation modeling approach. A total of 389 usable cruise customer responses were obtained and analyzed using SmartPLS software. Findings Results revealed the relative effects of sensory, affective, behavioral and intellectual factors on perceived functional and wellness values. The positive impact of perceived value on customer satisfaction and behavioral intention and the moderating role of service expertise in the relationship between cruise experience and perceived value were examined. Research limitations/implications Future research can examine how types of leisure facilities (e.g. casinos, restaurants, bars and shows), cultural differences (e.g. Eastern and Western) and customers’ travel characteristics (e.g. visiting purpose and companions) may influence the relationships between cruise brand experience and perceived value. Practical implications From a practical point, the relationships among multidimensional cruise brand experience, functional and wellness values, customer satisfaction, revisit intention and service expertise provide a clue on how cruise brands can enhance customers’ perceived value to retain current customers. Originality/value This study contributes to literature by providing a theoretical framework and empirical evidence for predicting and explaining cruise customers’ behavior. From a managerial perspective, this study identified critical factors that are essential to value creation and discussed the implications of predictive factors on developing marketing strategies that enhance customers’ positive attitude and behavior toward the cruise brand.

PurposeThis study aims to apply the perspective of self-determination theory to investigate the effects of needs satisfaction on customers’ emotional bond and perceived fit with the integrated resort brand.Design/methodology/approachTo provide empirical evidence, this study uses an online survey analyzed with structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results suggest how integrated resort experiences enhance the needs satisfaction for autonomy, competence and relatedness, and that customers are likely to have an attachment and compatibility with the brand. This study also documents that strong attachments and compatibility are predictive of behavioral intention.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a theoretical perspective through self-determination theory for explaining how needs satisfaction impacts customers’ brand-related attitude, which can be used to guide future studies. Insights from this research will be used to design and evaluate customers’ experience in tourism and hospitality industry.Originality/valueAlthough the concept of needs satisfaction has studied on the employees’ behavior, a scarcity of research has been offered to explain customers’ behavior. Thus, this study makes a significant contribution to the hospitality and tourism research by testing the needs satisfaction as an antecedent of customers’ brand-related behavior.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to achieve three objectives: to investigate perceived quality of work life (QWL) need attributes among frontline employees in the lodging industry, to assess the asymmetric relationships between QWL attributes and job satisfaction (JS) and to prioritize QWL attributes for the effective management of JS. Design/methodology/approach – Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, impact range-performance analysis and impact-asymmetry analysis. Findings – Each QWL attribute showed significant and various asymmetric or linear impacts on JS or job dissatisfaction (JDS). Practical implications – Study results provided critical information for hotel managers to prioritize several attributes, such as safe work place, fair pay, empowerment and effective training, to enhance JS and reduce JDS for frontline personnel. Originality/value – This study sheds light for identifying the underlying structure of QWL and further investigate the asymmetric relationship between QWL attributes and JS/JDS using need satisfaction, self-determination and three-factor theory in the lodging industry.

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to overview and summarize all articles published in the UNLVGaming Research & Review Journal(GRRJ) from 1994 to 2008, in order to understand the gaming research trend.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis is performed on a total of 129 articles in 24 issues ofGRRJ.FindingsThe paper suggests thematic content analysis and the trend of the research in order to better understand the scope of gaming research area.Practical implicationsThe overview ofGRRJhelps identify research gaps to suggest future research.Originality/valueThis paper is the first review of theGRRJ. It provides an overview of the research that is available to managers and researchers interested in the gaming business.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to overview empirical research on gambling impacts, theories employed to these gambling impact studies and methodology of gambling impacts.Design/methodology/approachAn extensive review of literature on several gaming and tourism journals is presented.FindingsThe paper summarizes theories associated with gaming research, gaming impact variables and methodological perspectives in gaming research.Practical implicationsThe overview of residents' perception provides policy makers to take appropriate actions, minimizing negative impact and maximizing positive impact of gaming industry.Originality/valueThe paper is the most comprehensive review of both theories and methodologies of journal articles dealing with residents' perception toward gambling development from early 1980s through 2009.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the contribution made by this theme issue to the question: can casino gaming be used to maximize the benefits for tourism destinations?Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews some of the key contributions arising from this theme issue.FindingsIf properly structured gaming can provide benefits for tourism destinations.Practical implicationsThere are many stakeholders involved in the provision of alcoholic beverages and suppliers, vendors, licensees, regulators, and other agencies will need to work closely together in order to limit what is viewed by many as an escalating problem.Originality/valueThe paper provides insight into the gaming industry with a focus on minimizing the social costs and maximizing the economic benefits of gaming.

PurposeProposes to review convention and meeting management articles published in the hospitality and tourism literature.Design/methodology/approachUses content analysis of 147 articles published in hospitality and tourism journals for the 14 years from 1990 to 2003.FindingsIdentifies five core research themes, i.e. economic impact of conventions, site selection, meeting participation processes, destination marketing, and advances in technology.Originality/valueOffers the first thematic view of convention and meeting management issues, derived from the literature.