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Purpose This study aims to compare the effect of barista type (human vs robot) on perceived safety and examine the role of two moderators (mask-wearing and coronavirus vaccination) on the effects of barista type on perceived safety and visit intention. Design/methodology/approach The research design consists of three studies. Three experiments were sequentially designed and conducted to address research questions. Findings Study 1 found that perceived safety mediates the effect of barista type on customers’ visit intention. Study 2 revealed that the mask-wearing of human and robot baristas differently influences perceived safety. Study 3 showed that customers, especially where robot baristas are used, perceive the effect of mask-wearing differently depending on their coronavirus vaccination status. Research limitations/implications Given that the levels of restrictions vary worldwide, together with the extent of countries’ vaccination rollouts, caution is required when generalising the research findings. Practical implications The findings have practical implications for the hospitality industry, where the roles of face masks and coronavirus vaccines in shaping consumer psychology and behaviour have been underexplored. Originality/value Coronavirus vaccination is considered one of the most important driving forces for the recovery of hospitality businesses. As a heuristic-systematic model postulated, this study identified that vaccination status (fully vaccinated vs not vaccinated) changes the level of involvement when customers assess the level of risk in service environments. By pinpointing the function of service robots in safeguarding customers from the potential spread of the disease, this study broadens the scope of human–robot interaction research in hospitality.

Purpose This study aims to examine international tourists’ local African food consumption experiences by using an attribute–benefit–value–intention (ABVI) framework. Design/methodology/approach A total of 336 respondents were collected in Ghana, Africa. A series of quantitative research methods were used in the data analysis to explicate the relationships. Findings By assessing critical structural relationships, 8 out of 14 hypothetical relationships were found to be empirically supported. They include the paths between food novelty, restaurant quality and food quality as antecedents of epistemic value, the path between restaurant quality and food quality and the path between restaurant quality and consumption value. Originality/value This study establishes the psychological mechanism behind tourists’ local food consumption experiences and further extends the utility of the consumption value theory and ABVI framework into the local food experience context. It confirms that tourists’ local food consumption experiences involve a sequential psychological process involving local food attribute evaluation, benefits sought, consumption values and future intention. This study offers a thorough explanation of variables that are crucial to promoting indigenous ethnic food consumption experience.

This study aims to analyse how memorable local gastronomic experiences and tourists' gastronomy-related traits influence destination loyalty and future intentions. A fuzzy set model is used to examine these intricate relationships using samples of US tourists who visited Europe and Asia. The findings reveal that dimensions of memorable local gastronomic experience and their influence on destination loyalty differ based on tourists' personal gastronomic traits. Hospitality explained destination loyalty well when combined with social interaction, neophilia, and local gastronomy tourism-induced wellbeing. Theoretical and practical insights are provided to aid destination planning and local food marketing efforts. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Purpose This study aims to investigate the theoretical relationships between job stressors, psychological stress and coping strategies in the context of the global travel and tourism crisis faced by the airline industry. Design/methodology/approach An online cross-sectional survey was designed to obtain empirical data from airline employees in South Korea and Hong Kong. A total of 366 airline employees participated in the survey through convenience sampling method. Findings The structural equation modeling findings indicated that work schedule and demand; job insecurity and financial concerns; and role conflict played a significant role in creating psychological stress, which, in turn, determined emotion-oriented coping. The influence of the identified job stressors on psychological stress was significantly different between South Korean and Hong Kong airline employees. Practical implications The study demonstrates ways in which airline employees react to stressful work circumstances to avoid loss of resources. Furthermore, it highlights the role that psychological stress plays in influencing airline employees to direct attention to emotion-oriented coping mechanisms. Originality/value In view of the immense impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global airline industry, this study expands the role of job stressors in a peculiar and unprecedented work environment in the airline industry and accentuates the varying effects job stress may have on coping strategies from the perspective of airline employees in an Asian culture.

Purpose This study aims to test a new model by examining the influence of memorable local food consumption experiences (MLFCEs) on international diners’ affective states, well-being and attitudinal loyalty. Local food tasting destination, local food neophobia and previous local food tasting experience are used as moderating variables. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative data collection method was used to source data from 900 US tourists to European countries (excluding the UK) and Asian countries. The data were quantitatively analyzed to examine the multidimensionality of tourists’ MLFCEs as well as their influence on outcome variables. Findings The findings indicate that MLFCEs significantly explain diners’ attitude toward local food, subjective well-being, intention to recommend and attitudinal loyalty. Also, three variables partially moderate the associations between the proposed constructs. Research limitations/implications Theoretically, the study enhances our understanding of the dimensional nature of tourists’ MLFCEs and how they inform the affective and behavioral states of tourists. Practically, it provides insights for local food businesses and destination marketing organizations concerning the composition of tourists’ MLFCEs and promotion of a tourism destination. Originality/value This study has quantitatively unraveled the dimensionality of tourists’ MLFCEs. It also developed an integrated model to test the predictive effect of MLFCEs on outcome variables and has provided a deeper understanding of the relationships, thereby enriching the literature and aiding the development of relevant theories.

Drawing on work on the “more knowledgeable other” (MKO) and the mere exposure theory (MET), this study envisaged that visitors' engagement and interaction with key informants, along with their perceptions of the attractions visited, affect their image of and satisfaction with the destination. Findings drawn from two studies indicate that interaction with MKOs and perceptions of attractions determine cognitive, affective, and conative image along with overall satisfaction. Events held in local attractions that promote visitors' interaction with MKOs are proposed for tourists to gain better insights to the place and its locals.

Purpose This research aims to examine the role of perceived threat (i.e. COVID-19) on people’s preferences for destination logo designs. In addition, it investigates the influence of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and sensation seeking on the aforementioned effect. Design/methodology/approach Five experiments are used. Studies 1 A and 1B examine the impact of the threat of COVID-19 on visiting intentions as influenced by different destination logos. Study 2 replicates the previous studies and tests for evidence of mediation by the perceived risk. Studies 3 and 4 investigate the moderating role of childhood SES and sensation seeking. Findings The results show that a salient threat of COVID-19 leads people to display higher visiting intentions when presented with simpler (vs complex) destination logo designs. The perceived risk mediates this effect as well. This preference is evident only for people with low (vs high) childhood SES and only for relatively low sensation seekers. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the branding literature by investigating how situational factors can influence affective reactions to brand logos and to the tourism literature by further investigating the impact of logos on visiting intentions. Practical implications This study provides actionable insights for tourism marketers and logo designers, allowing them to select or create positively perceived destination logos during a potential global crisis. Originality/value This research offers the first evidence that pandemic-related threat perceptions influence people’s visiting intentions when presented with different destination logos, and that these effects are influenced by individual characteristics such as childhood SES or sensation seeking. In doing so, the current study offers a more sophisticated understanding of the potential boundary conditions driving people’s brand logo evaluation.

Purpose This study aims to systematically review a total of 513 papers using experimental methods in hospitality and tourism research and then proposed new recommendations to address approaches that have been confusingly adopted or ignored in the current literature. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review was conducted. Together with critiques on previous studies, four recommendations were proposed to help carry out future experimental studies using more rigorous and exact approaches. Findings Multiple experimental studies can provide stronger evidence for theoretical arguments. Demonstration of the theoretical underlying mechanism using evidence based on mediation and moderating methods is required. The adoption of complementary methods can mitigate the generic weaknesses of experimental methods. In addition, enhancement of the realism of experiments is required to obtain stronger empirical evidence with internal and external validity. Research limitations/implications This study proposes four constructive recommendations which help researchers to conduct future experimental design studies correctly. Valid and exact research outcomes can help practitioners to carry out new useful marketing strategies. Originality/value After reviewing 513 previous papers that used experimental design in the hospitality and tourism fields, this study proposes four new recommendations to facilitate a better understanding of experimental design. The original and innovative nature of this study will help future investigations to adopt more accurate statistical approaches.

Purpose This study aims to assess how airline companies can frame their message strategies given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Message forms used in empirical tests included message framings, regulatory focuses and benefit types. A total of 450 participants were recruited through an online survey. Findings Promotion-focused behavioral intention was more effective when personal economic benefit was negatively framed. However, prevention-focused behavioral intention was more effective where social benefit was positively framed. The results were moderated by personal traits such as the level of perceived COVID-19 threat. Originality/value The findings of this study can help create new communication strategies during risky or critical situations.

This study attempted to analyze the evolution of key documents about corporate social responsibility (CSR). A total of 172 CSR articles in the tourism and hospitality field published between 2006 and 2019 were derived from the Scopus database. A bibliometric mapping method was adopted to visualize the results using the VOSviewer software. Findings showed that hospitality- and tourism-focused journals were the main sources cited in CSR articles. In addition, the use of social identity theory and structural equation modeling was prevalent in such studies, and financial impact was the most common research topic. This study is insightful in mapping the intellectual structure of CSR research as well as the relationships among the subfields of CSR research in the tourism and hospitality field.

This study investigated the formation of travelers’ pro-social intentions of wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and practicing sanitary/hygiene actions in the festival tourism context b...

The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of vegan-friendly restaurant customers’ experiences by investigating the “delighters” and “frustrators” characteristics. A qualitative appro...

Travelers often demonstrate the compromise effect—a tendency to choose the intermediate option(s) when facing difficult trade-off decisions. The compromise effect has been replicated in very specific settings where typically only two or three options were available. This research extends our understanding of the compromise effect by examining the impact of the number of options on travelers’ choices. Based on two different accounts (i.e., attribute distance account vs. decision complexity account), we predict that the compromise effect will be attenuated as the number of options in a choice set increases. Four experimental studies provide supporting evidence for this argument and support the attribute distance account as the main underlying mechanism. This research contributes to the extant tourism and travel choice literature by responding to the call to investigate the compromise effect in complex buying contexts.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed This article investigates how the perceived threats caused by COVID-19 affect consumers’ travel choices and actions by influencing their intentions to seek variety. Four studies show that the perceived threat of COVID-19 increases variety seeking in travel choices. Study 1 finds that travelers who perceive a greater threat of COVID-19 tend to undertake more varied activities during their travel. Study 2 shows that the main effect exists only for individuals who have previously visited the destination. Study 3 replicates the moderating effect of previous visiting experience by using a different way to manipulate the perceived threat of COVID-19. Study 4 illustrates the moderating impact of another important factor: the number of travelers included in the companies’ communication messages. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.

Despite the importance of understanding residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward tourism development, residents’ perceived political influence of tourism remains underexplored. Thus, this study ...

This study aims to test the impact of price preciseness on compromise and decoy effects, analyze the different presentation styles of price information (a precise price presentation vs. a rounded one), and investigate the moderating role of individual differences (i.e., lay rationalism) and decision situations (i.e., time pressure) in travel decision making. It uses a series of empirical tests in which only people with high lay rationalism can distinguish the difference between precise and rounded price information. Major findings show that compromise and decoy effects are salient when a price cue exists, as price information helps the trade-off among options. This study also finds that significant context effects prevail irrespective of price preciseness. Respondents with high lay rationalism or under high time pressure conditions show a tendency to acknowledge discrepancies among options for precise pricing in decision making but not for rounded pricing, thereby resulting in high decoy effects.

This article investigates the role of diverse nudging communication strategies on perceived threat and stockpiling intention. Across three studies, the authors examined the various effects of “nudging” on consumer behavior. Study 1 demonstrates that a commonly used picture has a stronger impact on perceived threat than a less frequently exposed picture regardless of its accuracy. Study 2 shows that the perceived threat of COVID-19, in terms of severe health consequences, is lower when using an indirect (vs. direct) explanation of the virus, as well as when reducing the amount of information about the virus. Study 3 investigates the impact of salient negative information and childhood socioeconomic status (SES). Findings reveal that negative information about deaths associated with the virus increases the level of perceived threat and stockpiling intention, especially among people of low childhood SES.

This study aims to examine the effect of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance on hotel employees’ behavior, as reflected in their attitude and satisfaction. Understanding emp...

This article attempts to empirically test a model to explain the hypothesized relationships between important constructs such as emotional experience, personal involvement, destination image, destination satisfaction, and place attachment as antecedents of the future intentions of mature/senior diaspora tourists. The hypothesized relationships were explored using a sample of 419 mature/senior diaspora tourists visiting Ghana. A three-step process was used to explore, confirm and test the interrelationships between the constructs. The results showed that emotional experiences related to joy and love influenced personal involvement. While other hypothesized relationships were supported, unpleasantness and positive surprise did not have a direct effect on personal involvement. Future studies can apply this model to understand other types of tourism.

The global increase in the elderly population has a direct influence on the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector because senior travelers have become major consumers. Therefore, developing a deeper understanding of senior motivations for overseas travel is required. However, the presence of theoretical and practical gaps limits the comprehension of this demographic market. Thus, this research sought to identify the underlying dimensionality and measurement of senior travel motivations and developed a scale to measure them. In addition, it validated the scale across future travel behaviors and preferences for tourism types and sites. An eight-factor structure of senior travel motivations was generated. The overall construct satisfied a series of convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity tests. Furthermore, the scale demonstrated a predictive explanatory power for profiling the future travel behavior and preference of seniors.

This study proposes and verifies the slow city tourism evaluation index (SCTEI). SCTEI offers scholars and practitioners the capacity to assess the attractiveness and/or performance of slow cities ...

This research aims to conduct a cross cultural study of Mainland Chinese and the United States (U.S.) seniors’ personality traits and identify how they affect motivation, preferences, sociodemograp...

This study attempts to investigate basic emotions incorporated in online reviews of fine dining Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong and to investigate antecedents and consequences according to each ...

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the perceptions by owners and staff working in causal full-service restaurants in Macao of their two major subcultures of customers: Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwan Chinese in terms of their dining behavior and preferences. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews with 36 service staff of casual dining restaurants in Macao were conducted through the purposive convenience sampling method. Thematic content analysis was conducted in the data analysis. Findings The results reveal that although the customers from the two Chinese subcultures have a similar appearance, use the same Chinese characters and share common cultural inheritances; their dining behavior and preferences are perceived as being different. Practical implications Practical implications are given on how to better design the products and services to meet each subgroup’s needs for enhancing customers’ experience and service quality in restaurant settings. Originality/value This study focuses on examining if there are any sub-cultural differences in food behaviors and preferences among Hong Kong and Taiwan visitors, who are the major tourist sources in the world market. It contributes to the scarce literature on intracultural dining variances of sub-groups within Chinese.

The purpose of this research was to identify the effects of message framing relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic in enhancing behavioral intentions to engage in international air travel. A survey of 1,300 respondents was conducted using the Posttest Control Group experimental design method. The “loss” message regarding cash-redeemable coupons was most effective in raising intentions to take an international flight and obtaining a favorable assessment of the presented message contents. Covariates including income level, travel purpose, premium card ownership, perceived risk, importance of airline brand, and sanitation were significant in determining the intention to take an international flight. The results of this study can help to establish promotional strategies to foster international travel once the pandemic recedes.

Purpose This study aims to examine the current state of the research activities of scholars in the hospitality and tourism field by analyzing the first 20 years of the new millennium. Design/methodology/approach Longitudinal analyses using 14,229 journal articles as data source were realized by adopting BibExcel, Gephi and VOSviewer network analysis software packages. Findings This study provides a comprehensive overview of the hospitality and tourism research based on authorship and social network analysis, with patterns of prolific authors compared over four distinct periods. Research limitations/implications The hospitality and tourism academic society is clearly illustrated by tracing academic publication activities across 20 years in the new millennium. In addition, this study provides a guide for scholars to search for multidisciplinary collaboration opportunities. Government agencies and non-governmental organisations can also benefit from this study by identifying appropriate review panel members when making decisions about hospitality- and tourism-related proposals. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to use bibliometric analysis in assessing research published in leading hospitality and tourism journals across the four breakout periods in the new millennium.

This research used three experimental studies to examine the effect of scarcity information on choosing a hotel room online. The studies also investigated the moderating role of the buyer’s childhood socioeconomic status (SES), using evolutionary perspectives and the life history theory. Our findings revealed that travelers showed a preference for a hotel room option if they were given information that the room was scarce. This preference was stronger for travelers who had low childhood SES and who were low in materialistic traits. The findings of this empirical research add academic value by adopting the roles of heretofore novel concepts, childhood SES and materialism, in understanding the effects of consumer information messaging. The findings also add to the understanding of how context in online websites substantially affects potential travelers’ decision making. Therefore, this research will provide helpful guidance for making online websites more user-friendly and effective in their promotions to potential customers.

This study aims to assess the level of casino tourism development as perceived by residents of the Grand Ho Tram Strip in Vietnam. This study is timely and crucial because the local government need...

Prior research in behavioral economics has examined the effects of nudging and the diverse aspects of choice on individuals’ decisions and behaviors. Based on this premise, the current research offers a novel and timely view by examining how communication messages in public service advertisements (PSAs) can alter the perception of threat under uncertain situations such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. This article investigates the role of additional relative statistical information on the perception of threat and stockpiling intention. First, we examine whether there is a reduction in the perceived threat of the coronavirus if information about the potential severity of an alternative threat (car accidents) is activated, when compared to offering only statistics on the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, which is known as COVID-19. Furthermore, we established the mediating role of a perceived threat in consumers’ decisions and behavior in times of severe crisis. This suggests that organizations and policymakers can influence individuals by increasing or decreasing their perceived level of threat depending on the desired outcomes (e.g., respecting authorities’ recommendations or avoiding stockpiling). This research offers a deeper understanding of how consumers can be “nudged” toward desired behavior in the context of public health and safety.

This study aims to investigate the effects of local food attributes on tourists’ dining satisfaction and future intention in Hong Kong. In addition, the moderating effect of food culture difference...

This study was designed to investigate factors associated with Mainland China’s senior overseas travel motivations and the role in explaining preferences, sociodemographic and travel features. The study was conducted with 496 seniors. The statistical analyses included factor analysis, cluster analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and chi-square test. Result showed that eight domains defined the overseas travel motivations of Mainland Chinese seniors. Cluster analysis produced a five-cluster solution based on motivations. The cluster with lowest motivations were older, primary school graduates with lowest income and generally low set of preferences. Ultimately, understanding motivation can effectively promote travel among the aging population.

This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate Muslim traveler experiences of inconvenience while visiting Korea, combining focus groups and semistructured interviews (a qualitative approach), and questionnaire-based surveying (a quantitative approach). The authors investigated the reliability and validity of a customized structural model by merging covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and partial least squares SEM (PLS-SEM). There were five salient and observable constructs which cause inconvenience for Muslims when visiting Korea. The results showed significant effects on the part of the identified constructs on affective experience, satisfaction, desire, behavior intention, and place attachment. The study findings can guide Korean tourism stakeholders in tackling the issues causing inconvenience for Muslim travelers, as well as informing authorities in other countries and territories.