Considered Service-specific journals were Journal of Service Research, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Service Industries Journal, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and Service Science.
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Van Vaerenbergh, Y., D. Varga, A. De Keyser and C. Orsingher (2019): The Service Recovery Journey: Conceptualization, Integration, and Directions for Future Research, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.103-119
Service failures represent temporary or permanent interruptions of the customer’s regular service experience. Although the literature identifies an extensive set of organizational alternatives for recovering from service failures, researchers have approached these responses as discrete organizational actions that are loosely connected to the dynamic nature of the recovery experience. In this article, we address this shortcoming by introducing the idea of the service recovery journey (SRJ). We first conceptualize the SRJ as the outcome of a service failure that is composed of three phases: prerecovery, recovery, and postrecovery. We then synthesize the organizational responses to service failures reported in 230 journal articles and integrate them with the novel SRJ perspective. Thereafter, we provide an extensive set of questions for future research that will expand our knowledge about the prerecovery, recovery, and postrecovery phases and address the interaction between the customer’s regular journey and the SRJ. Finally, we outline six considerations for recovery research seeking to affect business practice and discuss the managerial implications of adopting an SRJ perspective.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670518819852 [Google]
Brodie, R. J., J. A. Fehrer, E. Jaakkola and J. Conduit (2019): Actor Engagement in Networks: Defining the Conceptual Domain, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.173-188
Considerable managerial and academic interest has made engagement a key priority in marketing and service research, spurring a rapidly increasing body of literature on this topic. Academic research initially explored customer engagement (CE) and customer engagement behavior within the firm-customer dyad. Recent developments suggest a need to broaden the conceptual domain of CE not only from the focal subject of customers/consumers to a general actor-to-actor perspective but also from the firm-customer dyad to relationships among multiple actors in service ecosystems. Hence, the purpose of this article is to bring a broadened definition to the conceptual domain of actor engagement (AE) in networks. Our theorizing process adopted a propositional conceptual approach that built on CE research and was guided by the general theoretical perspective of service-dominant logic. The critical contribution of the article lies in its systematic development of the conceptual domain of AE and the potential this development has for guiding knowledge development and cross-fertilization in various research fields, including customer, work, citizen, and business engagement. We provide a definition of AE and five fundamental propositions that embody a broader network perspective of engagement and conclude by discussing an agenda for future research that illustrates its managerial relevance.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670519827385 [Google]
Kelleher, C., H. N. Wilson, E. K. Macdonald and J. Peppard (2019): The Score Is Not the Music: Integrating Experience and Practice Perspectives on Value Co-Creation in Collective Consumption Contexts, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.120-138
In response to recent calls for deeper understanding of value co-creation between multiple actors, this article explores co-creation in collective consumption contexts. These are defined as settings within which multiple consumers, and optionally multiple other actors such as service personnel, are co-present (physically and/or virtually) and coordinate with one another during product/service consumption. To understand co-creation in such contexts, this article argues for an integration of practice-based and experience-based perspectives, because while collective coordination occurs via social practices, the value that results is by definition an individual experience. By studying an orchestral music context in which multiple consumers and service providers participate, the authors develop a framework dialectically relating co-creation practices to value. Four variables emerge influencing the relationship between co-creation practices and value: role rigidity, consumer heterogeneity conflict, participation access, and signposting. Value can be constrained by role rigidity and by consumer heterogeneity conflict between consumers of differing competence; mitigating this requires that service providers pay attention to participation access and signposting (guiding consumers to select and combine practices in line with their skills and competences). Overall, the findings show how practices shape not just coordination among consumers, but also social learning. Implications for service organizations include how to facilitate social learning between novices and experts so as to optimize value for all.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670519827384 [Google]
Martín-Herrán, G. and S. P. Sigué (2019): Offensive and Defensive Marketing in Spatial Competition, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.189-201
While it is well established that travel costs impact on customer preference toward local service providers, research about how this situation affects competitive marketing strategies remains sparse. This article investigates, in a local market with two competing service providers, whether service providers should undertake defensive marketing (DM), targeted at the nearest customers who typically prefer their offering for convenience and/or offensive marketing, directed to relatively remote customers who favor the rival as the closest alternative. We find that the service providers can exclusively undertake either DM or offensive marketing or combine the two in a full differentiated strategy at the equilibrium. We compare the outcomes of these three strategic options to identify the conditions under which they are worth implementing. Main findings suggest that service providers are better off undertaking offensive marketing alone when their rival’s retaliatory offensive capacity is weak and customers incur small travel costs. Otherwise, service providers may exclusively undertake DM or combine it with offensive marketing when travel costs become significant. Also, service providers should not invest in any marketing activity when they have no market power, like in the case of two adjacent outlets in a mall. Finally, the implications of these findings are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670518819853 [Google]
Ng, S. C., J. C. Sweeney and C. Plewa (2019): Managing Customer Resource Endowments and Deficiencies for Value Cocreation: Complex Relational Services, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.156-172
The resources that customers have and are able to contribute or utilize may influence, shape, and determine the support that they receive from service providers. Yet, there is limited knowledge on the types of resources customers bring into the service process, that is, customer resource endowments and deficiencies, and how these relate to the service offered by providers. This study thus investigates the interplay and mobilization of specific resources between the customer and the service provider. Drawing on data from two online surveys in the financial planning and health-care contexts, the results demonstrate the fit between customer competencies measured in terms of sense of ownership, personal commitment, time availability, perceived complexity of situation, service-related skills, education, risk tolerance, and economic resources and the various service provider styles for value cocreation. Specifically, the discriminant maps show that service provider styles can best be differentiated not on the basis of a particular type of resource (i.e., physical, cultural, or economic) but rather according to a constellation of customer resource endowments and deficiencies. The insights provide unique opportunities for organizations to tailor support to customers’ resources and thus enhance value cocreation efforts.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670518812195 [Google]
Orth, U. R., L. Lockshin, N. Spielmann and M. Holm (2019): Design Antecedents of Telepresence in Virtual Service Environments, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.202-218
This study integrates Kaplan and Kaplan’s framework on informational variables (mystery, complexity, legibility, and coherence) with construal level theory to examine how managers can use the visual design of virtual servicescapes to achieve a sense of telepresence (the subjective experience of being in a computer-mediated environment, even when one is physically elsewhere). Three studies using mixed methods and diverse samples show that informational variables vary in their capacity to evoke telepresence and thus in their impact on consumer behavioral intention. Study 1, a content analysis, uses expert judges and a global pool of virtual servicescapes to provide initial evidence that informational variables impact telepresence. Study 2, a commercial survey, shows that telepresence mediates effects of mystery and complexity (sensorially richer variables) on consumer intentions to approach. Study 3 uses a consumer sample to replicate the mediating role of telepresence and to show that a person’s visual processing style moderates effects of mystery and complexity. The effects are robust in the presence of an alternative process path through aesthetics and occur regardless of consumers’ familiarity with the servicescape, category knowledge, and involvement. Managerial implications focus on how to increase mystery and complexity for higher telepresence.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670518812705 [Google]
Tsarenko, Y., Y. Strizhakova and C. C. Otnes (2019): Reclaiming the Future: Understanding Customer Forgiveness of Service Transgressions, Journal of Service Research, 22(2), pp.139-155
Service transgressions, and how customers respond to them, are of ongoing interest to researchers and practitioners. However, whether and how customers forgive such transgressions remains unexplored. Grounding our investigation in interdisciplinary research on forgiveness, and leveraging self-determination theory as an enabling theoretical foundation, we analyze 34 in-depth interviews with customers who experienced transgressions in the health-care, financial, and retailing sectors. We conceptualize customer forgiveness as a motivational process involving customers’ relinquishing of vengeful thoughts and feelings about transgressors. Four distinct pathways of forgiveness emerge as follows: forgiveness as transgressor’s atonement, as disillusionment, as self-healing, and as grace. Customers anchor their forgiveness pathways in motivations that are either self-focused (autonomous) or transgressor-focused (controlled). Each pathway reflects differences in customers’ internal reconciliations of the transgression. Further, we demonstrate the role of transgression circumstances, service recovery, and broader marketplace realities in customer forgiveness. We identify the key underlying moral premise of each pathway. Finally, we show how each forgiveness pathway impacts restoration of customer-service provider relationships.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670518802060 [Google]
Brewster, Z. W. and G. R. Nowak (2019): Racial Prejudices, Racialized Workplaces, and Restaurant Servers’ Hyperbolic Perceptions of Black–White Tipping Differences, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.159-173
On average, Black consumers have been reliably shown to tip restaurant servers less than their White counterparts, and this difference has been widely acknowledged to contribute to servers’ negative attitudes toward Black customers. However, studies centered on explicating the actual and perceived magnitude of Black–White tipping differences are scarce. Furthermore, there have been no studies conducted that have aimed to identify and test for individual and/or environmental factors that encourage the development and sustainment of exaggerated or stereotypic perceptions of interracial differences in customers’ tipping practices. In response, this study offers an unconditional meta-estimate of the Black–White tipping differential to this literature. Given the available published evidence, we estimate that as a percentage of the bill, the average Black customer is likely to leave a tip that is 3.30 percentage points less than would be left by a White customer. In addition, by analyzing data derived from a factorial survey experiment that was administered in two independent and demographically diverse samples of servers, this study demonstrates that servers’ perceptions of Black–White tipping differences are significantly shaped by racial antipathy and/or employment in a workplace characterized by anti-Black discourse and observed mistreatment of Black clientele. Taken as a whole, our results suggest that although a Black–White tipping difference does exist, there is a notable segment of the population of restaurant servers, namely, those who harbor prejudicial attitudes and/or work in racialized workplaces, who may cognitively exaggerate the magnitude of this difference. Thus, to curtail the industry challenges that stem from Black–White tipping differences (e.g., service discrimination, lawsuits), restaurant operators are encouraged to devise strategies to actively confront servers’ stereotypic perceptions of Black customers’ tipping behaviors.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777221 [Google]
Cró, S., J. M. Simões, A. M. Martins and M. d. L. Calisto (2019): Effect of Security on Hostels’ Price Premiums: A Hedonic Pricing Approach, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.150-158
This article evaluates the impact of security in the hostel industry on the willingness to pay by customers. More specifically, given the importance of security in the decision to travel and in the choice of a given destination, we analyze the impact of security guest reviews on a consumer-generated website on hostel room prices. Furthermore, we investigate whether the impact of security guest reviews on the hostel room prices is higher for the hostels located in the countries with the lowest ranking in the Global Peace Index. Finally, we examine whether females and older guests are willing to pay a premium in terms of price for a hostel with a higher level of security. For this purpose, we estimate a hedonic price function for a sample of consumer reviews of 477 hostels in 22 worldwide capitals, with different levels of peace, from Hostelworld. The results highlight the importance of security on the determination of hostel room prices. We find that customers are willing to pay a higher premium in terms of price, in the least worldwide peaceful countries, for a hostel room with higher levels of security. In the case of women and older guests, the premium they are willing to pay is higher.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777224 [Google]
Kim, J., E. Hwang, J. Park, J. C. Lee and J. Park (2019): Position Effects of Menu Item Displays in Consumer Choices: Comparisons of Horizontal Versus Vertical Displays, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.116-124
Consumers typically make choices based on a menu that lists a variety of food items. Prior research has shown that the position of food items within a menu (center vs. edge) can impact choices (e.g., edge preference and edge aversion). This research extends the literature by demonstrating that the display format of a menu (horizontal vs. vertical displays) can determine the relative impact of these influences. Two experiments find that the middle options are preferred when food options are displayed horizontally (vs. vertically), whereas the edge items are preferred under a vertical display (vs. a horizontal display). These differences extend to different types of foods (food vs. beverage), and to even and odd numbers of options (e.g., four vs. five). These findings increase the understanding of how food item displays can influence consumer choices, and provide important implications for practitioners and policymakers, including how to effectively position food items.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518778234 [Google]
Kim, J.-H. (2019): Animosity and Switching Intention: Moderating Factors in the Decision Making of Chinese Ethnic Diners, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.174-188
In this context of the recent political dispute between China and South Korea, this study examines the influence of the animosity of Chinese ethnic diners. By extending cognitive appraisal theory, this study develops an animosity model that links animosity beliefs, negative emotions, switching intentions, and the moderators of localization and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. The results show that animosity beliefs significantly affect switching intention both directly and indirectly through negative emotion. We also find that ethnic restaurants’ localization practices and CSR practices to support the local community alleviate the animosity effect on negative emotions associated with dining in an ethnic restaurant that has the cultural theme of the offending country. The results allow ethnic restaurateurs to gain insights into how to develop effective marketing strategies during crisis periods when animosity erupts against the country of origin of their ethnic cuisine.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518789347 [Google]
Lieven, T., T. Tomczak and R. J. Kwortnik (2019): Buyer Monitoring Cross-Culturally, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.125-134
Kwortnik, Lynn, and Ross demonstrated across multiple studies and service-industry contexts that voluntary tipping (a form of buyer monitoring) is a more effective employee control mechanism for improving service than is compensating workers with a service charge on the bill or a fixed wage per hour. However, Kwortnik et al.’s studies were United States-based, where tipping behavior is common and generally accepted; such is not the case in many other countries around the world. Thus, the aim of this research note is twofold: (a) to replicate Kwortnik et al.’s results in the United States and, (b) to examine whether the results hold in other countries given cross-cultural differences that may affect the efficacy of buyer monitoring as a means to improve service. Using data from 10 countries across several continents, we show that (a) Kwortnik et al.’s findings only partially replicate in the United States, (b) the buyer monitoring principle does not hold worldwide, and (c) buyer monitoring is more effective in influencing service motivation and behavior in Western (individualistic) than in Eastern (collectivistic) cultures.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777226 [Google]
Lucas, A. F. and K. Spilde (2019): How Changes in the House Advantages of Reel Slots Affect Game Performance, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.135-149
In two-game pairings of otherwise identical reel slot machines, the games with greater pars outperformed those with lesser pars. This finding held across five pairings, three casinos, three gaming markets, three game titles, three differences in pars, and five bank locations. These findings help clarify an important and polarizing issue within the literature and among casino operators. Many believe that increasing pars would be perceived as increasing prices, potentially driving customers to competitors. This concern takes on an exaggerated importance for operators catering to a frequently visiting, highly involved clientele. Over time, many believe such players would detect the increased pars, leading to an unwanted exodus of play. To the contrary, the findings did not support the ability of players to detect even egregious increases in the pars, suggesting a considerable insensitivity to changes in the obfuscated price. With pay tables featuring identical awards, there was no rational justification for playing the games with the greater pars. In spite of this clear disincentive, the games with the greater pars produced more theoretical win than their paired counterparts in each of five, two-game pairings. This suggested that an opportunity to increase operating profits may be available to those willing to buck conventional wisdom.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777223 [Google]
Perles-Ribes, J. F., A. B. Ramón-Rodríguez and A. Ortuño Padilla (2019): Brexit Announcement: Immediate Impact on British Tourism in Spain, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.97-103
The United Kingdom constitutes the principal tourist source market for Spain. This research note analyzes the immediate impact of the Brexit on British tourism in Spain using the Bayesian structural time series models framework. The results obtained show that between July 2016 and September 2017, Brexit has not produced any initial negative effect on the arrival of British tourists or on their spending in Spain.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777699 [Google]
Sveum, M. and M. Sykuta (2019): The Effect of Franchising on Establishment Performance in the U.S. Restaurant Industry, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.104-115
A central theme in much of the franchising literature is that franchising mitigates the Principle–agent problems between the owner of the franchise company and the operator of the local establishment by making the operator the owner-franchisee of the establishment. Despite the centrality of that assumption in the literature, there is little empirical evidence to support it. We use Census of Retail Trade data for essentially all full- and limited-service restaurants in the United States to test whether franchisee-ownership affects performance at the establishment level. We find a strong and robust franchise effect for full-service restaurants but little effect among limited-service restaurants. We argue this difference is consistent with agency costs given differences in work processes and the importance of managerial discretion.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518777970 [Google]
Alrawadieh, Z., G. Prayag, Z. Alrawadieh and M. Alsalameen (2019): Self-identification with a heritage tourism site, visitors’ engagement and destination loyalty: the mediating effects of overall satisfaction, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.541-558
This study assesses a conceptual model that postulates relationships between self-identification with a heritage site, engagement at the site, overall satisfaction and destination loyalty. The study contributes to the limited literature examining visitor engagement and its relationship with several other psychological variables. A survey of visitors in Petra, Jordan resulted in 249 useable questionnaires. The results confirm that self-identification with a heritage tourism site has a positive relationship with both overall satisfaction and visitor engagement. Overall satisfaction has a strong and positive relationship with destination loyalty. Visitor engagement has a positive relationship with destination loyalty. Implications for managing the heritage site and destination are offered.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2018.1564284 [Google]
Bayighomog, S. W. and H. Araslı (2019): Workplace spirituality – customer engagement Nexus: the mediated role of spiritual leadership on customer–oriented boundary–spanning behaviors, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.637-661
Customer engagement entails unequivocal frontline service employees’ top performances and recommendable behaviors through management appropriate leadership to flourish. Under the social exchange and social identity theories, this study investigates employee customer–oriented boundary-spanning behaviors as an outcome of spiritual leadership, through the mediating effect of employee spiritual survival and well-being. PROCESS macro was used to analyze data collected from 5-star hotels full-time frontline employees in Antalya, Turkey. Results indicated that the effect of spiritual leadership on the three dimensions of customer-oriented boundary-spanning behaviors is fully mediated by spiritual survival and spiritual well-being. Spirituality appears to be a noteworthy but remote contributor to customer engagement via employees’ boundary-spanning behaviors. Our study contributed to the boundary-spanning and customer engagement literature by illustrating that a sense of mission and wellbeing at the workplace are adequate requirements to engage a frontline employee, whose boundary-spanning behaviors will be instrumental in fostering customer engagement. Further detailed theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2019.1570153 [Google]
Bergel, M. and C. Brock (2019): Visitors’ loyalty and price perceptions: the role of customer engagement, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.575-589
This research focuses on word-of-mouth behavior as a form of customer influencer behavior, which represents an important facet of customer engagement. While recent research suggests positive direct effects of engagement on loyalty and customers’ price perceptions, this research contributes to the literature by examining customers’ affective attitude toward the destination, extending previous research approaches. The study was conducted at the WWF-funded visitor center in a national forest park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Results indicate that engaged customers form more positive attitudes, resulting in increased future loyalty and positive price perceptions, empirically supporting various conceptual approaches. Furthermore, the results show that purely cognitive approaches are inadequate for understanding customers’ price perceptions. This is of importance for sustainable services or ecotourism destinations, as customers’ attitudes and willingness-to-pay judgments are influenced by, among other things, environmental beliefs and an interest in ecotourism.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2019.1579798 [Google]
Cordina, R., M. J. Gannon and R. Croall (2019): Over and over: local fans and spectator sport tourist engagement, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.590-608
This study investigates consumer engagement within the live sport-as-service industry by exploring the match-day experiences of spectator sport tourists. It highlights the importance of authentic and sincere experiences manifest through tourists’ interactions with local fans. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with international tourists who had visited Glasgow and attended a Celtic FC match. The findings demonstrate that football clubs may overlook the importance of consumer engagement, and that local fans are crucial in sustaining sports tourists’ engagement. To this end, the findings suggest that tourist interactions with local fans can stimulate more memorable and enjoyable travel. Furthermore, the vocal, visual displays provided by local fans contribute to an authentic and sincere travel experience. The study therefore suggests that local fans are a resource under-utilised by professional sports teams, with their contribution serving as a vital bridge between organisation and tourist in fostering engagement.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2018.1534962 [Google]
Dowell, D., B. Garrod and J. Turner (2019): Understanding value creation and word-of-mouth behaviour at cultural events, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.498-518
Despite its undoubted importance to policy makers and practitioners, cultural value remains a highly contested concept. Empirical work in the area has, meanwhile, been hampered by the use of a unidimensional framework of cultural value. The understanding of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication behaviour related to cultural values has consequently been limited. The purpose of this paper is to develop cultural value segments using a multidimensional value framework to enable a profile to be developed of the WOM behaviour (both online and offline) of each segment. A typology with four distinct segments of cultural consumer, each exhibiting different combinations of cultural values and of WOM communication preferences. The study thereby challenges the orthodoxy of value creation and transmission in cultural settings. Practical recommendations include the use of market segmentation based on multidimensional value ‘constellations’: not only to achieve better audience development but also to encourage wider value communication through word of mouth.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2019.1568997 [Google]
Huang, S. and H.-S. C. Choi (2019): Developing and validating a multidimensional tourist engagement scale (TES), Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.469-497
Customer engagement (CE) narrows the focus of experience to the interactive, value co-creative process between customers and company. Despite a few attempts measuring online engagement, we found no studies on fully operationalized engagement in the tourism destination. Considering the existing CE scales might not fully capture the scope of value co-creation process and its context-dependent nature, we proposed to develop a tourist engagement scale (TES) which incorporates more actors in value co-creation at the destination. Following the procedures of item generation, scale purification, and scale validation, we identified a 16-item, four-dimensional, second-order model of TES: social interaction, interaction with employees, relatedness, and activity-related tourist engagement (including immersed involvement and novelty-seeking). It provides various uses to DMOs and service providers, e.g. an assessment tool for tourist experience, a market segment tool, and a predictor to tourists’ behavioral intention. We contribute to the literature of tourist experience, value co-creation, and engagement study.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2019.1576641 [Google]
Kesgin, M. and R. S. Murthy (2019): Consumer engagement: the role of social currency in online reviews, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.609-636
We explore the interplay between social currency (SC) and consumer engagement on social networks. We use text analyses based on both human coding and machine learning asisted sentiment analysis on reviews collected from Facebook pages, and we show that SC has a positive effect on ratings and visitor loyalty. First, we find that attractions have varying makeup of SC as represented in the six dimensions of SC. Second, repeat visits increase SC. Third, SC positively impacts revisit intentions even in the absence of prior experience. We also find that prior experience does not appear to yield better ratings, however, it predicts revisit intentions. This study represents the first use of SC in the tourism domain. Theoretical and practical implications alongside limitations and future research are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2018.1553237 [Google]
Rasoolimanesh, S. M., S. Md Noor, F. Schuberth and M. Jaafar (2019): Investigating the effects of tourist engagement on satisfaction and loyalty, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.559-574
This paper examine the concept of tourist engagement modeled as a second-order composite in the context of a heritage destination in Malaysia. In doing so, this study investigates the direct and indirect effects of tourist engagement through satisfaction on destination loyalty. Data was collected from tourists visiting Kinabalu National Park, Sabah, Malaysia. To investigate tourist engagement, this study employs confirmatory composite analysis in combination with the latest version of partial least squares- path modeling (PLS-PM) known as consistent partial least squares. The findings strongly support to model tourist engagement as a second-order composite and show a strong positive effect for tourist engagement on satisfaction and tourists’ destination loyalty. Moreover, a strong indirect effect of tourist engagement on loyalty through satisfaction is revealed. This study has a number of practical implications for local authorities to sustain tourism development in the Kinabalu National Park.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2019.1570152 [Google]
Rather, R. A., L. D. Hollebeek and J. U. Islam (2019): Tourism-based customer engagement: the construct, antecedents, and consequences, Service Industries Journal, 39(43654), pp.519-540
Drawing on a service-dominant (S-D) logic perspective, this study identifies key antecedents and consequences of tourism customer engagement, which remain nebulous to date. We develop a structural model that is tested on a sample of 310 customers at different tourist destination sites and attractions in India. The results reveal a positive effect of place authenticity and place attachment on customer engagement. The findings also indicate customer engagement’s positive effect on the development of customer trust, brand loyalty, and co-creation. Third, we identify customer engagement’s mediating role in the effect of place attachment and place authenticity on customer trust, loyalty, and co-creation. Specifically, place authenticity was found to exert a partial mediating effect in the association between place attachment and customer engagement. As such, this research bids newer insight into the role of tourism-based customer engagement, from which we develop relevant implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2019.1570154 [Google]
