Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Franchisee Gender On Consumer Perceptions Of Performance And In Quick Service Restaurants, Kimberly Mathe

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

By 2015 restaurant revenues are to reach $2.2 trillion (GIA, 2009). Despite the revenues that foodservice generates, one factor remains missing in the restaurant community: women franchisees. In the most recently published report by International Franchise Association (2002), women ownership constituted 13.2% of franchised restaurants. The purpose of this paper is to explore how women franchisees perform in critical restaurant operations including cleanliness, friendliness, service failure and recovery. Using a nationally franchised restaurant, this study finds that franchise gender plays a critical factor in customer perceptions of a restaurant. Moreover, the main and interaction effects between each of the four …

Is Virtualization An Appropriate Method Of Disaster Recovery For The Hospitality Industry?, Manognya Murukutla

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Organisations across all business sectors are making increasing use of IT today. While other industries have understood the consequences of this dependence in the event of IT disasters and placed a large emphasis on disaster recovery plans and technology, the hospitality industry is lagging behind. One of the reasons why the hospitality industry does not place as much of an importance to disaster recovery is the cost. However, IT disaster is a very damaging occurrence, and measures should be taken to mitigate the event. Loss of a property's information technology (IT) functions can cause chaos in a hotel’s operations leading …

Adopting The Brisoux-Larouche Model Of Brand Categorization To Correlate Brand Social Responsibility In National And In-House Coffee Shops, Fred E. Wencel, Liang (Rebecca) Tang, Robert Bosselman

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Abstract In-house food service brands operating on college campuses struggle to build brand image without consumer awareness. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities may enhance brand image, for the customers, employees and stakeholders (Lee and Heo, 2009). Brown and Dacin (1997) suggested that CSR associations have significant influence on consumer’s response to new products. The objective of the study is to determine if brand social responsibility influences customers’ purchase decisions and how they cognitively categorize brands. The quantitative methodology involves two different survey instruments designed to be interpreted using Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) and regression analysis. The study confirms that a …

Impact Of Hotel Discount Strategies On Consumers’ Emotion And Behavior In The Presence Of High And Low Involvement Consumers, Seung Hyun Lee, Billy Bai

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

While hotels come up with various discount strategies to attract consumers, especially during a recession, both hotels and consumers seem to favor dynamic pricing. Previous studies also indicated that price discounts give consumers not only monetary benefits but also positive emotional responses. The purpose of this study was to investigate how uniform pricing and dynamic pricing influence consumers’ emotion and behavior, identifying the role of their involvement. Results of study suggested that high involvement consumers responded more positively to dynamic pricing than uniform pricing. Moreover, younger and female consumers were more likely to be involved in obtaining a discount, and …

Perceived Service And Food Quality, Satisfaction, And Behavioral Intentions In Senior Retirement Communities, Hyun-Woo Joung, Eun-Kyong Choi, Ben K. Goh

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Quality of life becomes a critically important issue in the senior’ later years. This trend has drawn huge attention and higher demand for senior retirement community because it provides the elderly a flexible and assured living environment. The specific objectives of this study were (1) to test the impact of service quality on residents’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions, (2) to examine the impact of food quality on residents’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions, (3) to identify how residents’ satisfaction affects residents’ behavioral intentions, and (4) to investigate the relationship between retention to restaurant and retention to senior retirement center. The result …

Theme Park Development Costs: Initial Investment Cost Per First Year Attendee, Kelly T. Kaak

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

There is an industry “rule of thumb” that when planning for the construction of a theme park, developers should anticipate investing $100 per expected first-year guest. In other words, if the goal is to attract a million paying guests per year, the total investment needs to equal $100,000,000. This ratio is quite common in the literature, but it has never been investigated formally. This study reveals what the investment per guest has been overall for the approximately 75 theme parks that have been constructed in the United States since 1955.

The research design was to collect the initial investment costs …

A Comparative Study Of Motivation Across Different Festival Products, Eunju Woo, Medet Yolal, Fatmagul Cetinel, Muzaffer Uysal

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Festivals and special events have increased worldwide because they provide significant economic, socio-cultural, and political impacts on their destination. While, a plethora of studies have examined tourists’ motivation and socio-economic impacts, little research has been conducted on the motivation and socio-economic impact of festival attendees with regard to different product offerings. The first objective of this paper, therefore, is to investigate the underlying dimensions of motivation for attending an international festival in Turkey and whether motivation will vary across six different festival products (Symphony, Rock, World Music, Dance, Ballet, and Theater). The second purpose is to understand how festival attendees …

The Impact Of Destination Image On Value, Satisfaction, And Loyalty: Moderating Effects Of Tourist Characteristics And Involvement, Patcharaporn Mahasuweerachai, Hailin Qu

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This study investigates the effect of destination image on perceived destination value, satisfaction and destination loyalty. This study also examines the moderating effects of tourist characteristics and involvement on the relationships between destination image and its outcomes. A total of 783 completed questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling technique. The findings indicate that destination image has significant effects on perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty. The results also reveal that the strength of the effects do not depend on tourists’ gender or material status; however they do depend on tourists’ age, income, and level of involvement.

Depicting Image Of China As A Tourism Destination: A Travel Blog Approach, Xu Li, Youcheng Wang

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The purpose of this study was to examine the destination image of China as perceived by international tourists as represented in travel blog discourse. Data were obtained from blog entries relating to trip to China posted on www.tripadviser.com, www.travelpod.com, and www.virutaltourist.com. Content analysis facilitated by Atlas.ti 6.0 was performed on a total of eighty-nine China-related travel blogs. The study identified the most frequently discussed aspects of tourists’ experience in China. The results also indicated that the blog authors had mixed images of China, which was consistent with the conclusion of paradoxical images of China drawn by Xiao and Mair (2006). …

Are You A Tourist? Tourists’ Self-Identification And The Definition Of Tourism, Xiaojuan Yu, Namhuyn Kim, Chih-Chien Chen, Zvi Schwartz

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This study empirically investigates the question of who is a tourist, building on the literature of what is tourism, how to measure tourism, and the negative characterization of the term tourist. The study’s main contribution is that it contrasts the distance-based practical definitions with tourists’ self-identification and characterizes those who define themselves as tourists. Data came from 1,619 responses to a visitor survey, conducted at a midwestern destination. A surprisingly high proportion of the respondents self-identified as tourists suggested that while it might still exist, the negative connotation of the term “tourist” is not always as dominant as suggested by …

Food And Safety Training Needed For Asian Restaurants: Longitudinal Review Of Health Inspection Data In Kansas, Young Gin Choi, Pei Liu, Yee Ming Lee, Junehee Kwon

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The purpose of this study was to assess the frequencies and types of food code violations at Asian restaurants in Kansas using longitudinal review of health inspection data. A total of 326 restaurant inspection reports from 156 Asian restaurants in 10 Kansas counties were reviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS. The findings of this study suggested the focus areas for food safety training in Asian restaurants: temperature control of PHF; employee personal hygiene; and employee hand washing practices. Also, our results indicated that behavior-related violations, especially behavior-related critical violations occurred more during the routine health inspection than …

A Microbiological Assessment Of Restaurant Menu Contamination, Jin-Kyung Choi

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The importance of the cleanliness of the food contact surface has been recognized however, the cleanliness of non-food contact surface such as menus is thought to be under-estimated. The aim of this study is to determine the cleanliness of menus at a restaurant, evaluate current cleaning protocol and provide recommendation for improving menu cleanliness. This study will use microbiological data to analyze the cleanliness of the menus. A pretest will verify the most commonly touched areas of the menu by consumers. Based on the result of the pretest, menus will be collected from casual-family dining restaurants and analyzed for total …

A Study Of The Impact Of Restaurant Affiliation On Part-Time Workers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Yu Shan Liu, Hailin Qu, Jing Yang

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The purposes for this study are: 1) To examine the influence of the management style of restaurant affiliation (chain and independent restaurants) on the relationships between organization citizenship behavior and three factors: a. part-time employee’s perceived supervisor support, b. part-time employee’s perceived organizational support, and c. organizational commitment; and 2) To compare the different level of work perceptions and organizational commitment between part-time workers of chain restaurants and part-time workers of independent restaurants. Survey was conducted among 185 part-time workers in the restaurant industry. The results indicated that management styles of different restaurant affiliation have influence on part-time workers.

The Moderating Effect Of A Manager’S Transformational Leadership On The Relationship Between Restaurant Employees’ Perceived Organizational Injustice And Workplace Deviant Behavior, Junghoon Jay Lee, Elizabeth B. Barrett Ph. D.

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The findings of prior studies suggest that employees are likely to engage in deviant behavior in the workplace when they perceive organizational injustice. Given that employees’ perceived organizational injustice leads to workplace deviant behavior (WDB), a manager’s leadership has significant implications for reducing WDB because leadership has been considered the process of influencing people to change their attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs towards organizational goals. Therefore, it is hypothesized that a manager’s leadership may change the strength of the linear relationship between employees’ perceived organizational injustice and WDB. The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effects of transformational …

Fundraising Strategies Of Nonprofit Organizations: Measuring Roi And Success In A Time Of Economic Crisis, Leslie Gwen Jablonski

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Fundraising is a vital part of many associations across the United States—many organizations depend greatly on the generosity of the public to continue to serve their constituents. However, what do these foundations do when the economy is not conducive to raising money? How to they alter their strategies to continue to promote their cause and create the capital needed to survive? The following research aims to discover the answers to these questions, focusing on the strategies that have proved successful during times of economic crisis. Throughout the exploration there will be a particular focus set on the event industry and …

Examining The Influence Of Team Knowledge On Effectiveness Of Service Management Teams, Priyanko Guchait, Karthik Namasivayam

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The influence of team knowledge on team learning behavior, team performance, and team viability was tested using service management teams in a restaurant setting. Teammates’ taskwork knowledge and teamwork knowledge was both conceptually and empirically distinguished and their convergence or ‘sharedness’ was assessed. Preliminary results showed that both shared taskwork and teamwork knowledge were positively related to performance, viability, and team learning behavior.

Choosing A Compensation Strategy In The Hotel Industry: An Exploratory Study, Edwin N. Torres, Howard Adler

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

One of the key human resource decisions made by any organization is the design of its compensation strategy. When choosing a compensation strategy, hospitality executives must make a variety of complex decisions that will ultimately impact a company’s recruitment and retention efforts, as well as the attainment of organizational goals. This exploratory study looks at the decision making patterns of hospitality executives as it comes to compensation.

Expatriate General Manager Perceptions Of Hotel Management In Jamaican Four And Five Star Properties-An Exploratory Study, Julaine S. Rigg, Howard Adler Dr

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

With the increasing globalization of the hospitality industry, expatriate assignments have become a necessary undertaken. There is a competitive advantage to be gained through expatriate managers who can operate firms effectively. Most international hotel corporations still employ expatriates to help in professionalizing the hospitality services and management in the Caribbean. However, while studies have been conducted on expatriates management in various countries, research on expatriate management in a Caribbean context have been practically non-existent, with only one study attempting to look at the area. The intent of the present exploratory study therefore is to understand expatriate general managers’ perceptions of …

Identifying Online Professional Poker Players: A Revealed And Stated Analysis Approach, Kahlil Philander, Brett Ll Abarbanel

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This two-part paper is intended to explore the task of differentiating a professional gambler from a leisure gambler, specifically, among online poker players. The first part of the study consists of a statistical analysis to identify the requisite number of hands of online poker required to identify winning players, that is, players who should expect to show a profit during a given year. The second part of the study involves administering a survey that assesses players’ perceptions of whether they consider their own play to be that of a winning player.

Once both parts have concluded, we will investigate whether …

Are Franchising Systems Beneficial For Lodging Industry In Terms Of Profitability And Intangible Value?, Joonho Moon

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Franchising plays a significant role in the rapid growth of its retail sales. Franchising is a system in which the franchisor grants a license, trademark,and service mark, as well as advice, and assistance in organizing, merchandising, and managing the business as a long-term business relationship.This system is a major expansion strategy for the hotel industry because of its advantages. Actually, the annual retail sales of business-format franchising were about $246 billion in 1992 (Huber, 1993).In the lodging industry, franchising has contributed so significantly to the growth of major hotelchains since the 1960s that it has made lodging one of the …

An Exploratory Study Of Hospitality Student Volunteers’ Motivation And Satisfaction In Food And Wine Festivals, Hang Wu, Eunju Suh, Jinlin Zhao

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF HOSPITALITY STUDENT VOLUNTEERS’ MOTIVATION AND SATISFACTION IN FOOD AND WINE FESTIVALS

Hang Wu School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Florida International University

Eunju Suh School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Florida International University

Jinlin Zhao School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Florida International University

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore and examine the motivation and satisfaction of hospitality student volunteers in food and wine festivals. It aims to investigate and identify the factors that festival managers need to use to motivate, satisfy, and retain hospitality student volunteers in order to organize a successful …

Quality Practices Implementation In Malaysian Hotels: The Management Perspective, Norzuwana Sumarjan, Susan Arendt

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The purpose of this study is to explore Malaysian hotel general managers or quality executives’ experiences in implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) practices. Specifically, this study tries to understand the benefits of applying TQM practices, the challenges or barriers faced during the implementation process, and to identify strategies or success factors in implementing TQM. Individual interviews will be conducted with general managers or quality executives who are currently or were previously responsible for quality programs at three-, four- and five star rated hotels. Hotels must have been operating for one year with a minimum occupancy rate of 60% and located …

The Potential Impact Of United States Tourists On The Cuban Market If Travel Sanctions Are Lifted; As Well As The Identification Of Their Push-Pull Travel Motivational Factors, Lehi M. Dowell Mr.

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This investigative study will focus on the potential impact on Cuba’s tourism industry by United States citizens if travel sanctions are lifted. The research will also aid in understanding the push and pull (push-pull) travel motivational factors that United States (US) citizens exhibit towards booking a vacation to Cuba.

Through this study, collected data will assist in future marketing endeavors so that when the travel sanction is lifted, US travel agencies will be able to prioritize the push-pull travel motivational factors and translate them into captivating promotional packages for this new market segment.

Although current travel is prohibited by US …

Restaurant Service Employees Motivation And Organizational Commitment: Shared Gratuity Versus Independent Gratuity Environments, Susan Roe

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This study attempts to identify if there are statistical differences in motivational and organizational commitment levels between restaurant service employees that work in different type of gratuity distribution environments, particularly those that pool (or share) gratuities and those that retain their own gratuities. Identifying any differences in motivation levels between restaurant service employees working in unlike gratuity distribution environments may assist managers in choosing which gratuity environment, shared or individual, to establish for their restaurant operations. A survey assessing motivation and organizational commitment levels of gratuity earning employees is planned. Four hypotheses are posed with an analysis of variance being …

Forecasting Revpar In A Declining Market: An Application Of Time Series Forecasting Techniques To U.S. Weekly Revpar Data, Barry A.N. Bloom, Elsa Correa, Sung Hun "Shawn" Kim, Barbara Koukol

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This study utilizes common time series forecasting methods to determine which of several simple, popular time series forecasting techniques was the best predictor of the decline in United States weekly RevPAR as the lodging industry entered its severe downturn in 2009. This study identifies the strong seasonality and trend components contained in historic U.S. weekly RevPAR data and utilized that data to test various moving average, exponential, and seasonal forecasting methods. The study clearly identified that seasonal forecasting methods such as Holt-Winters are far superior for use with this dataset than other methods and that among the various seasonal forecasting …

Chinese Hotel General Managers' Perspectives On Energy Saving Practices, Yidan Zhu, Howard Adler

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The increasing rise in energy prices is a major reason that hotels have begun energy conservation programs. They are viewed as a means of reducing energy costs. This study focuses on issues related to energy saving practices in Chinese hotels from the perspective of hotel general managers. This research will examine the importance of energy-saving practice for hotels in China. Through the use of survey data, this study investigated methods which Chinese hotels adopt to conserve energy. Since the Chinese hotel industry is a relatively new and fast growing industry, most of the hotels are non-branded or non-chain. The research …

What Up-Scale And Luxury Hotel Executives Expect For Their Brand’S Talent Management: An Insight For Hospitality Education, Joe Nelson, Murat Hancer

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

At a time when the industry is shrinking and the future is filled with uncertainty, it may be more critical than ever for hospitality education to meet the needs of the industry. Hospitality education continues to speculate where to focus and what to emphasize in the development of effective curriculum relevant to needs of the lodging industry. This research is designed to answer the question of what information should be considered when planning future curriculum. The purpose of this study is to determine what the expectations are of lodging industry executives concerning their talent management. A web-based survey will be …

A Pilot Study Of Personal Financial Literacy Among Hospitality Students, Barry A.N. Bloom

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This study will utilize the personal financial literacy survey instrument developed by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy to measure the personal financial literacy of hospitality students at a Midwestern University as compared to a recently conducted national survey of all college students. It is hypothesized that hotel students in a business program will score higher on this survey than the overall college population. Descriptive analysis will be performed on all survey items. In order to compare the results of the single University sample to the overall college sample, both t-test and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) calculations …

Executive Compensation And Firm Performance In The U.S. Restaurant Industry: An Agency Theory Approach, Ilhan Demirer, Jingxue (Jessica) Yuan

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Executive compensation is increasingly becoming a target by media, shareholders, and government regulators. Excessive or poorly structured compensation arrangements have been blamed for the U.S. financial crisis of 2008 and it has been questioned why executives were being paid out the bonuses and other benefits even though their companies were losing shareholder value. Agency theory explains part of the problem is due to the separation of management from ownership. This study investigated the relationship between executive compensation and firm performance in the restaurant industry.

The Potential Of Hospitality Industry Development In Frontier Communities, Francisco Cordero, Nancy Cordero, Lynn Huffman, Jaime Malaga, Rebekka Dudensing

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The Potential of Hospitality Industry Development in Frontier Communities

Francisco J. Cordero

Hospitality Administration

Texas Tech University

and

Nancy Cordero

Hospitality Administration

Texas Tech University

and

Lynn Huffman, Ph.D.

Human Sciences

Texas Tech University

and

Jaime Malaga, Ph.D.

Agricultural Economics

Texas Tech University

and

Rebekka Dudensing, Ph.D.

Department of Agriculture Economics

Texas A&M University

ABSTRACT

This poster displays the need for hospitality services in rural areas and the potential development of additional industries in remote Texas locations. The economic impact of travel spending in rural and urban areas in the State of Texas is being studied in order to identify …