Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

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). …

Travel Information Search Behavior And Social Networking Sites: The Case Of U.S. College Students, Sung-Bum Kim, Dae-Young Kim

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Social networking sites (SNSs) have proliferated rapidly in the last few years and continue to grow in popularity. In many sectors, college students are considered a major market. This study argues that social network services play a pivotal role in a college students’ trip information search behavior. Thereby, this study’s primary objective is to identify antecedents that influence college students’ behaviors to use SNSs in searching for travel information. The online survey was provided to college students in the Midwest United States. The total valid sample size was 156 individuals. 58.4% (n = 87) of the respondents were male and …

An Examination Of Information Services And Smartphone Applications, Dan Wang, Sangwon Park, Daniel Fesenmaier

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

In recent years, smartphone applications have emerged as a new tool helping travelers create experiences. Considering the potential impact of the smart phones and smart phone apps, it is posited that is extremely important to understand how the mobile applications enable travelers to construct their travel experience. To achieve this goal, the first step is to understand the nature (i.e., number and range of funcations) of apps available for smartphones. Through the content analysis of basic information of iPhone applications, this study identified a wide variety of information services enable smartphones to break the spacious and temporal limitations to facilitate …

Factors Influencing The Amount Of Spending In Hospitality E-Commerce : A Case Study Of Bakery Website, Kwang Ho Lee, Dae-Young Kim

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

As a case study, the aims of this study were to explore the determinants of the amount of consumer spending in hospitality e-Commerce. Data was derived from the log file of the e-Commerce website that has been open since 2008 (http://www.cakestory.kr). Logistic regression analysis was primarily employed to examine the purpose of this study. As a result, it was observed that the flow of total sales might be inconsistent with the flow of sale ratio during the period from 2009 to 2010. Furthermore, the probability of the high spending varies depending on demographic characteristics (i.e., age and gender), individual characteristics …

Design Of A Restaurant Kiosk Interface, Lu Zhang

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Self-service technology (SST) has been widely adopted by service oriented companies in different settings, such as hotel, restaurant, and airport. Although customers are less hesitant about using SST nowadays than before, how to increase customer satisfaction and repeat patronage remains an unresolved issue in this area. The current study proposed a new interface for restaurant kiosk, which has a human figure as a virtual server. It can invoke social responses, which cannot be achieved by a standardized restaurant kiosk interface, from customers. Besides, making customers feel like interacting with a real person rather than a machine will enhance the enjoyment …

Become A Fan: A Review Of Restaurants' Facebook Fan Pages, Lu Zhang, Anna S. Mattila, David A. Cranage

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Social media has attracted increasing research interests in recent years. It can be used as an effective marketing tool. To the authors’ knowledge, no academic research has been conducted to conceptualize the approach for social media marketing, and the potential effect on customer attitude. Therefore, the current study sets out to propose a conceptual model that articulates the technological affordances of social media. In addition, heuristics triggered by corresponding affordances are introduced. Lastly, to identify the gap between an optimal strategy and the existing practice, this study examined 25 restaurant facebook fan pages. The results indicate that restaurant companies have …

An Exploratory Research To Formulate The Web-Customer Satisfaction In Terms Of Digital Business Model, Ajay Aluri, Lisa Slevitch

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Internet has provided a freeway to organizations from traditional business model to e-commerce to market, advertize, and commerce around the globe. The increasing Internet penetration rates have transformed the e-commerce business model to digital business model, also called eBusiness. It is found that web-customers and their behavioral patterns often differ from customers with traditional purchasing behavior. In the present Internet generation, organizations may need to go beyond website performance in order to build their overall customer satisfaction. In the hospitality and tourism industry, organizations need to create value and build relationships with its customers that go beyond e-commerce. Considering the …

How Can Hospitality Organizations Create It Induced Competitive Advantage? A Theoretical Framework, Anil Bilgihan, Youcheng Wang

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This paper investigates the IT-induced competitive advantage in the hospitality industry. Moreover, it attempts to understand the structure of technology benefit stages in the industry since such benefits depend various components such as managements’ perception towards the technology, the sophistication of the deployed technologies, critical resources, and integration of the resources. Owing to the exploratory nature of the study, a semi-structured interview technique was chosen as the main data collection method since it allows a deep, detailed descriptions and imaginative explorations of participants’ ideas and experiences. A sample of members of AHLA E-Commerce and Technology Committee is interviewed. Probing technique …

The Implementation And Usage Of The North American Association Of Food Equipment Manufacturers Data Protocol, Anish Parikh

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) Data Protocol allows for the bidirectional communication between a host computer and foodservice equipment. This allows for data gathering, increases efficiency and helps provide more valuable services to their customers. However, there has been low adaption of this technology.

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the barriers to the implementation of the NAFEM Data Protocol. The study surveyed both restaurant general managers and restaurant corporate executives regarding their perceived barriers of implementation regarding the NAFEM Data Protocol. The results show that operators, both restaurant managers and corporate …

Barriers To Information Technology Change Project In Hotels, Anil Bilgihan, Fevzi Okumus, Khaldoon Nusair, Cihan Cobanoglu

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The purpose of this study is to investigate the barriers and the sources of resistance to information technology (IT) change projects in hotel firms and evaluate strategies adopted in seeking to overcome these barriers. Based on an in-depth literature review, the authors developed an interview protocol. The authors will start collecting empirical data soon from the Information Technology Managers and the Hotel General managers in hotels in Orlando, FL. Based on the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first research projects in the field that will provide empirical evidence on barriers to IT change projects and appropriate strategies in …

M-Learning In Hospitality: An Exploration Of Older Workers’ Needs And Attitudes, Jung-Eun Song, Mehmet Erdem

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

People have various learning styles, and therefore the hospitality industry should consider generational differences in learning as it seeks to develop human capital by revitalizing its training program. Mobile learning (M-learning) is increasingly becoming popular as a training tool in the hospitality industry. As members of the baby boom generation - people born between 1943 and 1960, the proportion of workers over 55 years old will increase dramatically. As this population grows, training should be modified according to the different generational characteristics of employees, their respective expectations, attitudes, and level of satisfaction in current work environment. Consequently, this study intends …

Impact Of Women’S Query Formulation On Searching Satisfaction: Implications For Online Marketing In Hospitality And Tourism, Jennifer L. Velez

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

The internet’s lack of organization and overwhelming size prohibits consumers from accessing useful and relevant information. The purpose of this study is to discern whether certain query types yield more satisfying search results for women during the vacation planning process. This research also addresses the discrepancies found between the internet’s ontology of hospitality and tourism offerings and women’s conceptualization of corresponding topics by analyzing search satisfaction. The implications for hospitality and tourism are to have a clearer and more accurate online ontology in order to achieve better target marketing. Women are the focus of this study because they are documented …

Key Issues In Use Of Social Networking In Hospitality Industry: 2009, Parisa Salkhordeh

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Consumer participation in social networks has increased exponentially since the beginning of the new millennium. The hospitality industry, as one of the most customer sensitive industries, has started to explore using social networking to grow their businesses. However, the medium presents new challenges and issues for lodging firms as to how social media fits in with their traditional marketing strategy. In a highly competitive environment for customers, managers should better understand the implications of their strategy when participating in social media environments. In this study the Delphi technique was used by author to compile a list of key issues in …

Is Your Official State Tourism Website Effective? A Functional Perspective, Xu Li, Youcheng Wang

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

This study attempts to apply the ICTRT model proposed by Li and Wang (2010) to American context and assess the effectiveness of American Destination Marketing Organizations’ (DMOs’) websites from functional perspective, i.e., information, communication, transaction, relationship and technical merit. The objectives of the research are achieved by content analysis of all fifty official state tourism websites regarding the five functions by expert valuators. The results manifested State Tourism Offices’ (STOs’) inability to effectively adopt and manage information technology to support more sophisticated operations. Most STOs focused mainly on the information dimension. Applications at both the transaction and relationship dimensions are …

Social Networking Websites: Do Generation Y Use Them Before Making Decisions For Hotels And Restaurants?, Anil Bilgihan, Khaldoon Nusair, Fevzi Okumus

Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism

Individuals have many motivations to visit the Internet such as searching for information, communication, and shopping (Rodgers & Sheldon, 2002). Increasingly those individuals meet online to share their opinions and information, express views, and regularly update their status or post blogs and microblogs. More and more people discuss on forums and exchange information/opinions on social networking websites (Chung & Buhalis, 2009). The case for the hospitality industry is not discovered. There is unlimited number of opportunities that social networking website presents to tourism organizations. This study will investigate the issue from consumers’ point of view. In view of the fact …