Search results
1 – 7 of 7Yunxuan Carrie Zhang, Dina M.V. Zemke, Amanda Belarmino and Cass Shum
Job satisfaction is essential in understanding turnover intentions. Previous studies reveal that highly educated hospitality employees generally have lower levels of job…
Abstract
Purpose
Job satisfaction is essential in understanding turnover intentions. Previous studies reveal that highly educated hospitality employees generally have lower levels of job satisfaction, indicating that the antecedents of job satisfaction may be different from hospitality managers and frontline employees. This study compared the different antecedents of job satisfaction for housekeeping managers and employees.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a mixed-methods approach for a two-part study. The researchers recruited housekeeping managers for the exploratory survey. The results of open-end questions helped us build a custom dictionary for the text mining of comments from Glassdoor.com. Finally, a multilinear regression of themes from housekeeping employees’ ratings on Glassdoor.com was conducted to understand the antecedents of job satisfaction for housekeeping managers and employees.
Findings
The results of the exploratory survey indicated that the housekeeping department has an urgent need for organizational support and training. The text-mining revealed organizational support impacts both managers and frontline employees, while training impacts managers more than employees. Finally, the regression analysis showed compensation, business outlook, senior management, and career opportunity impacted both groups. However, work-life balance only influenced managers.
Originality/value
With a large number of employees at low salaries, housekeeping departments have a higher-than-average turnover rate for lodging. This study is among the first to compare the antecedents of managers’ and frontline employees’ job satisfaction in the housekeeping department, extending Social Exchange Theory. It provides suggestions for the housekeeping department to decrease turnover intentions.
Details
Keywords
Dina Marie V. Zemke, Carola Raab and Kaiyang Wu
The purpose of this paper is to test the relationships between a hotel’s design quality and the property’s business performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the relationships between a hotel’s design quality and the property’s business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Hotel guests’ assessments of the design quality of hotels that they recently visited are tested using the design quality indicator (DQI). Business performance is measured using indexed values for each property’s occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR). The data are analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and a variation of a hedonic pricing model.
Findings
Factor analysis reduced the DQI instrument to 19 measurement items. Factors that measure navigability and signage positively impact occupancy index. Factors that measure flexible space usage negatively impact the RevPAR and ADR indices. Factors that reflect aesthetic constructs, including Urban & Social Integration and Character & Form, positively impact the RevPAR and ADR indices.
Research limitations/implications
The study examines a nationwide sample of guests from two full-service brands of a single multi-brand hotel company. The study provides a parsimonious, validated design measurement instrument and a revised hedonic pricing analysis.
Practical implications
Hoteliers can use this technique to assist with resource allocation decisions. Aesthetic elements, including the building’s Urban & Social Integration with its surroundings and its Character & Form, lead to higher ADR and RevPAR performance. Managers should ensure a coherent layout and good signage program to drive occupancy.
Originality/value
This study offers a technique to measure design quality and a new method of performing a hedonic pricing analysis.
Details
Keywords
Jungsun (Sunny) Kim, Sungsik Yoon and Dina Marie V. Zemke
The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of customers’ intentions to use location-based services (LBS) offered by a hotel. The study examined whether hotel…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of customers’ intentions to use location-based services (LBS) offered by a hotel. The study examined whether hotel customers’ coupon proneness, trust, privacy concerns and familiarity with LBS are significant determinants of their intentions to use LBS.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey using a scenario-based narrative was administered to collect data from participants who have smartphones and have stayed at a full-service hotel within the previous 12 months. A research model tested data collected from 402 hotel customers, using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.
Findings
Three proposed determinants (i.e. familiarity, coupon proneness and trust) positively influenced customers’ intentions to use LBS. Out of the four dimensions of privacy concerns (concerns of collection, error, unauthorized secondary use and improper access), only concerns about data collection negatively influenced customers’ intentions to use a hotel’s LBS.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on LBS adoption and other technology with privacy issues by modifying existing models and empirically testing it in the new context of hotels.
Details
Keywords
Dina Marie V. Zemke, Jay Neal, Stowe Shoemaker and Katie Kirsch
This study aims to propose that there may be a marketable segment of guests who are willing to pay a premium for guestrooms that are cleaned using enhanced disinfection techniques…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose that there may be a marketable segment of guests who are willing to pay a premium for guestrooms that are cleaned using enhanced disinfection techniques beyond the normal room cleaning procedures. Room cleanliness is important to hotel guests. Some hotel brands currently offer allergy-free rooms, charging a premium for this service. However, no hotel brands currently serve the market that is willing to pay more for enhanced disinfection. This exploratory study investigates whether there is such a segment and, if so, what price premium these customers are willing to pay for enhanced disinfection.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey methods were used to determine the consumer’s perceptions of hotel guestroom cleanliness; the effectiveness of traditional and enhanced cleaning methods; and willingness to pay for enhanced guestroom disinfection.
Findings
Younger travelers and female travelers of all ages may be willing to pay a significant price premium for enhanced disinfection of a hotel guestroom.
Research limitations/implications
The survey instrument was administered via the Internet, limiting the sample. The study participants were not asked about hotel brand; thus, the results could not be analyzed by brand or service level.
Originality/value
Past research focuses only on traditional cleaning methods. This article provides a template for the hotel industry to explore the feasibility of offering enhanced cleanliness as a revenue-generating amenity.
Details
Keywords
Dina Marie Zemke, Yun Ying Zhong and Carola Raab
Firms that serve customers in the service environment rely on a well-designed servicescape. This is particularly true in the hotel industry, where the hotel’s design is an…
Abstract
Purpose
Firms that serve customers in the service environment rely on a well-designed servicescape. This is particularly true in the hotel industry, where the hotel’s design is an important part of the product mix. However, despite design’s importance, there is no common instrument available to measure hotel design quality. The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative method, the Design Quality Indicator, to measure guests’ evaluations of hotel design quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Nearly 5,000 guests of two full-service hotel brands were surveyed soon after a hotel stay (within two weeks of check-out). The DQI’s factor structure is tested using principle components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to improve the reliability, validity and parsimony of the instrument.
Findings
The study yields a DQI instrument that is reduced from 92 to 41 measurement items, with good reliability and validity, enabling more efficient data collection and analysis.
Research limitations/implications
This study only examines guests’ assessments of two full-service hotel brands. The instrument can be used to explore design’s relationship with numerous outcome variables, such as satisfaction, loyalty, and repatronage intentions, as well as property performance outcomes.
Practical implications
The methods demonstrated can be used by hotel owners and operators to inform resource allocation decisions, particularly when planning for renovations.
Originality/value
This study provides a reliable, validated quantitative assessment of hotel design quality. It is also one of the few studies that elicits feedback about a guest’s actual hotel stay, rather than a hypothesized or simulated stay.
Details
Keywords
Sandy C. Chen, Stowe Shoemaker and Dina Marie V. Zemke
Slot machines and other machine gaming generate between 65 percent and 90 percent of a US casino's revenue. This article aims to examine the motivations, behaviors, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Slot machines and other machine gaming generate between 65 percent and 90 percent of a US casino's revenue. This article aims to examine the motivations, behaviors, and preferences of slot machine customers, and to develop market segments.
Design/methodology/approach
The study's objectives include: understanding the demographic, gambling motivation, and gambling behavioral characteristics of slot machine players; identifying important reasons for choosing one slot machine game over another; examining player attitudes and behaviors pertaining to progressive machines; and investigating player desire for theme‐based games. This was accomplished through an online survey of slot machine players.
Findings
Profiles of slot machine players are developed and the slot players are segmented into four clusters that explain motivations and game preferences.
Practical implications
This article fills in some of the gaps in understanding the gambling behavior of slot players. This study can help gaming machine manufacturers design new products and features to serve existing machine gaming customers and to attract new customers. Casino and other gaming operators can use this information not only to select the right types of machines to provide on‐site, but also to develop advertising and promotions to attract and retain new and existing customers for slot machines and other types of gaming machines.
Originality/value
This is the first published study that segments slot machine players from a marketing perspective and identifies their preferences, behaviors, and demographic groupings.
Details
Keywords
Dina Zemke and Stowe Shoemaker
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the extant research around the non‐pathological gaming customer and then propose research for future study of this customer.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the extant research around the non‐pathological gaming customer and then propose research for future study of this customer.
Design/methodology/approach
Academic literature combined with the results of primary research is used to examine the incidence of gambling and non‐problem gaming research trends in the hospitality industry.
Findings
The overview of the publicly available research on the casino gaming consumer leads to a host of suggestions for future research.
Practical implications
The practical implications include recent developments in gaming consumer profiles, as well as suggested for future research to further understand the non‐problem gaming consumer.
Originality/value
The paper examines existing literature and is valuable for anyone who wishes to begin studying the gaming consumer. This paper provides direction for future study.
Details