International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management最新文献

{"title":"Flattery from robots, praise from humans: building consumer trust and comfort","authors":"Ran Liu,Chunli Ji,Catherine Prentice","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-02-2026-0204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-02-2026-0204","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This study aims to investigate how the interaction between service agent type (robot vs human) and language style (flattery vs praise) influences customers’ psychological comfort, alongside the dual mediating roles of affective and cognitive trust and the moderating role of emotional sensitivity. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on schema congruity theory and the affect infusion model, the study conducted three scenario-based experiments (n = 1,229) using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design that manipulated agent type and language style. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Hayes’ PROCESS macro to test the proposed effects and underlying mechanisms. Findings The study shows that flattery (vs praise) decreases psychological comfort when delivered by human service agents but increases it when delivered by service robots. This interaction effect is mediated by affective and cognitive trust, which are weakened in human-agent encounters yet strengthened in robot-agent encounters. Furthermore, the effect is more pronounced among customers with higher levels of emotional sensitivity. Research limitations/implications The findings extend theory by demonstrating that trust formation in service interactions depends on the congruity between agent type and language style. From a managerial perspective, human employees should emphasize authentic praise to foster customer comfort, whereas service robots may strategically use moderate flattery to enhance customer experiences in routine service encounters. Originality/value This research shifts focus from macro-level technology acceptance to microlevel linguistic dynamics, offering a novel framework for understanding how strategically positive language shapes trust in AI-enabled services.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A person-centered analysis of how hospitality employees cope with customer incivility","authors":"Yanqiao Lei,Misun (Sunny) Kim,Yue Vaughan,Heyao Yu","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-01-2026-0131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-01-2026-0131","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose Customer incivility is a pervasive stressor in hospitality organizations, yet prior research has largely examined coping strategies in isolation. This study aims to examine how frontline hospitality employees combine coping strategies in response to customer incivility and how these configurations relate to well-being and service performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping and Conservation of Resources theory, two studies used latent profile analysis. Study 1 identified coping profiles, while Study 2 replicated them and examined their antecedents and outcomes. Findings Four profiles emerged and were replicated: Problem-Solver, Balancer, Super-Coper and Drifter. Higher incivility intensity increased the likelihood of disengaged or moderate coping, whereas supervisor support promoted more active coping profiles. Practical implications Service organizations can develop targeted coping training and strengthen supervisory support to help employees respond effectively to customer incivility. Originality/value Extending prior profile-based research on emotion regulation, this study identifies broader coping configurations across five strategies. This study also shows how resource-related conditions are associated with these profiles and how the profiles differ in employee vitality and response performance.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"60 1","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circular vs angular: “shaping” consumer responses to robot service failure","authors":"Su Xu,Zhen Yang,Dewen Liu","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-08-2025-1155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-08-2025-1155","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This research aims to examine the effect of robot shape (circular vs angular) on consumer satisfaction in robot service failure contexts, explore the mediating effect of perceived warmth, and the moderating role of robot voice (child voice vs adult voice). Design/methodology/approach A pilot study based on secondary data from Ctrip and five experiments (n = 1287) examined the effect of robot shape on consumer satisfaction (Studies 1, W1, 2a, 2b, 3) and retention intention (Studies 1, 2a), the mediating effect of perceived warmth (Studies 2a, 2b), and the moderating effect of robot voice (Study 3). Findings Compared to angular robots, consumers respond more positively to service failures caused by circular robots. This effect is driven by warmth perception and is diminished when the robot uses a child voice (vs an adult voice). Practical implications This research offers insights for managers in the hospitality industry by showing that deploying circular robots can mitigate consumer dissatisfaction during robot service failures. When the robot shape cannot be easily modified, leveraging auditory cues, such as adopting a child voice for angular robots, can enhance perceived warmth and improve consumer satisfaction. Originality/value This research advances the robot service failure and shape symbolism literature by demonstrating how robot shape influences consumer satisfaction during robot service failures. Moreover, it introduces a multisensory perspective on robot design by revealing a novel cross-modal compensation effect between robot shape and voice.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"23 1","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Customer evaluations of service failures by visibly physically disabled frontline employees: a mixed-method study","authors":"Anupama Prashar,Naman Agarwal","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-01-2026-0078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-01-2026-0078","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how frontline employees’ (FLEs’) visible physical disability status influences customers’ stereotypes and subsequent loyalty. Drawing on the stereotype content model (SCM), we further examine how service failure type (process vs. outcome) moderates the effect of FLE disability status on customer stereotypes and whether communal relationships mediate the relationship between these stereotypes and customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach A sequential mixed-methods approach is used. Semi-structured interviews with 105 customers informed a SCM-based framework, which was then tested through vignette-based experiments with 180 participants. Findings Compared to the no-failure condition, visibly physically disabled FLEs evoke higher perceptions of warmth under outcome-failure conditions, which in turn strengthen communal relationships and customer loyalty to the service provider. This effect is found to be insignificant in process failure relative to the no-failure condition. Research limitations/implications Theoretically, the study extends hospitality research by framing inclusive frontline design as a value-creating driver rather than merely an accessibility or compliance issue. It also shows that disability cues do not consistently mitigate customers’ responses to service failures; their effect depends on failure conditions and stereotypes. For practice, managers should design frontline roles for employees with visible physical disabilities around performance rather than stereotypes and address customer bias in encounters. Originality/value The study conceptualizes inclusive service design as a value-creation mechanism rather than merely an accessibility or compliance issue.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From benevolent leadership to environmental citizenship in the hospitality sector: an affective commitment mediated pathway","authors":"Dorota Grego-Planer,Monika Anna Chodorek,Elisa Rescalvo-Martin,Victor Oluwafemi Olorunsola,Osman M. Karatepe","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-12-2025-1795","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-12-2025-1795","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This paper aimed to propose and test a research model that investigated the nexus between benevolent leadership (BL), affective commitment (AC) and organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) in the hospitality sector. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 372 hotel employees in Poland via a computer-assisted Web interview technique. The hypothesized relationships were gauged using the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings BL boosted AC, which subsequently predicted OCBE. BL affected OCBE via affective internalization of employees’ emotional attachment to the organization instead of through direct behavioral modeling. Originality/value This study adds to the leadership–sustainability research by demonstrating that BL, a non-environmental leadership style, relates to OCBE through employees’ AC, rather than through a direct link. The results underscore AC as a significant internalization mechanism that connects moral leadership with context-specific environmental citizenship rather than direct behavioral relationship.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"29 1","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can digital twins redefine destination management? A socio-technical framework from a machine learning driven systematic review","authors":"Waqas Ali,Cihan Cobanoglu","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-11-2025-1654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-11-2025-1654","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This study aims to systematically map and synthesise the fragmented knowledge on digital twins (DTs) within tourism destination management. It also highlights how DTs can transform destination governance, sustainability practices, crisis management and visitor engagement through real-time simulation and data-driven insights. Design/methodology/approach Following the PRISMA protocol, peer-reviewed studies were systematically collected from three databases (Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect) and analysed using BERTopic, a BERT-based machine learning algorithm for topic modelling. This machine learning based computational literature review approach enabled the identification of hidden thematic patterns across interdisciplinary sources. Findings The analysis revealed four dominant themes: digital transformation and heritage management, crisis management and adaptive resilience, data-driven visitor engagement and sentiment analysis and immersive futures with the metaverse. These themes were synthesised into a novel socio-technical maturity framework that positions DT adoption along two continua: technical complexity (static representation to dynamic simulation) and social integration (centralised control to collaborative governance), thus revealing four developmental levels and their inherent tensions: ownership versus access, automation versus human judgment, personalisation versus surveillance and virtual versus authentic. Practical implications The framework provides DMOs and policymakers with a diagnostic tool to assess their DT maturity, anticipate socio-technical challenges at each level, and strategically guide digital transformation, crisis resilience and visitor engagement. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study pioneers machine learning-driven topic modelling in tourism DT research, offering the first socio-technical framework that conceptualises DTs not merely as technological artefacts but as socio-technical systems, reframing destination management from reactive administration to predictive governance, from physical places to phygital ecosystems and from technology adoption to socio-technical orchestration.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"17 1","pages":"1-26"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Building bonds beyond the event: exploring attendees’ trust in peers and community mechanisms in business events","authors":"Jing Li,Xingyi Zhang,Xiaolong Shao,Heesu Han","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-03-2026-0339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-03-2026-0339","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose Despite the growing role of events in fostering social connections, trust formation within event settings remains underexplored. Prior research tends to examine either peer-based trust or community-based trust in isolation, offering limited insight into how these forms of trust develop simultaneously. Drawing on social support and social capital theories, this study aims to propose a dual-path framework that distinguishes between affective trust in fellow attendees and cognitive trust in the broader event community. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 412 event participants and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the proposed relationships. Findings The results reveal that information support and emotional support significantly enhance affective trust among attendees. Meanwhile, cognitive capital and relational capital positively influence cognitive trust in the event community. The findings confirm the multidimensional nature of trust formation within event contexts. Practical implications The study provides actionable insights for event organizers by highlighting the importance of cultivating supportive environments that facilitate both interpersonal interactions and broader community connections to strengthen trust at multiple levels. Originality/value By integrating social support and social capital perspectives into a unified framework, this research advances theoretical understanding of multidimensional trust formation in event settings and extends existing literature beyond single-level trust conceptualizations.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"1 1","pages":"284-303"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hotel online employee experiences and employee satisfaction and recommendation: an evolutionary stimulus-organism-response perspective","authors":"Zongwei Hu,Xi Chen,Yang Zhang,Jian Ming Luo","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-10-2025-1467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-10-2025-1467","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose Online employee reviews increasingly influence employer reputation and recruitment. Although equity theory suggests that employees evaluate their employment relationship through perceptions of fairness, existing research has largely examined distributive, procedural and interactional fairness as independent predictors of employee outcomes. Consequently, little is known about how these fairness dimensions jointly shape employee satisfaction and recommendation in online review contexts. Drawing on equity theory and the evolutionary SOR framework, this study aims to examine how different configurations of fairness perceptions generate employee satisfaction and recommendation and whether the two outcomes emerge through similar or distinct pathways. Design/methodology/approach Using 14,475 Glassdoor employee reviews from the hotel sector, latent Dirichlet allocation identifies job-related experience themes and maps them to distributive, procedural and interactional fairness. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis identifies configurations leading to satisfaction and recommendation. Findings Employee satisfaction arises from multiple fairness configurations rather than any single job attribute. Four orientations emerge. Pragmatism and utilitarianism emphasize tangible returns, idealism reflects institutional expectations and perfectionism requires comprehensive fairness across dimensions. Recommendation does not directly follow satisfaction. Although satisfaction functions as a core condition, employees recommend their organization only when certain fairness dimensions compensate for others. This indicates a configurational evaluation process rather than a simple linear response. Originality/value This study shows that online employee reviews represent public evaluative decisions rather than simple reflections of internal attitudes. It refines equity theory by revealing complementary and substitutive relationships among fairness dimensions and identifies a boundary condition of the SOR framework in which behavioral endorsement is not solely mediated by satisfaction. Practically, improving a single job attribute is insufficient because balanced fairness perceptions are necessary to encourage employee advocacy.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"76 1","pages":"2952-2971"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI-powered hotel performance prediction: a multimodal data approach","authors":"Ningqiao Li,Minwoo Lee,Agnes DeFranco,Jae Kyeong Kim,Xinzhe Li","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-11-2025-1744","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-11-2025-1744","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose Hotel-generated social media content functions as key market-facing signals for prospective consumers seeking information to support decision-making, while property-level information serves as structural signals. Despite their growing relevance, limited research has examined the roles of these signals in forecasting hotel performance. This study aims to address this gap. In particular, this study investigates the joint effect of multimodal data (i.e. social media visual and textual content alongside property-level numerical information) on hotel performance prediction through a comparison of multiple machine learning models. Design/methodology/approach To achieve these goals, the present study uses an ML-driven predictive modeling approach by employing multimodal data such as social media photos, captions and financial data for major hotel properties’ business performance prediction. Findings Results show that the Random Forest model outperforms others in predicting both hotel occupancy and room revenue. Among all features, image aesthetics emerged as the most influential predictor of occupancy, while total marketing expenditure was the strongest predictor of revenue. These findings extend the application of signaling theory in the hotel performance forecasting context and offer practitioners a practical methodological framework for utilizing multi-modal data and ML to monitor and enhance hotel performance. Originality/value The present study contributes to tourism and hospitality literature by analyzing how textual and pictorial cues influence consumer decisions. This study introduces a novel framework for predictive modeling, employing deep learning models to enhance predictive power and stability. By extracting diverse features from social media content and financial data, the study offers deeper insights into consumer decision-making processes. Practically, it helps hotels forecast occupancy rates and total room revenue, aiding in strategic resource allocation in areas such as human resources, marketing expenses, communication and social media advertising. The findings enable managers to identify critical factors for higher performance, allowing timely adjustments to maximize overall revenue. These improvements will enhance the competitiveness and long-term viability of hotel properties.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"30 1","pages":"2931-2951"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An employee lens on the dark and bright sides of customer dissatisfaction","authors":"Mengxuan Li,Mingyun Huai,Xingyu Wang,Yitong Yu","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-12-2025-1846","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-12-2025-1846","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose Customer dissatisfaction has long been studied in the hospitality marketing literature for its powerful impacts on customer outcomes, but it has rarely been examined from the perspective of hospitality employees. Drawing on the theory of workplace anxiety, this research aims to explore how perceived customer dissatisfaction impacts employees’ emotional state of anxiety and subsequent behavioral responses, and how perceived leader empowerment functions as a motivational contingency that shapes these responses. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 employed an experimental causal-chain approach using a recall paradigm to support causal relationships between perceived customer dissatisfaction and two behaviors through workplace anxiety. In Study 2, an experience sampling methodology design with U.S. hospitality frontline employees was conducted via CloudResearch. Findings Perceived customer dissatisfaction increases employees’ workplace anxiety, which in turn, leads to voice behavior. Moreover, employees who perceive higher leader empowerment are less likely to withdraw when experiencing workplace anxiety. Practical implications Organizations can turn customer dissatisfaction into opportunities for learning and improvement by recognizing workplace anxiety as a motivator for positive behavior and by empowering employees to manage their emotions and respond proactively. Such practices can help build a more resilient, adaptive and productive workforce. Originality/value This research shifts customer dissatisfaction from a customer-focused to an employee-focused perspective. Customer dissatisfaction can be perceived as a high job demand that triggers employees’ workplace anxiety and results in divergent behavioral responses, namely, voice and withdrawal, contingent on leader empowerment.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"10 1","pages":"2776-2795"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}