International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management最新文献

{"title":"Navigating digital transformation in bed and breakfasts: a grounded theory framework from Italian case studies","authors":"Andrea Chiarini,Surajit Bag,Muhammad Ismail Hossain","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-07-2025-1118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-07-2025-1118","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This study aims to examine how bed & breakfasts (B&Bs) navigate digital transformation under resource constraints, focusing on technology adoption, customer experience and organizational adaptation in micro-hospitality. Design/methodology/approach The authors use grounded theory to analyze 31 interviews with owners of 55 Italian B&Bs already undergoing digital transformation, using a Gioia-style data structure to present the coding progression transparently. Findings The authors introduce guest-centric digital synergy: digital transformation as a paradox-driven capability system. Six propositions explain this capability system. They show how digital empathy, sociotechnical integration, cooperation and trust-based governance align technology, market demands and the hospitality ethos. Research limitations/implications The qualitative design and focus on Italian B&Bs limit generalizability; cultural and regulatory contexts may shape outcomes differently elsewhere. Future research should test the proposed framework quantitatively and extend comparisons across countries to validate portability. Studies on inclusivity and labor dynamics are also needed to address risks of job displacement and digital divide. Originality/value This research contributes to theory by reframing digital transformation in Italian micro-hospitality as a capability-dependent, contextually embedded process. It moves beyond descriptive accounts to offer a systemic perspective that integrates paradox management, cooperative strategies and sociotechnical design, providing a foundation for empirical testing and actionable guidance for small hospitality firms.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"22 1","pages":"1-24"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124266","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":"Caught in the line of fire: tariffs and the global hospitality workforce","authors":"Edmund Goh,Richard N.S. Robinson","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-02-2026-0181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-02-2026-0181","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This critical reflection article critically examines how contemporary tariff regimes, particularly reciprocal and retaliatory trade measures, are reshaping the global hospitality workforce. Moving beyond traditional economic analyses of tariffs, by developing three propositions, it foregrounds labour dynamics to explore how trade policy functions as an indirect but powerful determinant of employment stability, mobility, equity and workforce development in hospitality. Design/methodology/approach This critical reflection paper synthesises interdisciplinary literature from international trade, tourism economics, labour studies, hospitality management and shock/crisis literature. The macro-meso-micro analytical framework is used to conceptualise how tariff policies cascade from geopolitical and institutional contexts to firm-level responses and individual worker outcomes. Findings The analysis reveals that tariffs generate second- and third-order labour effects that are largely absent from trade and tourism policy debates. These include heightened labour-market volatility, suppressed wages, growth in informal and precarious employment, constrained international labour mobility, weakened global talent pipelines and underinvestment in workforce training. These impacts disproportionately affect migrant workers, women and early-career professionals, while intensifying regional and demographic inequalities, particularly in tourism-dependent and developing economies. Practical implications The paper outlines forward-looking interventions for firms, industry bodies and policymakers, including regionalised supply-chain strategies, investment in workforce multiskilling, inclusive adoption of technology, strengthened policy-industry coalitions and scenario-based workforce planning. It argues for embedding labour mobility, skills recognition and workforce protection into future trade frameworks to enhance sectoral resilience. Originality/value This study reframes tariffs as labour-shaping mechanisms rather than purely macroeconomic tools, offering one of the first workforce-centred conceptualisations of trade policy impacts in hospitality. By repositioning the hospitality workforce at the centre of tariff discourse, the paper advances theory, informs policy and provides a foundation for future empirical research on trade-labour-tourism interdependencies.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"30 1","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124267","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":"Synthetic data in research: expert perceptions and a protocol for responsible GenAI use","authors":"Tarik Dogru,Makarand Amrish Mody,Anil Bilgihan,A.George Assaf","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-02-2026-0167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-02-2026-0167","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the academic community’s perspectives and experiences regarding the academic, practical and ethical implications of using synthetic data generated by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in academic research. Design/methodology/approach The authors document and analyze perspectives from 32 distinguished hospitality and tourism scholars, including senior professors, journal editors and methodological specialists from around the world. Findings Hospitality and tourism scholars predominantly express a sentiment of caution regarding the use of synthetic data. Accordingly, they argue that GenAI-generated synthetic data cannot serve as a complete replacement for data obtained through traditional methods involving real human participants or other real-world applications. The use of synthetic data might be valuable as a supplementary tool, for example, in pilot testing, scale development and robustness tests, provided that it is used with complete transparency and strict human verification throughout these stages. Originality/value Drawing on expert consensus, they propose the GUARD Protocol as a perception-informed framework for responsible synthetic data use, intended as a starting point for community deliberation rather than a validated standard. This study makes an important contribution to the extant literature by establishing a comprehensive boundary condition (the GUARD Protocol) for the use of GenAI-generated synthetic data in academic research, hence moving the current debate beyond scattered commentary and synthesizing scholars’ perspectives into a unified framework.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"7 1","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124146","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":"Robotic servers, baristas and bartenders: a systematic review and framework","authors":"Abraham Terrah,Yeasun Chung,Romisa Amirehteshami","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-03-2026-0320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-03-2026-0320","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose As robots proliferate across food and beverage (F&B) services, from robotic servers and baristas to kitchen assistants and bartenders, understanding human–robot interaction in these contexts has become critical for both industry and academia. The purpose of this study is to synthesize existing literature on service robots within F&B contexts. Design/methodology/approach The review uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and the Context–Intervention–Mechanisms–Outcomes (CIMO) framework to extract and synthesize findings from 180 peer-reviewed studies. Findings The synthesis identifies five key themes: robot attributes and design; value creation; service failure and recovery; consumer and service format contingencies; and barriers to adoption. Three critical gaps emerged: insufficient differentiation between restaurant types, lack of specification of robot service roles and limited integration of different value perspectives specific to the nature of F&B businesses. Research limitations/implications This review advances human–robot interaction research by identifying four categories of robotic intervention cues (role, positioning, design and communication), which provide a theoretically grounded architecture for organizing future research in F&B contexts. Theoretical gaps and future research directions are also provided, especially with regard to beverage and culinary production, value for money, price fairness and robo-tipping. Originality/value This review establishes F&B robotics as a theoretically distinct stream within hospitality and tourism service robot research and offers a CIMO-based framework for explaining how robotized service encounters shape consumer responses in F&B contexts.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"329-348"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148934211","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":"When anger delivers: leader anger expression and employee performance in hospitality","authors":"Younes Bordbar,Wen Chang,Brian Edward Melville King","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-10-2025-1497","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-10-2025-1497","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose The expression of anger is a much-observed phenomenon in hospitality workplaces. Most previous research has associated anger with destructive outcomes and devoted less attention to its constructive potential. This study aims to investigate both the positive and negative consequences of leader anger expression, along with the moderating role of ethical leadership. Drawing on the emotions as social information (EASI) model, it examines how leader expressions of anger and ethical leadership jointly shape employee job crafting, performance and emotional responses. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 296 employees in the US hospitality and tourism sector using a two-wave time-lagged survey design. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was deployed to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings It is shown that there is a direct increase in job crafting because of both controlled and outward leader anger, thereby enhancing task performance. Controlled anger reduces employee anger and indirectly improves job crafting and performance, whereas outward anger increases employee anger, weakening its constructive effects. Ethical leadership weakens the calming effect of controlled anger though strengthens the positive relationship between outward anger and employee anger. Practical implications As they engage in the ongoing pursuit of improvements in business performance, leaders should engage proactively in managing anger and reducing its incidence among employees. Ethical leaders should be aware that their displays of emotion may have unintended consequences if they provoke employee anger. Originality/value This study provides theoretical contributions to research on leadership and emotions in hospitality and tourism by advancing a context-dependent understanding of leader expressions of anger. It offers practical insights for managers on how ethical leadership affects employees’ emotional perceptions, underlining the merit of adapting leadership styles to specific contexts.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"304-328"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148934212","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":"Perceived social media agility and consumer responses: the roles of consumer experience and media richness orientation","authors":"Fatih Celik,Anand Jhawar,Blend Ibrahim,Sameer Hosany","doi":"10.1108/ijchm-11-2025-1612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-11-2025-1612","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose Drawing on uses and gratifications theory, the stimulus-organism-response model and media richness theory, this study aims to examine how perceived social media agility (PSMA) influences electronic word-of-mouth and booking intentions directly and indirectly through consumer experience and how media richness orientation (MRO) moderates these effects. Design/methodology/approach Three scenario-based online experiments used a single-factor, between-subjects design to test the proposed model. Participants were recruited from Türkiye (n = 154), India (n = 188), and United States through Prolific (n = 211). Findings PSMA positively influences electronic word-of-mouth and booking intentions, both directly and indirectly via consumer experience. These effects are stronger among consumers with greater MRO, providing support for the proposed moderation and conditional indirect effects. Practical implications Hotel managers should strengthen social media agility by delivering timely, personalized and rich interactions that enhance consumer experience and encourage favorable consumer responses. Incorporating consumers’ MRO can further refine targeting and optimize engagement strategies. Originality/value The study conceptualizes and empirically validates PSMA in hotel settings and identifies consumer experience and MRO as the psychological process and contextual boundary conditions explaining how and when PSMA influences consumer responses.","PeriodicalId":13744,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management","volume":"17 1","pages":"1-26"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148934223","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":"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}