Journal Articles by Brian E M King
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 2021
Participating in associations can benefit professional development. Nevertheless, hospitality and... more Participating in associations can benefit professional development. Nevertheless, hospitality and tourism (H&T) researchers have focused on understanding conference attendance, neglecting the role and functions of the associations organizing such conferences. This study investigated membership and involvement in professional associations by H&T academics, specifically the world’s leading scholars, and the factors motivating and inhibiting their participation. A questionnaire was designed and distributed amongst “leading scholars,” defined as the most prolific H&T scholars since 2000 and the chief editors of H&T journals. Findings revealed ICHRIE, TTRA, APTA, and CAUTHE as the most popular professional associations. Some notable cases of past, current, and future membership patterns were observed. Leading academics’ motivations to join associations included: personal growth, diverse opportunities, skill enhancement, and future industry development. The constraining factors of association participation were also identified. For the “most important” association for their professional development, respondents were its member for an average of 16.6 years, performing various roles and utilizing association services. By identifying the reasons for leading scholars to continue/discontinue their memberships, this study helps professional associations understand member needs. Moreover, graduate students and junior faculty members can learn how leading academics engage with H&T associations for networking and developmental purposes.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 2021
This study explores the negative disposition of many hospitality higher education faculty toward ... more This study explores the negative disposition of many hospitality higher education faculty toward MOOCs, an increasingly prominent delivery mode in pedagogical discourse which potentially enriches student learning. Such enrichment is particularly welcome in the case of hospitality because of its diverse stakeholders and student learning needs. The researchers conducted an indepth and qualitative exploration with faculty members in mainland China. They combined the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) approach and theory of motivation to propose five dimensions that account for groupings of resistance to deploying MOOCs. These are attributes and complexities, perceived incompatibility, unsuitability for trial, and lack of observational capacity. The study contributes to knowledge by examining the perspectives of faculty who have the capacity to constrain the deployment of MOOCs. The authors suggest that faculty members should be encouraged to embrace MOOCs as an innovative medium for learning and teaching.
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2021
Influencer marketing has become a powerful channel for brand promotion and market expansion in th... more Influencer marketing has become a powerful channel for brand promotion and market expansion in the hospitality industry. However, those responsible for implementing influencer marketing campaigns are susceptible to the “myth of viewability” and rely on the Cost Per View (CPV) evaluation metric, rather than the more appropriate Cost Per Action (CPA). The current research explores the aforementioned myth from a hospitality management perspective by identifying the types of image (or photo) which attract more audience commentary or liking. A qualitative research approach is adopted involving two experiments with influencer pairs across the restaurant context in Taipei, Taiwan. We selected influencers Q and S as our manipulated group. In sharing images on their social media platform, it was found that they make greater use of personal than of food related images. The opposite was the case for the controlled group - influencers X and A – who shared more food than personal images. The researchers tracked viewer responses and then actions towards influencer postings to determine (a) which influencer approach draws more views and (b) the costs that are attributable to views and/or actions. They drew upon the findings to formulate an Owner-Influencer Matrix, a strategic planning tool and framework that helps owners and influencers to optimize influencer marketing. It is concluded that interactions between influencers and business owners should be beneficial to both parties. This empirical study may provide business owners and social media influencers with insights about communicating the respective brand values of their counterparts and designing sponsorship collaborations with a capacity to generate the desired consumer responses.
Hospital Topics, 2021
Although strategy implementation has profound implications for delivering efficient service, it h... more Although strategy implementation has profound implications for delivering efficient service, it has been largely neglected in the healthcare management literature. This study explores the barriers to effective implementation of strategic plans in healthcare organizations. To achieve this end, empirical data were collected from 185 hospital managers in Turkey using a survey-based methodology. A descriptive analysis was undertaken of the survey responses to determine the most important barriers to strategy implementation. The most significant barriers undermining strategy implementation efforts were found to be: low employee motivation, an exclusive focus on financial performance and lack of consensus among decision makers.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2021
The authors investigate the psychophysiological correlates of loss aversion in hotel choice. Cons... more The authors investigate the psychophysiological correlates of loss aversion in hotel choice. Consumers are frequently found reluctant to shift their choice to a subsequent option from their first encountered hotel. The concept of loss aversion can explain this ordering effect. However, there is a knowledge gap about how exactly loss aversion leads to such inertia. The present study provides a more direct measurement of this decision process by examining electrodermal activities and reaction times when consumers are making hotel choices. The choice data provides evidence of reluctance to switch to higher quality hotels, though not to lower rated properties. Such a switch is found emotionally arousing as indicated by consumers’ electrodermal activity. The reaction time data further suggests that the swiftness of such decisions to “trade up” is associated with the greater vigilance and attention, rather than a cognitive conflict caused by the difficult tradeoff between the hotels.
Journal of Travel Research, 2021
This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate Muslim traveler experiences of inconvenie... more This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate Muslim traveler experiences of inconvenience while visiting Korea, combining focus groups and semistructured interviews (a qualitative approach), and questionnaire-based surveying (a quantitative approach). The authors investigated the reliability and validity of a customized structural model by merging covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and partial least squares SEM (PLS-SEM). There were five salient and observable constructs which cause inconvenience for Muslims when visiting Korea. The results showed significant effects on the part of the identified constructs on affective experience, satisfaction, desire, behavior intention, and place attachment. The study findings can guide Korean tourism stakeholders in tackling the issues causing inconvenience for Muslim travelers, as well as informing authorities in other countries and territories.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2021
This study examines Africa-related tourism and hospitality literature over the past 35 years (198... more This study examines Africa-related tourism and hospitality literature over the past 35 years (1984 to 2019), taking account of themes, methodologies, geographies, and collaboration structures. The authors identified and analyzed 1,182 published articles from 27 journals using advanced bibliometric to provide a deeper analysis than has been provided previously of tourism and hospitality scholarship in Africa. This article offers an up-to-date systematic overview of Africa-related tourism knowledge production and dissemination. Prominent features of the knowledge domain are discussed—destination management, travel psychology and sociology, sustainability, sociocultural issues, economy, tourism investment and economy, accommodation and hotels in Africa. The authors discussed further research, current and emerging tourism issues, and more diverse approaches toward research focus, methodologies, and geographical structures.
Developing a slow city tourism evaluation index: a Delphi-AHP review of Cittaslow requirements
Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2021
This study proposes and verifies the slow city tourism evaluation index (SCTEI). SCTEI offers sch... more This study proposes and verifies the slow city tourism evaluation index (SCTEI). SCTEI offers scholars and practitioners the capacity to assess the attractiveness and/or performance of slow cities in the context of sustainable tourism. The study participants consisted of a panel of slow city and sustainable development experts. These professionals were engaged in a Delphi-analytic hierarchy process for the purposes of scale development and verification. Four rounds of surveying were conducted and generated a multi-dimensional structure, consisting of seven domains, 18 subdomains, and 60 items. Locality, conviviality, and education were outstanding amongst the seven domains. The newly developed SCTEI provides practical guidelines for ascertaining a slow city’s sustainable tourism performance and offers a standardized instrument for comparison and benchmarking purposes.
Tourism, Culture & Communication, 2001
The emerging Chinese domestic and outbound tourism markets may be viewed as part of broader proce... more The emerging Chinese domestic and outbound tourism markets may be viewed as part of broader processes of historical change and development in China. Tourism is not a new stage in China's economic development, but is a renaissance and reinvigoration of established economic activity that has roots dating far back into history. History has influenced tourism growth in China in terms of both traveler motivations and destination choice. Literature has influenced perspectives of attractive destinations within China and the Chinese diaspora has influenced international travel. This article examines the significance of China's travel history for the current and future development of tourism in China.
Tourism Recreation Research, 2021
This paper reviews existing concepts and frameworks to propose a business model innovation proces... more This paper reviews existing concepts and frameworks to propose a business model innovation process (BMIP) applicable to tourism businesses. A comprehensive literature review and content analysis is conducted by selecting, studying and coding applicable articles. The authors have reviewed 41 business model innovation (BMI) related papers, of which 14 are BMIP specific and four examine the phases of innovation in detail. Noting the lack of scholarly resolution about the most appropriate approach to business model innovation, the paper seeks to enhance current theories. A fifth and additional step is proposed to accommodate an essential extension of the existing model into the tourism context – continuous evaluation and improvement. The proposal offers business leaders the potential to benefit from a comprehensive understanding of the business model innovation process, including how to adapt to new conditions.
Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 2021
Diaspora tourism offers potential benefits for emerging African destinations that are rarely asso... more Diaspora tourism offers potential benefits for emerging African destinations that are rarely associated from traditional mass tourism - preserving historic sites, creating a sense of place and increasing awareness of the dark history of slavery, particularly amongst upcoming generations. Noting the importance of managing diaspora tourism effectively, this in-depth empirical investigation identifies whether the motives of diaspora tourists explain their evaluations of Ghana as a destination, satisfaction, place attachment, and future travel intentions. The study concludes that four of the five motivational dimensions have a significant influence on evaluations of the diaspora homeland destination, with escape being the exception. The study contributes to knowledge by providing a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of diaspora tourism.
Tourism Recreation Research, 2021
The photographs that contemporary travellers disseminate quickly and effortlessly to a global onl... more The photographs that contemporary travellers disseminate quickly and effortlessly to a global online audience are a valuable resource for scholars and for practitioners seeking to shape destination image. They merit more in-depth understanding. However, viewers are detached from the process of producing photos for online dissemination, thereby limiting insights provided by examinations of what the photos were intended to represent. The current authors pursue deeper understanding by studying visual effects at ‘face value’, rather than interpreting intended meanings. The authors consider the visual effects of narratives that longer stay tourists to Hong Kong share on social networking sites, including content, colour, spatial organization and expressiveness elements. A longitudinal and non-representational research approach is adopted to address the disjuncture and separation between the photo production and reception processes. It is concluded that tourist photographs: a) form groupings around compositional elements; b) change in content and composition over the course of an extended visit and c) generate identifiable visual impacts, based on their compositions. Destination authorities can develop emotion-inducing visual compositions with online resonance by considering the aesthetics of tourist photographs.
Current Issues in Tourism, 2020
In a globalized world, the connection between studying abroad and career development has been wid... more In a globalized world, the connection between studying abroad and career development has been widely recognized. This study analyses how students contemplating overseas study evaluate prospective destinations and institutions. It fills a knowledge gap by finding that students are pulled by both institutions and destinations and are subject to an internal push – destinations and hence tourism plays a mediating role in study abroad decision-making. The authors gathered primary data from inbound and outbound graduate students in Paris, France and used Structural Equation Modelling for the analysis. Drawing upon social influence theory, it was concluded that subjective norms are primarily derived from friends, family and online comments, rather than experts and rankings and influence internal push and destination pull, though not institutional pull. The strength of the mediation depends on whether the level of the pull motivation is higher or lower. The implications are discussed for multiple stakeholders including destination management organizations, higher education institutions and students and families.
Journal of Travel Research, 2020
Understanding how travelers evaluate their overall trip experience is important to travel researc... more Understanding how travelers evaluate their overall trip experience is important to travel research. Psychologists suggested that these retrospective evaluations are often made by temporally integrating multiple episodes following simple heuristics that draw on key episodes only, typically the peak and end episodes, rather than considering every episodic evaluation, weighted by its respective duration. To test these aggregation rules, a survey adapting the Day Reconstruction Method was conducted in 2017 among 691 travelers to Macau. Our findings reveal that summary evaluations are better predicted using an arithmetic average of all episodic evaluations, instead of the peak-end rule. This may be explained by the lengthier and more complex nature of travel, compared with other extended experiences that psychologists have investigated. The immediate theoretical implications are that (1) aggregate trip evaluations are influenced by most episodes, and (2) the relative duration of individual episodes is disregarded. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2020
This article provides a timely exploration of the relationship between hospitality employee servi... more This article provides a timely exploration of the relationship between hospitality employee service sabotage and customer deviant behaviors in Taiwan. The authors also examine the mediating role of relational quality and the moderating role of corporate reputation. The proposed research framework was tested using data from 226 customers of casual dining restaurants who responded to a questionnaire-based survey that was administered in northern Taiwan. The results indicate that employee service sabotage is positively related to customer deviant behaviors and potentially increases the incidence of the latter. Moreover, the relationship between employee service sabotage and customer deviant behaviors is mediated by relational quality, including satisfaction and commitment. It was found that the relationship between employee service sabotage and customer deviant behaviors is negatively moderated by corporate reputation. Employee service sabotage has less effect on customer deviant behaviors when customers perceive corporate reputation more positively. The study contributes to knowledge by proposing an empirically developed and tested conceptual model that offers an enhanced understanding of the relationship between employee service sabotage and customer deviant behaviors.
Journal of Vacation Marketing, 2020
The sponsoring of mega-events enables organizations to capitalize on the power of sport to stimul... more The sponsoring of mega-events enables organizations to capitalize on the power of sport to stimulate passionate brand identifications among attendees. However, a critical issue that has not been addressed by scholars is whether the effects of sponsoring mega-events such as the Olympics by a foreign brand will resemble the equivalent sponsorship by a domestic counterpart. In particular, few scholars have investigated attendee perceptions of congruities between event sponsor and self-sponsor brand favorability emanating from an overseas country with where there are longstanding tensions and from home. This study investigated attendees at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, a city with a long history of patriotic nationalism directed against Japan. The researchers identify that self-domestic sponsor congruity mediates the impact of patriotism among domestic attendees on their favorability toward domestic brands. Self-foreign sponsor congruity moderates the impact of event liking on favorability, even in the case of sponsors from a country with hostile connotations. The study has managerial implications for targeting and localization strategies by sponsor brands both domestic and overseas. It is proposed that foreign brand sponsors of mega-events should pursue local brand adaption through the incorporation local narratives with which residents can identify.
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2020
This study identifies key elements of the so-called host-gaze by investigating how Hong Kong hote... more This study identifies key elements of the so-called host-gaze by investigating how Hong Kong hotel employees view guests emanating from a key source market-India. Front office and housekeeping staff evaluated their interactions with guests, particularly in the case of those from India. The researchers identified four elements of the host "gaze", namely: (1) Initial Gaze; (2) Communication Gaze; (3) Customer Behavior Gaze and (4) Distinguishing Gaze. The authors reveal that though the gaze empowers employees to exercise control over their behaviors, manipulative behaviors increase the likelihood of workplace deviance. Drawing on the principles of emotional labor, the researchers affirm the importance of cultural and emotional intelligence for the professional demeanor and development of hospitality employees.
Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 2020
There has been exponential growth in the power exercised by social media in hospitality and touri... more There has been exponential growth in the power exercised by social media in hospitality and tourism. The power of social media platforms as stakeholders has been widely accepted by both academics and industry practitioners. However, to the best of the current authors’ knowledge, there has been no conceptualization of the power attributable to social media. On this basis, it is both timely and necessary to establish theoretical grounds that explain the concept of social media power and its application in hospitality and tourism. A hierarchical model that characterizes social media power is constructed in the present article by bringing together fundamental power discourses, media effect theories, and technology determinism. The authors identify definitions and sources of social media power at different levels of the power pyramid and present various technological mechanisms that trigger such sources. This conceptual study proposes theoretical foundations for future research and theory-building.
Journal of China Tourism Research, 2020
While the older population generally and the older workforce in particular has been growing in mo... more While the older population generally and the older workforce in particular has been growing in most countries, scholars have not explored how the work performance of this group is affected by stereotypical views towards them. This study aims to explore older service employee (OSE) perceptions of aging stereotypes that are attributed to them by their colleagues and customers and to investigate their respective impacts on OSE customer orientations. Methodologically, this study adopts a quantitative approach and establishes a structural equation model that applies partial least squares. The findings show that OSE customer orientations are negatively impacted by the aging stereotypes of their colleagues. However, no significant relationship is evident between OSE customer orientations and the aging stereotypes attributed by customers. This study is one of the first to explore aging stereotypes in hospitality work settings and to model a relationship between aging stereotypes and OSE work performance. Practical contributions concerning the creation and maintenance of an inclusive work environment are also discussed.
Tourism Recreation Research, 2020
In their capacity as performative cultural assets located in destinations, festivals offer visito... more In their capacity as performative cultural assets located in destinations, festivals offer visitors potentially convivial and memorable experiences. Though previous studies have examined the psychologies of festival attendees, few have considered the perspective of festival stakeholders towards the co-creation of cultural value. The present study examines the case of a traditional festival that epitomises intangible cultural heritage – the Feast of Na Tcha in Macau. The researchers examine how organisers, performers, government officials, local shop owners and tourists play roles in co-creating value for the festival. The paper examines an overlooked dimension – contributions from multiple stakeholders to the multifaceted concept of value in cultural festival settings. The findings present a value co-creation paradigm that may inform prospective creative enhancements to the festival experience.
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Journal Articles by Brian E M King