1984 research outputs found
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Sticktion: Assessing Memory for the Customer Experience
No full textIn the quest for better service design, hospitality and service firms have often been frustrated to find that service experiences that are based on what customers say they want are not always successful. A psychological analysis of this phenomenon suggests the following premises: (1) Customers’ memory of an experience fades quickly; (2) customers’ memory of an experience comprises many sub-experiences; (3) customers’ memories of experiences are multidimensional and unintuitive; and (4) consumers cannot accurately predict what they will learn or remember. The goal of an experience design is to create a series of sub-experiences that will “stick” with the customer. This “sticktion” analysis is applied to the practical challenge of redesigning the customer experience at Pizza Hut UK. This consumer research provides a test of the four premises and an application of the underlying sticktion principles. Surveys of Pizza Hut customers found that the existing experience had its bright spots but was generally forgettable. Not only could customers not predict what they would remember about the experience, but one week after visiting the restaurant, the customers also filled in memory gaps with details that did not appear on their initial description of the visit. Even more troublesome was the fact that the invented details tended to be negative. To fill these gaps, the researchers tested specific aspects of the experience that would “stick” and included those in the new restaurant concepts. Using this approach, the chain was able to roll out new concepts that met with initial favorable results
The Effect of Tourism Clusters on U.S. Hotel Performance
No full textA cluster is a geographical concentration of interrelated firms. Cluster theory states that the synergies created inside the cluster (by the interactions between firms that compete and those that collaborate) enhance the productivity and innovation of firms and therefore their economic performance. While manufacturing industries have been widely studied from the clustering perspective, service clusters and specifically touristic clusters have received less attention. In this paper, we identify U.S. touristic clusters using a concentration measure, the Location Quotient. Then we check whether hotels located in touristic clusters obtain higher economic results than those hotels located in areas where the level of touristic-related business concentration does not get the critical mass to consider it a cluster (instead of reducing their benefits due to the high level of competitors nearby). Our results find significant differences between the two sets of hotels. The effect is stronger for subsegments of hotels based on their star category, location, and management structure. Specifically, we demonstrate that the differences are more pronounced within luxury and upscale hotel categories and within chain-managed hotels. The differences are less important in resort and airport locations than in small-metro/town, urban, and suburban areas. These results have important location implications for managers. They also contribute to understanding that economies of agglomeration lead to benefits from being located closely and in highly concentrated industries. But there is still a lot of research needed to better understand the relations between cooperation and competition within touristic clusters and how these enhance the economic performance of hotels
Using REITs to Invest in Utility Scale Solar Projects
No full text[Excerpt] Public policy in the form of Renewable Portfolio Standards, rising electricity costs, and a sharp decline in upfront costs for commercial and utility scale solar power projects in recent years have allowed for the rapid growth of new solar power installations, and with them, a new opportunity for real estate investors. In this article we discuss solutions to one challenge in the growth of this asset class, securing a viable public financing structure through the utilization of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that will allow large scale investment to take place and the cost of capital to fall
Who’s in Charge Now? The Decision Autonomy of Hotel General Managers
Get PDFThe general manager (GM) is the key position in a hotel, but the changing structure of the industry has altered the scope of the GM’s decision-making autonomy. In many hotels, the GM is an employee of a hotel operating firm and is effectively an agent of the operator or owner (and sometimes both parties). These principals have authority over several aspects of hotel operation, although the GM also has responsibility. A study of the GM’s role and authority in 115 upscale European hotels finds a mixed picture in decision autonomy, depending on the individual’s experience and education, as well as whether the hotel is independent or chain managed. Overall, independent GMs have greater autonomy in their properties than chain GMs, and highly experienced managers are often given greater autonomy by independent owners, while operating companies give greater autonomy to GMs who offer a combination of education and experience. With regard to individual functional areas, chain GMs have relatively greater authority in human resources, marketing, and strategy but limited autonomy in finance and operations
Sound Off #1 (Industry Professional Response): The Institutionalization of Single Family Homes
Get PDFThe single family home rental market has always been a very significant part of our housing market and national economy; however, the fragmentation among “mom and pop” owners has resulted in little centralized data, research or attention focused on this sector. The recent recession has changed that. An emerging institutionalized market for rental single family homes is rapidly developing, and that genie is unlikely to go back into the bottle due to both cyclical and structural changes in our markets
Choosing Union Representation: The Role of Attitudes and Emotions
Get PDFIn the United States, most unions are recognized by a majority vote of employees through union representation elections administered by the government. Most empirical studies of individual voting behavior during union representation elections use a rational choice model. Recently, however, some have posited that voting is often influenced by emotions. We evaluate competing hypotheses about the determinants of union voting behavior by using data collected from a 2010 representation election at Delta Air Lines, a US-based company. In addition to the older rational choice framework, multiple regression results provide support for an emotional choice model. Positive feelings toward the employer are statistically significantly related to voting ‘no’ in a representation election, while positive feelings toward the union are related to a ‘yes’ vote. Effect sizes for the emotion variables were generally larger than those for the rational choice variables, suggesting that emotions may play a key role in representation election outcomes
Audience Heterogeneity and the Effectiveness of Market Signals: How to Overcome Liabilities of Foreignness in Film Exports?
No full textThis study extends research on the importance of market signals in international markets for cultural products by examining not only when market signals are important but also what types of market signals are most important to which audiences. Specifically, we argue that audience heterogeneity influences the effectiveness of commercial performance and artistic acclaim as market signals in international film markets. Audience heterogeneity refers to the differences in the cultural knowledge and preferences of domestic and foreign consumers (end audiences) and product specialization of domestic and foreign distributors (intermediary audiences). Our empirical setting is the European film industry. We use a large sample of films produced and distributed domestically and internationally in Europe between 2004 and 2009. We find that domestic commercial performance and film festival participation increase international film success, but also that their effects depend on the cultural distance between countries and the use of major or independent distribution in the domestic and foreign markets
Insights on Hospitality, Retailing, and Commercial Real Estate: 2014 Cornell Retail Real Estate Roundtable Proceedings
Get PDFUndeniably, the retail industry spectrum is broad,” said roundtable chair Peng Liu, as he opened the inaugural retail roundtable, held in New York City in June 2014. An associate professor of real estate at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Liu added that real estate spans “from the overall economy and retail market trends to technology innovation and big data; and from retail leasing negotiations to shopping center investments and financing. The retail industry is an asset-intensive business with real estate playing a critical role.” Continued growth of internet-based commerce is one source of this phenomenon, and the rise of the internet has also created a new framework for many retailers, in which electronic operations and those at physical stores are blended with each other, as demanded by the customer
On the Price Comovement of U.S. Residential Real Estate Markets
No full textWe investigate the comovement among Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for 14 metropolitan areas between 1992 and 2008. We define the portion of this comovement deemed as fundamental (excessive) as the covariation that can (cannot) be attributed to common fundamental factors directly influencing real estate prices. We find that i) comovement among these markets considerably increased over the sample period, especially in the late 1990s; ii) this increase is mostly attributable to underlying systematic real and financial factors, consistent with a greater fundamental integration of those markets; and iii) excess comovement is a less important factor than commonly believed. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of U.S. real estate prices over the last two decades and the ongoing credit crisis
All-Pay Auctions with Pre- and Post-Bidding Options
No full textMotivated by the emergence of online penny or pay-to-bid auctions, in this study, we analyze the operational consequences of all-pay auctions competing with fixed list price stores. In all-pay auctions, bidders place bids, and highest bidder wins. Depending on the auction format, the winner pays either the amount of their bid or that of the second-highest bid. All losing bidders forfeit their bids, regardless of the auction format. Bidders may visit the store, both before and after bidding, and buy the item at the fixed list price. In a modified version, we consider a setting where bidders can use their sunk bid as a credit towards buying the item from the auctioneer at a fixed price (different from the list price). We characterize a symmetric equilibrium in the bidding/buying strategy and derive optimal list prices for both the seller and auctioneer to maximize expected revenue. We consider two situations: (1) one firm operating both channels (i.e. fixed list price store and all-pay auction), and (2) two competing firms, each operating one of the two channels