Purpose
This study aims to measures the effects of managerial response on consumer electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and hotel performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 56,284 consumer reviews and 10,793 managerial responses for 1,045 hotels was retrieved from TripAdvisor, along with 30,232 performance records matched to these hotels on a quarterly basis.
Findings
This study finds that managerial response leads to an average increase of 0.235 stars in the TripAdvisor ratings of the sampled hotels, as well as a 17.3 per cent increase in the volume of subsequent consumer eWOM. Moreover, managerial response moderates the influence of ratings and volume of consumer eWOM on hotel performance.
Practical implications
This study offers a practical model that enables hotel managers to orchestrate social media marketing approaches and efforts toward an optimal social media strategy.
Originality/value
This study differs from extant literature that has extensively focused on consumer reviews by providing a new perspective of management intervention in the social media context. By examining the interplay of managerial response and consumer eWOM at the individual hotel level, this study provides empirical evidence of managerial response affecting hotel performance through the increased ratings and volume of consumer eWOM. This study also offers insights into the practical importance of crafting intervention opportunities to cultivate the continued engagement of consumers on social media and increased hotel performance.
This study investigates the determinants of the decision to hedge in a sample of lodging firms over a 5-year period from 2000 to 2004. Using a probit model, the results show that underinvestment costs, financial distress costs, managerial risk aversion, information asymmetry, cash-flow volatility, proportion of floating-rate debt, foreign sales ratio, and firm size are significant determinants of the decision to hedge. The findings also document that lodging firms predominantly use interest rate swaps and options to manage interest rate risk. These findings are generally consistent with the theory of hedging as well as with prior research findings on the decision to hedge.
The 2000 Census of Population indicated that 50 million Americans, or 19.3 per cent of the US population, were people with disabilities and covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is estimated that the number of families with a member with a disability will grow significantly. Although people with disabilities and their families have sufficient discretionary income and time to take pleasure trips, tourism and hospitality marketers and practitioners to date generally have not much considered this group to be a focal market segment. The objective of the study was to determine whether families with a member with a disability should be considered a viable niche market by tourism and hospitality industry. Two secondary data sets from US Census reports and a six-state longitudinal travel market survey were used to evaluate the viability of this group as a market segment according to Kotler's criteria for market segmentation. Substantiality, differentiability and actionability were identified as the three most important criteria to determine that this segment is a viable niche tourism market. The findings indicate that this market can possibly be attracted through discount deals and reached through auto club publications and specially designed web pages. The marketing implications of this study are discussed.
Purpose -The objective of this exploratory study is to investigate the "flow-through" or relationship between top-line measures of hotel operating performance (occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room) and bottom-line measures of profitability (gross operating profit and net operating income), before and during the recent great recession.Design/methodology/approach -This study uses data provided by PKF Hospitality Research for the period from 2007-2009. A total of 714 hotels were analyzed and various top-line and bottom-line profitability changes were computed using both absolute levels and percentages. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between top and bottom line measures, and to derive flow-through ratios.Findings -The results show that average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy are significantly and positively related to gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) and net operating income per available room (NOIPAR). The evidence indicates that ADR, rather than occupancy, appears to be the stronger predictor and better measure of RevPAR growth and bottom-line profitability. The correlations and explained variances are also higher than those reported in prior research. Flow-through ratios range between 1.83 and 1.91 for NOIPAR, and between 1.55 and 1.65 for GOPPAR, across all chain-scales.Research limitations/implications -Limitations of this study include the limited number of years in the study period, limited number of hotels in a competitive set, and self-selection of hotels by the researchers.Practical implications -While ADR and occupancy work in combination to drive profitability, the authors' study shows that ADR is the stronger predictor of profitability. Hotel managers can use flow-through ratios to make financial forecasts, or use them as inputs in valuation models, to forecast future profitability.Originality/value -This paper extends prior research on the relationship between top-line measures and bottom-line profitability and serves to inform lodging owners, operators and asset managers about flowthrough ratios, and how these ratios impact hotel profitability.
Zirconium oxide (ZrO) is an important astrophysical molecule that defines the S-star classification class for cool giant stars. Accurate, empirical rovibronic energy levels, with associated labels and uncertainties, are reported for nine low-lying electronic states of the diatomic
molecule. These 8088 empirical energy levels are determined using the Measured Active Rotational-Vibrational Energy Levels algorithm with 23,317 input assigned transition frequencies, 22,549 of which were validated during this study. A temperature-dependent partition function is presented alongside updated spectroscopic constants for the nine low-lying electronic states.
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