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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between servicescape components, image and behavioral intentions within the framework of hotel businesses. Design/methodology/approach – Relationships between specified variables were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) using a sample of 410 hotel customers. Findings – It was found that servicescape components had a positive effect on overall image, and overall image had the same effect on word-of-mouth (WOM) and re-visiting. It was also determined that overall image played a mediating role between servicescape and behavioral intention components. Overall, image played a partial mediating role between substantive staging of servicescape (SSoS) and WOM and a full mediating role among the other variables. Practical implications – For a business to maintain a positive image perception, servicescape components must be positively perceived, as well. Therefore, managers who intend to present a positive business image should design servicescape components according to current trends or the fashion expectations of target consumers. This would by default increase the attractiveness of the business. Moreover, businesses can create unique concepts by designing and developing new servicescape components. This step can be beneficial, especially for hotel businesses wishing to establish a specific brand. In this regard, it is recommended that businesses employ an expert who can track and organize servicescape developments. Originality/value – Although it has been found that there are specific relationships between servicescape, image and behavioral intentions, there has been a deficiency of empirical studies carried out within hotel industries. Furthermore, while SSoS has been investigated in the literature, communicative staging of servicescape (CSoS) has been neglected. In this regard, investigating the aforementioned relationships within the framework of the hotel industry contributes to the literature. Furthermore, in this study, an attempt has been made to stress the importance of servicescape, which is found to be essential for positive business image perception.

Purpose – Studies in the service quality evaluation literature have generally attempted to determine the service quality perception level of customers by mainly focusing on customers’ quality evaluations. However, the nature and characteristics of differences in service quality perceptions among customers, managers and employees are not sufficiently researched. In this study, the differences in service quality perceptions among the aforementioned stakeholders are examined. Design/methodology/approach – Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the significant differences between stakeholder’s perceptions of service quality, using a sample of 845 hotel stakeholders (customers, employees and managers). Findings – The findings showed that employees perceived service performance to be at a high level, while customers perceived it to be at a low level. According to the post-hoc test, even though managers’ perception of service quality performance was lower than that of employees, no significant difference was found between them. In addition, it was determined by second-order confirmatory factor analysis that the lowest explanation ratio was the tangible dimension in SERVQUAL. Originality/value – One major shortcoming in the concept of service quality is that stakeholders perceive service quality differently. In particular, a hotel business that lacks service quality may face issues such as negative customer satisfaction, lack of customer loyalty and lower competitive advantage. However, while most of the studies on the hotel sector in the literature focus mainly on the evaluation of customers for service quality, other stakeholders’ (employees’ and managers’) perceptions have been ignored. Therefore, the current study’s contribution to the literature explores the differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of the hotel industry.

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Purpose This paper aims to first examine tourists’ perceptions of the source credibility and information quality of social media content to see whether they would have an impact on their perceptions of the importance of shared content on social media. The moderating role of gender in this relationship was then examined. Design/methodology/approach The research sample was composed of domestic and foreign tourists in Alanya, an important tourist destination in Turkey. The data in the current study were collected by the questionnaire method. The structural relationships in the research were examined using the partial least squares structural equation modeling, and the moderating effect of gender was examined via the partial least squares multiple group analysis. Findings According to the research findings, tourists’ perceptions of source credibility regarding social media content had a positive impact on the importance attached to non-participant shared content, whereas their perceptions of information quality had a positive impact on the importance attached to participant shared content. Furthermore, it was also observed that gender had a moderating effect on the relationship between information quality and source credibility perceptions and the importance of shared content on social media. Originality/value Two important predictive variables have been examined in the current research in term of customer-generated contents. It has been demonstrated that the effects of these predictive variables on different customer-generated types could be different. Furthermore, it has been determined that the effects of these influences differ according to the gender of the individuals following the content. Thus, the current study provides significant findings to understand the impacts of these variables on the basis of gender.

This study examines the effect of social media sharing on tourism destination brand awareness and destination natural and service quality and also examines the moderating roles of country of origin (COI; macro and micro) image on destination natural and service quality. Data were collected from 568 domestic and international tourists who have visited Alanya, Turkey. Relationships in the study were examined through structural equation modeling. As one of the components of social media sharing, participant sharing positively affects destination brand awareness, whereas any significant effect of nonparticipant sharing on destination brand awareness was not found. Destination brand awareness positively influences tourist perceptions of both destination service quality and destination natural quality. COI image moderates most of the relationships.

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