There is wide acceptance of the precept that market orientation is associated with superior firm performance. However, empirical support for the proposition in prior literature is weak. This study examines the relationship between market orientation and performance with data from 201 international hotels and finds that market orientation is positively associated with both judgmental measures of performance ± service quality, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction, and objective measures of performance ± occupancy rate, gross operating profit, and market share. Specifically, the study finds that the immediate impact of market orientation is to spur innovation, which, in turn, enhances judgmental performance, which, in turn, enhances objective performance.

The authors examine three governance mechanisms according to how well they mitigate opportunism in marketing channels. Using the U.S. hotel industry as the research context, the authors investigate how opportunism is limited by (1) ownership, (2) investment in transaction-specific assets, and (3) norms of relational exchange. They also investigate how various combinations of these governance mechanisms affect opportunistic behavior in hotel channels. Overall, the results generally support emphasizing relational norms in managing opportunism in marketing channels. The results also indicate that opportunism can be exacerbated when ownership or investments in transaction-specific assets are accentuated as governance mechanisms.

a b s t r a c tThis study assesses how customer value affects a firm's market orientation and consequently, competitive advantage and organizational performance in a service industry -the global hotel industry. The findings show that if a firm perceives its customers as valuing service, the firm is more likely to adopt both a customer and a competitor orientation; if the firm thinks its customers are price sensitive, the firm tends to develop a competitor orientation. Moreover, the greater a firm's customer orientation, the more the firm is able to develop a competitive advantage based on innovation and market differentiation. In contrast, a competitor orientation has a negative effect on a firm's market differentiation advantage. Finally, innovation and market differentiation advantages lead to greater market performance (e.g., perceived quality, customer satisfaction) and in turn, higher financial performance (e.g., profit, market share).

Purpose Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact service innovation has on customers' choices within the hotel and leisure industry. The paper also discusses the influence of the creation of new services on both service development and operational strategy. Design/methodology/approach Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on a national survey of approximately 1,000 travelers in the United States, using a web-based data acquisition approach. The travelers are segmented by reason of travel (business or leisure), and discrete choice analysis is applied to model customer preferences for various hotel service innovations. Findings Findings: Overall, the study finds that service innovation does matter when guests are selecting a hotel, with type of lodging having the largest impact on a customer's hotel choice. In addition, service innovation is found to have a larger influence on choices when guests are staying at economy hotels rather than midrange to up-scale hotels. Also, leisure travelers were found to be more influenced by innovative amenities such as childcare programs and in-room kitchenettes than business travelers. Practical implications Practical implications: The understanding of customers' choices allows managers to better design their service offerings and formulate corresponding operational strategies around customer needs. Originality/value Originality/value: This paper examines the addition of innovation to the hotel service concept and is an excellent tool for managers deciding on which innovations to implement.

Should companies adjust their orientations toward customers or toward competitors in global markets? To answer this question, we use contingency theory and examine how the effects of customer and competitor orientations on performance are moderated by different environmental conditions. Our results from the global hotel industry indicate that a customer orientation works better in economically developed markets, as well as in markets with good local business conditions, greater resource availability, and demanding customers. In contrast, a competitor orientation is more effective in markets that are economically developing, have poor local business conditions, and face resource scarcity. Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 303–319. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400259

This paper argues that the ownership and control dimensions of foreign market entry mode choice should be separated, and that foreign market entry mode decisions should be expanded to business activities beyond production and distribution. Empirical results from the global hotel industry indicate that the transferability of the entrant's competitive advantages, the local market's absorptive capacity, and the availability of trustworthy local partners differentially affect the ownership and control dimensions of the entry mode decision. Journal of International Business Studies (2003) 34, 473–488. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400050

Looking at the evolution of marketing as recorded in the pages of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, one sees a continual increase in the complexity of the marketing issues for the hospitality industry. Each decade's articles have been marked by an emphasis on a particular aspect of marketing, generally representing the leading edge of marketing research and thinking. The 1960s, for instance, was the decade of promotion, with numerous articles explaining how to respond to increased competition with an intentional marketing program. The 1970s saw the development of new lodging products and the beginnings of market research, with a greater focus on the customer and on continual product development. The explosion of brands and product tiers in the 1980s ushered in an era of brand management, and the decade also saw the initial lodging industry applications of revenue management, adapted from the airline industry. Following the brutal shakeout of the early 1990s, the lodging industry turned to customer satisfaction and loyalty as key elements of operations, with numerous articles examining ways to measure and manage customer satisfaction. The eruption of the internet dominated the first decade of the twenty-first century, as hospitality companies and guests alike sought to understand how to use this amazing tool. Going forward, the 2010s will continue the changes wrought by electronic media, most particularly the eclipse of printed media and the rise of social media.

In a series of three studies, a two-factor measure of apprehension toward Internet use was developed and tested among three independent samples of consumers. The relationship between general Internet apprehensiveness (GIA) and transactional Internet apprehensiveness (TIA) was examined in concert with the relationship between consumers' online information seeking, purchasing intentions, and behaviors. Results indicated that (1) a two-factor measure of GIA and TIA demonstrated construct validity across three independent samples of potential Internet users, (2) GIA is more strongly related to perceptions of Internet use for information seeking compared to online purchasing, and (3) TIA is more strongly related to perceptions of online purchasing activities and reported online purchasing behavior compared with perceptions of online information-seeking behavior. Implications for management practice and further research are presented.