Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-03-2014-0142

Editorial

Article Type:

Editorial

From:

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 26, Issue 4

The fourth issue of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management in 2014 contains seven research articles. The first article by IpKin Anthony Wong and Jennifer Hong Gao investigates the effect of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employees’ affective commitment through the mediating role of perceived corporate culture. The authors collected data from 379 employees from tourism and hospitality organizations in China. The study findings demonstrate that CSR to employees and CSR to customers are fully mediated by employee development, harmony and customer orientation of the corporate culture. This study implies that employees are social actors who seek a corporate culture that best suits their self-interest; hence, they are more committed to an organization particularly in respect to employee development and social harmony. In the second article, Wan Yang and Anna S. Mattila examine the joint effects of product type and consumers’ need for status on consumers’ attitude change toward their favorite luxury brands. The study findings demonstrate that when facing with mimicking behaviors by less affluent consumers, Parvenus exhibit more negative attitude toward their favorite luxury goods brands than luxury hospitality brands, and conversely, Patricians exhibit similar levels of attitude change across the two types of luxury brands. From a managerial point of view, luxury hospitality companies may find it easier to expand to less affluent markets than their luxury goods counterparts, in particular when the majority of target consumers are Parvenus.

In the third article, Zhuowei Huang, Chen Zhao, Li Miao and Xiaoxiao Fu investigate illegitimate customer complaining behavior (ICCB) in the hospitality industry from the perspective of frontline employees. A qualitative research approach was adopted by carrying out 26 semi-structured interviews with frontline employees who had first-hand experiences with ICCB in the hospitality industry. The study proposes a multiple-layer model of ICCB triggers and inhibitors including seven types of ICCB incidents, 11 ICCB triggering factors and three ICCB inhibitors as perceived by frontline employees. Hospitality businesses can benefit from this study to develop more effective company policies and training programs to recognize, monitor and resolve ICCB incidents. In the next article, Lina Xiong, Ceridwyn King and Clark Hu explore polygamous program loyalty in hotel loyalty programs and the relationship between members’ behavioral loyalty and their perceptions of the program effectiveness. The study findings imply that the flexibility to purchase points in a loyalty program is significantly associated with the polygamous program loyalty. Members will stay in only one program if they perceive such flexibility.

Hui Fu, Yaoqi Li and Yanhong Duan investigate the mediating role of organizational commitment on the relationship between hotel employee perceived reputation and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Based on the data collected from a sample of 323 hotel employees in China, the study findings show that different dimensions of corporate reputation affect OCBs differently: social responsibility reputation has both direct and indirect effects on OCBs, while there is no direct link between employee treatment reputation and OCBs. The relationship between corporate reputation and OCBs is mediated by organizational commitment. The article by Meltem Caber and Tahir Albayrak looks at the importance of hotel attributes for pre-senior and senior tourists when selecting a hotel. According to their study findings, “Value for money” and “Availability of organized entertainment in the hotel” are important attributes for senior British tourists when compared to other participants. Dutch senior tourists attach more importance to food service attributes (“Small food portions” and “Special dietary menus”) than do the other respondents. In the final article, Jose Trinidad Marin-Aguilar and Natalia Vila–Lopez examine to what extent emotional experiences lived in mega-events and ecological orientation of citizens can act as direct antecedents of city brand attitude improvements. The authors collected data from 398 residents of Aguascalientes, Mexico, for the National Fair of San Marcos 2011. Study results show that to increase city brand attitudes, both focusing on mega-events and the ecological orientation would be two successful ways. Even more, improvements in city brand attitudes would bring significant benefits on the positive perception of quality of life among citizens.

We hope that our readers find the articles published in this issue timely, relevant and insightful.

Fevzi Okumus