Youngjoon Choi

Hotel industry started to adopt service robots, which are considered a future workforce. However, no attempt was conducted to examine the dimensionality of service quality of service robots. This paper aims to understand the influence of human–robot interaction from the viewpoint of hoteliers and guests. Two studies are conducted in this respect. Study 1 organizes focus-group interviews with hotel managers from various departments to elicit themes related to guest–robot interaction and robot-del

Robots and artificial intelligence represent a newly emerging trend in tourism and hospitality. However, studies examining how cultural perceptions influence tourists’ experiences interacting with service robots are lacking. In response to the industrial trend, the experiential components of robot-staffed hotels are assessed in this study. A qualitative approach is adopted to compare the semantic networks of Japanese and non-Japanese tourists’ online reviews, using 1,498 reviews from nine robot-

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented and devastating impact on the travel and tourism industry worldwide. To sustain tourism organizations in the post-pandemic period, it is crucial to understand the factors that maintain, boost, or diminish the potential demands of international travel. With faith in the industry’s resilience, travel and tourism organizations are counting on the prospect of compensatory travel. However, little is known about the factors affecting potential demands

This paper presents a case study of the research and development of an RFID‐based traceability system in an aircraft engineering company in Hong Kong. We report the system design and implementation, and discuss our experiences and lessons learned. The aim of the RFID system is to effectively support the tracking and tracing of aeroplane repairable items in the company. The study reveals eight critical success factors for the successful implementation of RFID systems, namely, create strong intern

This study explores the decision-making process of tourists visiting Guilin, China as an ecotourism destination. An extended model of goal-directed behavior with the inclusion of place attachment and destination image is employed to understand tourists’ revisit intention. This study finds several substantial variables that contribute to leading the behavioral intention of tourists. Results reveal that tourist attitude, positive anticipated emotion, and perceived behavioral control positively inf

Given that online travel media enable multilateral communication patterns in destination marketing, this study investigates technical attributes presenting the number and type of source-related visual cues. From a technological perspective, the sources of online travel information can be conceptualized in terms of specialization, endorsement, and other users’ star rating to reflect technological functions and psychological effects. An experiment with a 2 (specialization: a generalist website vs.

Purpose This study aim to attempt to conceptualize agency in a hospitality setting and examine the psychological effects of agency-related visual cues on user perception and intention to use to understand the role of agency in the digitalization of hotel services. Design/methodology/approach After developing demo videos of an express check-out application, two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of using an avatar and explain the psychological mechanism of how attributes of an avat

By responding to the current emphasis on health and wellness in modern society, the spa industry has experienced a rapid growth in the last two decades. To understand the determinants of revisitation and long-term attitudinal loyalty, this study investigated how visitors perceive the potential value of spa experiences. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of two distinct dimensions of perceived value (functional and wellness values) in spa visitors' decision-making process for futur

This study investigates technology affordances of online travel media determining ways of presenting pictorial information and creating the spatial structure of a destination: modality and navigability. To examine the impacts of technology affordances on virtual travel experience, a 2 (modality: still pictures versus panoramic pictures) × 2 (navigability: absence versus presence) between-subjects experiment was conducted with 213 participants. This study found significant effects of modality and

The current pandemic is accelerating the wide-spreading popularity of digital tourism. Given that technology innovation has broadened the horizon of tourist experiences to the realm of virtual environments, this study aims to (re)conceptualize travel experience and develop a theoretical framework to examine media technology effects on virtual travel experience, destination image, and tourists' well-being. As a conceptual work, this study adopts technological perspectives on online travel media t

Despite the growing role of virtual influencers in the tourism and hospitality business, there is a lack of research on Gen Z travelers’ trust in Instagram marketplace and virtual influencers. Thus, this study applied trust transfer theory to explore how Gen Z travelers’ trust in Instagram marketplace transferred to trust in tour program sellers and purchase intentions. In addition, it examined influencer type (human vs. virtual) and post type (sponsored vs. non-sponsored) as potential moderator

Individual’s preferences for various whale tour attributes along with estimates of their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for these attributes are estimated using a choice experiment. Respondents prefer tours with increased interactive activities: tours with a higher probability of seeing whales, tours that provide interpretative services and tours that provide access to the whale museum and whale cultural village. WTP for changes in the probability of seeing whales is US$10.55 for an increase from 25 t

World Heritage Sites (WHSs) play an important role in sustaining community identity and enhancing local economic development through tourism. Although the Li River was designated as a WHS in 2014, severe damage to its ecosystem and environmental problems have been reported in recent years. Thus, the purpose of this study is to estimate residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the preservation of the Li River using a contingent valuation method. Moreover, a two-stage approach using hypothetical an

This study investigated the underlying psychological mechanisms associated with metaverse events. By adopting a mixed methods approach, Study 1 found three major themes: ‘immersive experience’, ‘escapism’, and ‘game changer’. Study 2 highlighted the substantial influence of traditional and metaverse-specific perceived values on attitude, with the exception of the functional value relating to price. In addition, the moderating roles of playfulness (high vs. low) and psychological distance (high v