Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research

Tourism image is a relevant issue that affects the way in which tourists make decisions regarding their choice of destination. However, there is a lack of studies focusing on emitted images and particularly on the fragmentation of emitted images in tourism destinations. This article proposes a conceptual framework to analyze emitted tourism destination image fragmentation patterns and explores these patterns in two urban destinations, Perpignan and Girona, with the purpose of finding out why they emerge, which are their relevant dimensions, and how these are interrelated. By analyzing the promotional brochures of these destinations the authors first identify the attributes of their induced images and, then, by means of a cluster analysis, determine the patterns of fragmentation of their emitted image. The results show that both destinations have a slightly different image fragmentation pattern in terms of image content, and a clearly different structural pattern of image fragmentation, as Perpignan has a more centralized pattern than Girona. This difference is reflected in the higher relevance of the local destination marketing organization in the case of Perpignan.

The purposes of this study were to (a) identify optimal rapport-building behaviors for inducing patrons’ emotional attachment to a service provider in the luxury restaurant context, (b) investigate the moderating role of patrons’ motivational orientation in the emotional attachment formation process, and (c) examine the ways in which patrons’ emotional attachment induces dedicational behaviors in the luxury restaurant industry. Based on the existing theoretical backgrounds, five rapport-building behaviors and three dedicational behaviors were derived. The theoretical relationships between the proposed concepts were also developed via literature review, which resulted in the development of a conceptual model. The proposed conceptual model was empirically tested via structural equation modeling analysis using data collected from 379 luxury restaurant patrons. Based on data analysis, it was found that five types of rapport development behaviors are crucial factors in the formation of patrons’ emotional attachment. During the attachment development process, motivational orientation plays a moderating function. Furthermore, patrons’ emotional attachment toward service employees induces patrons’ dedicational behaviors. The critical theoretical/managerial implications of these findings are then discussed in the article.

The decision about which dishes should appear on the menu is crucial to attracting customers and maximizing restaurant profitability. There is a paucity of empirical research on quantifying the effects of particular menu items on the efficiency of a restaurant. The present research used an innovative metafrontier-to-data-envelopment analysis method to aid decision making when distinguishing between desirable, improved, and undesirable menu items by efficiency measurements to increase a restaurant’s profitability. The metatechnology ratio obtained via the metafrontier approach compared the technology level in different meal periods. The results, based on real data gathered during 3 months from two same-brand units of a chain restaurant, show that the efficiency of the metafrontier-to-data-envelopment analysis method increased the profitability of the restaurants by more than 15% compared with the traditional menu-engineering method. The metatechnology ratios also identified that the skill level differed between the meal periods, which was because of the presence of different operators. Managerial and strategic implications for menu planners and future research are described.

This study explores the nature of knowledge sharing in online travel communities by proposing three types of antecedents: individual, community, and affiliation. These antecedents generate the formation of community identification and its influence on ongoing knowledge contribution. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of a traveler’s interaction mode on the proposed sharing paradigm. The findings reveal the following: (a) community identification is positively influenced by a member’s travel involvement and community benefits, (b) strong identification strengthens a member’s sharing intentions, and (c) the postulated relationships differ based on a member’s interaction mode. In short, community identification for travelers’ intent on seeking information is almost solely influenced by community benefits, whereas travelers inclined to relationship building are primarily influenced by travel involvement. In terms of knowledge sharing, relationship builders shared more frequently and to a greater extent than information seekers.

This study proposes and tests a structural model regarding the effects of cuisine experience and psychological well-being on hot springs tourists’ revisit intentions and examines the moderating effect that self-health perception has on the relationships between these constructs. A questionnaire was administered to 524 Taiwanese tourists at the Bei-Tou hot springs area. The results indicated that cuisine experience and psychological well-being influence hot springs tourists’ revisit intentions and only cuisine experience affects psychological well-being; however, the significance of these factors varied based on the self-health perception levels (high or low) of tourists in the sample. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Tourism research on topics such as happiness, quality of life of tour-ists, and tourist well-being has flourished in recent years. This literature clarifies the subjective value of tourist experiences, provides new direc-tions for tourism branding and promotion, and opens doors to fresh re-search on the potential benefits of tourist experiences to mental health. Subjective well-being theory has been typically used by tourism re-searchers to help conceptualize and measure tourist happiness. In lay terms, this theory suggests that happiness is life satisfaction and pleas-ure; the theory is popular and useful but cannot explain tourist happi-ness. To craft a more complete picture of tourist happiness, a deeper qualitative appreciation of meaningful tourist experiences and special and engaging tourist moments is required. This brief critique highlights the problems of conceptualizing tourist happiness and suggests an al-ternative approach to the subjective well-being theory.

Recent research conducted with humans demonstrated that red, relative to other achromatic or chromatic colors, led men to view women presented on a photograph as more attractive. The effect of color on behavior was tested in a tipping context. Eleven waitresses in five restaurants were instructed to wear the same tee shirt with different colors (black, white, red, blue, green, or yellow). The effect of color on tipping according to patron’s gender was measured. It was found that waitresses wearing red received more tips but only with male patrons. Waitresses color had no effect on female patrons’ tipping behavior. The relation between red and sexual attractiveness are used to explain the results. Managerial interests related with clothing appearance were discussed.