Faculty & Research
Podcasts
The CHR Podcast series gives you another perspective on research studies published in the Cornell Hospitality Report series and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. The researchers explain why they conducted their studies, what they found, and what it means for the hospitality, gaming, and associated travel industry.
Identifying the Attributes of an Effective Restaurant Chain Endorser
Interview with Vincent P. Magnini
Given the prevalence of using celebrity endorsers as part of restaurants’ merchandising promotions (and the potential complications), this study examined the preferences of a consumer panel of 278 respondents. Based on their responses, the leading driver for an effective restaurant chain endorser was congruence between the image and values of the celebrity endorser and those of the restaurant brand— in other words, a good fit. Celebrity power was the second most important factor for selecting a celebrity endorser, followed by an individual’s perceived ability to relate to the endorser...Corresponding research...
Guest Service Management and Processes in Restaurants: What We Have Learned in Fifty Years
Interview with Alex Susskind
Although restaurant-related research has long focused on boosting sales, the focus on revenue as a quantitative discipline has arisen only in the past fifteen years, with restaurant revenue management. This series...Corresponding research...
The Dynamics of Green Restaurant Patronage
Interview with
Hsin-hui Hu, H.G. Parsa, and John Self
This study specifically discusses the relationships between consumers’ knowledge
of a restaurant’s sustainable practices, environmental concern, and ecological
behavior and their intention to...Corresponding research...
What Matters More?
Contrasting the Effects of Job Satisfaction and Service Climate on Hotel Food and Beverage Managers’ Job Performance
Interview with Sean Way, Michael Sturman and Carola Raab
Research has provided little empirical support for the concept that employee job
satisfaction is a causal driver of employee job performance, customer
satisfaction, and company performance. This concept is an enduring one, however,
and it has been codified as the starting point...Corresponding research...
- How Travelers Use Online and Social Media Channels to Make Hotel-choice Decisions
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Professor Rohit Verma, CHR executive director, discusses the impact of social media on hospitality distribution, in an interview with Josh Carey, of radio station WHCU, Ithaca, NY. Pricing transparency and customer ratings are only two of the effects. Research on travelers’ use of social media is also available in this report: “How Travelers Use Online and Social Media Channels to Make Hotel-choice Decisions.” Corresponding research...
- Electronic Meal Experience: A Content Analysis of Online Restaurant Comments
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This article presents a content analysis of 2,471 customer comments regarding three hundred London restaurants on an online restaurant guide. Favorable comments far outnumbered negative reviews. The study’s chief purpose was to identify the factors that are most salient in a guest’s evaluation of a restaurant. Food is established as the most-commented-on element of the meal experience. Corresponding research...
- Successful Tactics for Surviving an Economic Downturn: Results from an International Study
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Having survived the Great Recession, the hotel industry could benefit from a game plan for what to do in the next recession. Based on a survey of 980 hoteliers worldwide, Professor Kimes explains what worked and didn’t work in the recession. Respondents were particularly unhappy with the results of discounting, but they thought that marketing tactics were relatively beneficial. Corresponding research...
- What Makes It So Great? An Analysis of Human Resources Practices among Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For
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Focusing on the hospitality industry and similar businesses, Professors Hinkin and Tracey explain tactics that allow a company to be an “employer of choice,” to boost employee retention and attract top candidates. Corresponding research...
- The Drivers of Loyalty Program Success: An Organizing Framework and Research Agenda
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Professor McCall outlines the key elements of successful loyalty programs, including setting clear demarcations between tiers and underlining the status of top-tier members, as well as arranging appropriate redemptions—usually by offering direct rewards. Corresponding research...
- Customer Preferences for Restaurant Technology Innovations
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Professor Verma explains that customers react differently to technology at each stage of the meal. In general, restaurant customers most appreciate technology available for making reservations, but he points out that as customers may be more accepting of new settlement technology as they become more familiar with it. Corresponding research...