Key Publications

The effects of customer-centricity in hospitality

International Journal of Hospitality Management

Hospitality is a field in which guests’ specific needs and wants should always be given serious consideration by hoteliers. Putting the guest at the centre of all business efforts contributes to generating customer value and enhancing a firm’s competitiveness. Being customer-centric is paramount for hospitality establishments to create and sustain superior customer value. However, there is scant evidence in hospitality marketing literature of a clear understanding of the customer-centricity concept or of the possible effects of its implementation. Using a mixed-methods multiple case study approach, this research studies two different properties that, to some extent, are already engaged in customer-centricity practices through the use of advanced Customer Relationship Manager software. Results clearly show an increase in customer ratings, leading to possible profit implications; a cultural shift within the organizations studied connected with the customer-centricity phenomenon has also been reported.

Showrooming and retail opportunities: A qualitative investigation via a consumer-experience lens. 

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

Showrooming represents a shopper behaviour prevalent in today’s retail landscape, referring to consumers inspecting a desired product at a retailer’s physical store and then buying it online, usually from a competitor. Showrooming has been examined frequently from a negative standpoint (e.g. free-riding and channel-hopping), via the theoretical lens of multichannel shopping and using a quantitative (theory-testing) approach. The present study seeks to investigate showrooming from a positive standpoint and help retailers to diagnose and appreciate potential opportunities that may be presented by this shopper behaviour. Our investigation is guided by the theoretical lens of consumer experience and a qualitative (theory-building) approach, based on convergent interviews with eleven self-proclaimed showroomers and the shopping context of consumer electronics. The present study contributes to retail theory and practice by illustrating that showrooming can be conceived and managed as a positive shopper behaviour. Its potential opportunities can be better appreciated when retailers consider fully its experiential aspects, such as decision activities and emotions.

Community crosstalk: an exploratory analysis of destination and festival eWOM on Twitter.

Journal of Marketing Management

Research suggests that festivals can promote a destination via onlineword-of-mouth (eWOM) on social media, even though the nature of this effect is notyet fully understood. Using a combination of Social Network Analysis and textanalysis (qualitative and quantitative), this article examines eWOM at a tourismdestination (Bournemouth) when a festival (Bournemouth Air Show 2013) is staged.The Communities of Interest of eWOM interactions on Twitter were captured andanalysed to understand the structure and content of eWOM. Findings indicate thatkey users are usually already prominent individuals and that festivals act as both adirect generator as well as an online animator of eWOM. Finally, network size,span and scope may be useful indicators when comparing eWOM networks.

Selling Rooms Online: The Use of Social Media and Online Travel Agents.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

This paper aims to focus on the reason why hoteliers choose to be present in online travel agent (OTA) and social media web sites for sales purposes. It also investigates the technological and human factors related to these two practices. Findings highlight the constant tension between visibility and online sales in the web arena, as well as a clear distinction in social media and OTA web site adoption between hospitality structures using online management tools and employing personnel with specific skills. The research highlights the need for the hospitality industry to maintain an effective presence on social media and OTAs in order to move towards the creation of a new form of social booking technologies to increase their visibility and sales. This research contributes to understanding the major role played by OTAs and social media in the hospitality industry while underlining the possibility of a major interplay between the two.

To date, Alessandro wrote more than 80 Academic Journal Articles, Conference Articles and Book Chapter along with 4 books. His works have been cited 3438 times. Complete list of publications is available on request. All articles available here: https://scholar.google.com/