The New Science of Service Innovation: Part 3 Select Research on Technology

Abstract

Select Research on Technology from the 2014 Cornell Hospitality Research Summit The lodging and service industries have constantly adopted technology solutions over the years, with one caveat. Hoteliers rarely have installed technology before it is sufficiently developed to actually improve operations. This strategy has given rise to the inaccurate impression that the industry is slow to adopt appropriate technology, when the opposite is the case. The Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS) held in October 2014 was organized to examine service innovation in a new light, focusing on a scientific and disciplined approach to the topic. This report is the third of four that feature expanded summaries of select research on service innovation. This report highlights innovative strategies related to data and technology, including the remarkably uneven influence of various social (and traditional) media on corporate brand value, full-service restaurant customers’ mostly favorable reaction to the introduction of tabletop technology, and the hospitality industry’s initiatives for providing services for Generation Y. This report highlights four research presentation on technology from the summit: • “Traditional vs. Social Media: Effects on Brand Value,” by Peter O’Connor and Anatoli Colicev (page 3); • “Guests’ Reactions to Tabletop Technology in Full-service Restaurants,” by Alex Susskind, Saqib Awan, Ron Parikh, and Rajat Suri (page 6); • “Consumer Preferences for U.S. Restaurant-based Technology,” Michael White, Ben Lawrence, and Rohit Verma (page 10); • “Engaging Generation Y Customers in Technology-based Innovation,” by Ting Ting Zhang (page 13).