Hotel and IT decision-maker characteristics and information technology adoption relationship in the hotel industry

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
Hotel and IT decision-maker characteristics and information technology adoption
relationship in the hotel industry
Ahmet Bulent Ozturk Murat Hancer
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To cite this document:
Ahmet Bulent Ozturk Murat Hancer , (2014),"Hotel and IT decision-maker characteristics and information
technology adoption relationship in the hotel industry", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 5
Iss 2 pp. 194 - 206
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Hotel and IT decision-maker
characteristics and information
technology adoption relationship
in the hotel industry
Ahmet Bulent Ozturk
Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida,
Orlando, Florida, USA, and
Murat Hancer
School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration,
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of hotel property characteristics and
information technology (IT) decision-maker characteristics on radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology adoption in the hotel industry.
Design/methodology/approach – The data of the study were collected using the subscription list of
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP). A Web survey was used to collect the data
of the study. An email invitation was sent out to invite the entire list of HFTP subscribers (3,080) to
participate in the survey. Approximately 3,000 emails were delivered and 154 questionnaires were
returned. Of 154 questionnaires, 125 were used in the study for further analyses. Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was used to determine whether hotel property characteristics (property size and chain
affiliation) and IT decision-maker characteristics (age, education level and job tenure) differed on
intention to adopt RFID technology.
Findings – ANOVA results indicated that there were significant differences on intention to adopt
RFID technology by property size and chain affiliation, IT decision-makers’ age, education level and job
tenure. The results indicated that larger hotels and hotels that are part of a franchise are more likely to
adopt RFID technology. In addition, IT decision-makers who are young, with high level of education
and with shorter job tenure are more likely to adopt RFID technology.
Originality/value – RFID technology is one of the recent technologies that gained great attention
from the hotel operators in recent years. This study is one of the first studies in the hotel industry that
provides valuable information to technology vendors for identifying potential RFID technology
adopters in the hotel industry.
Keywords Communication technologies, RFID, Technology adoption, Hotel industry, Hotel
characteristics, IT decision-maker characteristics
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Information technology (IT) has been identified as one of the main sources of sustainable
competitive advantage in the hotel industry (Bilgihan et al., 2011). Especially, in an
environment where customers’ expectations and needs are changing considerably,
identifying and adopting the right technology becomes very important for hotels. One of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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JHTT
5,2
194
Received 12 December 2013
Revised 18 January 2014
Accepted 13 February 2014
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Technology
Vol. 5 No. 2, 2014
pp. 194-206
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1757-9880
DOI 10.1108/JHTT-12-2013-0038Downloaded by LULEA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY At 10:57 31 January 2016 (PT)

the recent technologies that gained great attention from the hotel operators is Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID). “RFID is an automated data collection technology
which enables equipment to read tags at a distance, without contact or direct line of
sight” (Woods et al., 2003, p. 1). RFID is a system that transmits the identity of an object
or person wirelessly using radio waves read by a receiver (Want, 2004).
RFID is grouped under the wide category of automatic identification technologies such as
optical character readers, bar codes and some of the biometric technologies (Violino, 2005).
Unlike some other automatic identification technologies, such as bar code system which
needs a person to manually scan a label or tag to obtain the data, RFID enables readers to
capture data on tags and transfer the data to a back office data processing equipment
without requiring anybody to be involved in the process (Violino, 2005). In addition, RFID
readers have a longer read range than bar code reader, and they can simultaneously
communicate with multiple tags and the tags can store more data than bar codes (Hoang and
Caudill, 2006). RFID technology has been used in a number of applications such as inventory
and material tracking, building access control, cashless payment systems, toll collection and
keyless entry (Ozturk et al., 2013).
Even though RFID applications have become more well known in recent years, RFID is
not a new technology. Public awareness of RFID has been increased in recent years when the
US Department of Defense and world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, required their suppliers to
use RFID technology. In 2003, Wal-Mart announced that it will require its top 100 suppliers
to use RFID tags on cases and pallets of products by January 2005 (Hoang and Caudill, 2006;
Ozturk et al., 2013). After Wal-Mart’s announcement, RFID technology quickly went from a
little-known technology to the next big thing (Malone, 2012; Ozturk et al., 2013), and several
other food and consumer goods retailers such as Metro from Germany, Tesco from United
Kingdom, Best Buy and Target from the USA have adopted RFID technology to improve
their supply chain management (Hoang and Caudill, 2006).
With the growing popularity of RFID technology and its applications, there has been
a significant increase in the number of research paper about RFID technology adoption
in recent years. Studies have focused on individual- and organizational-level RFID
adoption and have attempted to identify the factors affecting customers’ and operators’
decision to adopt RFID technology. However, little or no research has been conducted to
identify the impact of hotel property characteristics and IT decision-maker
characteristics on RFID technology adoption in the hotel industry.
The purpose of this paper was to examine the impact of hotel property characteristics and
IT decision-maker characteristics on RFID technology adoption in the US hotel industry.
The hotel property characteristics included in this study were property size and chain
affiliation, and IT decision-maker characteristics were age, education level and job tenure.
The following research questions were addressed:
RQ1. What are the differences between hotels in terms of RFID technology adoption
based on hotel size?
RQ2. What are the differences between hotels in terms of RFID technology adoption
based on chain affiliation?
RQ3. What are the differences between hotels in terms of RFID technology adoption
based on IT decision-maker’s personal characteristics (age, education, job
tenure)?
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Literature review
Applications of RFID technology in the hotel industry
Although RFID technology had been initially started to be used by retail companies to have
a better inventory/asset tracking and to improve efficiency in the supply chain, the use of
RFID technology is not limited to the retail sector. For instance, hospitality companies have
also started to use RFID technology. Like retail companies, hospitality companies benefit
from RFID technology by having a better inventory/asset management such as employee
uniform and luggage tracking (Kaya and Azaltun, 2012). However, more customer-based
applications have emerged in the hospitality industry in recent years. Some of the
customer-based RFID technology applications in the hospitality industry include cashless
payment systems, building intelligence systems and event/meeting attendance tracking
systems. More detailed information about these systems and about some other hospitality
RFID technology applications is discussed below.
Inventory/asset management. With RFID technology, hotels can better manage their
assets and inventory. For instance, with washable RFID tags, linens (sheets, pillow
cases, table cloths and napkins, etc.) and towels can be tracked. In addition, by tagging
luggage, hotels can better control the identification of bags as they move inside the hotel
(Withiam, 2011).
This helps hotels to reduce human errors, billing discrepancies and the number of
missing items, especially when they are shipped to outside laundries. Tagging employee
uniforms with RFID ensures they are clean and ready for employees and returned on
time by employees after use (Zander, 2013). By using this technology, a luxury hotel, Mr
C. Hotel Beverly Hills, located in Los Angeles, has reduced the rate of missing items from
30 per cent to about 3 per cent (Swedberg, 2013a, 2013b).
Enhanced guest experience. With RFID-enabled loyalty cards and by positioning
RFID readers at the entryway of the stores within the hotel, guests can be identified as
they walk through a store in the hotel. This enables hotel staff to provide more
personalized guest experience (Zander, 2013). For example, hotel staff can now greet
guests by name, follow-up on special requests and record the history of purchases made
by the guests for future guest loyalty programs (“AltiusPAR Solutions Maximize
Hotels’ Investment”, 2006). A luxury hotel (hotel has asked to remain unnamed) in the
Lake Geneva area of Switzerland has installed an RFID system known as TouchPoint to
identify guests as they approach the bar. A tablet computer mounted behind the bar can
display guest information as they approach to the bar with their RFID-enabled key fobs
(Swedberg, 2013, 2013b).
Cashless payment. With RFID-enabled wrist bands, guests can make purchases
anywhere in the hotel by simply waving a wristband over a RFID reader. Guests do not
need to carry their wallets with them all the time and therefore, the risk of losing them
has reduced significantly (frost, 2012). Furthermore, because RFID cashless payment is
more convenient, guests spend as much as 25 per cent more at the hotel (Martin, 2009).
Disney uses RFID-enabled wristbands (MagicBand) to create a new level of customized
experiences for guests, enabling them to better enjoy visits and creating a highly
personalized product to match their needs. Using their MagicBands, guests can book
reservations for top attractions or character greetings weeks in advance. They can also
use it to opt for a cashless system for dining and merchandise purchases, as well as for
admission tickets and hotel room access (Johnson, 2013).
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