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Three years of quality and operational performance data from 1,135 franchised Holiday Inn hotels were analyzed to determine the relationship between product quality and operational performance. Hotels with at least one quality defect in the exterior, the guest room, and the guest bath had a revenue per available room per day (RevPAR) of approximately $2.80 less than hotels that did not have defects in each of the areas. This implies that to be successful, a hotel must concentrate on maintaining high quality standards in areas that have the greatest impact on financial return.

Perceived fairness of revenue management (RM) pricing is a serious concern, as RM uses different prices for fundamentally the same service. The authors examine the effects of familiarity with an RM pricing practice, framing of prices, and fencing condition (i.e., whether a respondent was advantaged or disadvantaged by an RM price) on fairness perceptions. The authors conduct two experiments and find that familiarity moderated the effects of framing and fencing condition on consumers' fairness perceptions. Specifically, framing and fencing condition had strong effects on perceived fairness when respondents were less familiar with a pricing practice. However, when familiarity was high, neither the framing nor fencing condition effect was significant. Our findings suggest that familiarity may be a boundary condition for prospect theory.

Demand-based pricing is underused in many service industries, because customers are believed to perceive such pricing as unfair. Fencing can be highly effective in improving the perceived fairness of demand-based pricing. In this study, five fences were explored in a restaurant context across three countries (Singapore, Sweden, and the United States). Demand-based pricing in the form of coupons (two for the price of one), time-of-day pricing, and lunch/dinner pricing were perceived as fair. Weekday/ weekend pricing was seen as neutral to slightly unfair. Table location pricing was seen as somewhat unfair with potential negative consumer reactions to this practice. Furthermore, framing demand-based pricing as discounts improved perceived fairness. The findings were largely consistent for the three countries. Specifically, framing demand-based pricing as discounts or gains showed no country-specific effect.

Self-service technologies (SSTs) can help firms reduce labor costs while providing more channel options, but customers must be convinced of their value before foregoing a full service alternative. To understand how customers evaluate an SST, the authors conducted three studies to analyze the importance of convenience in the evaluation process along with exploring what constructs ultimately influence customers' need for human interaction with an SST. Surveying both users' experiences with an SST and also nonusers' perceptions of an SST, a comprehensive analysis was undertaken to assess the perceived benefits of using an SST. In Study 1, the authors found that convenience had a strong positive effect on the perceived accuracy, speed, and exploration intentions of an SST. Building on these results, Studies 2 and 3 reveal that SST users have a lower need for interaction when they are satisfied with an SST, while nonusers' trust perceptions had the greatest influence on the need for human interaction during an SST transaction. The authors discovered that user satisfaction can be enhanced by focusing on the speed and accuracy of an SST, whereas nonusers' perceptions of accuracy and exploration increased the trust placed in an SST.

ABSTRACTRevenue management has been used in a variety of industries and generally takes the form of managing demand by manipulating length of customer usage and price. Supply mix is rarely considered, although it can have considerable impact on revenue. In this research, we focused on developing an optimal supply mix, specifically on determining the supply mix that would maximize revenue. We used data from a Chevys restaurant, part of a large chain of Mexican restaurants, in conjunction with a simulation model to evaluate and enumerate all possible supply (table) mixes. Compared to the restaurant's existing table mix, the optimal mix is capable of handling a 30% increase in customer volume without increasing waiting times beyond their original levels. While our study was in a restaurant context, the results of this research are applicable to other service businesses.

Yield management, controlling customer demand through the use of variable pricing and capacity management to enhance profitability, has been examined extensively in the services literature. Most of this work has been tactical and mathematical rather than managerial. In this article, the authors suggest that a broader view of yield management is valuable to both traditional and nontraditional users of the approach. Central to this broader view is the recognition of how different combinations ofpricing and duration can be used as strategic levers to position service firms in their markets and the identification of tactics by which management can deploy these strategic levers. The authors also propose that further development of yield management requires that when the service is delivered be treated as a design variable that should be as carefully managed as the service process itself.