Isenberg HTM Researchers Recognized at Major Conferences

Reinforcing Isenberg’s reputation as a research powerhouse, several PhD candidates and faculty members from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) were recently recognized with best paper awards at several major conferences. Their winning papers span diverse topics, from the impact of oil pricing shocks on hospitality and tourism firms to the ways that members-only clubs are reconceptualizing the idea of luxury for the modern era.

Tourists’ AI Reliance

Assistant Professor Lavi Peng won a best paper award at ICHRIE (International Council of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education Conference), the premier conference in the hospitality and tourism field, for “How epistemic versus aleatory uncertainties shape tourists' AI reliance.” Her research, co-authored with two other researchers, examines if travelers’ willingness to rely on AI for advice (rather than other, more conventional sources) is shaped by the source of uncertainty that’s leading them to seek advice. Sometimes uncertainty comes from random events that no one can fully predict (aleatory uncertainty), such as flight delays, weather disruptions, or whether wildlife will appear during a tour. Other times, uncertainty comes from a lack of information (epistemic uncertainty), such as trying to choose the best route, destination, or activity. So, can these differing sources of uncertainty affect what types of sources travelers prefer to get their advice from? 

Peng’s findings suggest that travelers are more willing to trust AI when outcomes are driven by chance and unpredictability. In these situations, people recognize that even experts have limited ability to forecast what will happen, making AI a more acceptable source of guidance. However, when uncertainty stems from missing knowledge, travelers continue to place greater value on human expertise, experience, and judgment. This seems to prove especially true for more subjective decisions involving personal preferences or unique travel experiences.

“As AI becomes more embedded in travel planning and service decisions, it is increasingly important to understand not simply whether consumers trust AI, but when and why they are willing to rely on it,” said Peng. “This question is particularly relevant in hospitality and tourism, where many decisions are subjective and experience-based and human expertise has traditionally played an important role. Our findings can help organizations identify when travelers are more open to AI advice and when human expertise remains especially important. That can help hospitality firms make better decisions about where to use AI, where to preserve human interaction, and how to allocate their resources more effectively.”

Tech in Private Clubs

Assistant Professor Jennifer Jiyoon Han won second place in the ICHRIE Research Marathon for the Best Industry Project Award for “Reconceptualizing luxury in private clubs: Member value co-creation in the era of service innovations.” Her research, which is still in process, is examining how member-facing technologies and innovations affect how private club members perceive the prestige level of their private club.

Specifically, Han’s study explores how different features of this member-facing technology, such as practical/functional features (for example, making reservations or accessing club information) and social features (such as connecting with other members), influence perceptions of club brand prestige. Using a two-stage research approach, her team will first conduct interviews with private club stakeholders and then survey U.S. private club members who have used their club's technology. 

Han and her team expect the findings to show that both functional and social technology features increase perceptions of club prestige, with social features having the stronger impact. They also expect that members who view their club as highly exclusive will be even more influenced by the social features of the technology. “This study contributes to research on private clubs and hospitality technology by demonstrating how digital tools can strengthen a club's prestigious image,” Han said. “We expect that use of these technologies will contribute to members having a greater inclination to renew their memberships and recommend the club to others.”

Impacts of Energy Costs

HTM PhD candidate David Yechan Lee won third place in the best paper awards at the 100th annual TOSOK Seoul International Tourism Conference, held in Seoul, South Korea, for his work, “Oil price volatility, energy cost shocks, and idiosyncratic risk in hospitality and tourism firms.” His research explored how shocks in oil pricing create firm-specific risk for U.S. hospitality and tourism firms, based on over 5,200 firm-year observations between 1986 and 2024. “I was inspired to conduct this research while following the Iran-U.S. conflict in the news,” said Lee. “I was curious about how oil shocks transmit to hospitality and tourism firms, and the results ended up being pretty significant.”

Lee’s research is unique because it separates the concept of oil-price shocks by three major causes: Supply shocks (a sudden increase or decrease in oil supply), shocks from general economic demand (a sudden increase or decrease in demand for oil for immediate use), and shocks from precautionary demand (a sudden increase or decrease in demand to store oil as a safety buffer for potential future emergencies or uncertainties that could affect supply). This is the first time this approach has been applied to firm-level risk in hospitality and tourism.

Lee’s research ultimately found that demand-based shocks, especially precautionary demand, are what expose hospitality and tourism firms to the most risk and vulnerability. Large demand shocks increase firm-specific risk regardless of whether demand has increased or decreased, whereas supply shocks only increase risk when supply decreases. Companies that already face financial challenges, such as smaller or younger businesses with limited access to funding, are especially vulnerable. The findings suggest that managers should not focus only on whether oil prices are rising or falling, but also on why prices are changing, and should tailor their risk-management and hedging strategies to their firm's financial situation.