Browsing by Author "Parsa, Haragopal "HG""

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    Effect of price discount frames and levels on consumers' perceptions in low-end service industries
    Nusair, Khaldoon; Jin Yoon, Hae; Naipaul, Sandra; Parsa, Haragopal "HG" (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2010)
    The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of price discount frames and price discount levels on consumer perceptions about the quality of the service product, the value of the discount, their purchase intentions and their willingness to spread the word of mouth about the discount savings across different types of services.
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    Exploratory investigation of organization power, and its impact on strategy implementation and firm performance: a study of the hospitality franchise systems
    Parsa, Haragopal "HG" (Virginia Tech, 1994)
    Franchising is the primary force in the growth and survival of the hospitality industry. Franchise systems contain legally independent, economically interdependent, and politically affective franchise organizations. Strategic management in hospitality franchise systems with emphasis on implementation methods is investigated in the present study. Impact of sources of power (economic and noneconomic), held by the franchisors, on franchisees’ strategy implementation process and eventual performance are also included in this study. Single unit Quick Service Restaurant (OSR) franchisees from six different concepts have participated in this study. A total of ten research hypotheses are empirically tested using various statistical procedures. The current study demonstrates that implementation plays an important role in determining performance (satisfaction) of an organization. It also shows that sources of power impact organizational performance (satisfaction) whether measured as revenues or profits. The QSR franchisees’ satisfaction with franchise arrangements is affected by the nature power sources. The results indicate that some implementation models are more effective than others, and different performance objectives demand different implementation models. The "match" between the outcome objectives and the implementation model is essential to achieve the desired performance. Different sources of power (coercive, legitimate, referent, and information) have varying effects on organizational performance, financial or nonfinancial. Originality of the instrument is one of the major methodological contributions of the study. Positive and statistically significant results achieved in the current study offer empirical validity to the instrument. Another major contribution is the confirmation of earlier studies by several authors on relation between power and satisfaction, and power and performance using the hospitality industry setting. The results also indicate that for long term survival, the OSR franchisees must consider different implementation models and their congruence with the nature of power present in the franchise system.
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    Hospitality managers’ price-ending beliefs: a survey and applications [Summary]
    Schindler, Robert M.; Parsa, Haragopal "HG"; Naipaul, Sandra (Virginia Tech, 2011-11-01)
    The use of “just-below” pricing (such as pricing an item at $6.99 or $6.95, rather than $7.00) has been common in some segments of the hospitality industry (such as quick-service and mid-scale dining). The results of a detailed survey of the price-ending beliefs of hospitality managers show that many believe that just-below prices connote good value and roundnumber prices connote high quality. Furthermore, the majority of these managers believe that consumers tend to drop off or otherwise give insufficient consideration to a price’s rightmost digits. Although one might expect this drop-off belief among those managers who use just-below price endings, it is found also in a majority of those managers who do not use just-below price endings. The survey results suggest that managers who decline the benefits of a consumer dropoff tendency do so because they also believe in one or more possible negative consequences of using just-below price endings. These include the beliefs that just-below endings (1) impair perceptions of high quality, (2) work against an upscale image, (3) give an impression of not being fully honest or straightforward, and (4) involve inconvenience in calculating or communicating the price or in making change.
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    Pricing strategies to maximize revenues in the lodging industry [Summary]
    Collins, Michael; Parsa, Haragopal "HG" (Virginia Tech, 2006-03)
    Price-ending strategies may be utilized by hotels to signal value or quality. The current study presents that there is a directional relationship between room rates and price-ending strategies. It demonstrates that as average room rates decrease, the price-ending strategies change from whole dollar practice to dollar and cents practice. Results from the qualitative investigation were compared with the room rates from the Internet for 10 US cities. Based on this study, an innovative pricing strategy is presented with a potential gain of $251 million dollars by conservative estimations (nearly $555 million if estimated liberally) annually for the hotel industry in the USA. These potential sales are about 0.54% of revenues and 3.9% of industry-wide pre-tax profits. Further studies in consumer acceptance of the recommended pricing strategy are suggested.