Deploying popular culture for international expansion: Effect of operational strategies on hotel firms’ performance

dc.contributor.authorKim, Yelimen
dc.contributor.authorNicolau, Juan Luisen
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-07T18:31:26Zen
dc.date.available2025-07-07T18:31:26Zen
dc.date.issued2025-12-01en
dc.description.abstractThe global hospitality industry is increasingly linked with popular culture, yet its financial impact on hotel firms remains underexplored. This study examines how culturally symbolic events influence the market value of foreign hotel companies operating in the origin country of such culture. Drawing on associative memory theory, congruence theory, strategic flexibility theory, and dynamic capabilities theory, we analyze the effect of major South Korean cultural events on the market value of U.S. hotel companies operating in the South Korea. We find that popular culture events significantly boost hotel market value. Furthermore, franchised hotels outperform managed ones, suggesting that operational flexibility enhances responsiveness to cultural trends. These findings offer the first empirical evidence linking popular culture to foreign hotel firm performance and highlight the strategic importance of adaptable organizational models. The study contributes a novel cross-disciplinary framework and provides managerial insights for optimizing international expansion in culturally dynamic markets.en
dc.description.versionAccepted versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier105240 (Article number)en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105240en
dc.identifier.eissn1879-3193en
dc.identifier.issn0261-5177en
dc.identifier.orcidNicolau Gonzalbez, Juan [0000-0003-0048-2823]en
dc.identifier.orcidKim, Yelim [0000-0002-9116-1197]en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/135765en
dc.identifier.volume111en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectoperational strategiesen
dc.subjecthotel performanceen
dc.subjectinternational expansionen
dc.subjectevent studyen
dc.subjectHallyu tourismen
dc.subjectKorean Waveen
dc.titleDeploying popular culture for international expansion: Effect of operational strategies on hotel firms’ performanceen
dc.title.serialTourism Managementen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherJournal Articleen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Techen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Pamplin College of Businessen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Pamplin College of Business/Hospitality and Tourism Managementen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Pamplin College of Business/PCOB T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Graduate studentsen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Graduate students/Doctoral studentsen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Pamplin College of Business/PCOB doctoral studentsen

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