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Colleges Hospitality Management: A Good Choice For Future Growth When deciding whether a colleges hospitality management program is a smart choice, there is a new study for potential students to consider. The study offers promising news to those now in or considering joining the hospitality industry and for colleges hospitality management programs.

Colleges hospitality programs suffered a bit in recent years when there were reports of the industry being in a slight to moderate decline. While the hospitality industry suffered along with the rest of the country, they actually fared better than some other types of businesses.

Still, colleges hospitality management programs had to deal with potential students who worried that a degree in this field might prove useless should the economy continue...
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Effects of Price and User-Generated Content on Consumers' Prepurchase Evaluations of Variably Priced Services

The role of price in prepurchase evaluations for variably priced services has not been widely examined. Increased consumer awareness of variable pricing practices, coupled with growing availability of user-generated content (UGC) at the point of purchase in the online environment, may be changing the way that consumers use price in purchase decisions. This article examines the relative roles of price and UGC, specifically consumer reviews and aggregate consumer ratings, on consumers’ prepurchase evaluations in the context of the purchase of hotel accommodation, a service to which variable pricing is typically applied. Results indicate that, in the presence of UGC, price does not have a significant impact on perceived quality. Price and UGC have significant effects on perceived value, although consumers rely more on reviews than ratings when evaluating price–benefit trade-offs. These results suggest that, rather than simply competing on price, managers must also understand consumers’ perceptions of their firm versus the competition.