This research highlights two cultural tendencies—concern for face and belief in fate—that are characteristic of Asian (vs. Western) consumers. In three cross‐cultural studies on service failures, we show that these cultural tendencies have contrasting effects on consumer tolerance, such that Asian (vs. Western) consumers are more dissatisfied with social failures but less dissatisfied with nonsocial failures. We further demonstrate that these contrasting effects of culture are sensitive to pertinent contextual factors such as the presence of other consumers or a fate‐suggestive brand name. Overall, our research evinces the multidimensionality of cultural influence and points to the need for a sharper focus in conceptualizing cross‐cultural consumer behavior.

This article highlights consumers’ preference for economic (versus social) resources in individualist (versus collectivist) cultures and demonstrates the multifaceted effects of culture on consumer responses to service failures. A cross-cultural study involving American and Chinese participants in the setting of a computer repair service confirms seven of eight hypotheses derived from the resource preference model. The results indicate that Americans (versus Chinese) are more dissatisfied with an outcome failure but less dissatisfied with a process failure. This interactive effect of culture and failure type seems to be driven by a corresponding pattern of attribution tendencies across cultures. Not only do Americans and Chinese differ in service dissatisfaction, but they also tend to express their dissatisfaction in different ways, preferring voice and private responses, respectively. Overall, the resource preference model enhances theoretical understanding of cross-cultural consumer behavior and provides culture-specific guidelines for managing the inevitable service failures.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between relationship marketing orientation and business performance in the hotel industry. Data were generated from 63 hotels in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that relationship marketing orientation was positively and significantly associated with marketing performance and financial performance of a hotel. Implications of the findings are discussed, and limitations of the study as well as further research directions are addressed.

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Purpose Young consumers have increasingly adopted wearable health-care technology to improve their well-being. Drawing on generation cohort theory (GCT) and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study aims to illuminate the major factors that drive the adoption of health-care wearable technology products by Generation Z (Gen-Z) consumers in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach A self-administrated online survey was used to collect data from a sample of Gen-Z consumers in Hong Kong with experience in using health-care wearable technology. Data analysis was performed using partial least-squares-structural equation modeling to verify four hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that consumer innovativeness (CI) and electronic word-of-mouth referral (EWOM) are significant predictors of perceived credibility, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, which subsequently drive online engagement intention and adoption intention (AI). Practical implications This research provides practical guidance for marketers of health-care wearable technology products. In particular, CI and EWOM hold the key to young consumers’ product perceptions (and thereby their online engagement and AIs). Originality/value This research leverages the insights of GCT to enrich the TAM, specifically by including CI and EWOM as antecedents and online engagement as a consequence in the context of health-care wearable technology. The results of an empirical study enhance theoretical understanding of Gen-Z consumers’ perceptions and behavioral intentions toward health-care wearable technology. They also point to actionable recommendations for marketing this new technology to young consumers.