Artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, social media, online reviews, and influencers: a review of how service businesses use promotional devices and future research directions

Abstract

Today’s rapidly changing digital environments require service ­businesses to have a greater understanding of digital media as new forms of digital communication shift how companies interact with customers and enable service businesses to deliver service information and customer experiences more effectively. This article reviews the literature on online advertising and marketing for services, with a focus on the hospitality, tourism, and travel (HTT) industry. Specifically, the current article proposes six important research agendas related to service businesses, mainly focusing on the roles of 1) online reviews, 2) social media, 3) artificial intelligence and computational advertising, 4) virtual reality and augmented reality, 5) influencers, and 6) theoretical considerations of service marketing. This article sets up an agenda for future research directions by discussing 1) new technologies, 2) cross-cultural research in service businesses, and 3) ethical and diversity considerations.

Keywords:

• Service business
• social media in the service business
• online reviews
• electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)
• hospitality, tourism, and travel (HTT) industry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)

Data availability statement

This is a conceptual paper. The authors do not have data sets to provide

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Shu-Chuan Chu

Shu-Chuan (Kelly) Chu (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is a Professor and Program Chair in the Public Relations and Advertising Program at the College of Communication at DePaul University. Her research interests include social media, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), brand activism, and corporate social responsibility. She also examines the role of social media in the fashion and hospitality industries. Her work has been published in the Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Advertising & Society Quarterly, and Journal of Marketing Communications, among others. Kelly and her colleagues have also edited a book, Electronic Word of Mouth as a Promotional Technique: New Insights from Social Media. She is an award-winning teacher and researcher, having received the 2020 AAA Billy I. Ross Advertising Education Award. She is an associate editor for the Journal of Interactive Advertising, the International Journal of Advertising, and the Chinese Journal of Communication.

Mark Yi-Cheon Yim

Mark Yi-Cheon Yim, Ph.D. (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Manning School of Business, with an affiliated appointment in the University of Massachusetts Lowell Digital Media department. Mark’s academic research focuses on technology-driven digital marketing and e-tailing. His work has appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Interactive Marketing, the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, the International Journal of Advertising, the Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Business Research, among others.

Juan Mundel

Juan Mundel (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an associate professor and executive director of Cronkite Global Initiatives at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. His research focuses on unintended effects of advertising, multicultural audiences and processes related to consumer decisions. His research has appeared in the Journal of Interactive Advertising, the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, and the Journal of Product and Brand Management. He is the editor of the Journal of Advertising Education.