Technology- or human-related service innovation? Enhancing customer satisfaction, delight, and loyalty in the hospitality industry

To sustain a company’s competitive advantage, providing innovative products or services is inevitable. Previous researches mainly focused on technology-related service innovation (TRSI), letting human-related service innovation (HRSI) remain largely unstudied. However, the authors believe that human service is the vital factor affecting customers’ experiences and thus cannot be overlooked. This study applied the PLS-SEM method to examine the role of TRSI and HRSI and conclude that HRSI applications have a stronger effect on satisfaction and delight. TRSI also moderates the relationship between HRSI applications and delight. Our results provide new information and meaningful guidelines to hospitality practitioners and academic research. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11628-021-00461-w.