Best Researcher Award
Jooa Baek — Associate Professor, Department of Tourism Management, Jeju National University, South Korea.
Jooa Baek is an academic in hospitality and tourism management whose research examines customer experiences, hospitality marketing, service quality, consumer behavior, tourism, and technology-enabled hospitality services. Her scholarly record includes peer-reviewed research addressing hotel experiences, online booking behavior, tourism participation, social tourism, foodservice, sporting-event travel, and customer relationship concepts. [1]
Abstract
Jooa Baek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism Management at Jeju National University, South Korea. Her academic background spans geography, hospitality management, hotel and tourism management, and business administration. Her research focuses on hospitality marketing, service management, customer experience, hotel service quality, tourism behavior, digital hospitality, and consumer decision-making. Her publication record includes studies appearing in journals such as International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Economics, Sustainability, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and Information Processing & Management. [2]
Keywords
Jooa Baek; hospitality management; tourism management; hospitality marketing; customer experience; service quality; hotel management; consumer behavior; tourism marketing; online hotel booking; smart tourism; social tourism; hospitality technology; service management.
Introduction
Jooa Baek’s academic development combines training in geography with advanced study in hospitality, tourism, and business administration. She earned a Bachelor of Geography from Sungshin Women’s University, a Master of Hospitality and Tourism from Kyung Hee University, and a Ph.D. in Hotel and Tourism Management from Kyung Hee University. She subsequently completed a second Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Hospitality Management at Temple University’s Fox School of Business in Philadelphia. Her doctoral research addressed customer responses to waiting and the role of quantitative information in service experiences.
Research Profile
Jooa Baek’s research profile is centered on the relationship between consumers and hospitality or tourism service environments. Her studies investigate how customers evaluate service experiences, perceive brands, respond to online information, and make travel or hospitality decisions. The research also considers differences between lifestyle and traditional hotels, consumer preferences for major sporting events, and the development of technology-mediated experiences within hospitality settings.
- Hospitality marketing and consumer behavior
- Hotel service experiences and service quality
- Online hotel booking and digital customer experience
- Tourism participation and social tourism
- Smart tourism and mega-sport event travel
- Hospitality branding, satisfaction, commitment, and customer relationships
Research Contributions
A recurring contribution in Baek’s work is the examination of hospitality services from the customer’s perspective. Her research on online hotel booking explores how design can influence consumer responses, while later studies investigate service experiences and service-quality attributes across different hotel formats. [3] Other research extends this customer-centered perspective to brand experiential value, brand satisfaction, brand commitment, and brand love.
Her tourism research also addresses heterogeneous consumer preferences and behavioral trajectories. Studies of mega-sport event travel packages consider differences among consumers and implications for smart tourism marketing, while research on social tourism applies growth mixture modeling to identify heterogeneous travel-frequency trajectories. These approaches contribute to a more differentiated understanding of tourism markets and customer segments.
Publications
Jooa Baek has contributed peer-reviewed research to hospitality and tourism scholarship, covering hotel service experiences, online booking design, tourism behavior, customer share of wallet, social tourism, and smart tourism marketing. Her publications also examine waiting experiences and consumer evaluations in hospitality settings, demonstrating a sustained focus on customer behavior and service management. [1] [2]
1. Choe, Y., Baek, J., & Kim, H. (2023). Heterogeneity in consumer preference toward megasport event travel packages: Implications for smart tourism marketing strategy. Information Processing & Management, 60(3), 103302. DOI
2. Kwon, E., Baek, J., & Dahm, M. J. (2021). Looking for a silver-lining of a less-popular ethnic cuisine: The case of Caribbean cuisine. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 1–14.
3. Lee, J., & Baek, J. (2021). Sustainable growth of social tourism: A growth mixture modeling approach using heterogeneous travel frequency trajectories. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5241.
4. Baek, J., & Lee, J. (2021). A conceptual framework on reconceptualizing customer Share of Wallet (SOW): As a perspective of dynamic process. Sustainability, 13(3), 1423.
5. Choe, Y., & Baek, J. (2021). Relationships among hotel customers’ brand experiential value, brand satisfaction, brand commitment, and brand love. Journal of Hotel and Resort Research, 20(2), 87–102.
6. Kim, H., Baek, J., & Choe, Y. (2021). Family life cycle and preferences for a mega-sporting event package: The case of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. Tourism Economics, 27(3), 548–568.
7. Baek, J., Choe, Y., & Ok, C. (2021). Determinants of hotel guests’ service experiences: An examination of differences between lifestyle and traditional hotels. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 29(1), 88–105.
8. Baek, J., Choe, Y., & Kim, D. (2021). Examining lifestyle hotels’ service quality attributes using online reviews: Focusing on differences with traditional hotels. Journal of Hotel and Resort Research, 19(6), 103–118.
Selected earlier publication: Baek, J., & Ok, C. M. (2017). The power of design: How does design affect consumers’ online hotel booking? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 65, 1–10.
Research Impact
The supplied bibliometric information records 17 Scopus documents, 176 citations, and an h-index of 5 for Scopus Author ID 57194337257. A separate Google Scholar profile supplied for Baek records 30 documents, 324 citations, and an h-index of 5. These figures originate from different scholarly indexing systems and therefore should be interpreted as platform-specific indicators rather than directly interchangeable measurements. [1]
Selected research with notable scholarly visibility includes the study of online hotel booking design, research on hotel guest service experiences, and the 2023 study of heterogeneous preferences for mega-sport event travel packages. Together, these publications illustrate the progression of Baek’s research from digital hospitality and service encounters toward broader questions of tourism segmentation and smart tourism marketing.
Award Suitability
Jooa Baek’s academic record provides several elements relevant to consideration for a Best Researcher Award. Her profile combines sustained publication activity, measurable citation impact, multidisciplinary academic training, professional reviewing responsibilities, conference service, and research addressing established questions in hospitality and tourism management. Her conference record also includes first-place Best Conference Paper awards in 2018 and 2019 and a first-place Best Conference Poster award in 2022.
- Peer-reviewed scholarship across hospitality and tourism research domains.
- Research published in internationally recognized journals.
- Documented citation and h-index indicators across scholarly platforms.
- Conference recognition through multiple first-place research awards.
- Ongoing journal and conference peer-review contributions.
- Academic service involving dissertation supervision, committees, curriculum development, and institutional review activities.
Conclusion
Jooa Baek’s academic profile reflects a sustained research program in hospitality and tourism management, with particular emphasis on customer experience, service management, hospitality marketing, tourism behavior, and technology-mediated services. Her publication record, citation indicators, professional service, conference recognition, and interdisciplinary educational background collectively provide a substantial basis for consideration in the Best Researcher Award category.
External Links
References
- Elsevier. (n.d.). Scopus author details: Jooa Baek, Author ID 57194337257. Scopus. https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57194337257
- Baek, J., & Ok, C. M. (2017). The power of design: How does design affect consumers’ online hotel booking? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 65, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.05.001
- Baek, J., Choe, Y., & Ok, C. (2021). Determinants of hotel guests’ service experiences: An examination of differences between lifestyle and traditional hotels. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 29(1), 88–105.
- Choe, Y., Baek, J., & Kim, H. (2023). Heterogeneity in consumer preference toward megasport event travel packages: Implications for smart tourism marketing strategy. Information Processing & Management, 60(3), 103302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2023.103302
- ORCID. (n.d.). Jooa Baek ORCID record. ORCID. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3425-7077