How Hotels and Restaurants Adopt Immersive Technology to Co-Create Guest Experiences

This is a forthcoming paper. At the time of writing, it appears only on the author’s faculty publication list, without a date, volume, or abstract. This summary is limited to what the title and citation make clear.

The paper is by Taewon Suh, Professor of Marketing at the McCoy College of Business at Texas State University, with three co-authors based in Rome: Luigi Nasta of John Cabot University, Luca Pirolo of LUISS Business School, and Barbara Sveva Magnanelli of John Cabot University. It is listed for the Journal of Services Marketing.

What the title tells us

Phygital is a blend of physical and digital. In hospitality it refers to guest experiences that combine in-person service with digital tools. Immersive technologies are the tools that place a person inside a simulated or augmented setting, such as virtual reality headsets, augmented reality overlays on a phone, and mixed reality displays.

The paper is described as exploratory. In research terms that usually means the authors set out to map a new area rather than test a fixed hypothesis. Exploratory studies in this field often rely on interviews, case studies, or observation, but the design of this paper has not been published.

The title also names a value co-creation perspective. Value co-creation is the idea that customers and firms produce value together rather than the firm delivering it and the customer receiving it. A guest who uses a hotel’s virtual tour to plan a stay, or who interacts with an augmented reality menu, is helping to shape the experience.

What it means for hospitality managers

Until the paper is published, its findings are not available. The framing suggests the study will speak to two practical questions. First, how do hotels, restaurants, and related businesses decide to adopt immersive technologies? Second, how does that adoption change the way guests and staff create the experience together?

Managers considering investment in these tools may want to watch for the published version. The same lead author has published a related typology of phygital business models in the Journal of Macromarketing, which offers a framework for thinking about such investments now.

This summary is based on the paper’s title and citation only. No abstract or full text was available, and the full article will report the data, methods, and detailed results.

What it means for managers

• Phygital experiences blend in-person service with digital layers. Hospitality firms adopting immersive tools should plan for both sides of that blend.
• Value co-creation means guests help produce the experience. Technology adoption decisions should ask what guests contribute, not only what the firm delivers.
• This paper is listed as forthcoming. Check the final published version for the study's findings before acting on them.

Suh, T., Nasta, L., Pirolo, L., & Magnanelli, B. (n.d.). Phygital customer experience and the adoption of immersive technologies in hospitality: An exploratory study with a value co-creation perspective. Journal of Services Marketing.