The Mature Market: Underlying Dimensions and Group Differences of a Potential Market for the Hotel Industry

The mature market, defined as age 55 and up and consisting of approximately 64 million Americans, is expected to increase. Studies show that this group travels more frequently, travels greater distances, and stays longer. The authors seek to determine if underlying dimensions exist for the mature individual with regard to the selection criteria for lodging when traveling for pleasure, and to determine if differences exist between various demographic subsegments of this market with regard to these underlying dimensions.

Characterizing Poor Performance in For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Food Service Operations

In this article the authors explore the performance-related employee behaviors that are the most troublesome in food service. Four subsegments of food service were surveyed and differences in profit and not-for-profit operations analyzed. Significant differences were found between the two groups, with for-profit operations indicating more severe problems in all but one behavior category.