| dc.description.abstract | Purpose and background - The aim of this research paper is to review earlier research
extensively and systematically regarding customer relationship management (CRM) in the
hospitality industry and propose future research. CRM is a powerful tool to increase efficiency
in a hospitality firm, it can be divided into specific topics. A systematic review can help provide
a helpful overview of the most influential literature on the topic. The findings are aimed to
provide other researchers with the tools to synthesize existing knowledge and develop earlier
neglected research approaches.
Design/methodology/approach - Web of Science and Scopus were the two chosen databases
to be searched for this systematic review. Searches were limited to English written articles,
published between 2012 ʹ 2022 in peer reviewed journals. The search results were searched
for relevance by a three-step process of reading title, abstract, and full text against the
inclusion and exclusion criterion. The included 51 articles were then divided into topics and
analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and characteristics.
Findings - The systematic review suggests that CRM in hospitality research is still in its infancy.
While the concept of CRM was introduced in a 1988 article, the focus of CRM research the last
decade is heavily focused on the technology aspect of it, looking for ways to improve CRM as
a system. The USA and UK are the two countries that has published the most articles on the
subject with 29% of the published articles being from the two countries. Seven topics were
discovered, with technology being the most researched with 31% of the articles. The second
most being loyalty programs followed by consumer behavior.
Discussion - CRM research in hospitality is studied in a varied amount across different
countries, and in different countries, while making a generalization that each country is the
same might seem wrong. But CRM as a system and its benefits are quite general and
comparable in every country.
Practical implications - The qualitative systematic research method conducted in this paper
contributes to future guidance on the topic of CRM in hospitality.
Originality/value - This research contributes to CRM research through a systematic review to
help guide future researchers.
Keywords - Customer relationship management, CRM, Hospitality, s-CRM, Review
Paper type - Systematic review | |