Research brief
AI Adoption and Value Creation in Hospitality
Evidence from 336 respondents in Malaysia’s hospitality industry connects technology readiness and AI adoption with value creation. Competitive advantage helps explain how technological resources translate into business value.
- Context
- Malaysian hospitality
- Evidence
- 336 respondents
- Method
- Structural equation modelling
- Publication
- 2025
What does the study examine?
The study asks how hospitality organisations create value when adopting AI. It considers technology readiness alongside dynamic capabilities, sustainable competitive advantage and technological turbulence. This moves the question beyond whether an organisation uses AI to how its resources and capabilities work together.
The theoretical framework brings together the Resource-Based View, the Dynamic Capabilities Framework and Contingency Theory. These perspectives connect internal resources with an organisation’s ability to respond to changing technological conditions.
What evidence supports the findings?
The research used stratified purposive sampling to collect data from 336 respondents. Structural equation modelling examined relationships among the study constructs in the Malaysian hospitality context.
This is evidence about relationships in a specific empirical setting. It should not be read as a controlled test proving that a particular AI product will increase a hotel’s revenue.
What did the study find?
Technology readiness and AI adoption were positively related to value creation. Sustainable competitive advantage acted as a significant mediator, helping explain how AI adoption and dynamic capabilities relate to value creation.
Dynamic capabilities had a more complex relationship with value creation than a simple positive story would suggest. The paper also found selective moderation: technological turbulence significantly affected the relationship between dynamic capabilities and value creation, rather than every relationship in the model.
How can hospitality decision makers use this?
The findings support evaluating AI as part of organisational strategy. Readiness, the ability to adapt and the development of competitive advantage deserve attention alongside technology deployment itself.
These implications are a guide for interpreting the study, rather than a universal implementation formula. Decisions about a particular hotel, service or AI system need evidence from that setting.
How should the evidence be interpreted?
The sample and industry context matter. Associations estimated through a survey model do not establish a guaranteed causal effect, and findings from Malaysian hospitality should not automatically be extended to every industry or country.
Consult the original paper for measurement items, model estimates, statistical tests and the authors’ detailed limitations.
Original publication
Relationship between technology readiness, AI adoption and value creation in hospitality industry: Moderating role of technological turbulence
Alam, S. S., Kokash, H. A., Ahsan, M. N., & Ahmed, S. (2025). Relationship between technology readiness, AI adoption and value creation in hospitality industry: Moderating role of technological turbulence. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 127, 104133.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2025.104133
This page is an original research summary. Access to the full article is governed by the publisher. No full-text paper is hosted here.