Adoption of blockchain technology in hospitality and tourism industry and sustainability performance: impact of technological turbulence and senior leadership support

Abstract

PurposeThe rapid increase of use of online platforms by the customers in the hospitality and tourism industry has invited the needs for using digital platforms by the concerned industry. In such a scenario, the purpose of this study is to examine how adoption of blockchain technology in hospitality and tourism industry could impact the sustainability performance of the organizations under the moderating influence of technological turbulence and senior leadership support.Design/methodology/approachWith the help of existing literature, stakeholder theory and dynamic capability view (DCV), a theoretical model is proposed. It was validated using the PLS-SEM technique with 311 respondents who have different managerial positions in the hospitality and tourism industry. The proposed theoretical model is unique and effective as it has high explanatory power.FindingsThe study demonstrates the importance of adopting BCT in the hospitality and tourism sector and how it could improve the sustainability performance of organizations in that sector. This study also finds that there is a significant moderating impact of technological turbulence and senior leadership support on such organizations that adopt BCT.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides valuable inputs to practitioners in the industry by showing how adopting BCT can improve their sustainability performance. The study also demonstrates that leaders and the managers should support adopting BCT in their organizations and they can help to overcome any technological challenges that might come up while adopting it.Originality/valueThe present study proposes a unique theoretical model which was also validated using a statistical approach. Moreover, both stakeholder theory and dynamic capability view were integrated to propose the theoretical model, which is a novel attempt so far as adoption of BCT in hospitality and tourism industry is concerned.