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In an annual Spring tradition, graduate students pursuing one of the Master's degrees offered in The School Hospitality Business at Michigan State University presented their research to fellow graduate students, faculty, and guests of The School.

This year's sixth annual forum, on April 21 and 22, featured 16 students, all of whom are pursuing the Master's degree in Hospitality Business Management. Their presentations were given in a supportive environment where they can hone their speaking skills and practice presenting sometimes complicated research in an effective way.

The Forum began with remarks from Dean James F. Rainey, director of academic programs for The School on the first day, and from Melissa Bankroff, graduate programs coordinator, on the second. Each day's presentations closed with concluding comments from Brittany Friddell (BA ‘12), who led a team of undergraduate students enrolled in HB 380 - Meeting and Event Planning and Management, under the direction of Associate Professor Jeff Beck, in planning and implementing the forum.

The 16 presentations were as follows:

Jellna Chung - Segmentation of the Boutique Hotel Market Using a Vacation-related Lifestyle Approach

Dongsun Kim - Relationships among Experiential Marketing, Experiential Value, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: An Empirical Investigation of Korea's Upscale Hotels

Joonho Moon - Are Franchising Systems Beneficial for the Lodging Industry in Terms of Profitability and Intangible Value?

Yu Zhong - The Relationship between Technology Readiness and Intention to Use Self-service Kiosk in Luxury versus Economy Hotels

Karissa Fitzgerald - It's Over! Let's Celebrate: The Impact of Divorce Celebrations in the Special Events Industry

Sungzik Yoon - E-service Quality and Its Outcomes in Online Hotel Booking

Xinwei Jiang - Gender Difference in Wine Satisfaction When Dining in a Restaurant

Xiao Yan - NFC Technology: A Next Generation Hotel Application Design

Guihong Jiang - The Relationship between Price Presentation Approach, Price Pattern, Length of Stay, and College Students' Intention to Make Reservations

Maria Frangos - The Art of Baking and Its Implications in the Hospitality Industry

Lan Jiang - Examining the Perceived Impact of Proposed Leasing Rules in the Lodging Industry

Leslie Jablonski - Fundraising Strategies of Nonprofit Organizations: Measuring ROI and Success in a Time of Economic Crisis

Jing Ning - A Case Study of Member Satisfaction within The Country Club of Lansing in 2010

Haeik Park - Identifying Perceived Attributes of Japanese Restaurants

Xianya Yang - The Future Trend of Luxury Boutique Hotels in Asia

Qian Lin - The Effects of Interactional Justice on Recovery Satisfaction, Revisit Intention, and Word-of-Mouth in Hotels

Several of the graduate students are members of Eta Sigma Delta, an international hospitality management society in The School, and several plan to continue their studies in Ph.D. programs around the United States.

"We are very proud of the sophistication of the students' research," says Dean Rainey. "They are sure to make their marks, whether they enter the industry or stay in academia."

For more information about the student's research and findings, please contact Melissa Bankroff at bankroff@bus.msu.edu or visit www.bus.msu.edu/shb/