Technological development, innovation and digital transformation in the post-pandemic era

Published 16 May, 2022

Introduction: 

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the acceleration of technology development. Together with the pandemic, global geopolitical conflicts also bring huge challenges to consumers and businesses alike. Responding to the market turbulence and uncertainty, companies have been quickly transforming their businesses and the ways they aconnect with customers, through the adoption of digital technologies such as machine learning, big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), service robots, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). From the consumers’ perspective, the increasing levels of anthropomorphism (appearance and behaviour) and intelligence in robots, changes their interaction (e.g., human-robot, human-human) and consumption experiences. From the business perspective, digital transformation (e.g., service robots, AI, AR and VR) helps companies improve service efficiency and reduce costs greatly; for example, by replacing human staff and helping keep social distance in the Covid-19 pandemic. This was particularly obvious in the tourism industry.  However, how businesses use their innovation and digital transformation to battle all the market challenges is still under-researched. It is also meaningful and valuable to research how consumers interact, perceive and evaluate technological development, innovation and digital transformation; for example, consumers’ reactions to and interactions with service robots.

This special issue invites papers that investigate how technological innovation and digital transformation contribute to business practices and performances across different industries, countries and regions, and how consumers respond to, involve and interact with such changes. We welcome all types of papers (e.g., conceptual, quantitative and qualitative) that offer new theoretical insights into managing and sustaining technological development, innovation and digital transformation in the post-pandemic era, particularly in the tourism sector.

Topics covered:

These may include (but are not limited to):

  • The role of big data analytics in generating customer insights.
  • Technological innovation and digital transformation strategies for the tourism, hospitality and service industries.
  • The role of digitalisation in international business and marketing.
  • The role that technological innovation played in sustainable marketing and consumption.
  • Enablers of and barriers to technological innovation and digital transformations.
  • Social impacts and ethical issues of technological innovation and digital transformations.  
  • The dark side of AI technology in decision making and service recovery.

Important deadline:

  • Submission deadline: rolling submission

Submission instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online; please select Tech in post-pandemic era on submission.

Mini-conference:

Potential authors are encouraged to attend a one-day mini-conference organised by Newcastle University Business School in the UK, which will be held on 4 July 2022. Attendance is optional and free of charge. The conference is an excellent platform for researchers and PhD students in marketing, innovation and digital technology, tourism and other relevant fields to present and discuss the contemporary research agenda and the knowledge required to deal with post-pandemic related issues.  For more information and registration, please visit: https://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=14597841

Guest Editors:  

About the Guest Editors:

Qionglei Yu, PhD, is Associate Professor in International Marketing and the Degree Programme Director at Newcastle University Business School. Dr. Yu’s research interests cover areas such as internal marketing, digital marketing, cross-cultural marketing, travel and tourism management. She has published dozens of research papers and conference proceedings on various topics in journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Management Perspectives, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, International Marketing Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Apart from academic research, Dr. Yu also has years of experience in industrial consultancy.

Atanu Chaudhuri, PhD, is Joint Associate Dean for Internatinalisation (Interim) and Associate Professor in Technology & Operations Management at Durham University Business School. He has around nine years of industrial experience spanning automobile manufacturing, operations and supply chain consulting and research, and 12 years of academic experience. He has held academic positions at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, and at Aalborg University, Denmark. His research interests are in technology adoption in supply chains (with a particular focus on additive manufacturing technologies and blockchains), supply chain risk management, circular economy and sustainability. His research has been published in leading journals such as International Journal of Operations and Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Business Research, R&D Management, International Journal of Production Research, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, and R&D Management. His research has been funded by UK-India Education and Research Initiative, the British Council, Innovation Fund-Denmark and the European Regional Development Fund.     

Sarah Xiao, PhD, is Professor of Marketing at Durham University Business School and Programme Director for the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Fudan University in China. A consumer psychologist, Dr. Xiao’s research focuses on interactions between consumer behaviour, marketing and technology in marketing innovation across the retail, service and tourism sectors. Her published works frequently appear in leading international journals such as Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Travel Research, Annals of Tourism Research, and Psychology and Marketing. She regularly collaborates with colleagues around the world. Her organisational partners include a range of private and public sector bodies.

Raffaele Filieri, PhD, is Professor of Digital Marketing in the Marketing Department at Audencia Business School, Nantes, France. Dr. Filieri is the Associate Editor of Journal of Business Research, European Management Review, Spanish Journal of Marketing, and sits on the editorial boards of several journals, including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Internet Research, Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Knowledge Management and Tourism Review.   Dr. Filieri has published 50+ research papers in 33 different journals, including Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Marketing Letters, International Marketing Review, Industrial Marketing Management, Computers in Human Behavior, and many more. 

Zhibin Lin, PhD, is Associate Professor in Marketing and Director for the MSc Marketing Programme at Durham University Business School. His research interests cover areas such as technology and innovation marketing, and transport, travel and tourism management. He has published over 100 articles in international journals, books and conference proceedings, including Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Business Research, Business Strategy and the Environment, and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. He sits on the editorial board of Tourism Management. He is also a member of the programme committee for the 46th Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference (2022). He was the international chair for the 2021 China Maritime Economic Forum. Previously, he was a co-chair of the 19th International Conference on Electronic Business and a guest editor for Technological Forecasting and Social Change.  

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