Preferences and challenges towards the adoption of the fourth industrial revolution technologies by hotels: a multilevel concurrent mixed approach

Purpose The aim of this mixed methods study sought to investigate the preferences and challenges towards fourth industrial revolution (FIR) technologies adoption at hotels in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted partially-mixed concurrent quantitative-dominant mixed methods. The quantitative part of the study examined the preferred FIR technologies for hotels; whiles the qualitative part explored the challenges towards their adoption. Findings The results revealed that Internet of things, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cyber physical systems were the preferred FIR technologies for hotels. The findings revealed significant relationships between respondents' socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, working experience, etc.) and preferred FIR technologies. Penultimately, challenges that affect the adoption of FIR technologies including investment cost, migration cost, trust, etc., were discussed. Originality/value In effect, findings from this study provide valuable information for policy makers (i.e. hotel owners, management, technology providers and future researchers). Most especially, the study unearths specific FIR technologies preferred by the hospitality and tourism industry. Also, the significant interplay of these preferences vis a vis respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, as well as challenges influencing their adoption also have major implications for policy makers. Another valuable contribution of this study lies in the research method utilised, since most studies on technology adoption either use quantitative or qualitative. These contributions for theory and practice have been thoroughly discussed.