Education

Ph.D., Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Massachusetts
M.A., Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston
B.S., Foods and Nutrition / Consumer Science (Suma Cum Laude), Ewha Womans University (Seoul, South Korea)

Background

Kawon (Kathy) Kim is an associate professor and director of the Ph.D. program in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. Prior to coming to USC, Kim served as an instructor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2016-2017). Her duties there included teaching food service management and special event management. Kim has also served as a consultant and project manager with Be My Guest, a restaurant consulting company (2012-2013).

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In the Media

Expand all

2024

Is the Customer Always Right?: Modern Restaurant Management

Honors / Awards

• Best Paper Award (Institute Paul Bocuse Research Award), 2021 EuroChrie
• 2020 Best Paper Finalist, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
• 2018 Outstanding Reviewer Award, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
• Academic Best Paper Finalist, 2019 Travel and Tourism Research Association International Conference
• 2018 Highly Commented Award, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Teaching

• HRTM 344 – Personnel Organization and Supervision
• HRTM 584 – Tourism Information Technology Issues
• HRSM 700 – Quantitative Methods in HRSM

Research Interests

• Service marketing: Social and interpersonal influence, social support, influence of other customers, service failure and recovery
• Organizational behavior: Leadership, employee training

Selected Research Publications

Ma, E., Baker, M., Kim, Y., & Kim, K. (In press). When going above and beyond meets diversity: Are service recoveries evaluated based on inference or recognition? Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

Kim, K., Lee, M., & Kim, W. (2023). Impact of dark patterns on consumers’ perceived fairness and attitude: Moderating effects of types of dark patterns, social proof, and moral identity. Tourism Management, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104763

Jin, D., Dipietro, R., Kim, K., Meng, F., & Torres, E. (2023). Influence of customer value mind-set on affective and behavioral service outcomes: role of the score and scale of service offerings at various touchpoints. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 32(3), 340-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2023.2173352

Jin, D., Dipietro, R., Kim, K., Meng, F., & Torres, E. (2023). An interactive service recovery framework combining demand and supply approaches. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103413

Seo, S., Kim, K., & Im, S. (2022). Determinants of satisfaction with imported Asian pears in the US: The moderating role of the country image of Korea. International Journal of Emerging Markets. http://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-09-2021-1394

Kim, K., & Baker, M. (2022). Do I Deserve to Spend? Online Social Support and Spending Pleasure. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 63(2), 152-168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1938965520973576

Kim, K., & Baker, M. (2022). Luxury branding in the hospitality industry: The impact of employee’s luxury appearance and elitism attitude. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 63(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655211022660

Jeong, M., Kim, K., Dipietro, R., & Ma, X. (2021). Key Factors Driving Customers’ Restaurant Dining Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal Contemporary of Hospitality Management, 34(2), 836-858. http://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2021-0831

Baker, M., & Kim, K. (2021). Becoming cynical and depersonalized: how incivility, co-worker support and service rules affect employee job performance. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(12), 4483-4504. http://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-01-2021-0105

Rosenbaum, M., Contreras, G., & Kim, K. (2021). From overt to covert: Exploring discrimination against homosexual consumers in service settings. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102426

Seo, S., Kim, K., & Nurhidayati, V. (2020). Satisfaction with imported fruit and purchase intention in Taiwan based on familiarity: A case of Korean pears. British Food Journal, 122(9), 2895-2910. http://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2019-0639

Kim, K., & Baker, M. (2020). Paying it forward: The influence of other customer service recovery on future co-creation. Journal of Business Research, 121, 604-615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.03.015

Baker, M., & Kim, K. (2020). Dealing with customer incivility: The effects of managerial procedural and emotional support on employee psychological well-being and quality of life. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 87. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102503

Jin, D., Kim, K., & Dipietro, R. (2020). Workplace Incivility in Restaurants: Who’s the Real Victim? Employee Deviance and Customer Reciprocity. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 86. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102459

Seo, S., & Kim, K. (2020). Mimicking menu choices: Menu choice failure and blame attribution of Korean customer. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 86. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102456

Kim, K., & Baker, M. (2020). The Customer Isn’t Always Right: The Implications of Illegitimate Complaints. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 61(2), 113-127. http://doi.org/10.1177/1938965519889288

Book Chapters

Kim, K., & Baker, M. (2020). Managing service failure and recoveries. In S. K. Dixit (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Experience Management and Marketing (pp. 352-360). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429203916

Baker, M., & Kim, K. (2020). The service experiencescape. In S. K. Dixit (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Experience Management and Marketing (pp. 150-158). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429203916

Baker, M., & Kim, K. (2019). Heritage and authenticity in gastronomic tourism. In S. K. Dixit (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Gastronomic Tourism (pp. 242-249). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315147628

Lee, M., Kim, K., Lee, K. Y., & Hong, J. H. (2018). Employees’ use of smartphones and performance: Reflective-formative estimation approach. In F. Ali, S. Rasoolimanesh & C. Cobanoglu (Eds.), Applying Partial Least Squares in Tourism and Hospitality Research (pp. 85-108). Emerald Publishing.

Kim, K., & Baker, M. (2017). The influence of other customers in service failure and recovery. In E. Kox (Ed.), Service Failure and Recovery in Tourism and Hospitality: A Practical Manual (pp. 122-134). CABI. http://doi.org/10.1079/9781786390677.0122

Professional Affiliations and Consulting Experiences

• International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE)
• Meeting Professionals International (MPI)