Carson College of Business Faculty Directory

Carson College Directory

Ruiying Cai

Assistant Professor

Contact

Phone: (509) 335-3124
Office: TODD HALL 0337F ACADEMIC FACULTY OFFICE

Education

  • PhD (Washington State University)
  • MS (Oklahoma State University)
  • BBA (Xiamen University)

Ruiying Cai

Ruiying Cai, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management (SHBM) at Carson College of Business, Washington State University. Dr. Cai’s research interests include consumer behavioral research, service marketing, and technology adoption in the hospitality and tourism field. Her research appears in top-tier journals like the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, etc. Her papers have won the Best Paper Awards at the International CHRIE Conference and WFCHRIE Conference. Her work has been featured in media outlets like Forbes and Yahoo.

Research Interests

consumer behavior
residents' perception and behavior towards tourism development
service management and consumer behavior in the hospitality industry
travel technology

Teaching Interests

hospitality business management

Journal Articles

  • Xing'an Xu, Najuan Wen, Ruiying Cai Laughing it off: How does leader humor alleviate employees compassion fatigue in service failure? Tourism Management, 2025
  • Chun Chu Chen, Ruiying Cai Are robots stealing our jobs? Examining robotphobia as a job stressor in the hospitality workplace. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2024
  • Dogan Gursoy, Ruiying Cai Artificial Intelligence: An Overview of Research Trends and Future Directions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2024
  • Ruiying Cai, Yao-Chin Wang, Jie Sun Customers intention to compliment and complaint via AI-enabled platforms: A self-disclosure perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2024
  • Ruiying Cai, Yao-chin Wang, Tingting Zhang Does Metaverse Tourism Stimulate Prosocial Behavior? A Mindfulness-Driven Model with a Psychological Ownership Perspective International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2024
  • Yingwei Xu, Gongmei ZHOU, Ruiying Cai, Dogan Gursoy When disclosing the artificial intelligence (AI) technology integration into service delivery backfires Roles of fear of AI, identity threat and existential threat International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2024
  • Xi Leung, Ruiying Cai, Huiying Zhang, Billy Bai When causal attribution meets cuisine type: How consumer power and moral identity moderate virtual kitchen patronage International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2023
  • Ruiying Cai, Lu Lu, Laurie Wu The numerical stroop effect on consumer preference to order healthy food International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2023
  • Ruiying Cai, Lisa Cain, Harry Jeon Customers perceptions of hotel AI-enabled voice assistants: Does brand matter? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2022
  • Ruiying Cai, Xi Leung, Christina Chi Ghost kitchens on the rise: Effects of knowledge and perceived benefit-risk on customers' behavioral intentions International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2022
  • Lu Lu, Ruiying Cai Healthy, but say it out loud? The messaging effect on restaurants’ healthy food promotion Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2022
  • Xing'an Xu, Juan Liu, Ruiying Cai How do customers navigate perceived inappropriateness of collective emotion in group service recovery? An application of cognitive dissonance theory. Tourism Management, 2022
  • Ruiying Cai, Christina Chi Pictures vs. reality: Roles of disconfirmation magnitude, disconfirmation sensitivity, and branding. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2021
  • Ruiying Cai, Christina Chi A recipe for food promotion: Effects of color brightness on food evaluations and behavioral intentions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2020
  • Lu Lu, Ruiying Cai, Ceridwyn King Building trust through a personal touch: Consumer response to service failure and recovery of home-sharing Journal of Business Research, 2020
  • Ruiying Cai, Xi Leung Mindset matters in purchasing online food deliveries during the pandemic: The application of construal level and regulatory focus theories International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2020
  • Lu Lu, Ruiying Cai, Dogan Gursoy Developing and validating a service robot integration willingness scale International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2019
  • Ruiying Cai, Hailin Qu Customers' perceived justice, emotions, direct and indirect reactions to service recovery: Moderating effects of recovery efforts Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 2018
  • Cai, Ruiying (Raine), Lu Lu, Dogan Gursoy Effect of disruptive customer behaviors on others' overall service experience: An appraisal theory perspective Tourism Management, 2018

    Presentations

    • Xi Leung, Ruiying Cai, Huiying Zhang, Billy Bai Virtual kitchen or physical restaurant: Consumer choice based on causal attribution and power.