Preface

Carbon Offsetting Behavior

In the first chapter, “Air Travelers’ Carbon Offsetting Behavior: An Experimental Study,” Andy S. Choi and Brent W. Ritchie investigate how general and behavior specific attitudes work together in explaining air travelers’ carbon offsetting behavior.

Evaluating Service Performance

In the second chapter, “Evaluation of the Service Performance: Application of the Zone of Tolerance with Importance Performance Analysis of a Convention Facility,” Hwansuk Chris Choi, Woojin Lee, HeeKyung Sung, and Chien-Fen Chiu compare the applicability of the zone of tolerance and importance-performance analysis (IPA) techniques in the evaluation of convention delegates’ perceptions of products and services.

Slow Tourism

In the third chapter, “Slow Tourism (Cittaslow) Influence over Visitors’ Behavior,” Yesim Cosar and Metin Kozak investigate the extent to which the image of a slow city motivates domestic tourists to visit a destination. Also, the authors investigate the impact of the slow city on visitors’ behavior, in terms of information search, decision making, holiday experience, and post-holiday experience.

Tourists’ Souvenirs

In the fourth chapter, “A T-shirt from New York, a Coral from Mauritius: A Functional Typology of Tourist Souvenirs,” Alain Decrop and Julie Masset offer a deeper understanding of the symbols and meanings attached to tourists’ special possessions as well as of the functions they fulfill in contemporary consumption.

Exhibition Areas

In the fifth paper, “Exhibition Areas: Case Study Research of Japanese Firms,” Yosuke Endo, Yohei Kurata, and Taketo Naoi describe the potential of exhibition areas operated by consumer goods companies as a method of relationship marketing for corporate branding.

Individual Values and Holiday Preferences

In the sixth chapter, “Individual Values and Holiday Preferences,” Tamara Jovanovic explores the relationship between individual values and holiday preference. She shows that values can be standards of assessing behaviors in tourism research and values connect tourists’ behaviors and activities preferences.

Parenthood and Holiday Decisions: A Grounded Theory Approach

In the seventh chapter, “Parenthood and Holiday Decisions: A Grounded Theory Approach,” Lidija Lalicic and Suzan Becks investigate how holiday decisions for couples change when they become parents. The authors discuss 10 in-depth interviews with Dutch parents-to-be, expecting their first child. The results show that emotional response ranks high in terms of the occurred changes, which originate from a set of interrelated consequences.

Tourists’ Risk Perceptions

In the eighth paper, “It Can’t Happen to Me: Travel Risk Perceptions,” Brent W. Ritchie, P. Monica Chien, and Bernadette M. Watson introduce new theory to explain how people calibrate travel risks; the conceptual model incorporates constructs from motivational theories, cognitive appraisal, and emotionality.

Adopting New Technologies While Traveling

In the ninth chapter, “Adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by In-Trip Leisure Tourists,” Mareba M. Scott and Andrew J. Frew examine factors influencing actual in-trip ICT usage by leisure tourists and the potential of adopted technologies to support sustainable tourism; a thematic analysis of the data revealed that consistent with the literature perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and social influence affected usage while in-trip.

Heterogeneity in Tourism Motivations Happens

In the tenth chapter, “Heterogeneity in Tourism Motivations: The Case of the Algarve,” Jaime Serra, CEFAGE, Antónia Correia, and Paulo M. M. Rodrigues use data from visitors to the Algarve (Portugal) to identify 10 main motivations and reveal that these are statistically different by origin countries and over the years.

Configural Analysis Using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

In the eleventh chapter, “Configural Modeling of Country-Collectors Motives, Behavior, and Assessments of Strengths of National-Place Brands,” Arch G. Woodside, Xiang (Robert) Li, and Karlan Muniz offer an early workbench model of antecedents, paths, and outcomes of country collectors’ evaluations and behavior toward countries as place-brands competing for such visitors.

Conclusion

The chapters in this volume are more daring and provocative in developing new theory and/or in the methods to test tenets of specific theories than what is typically available in articles in scholarly journals. Similar to prior volumes in the ACTHR series, the following chapters apply different recipes that include useful new knowledge in easy-to-read formats. The promise is made and kept here for an enjoyable, insightful, and memorable learning experience. Enjoy!

A Note of Appreciation and an Invitation

The authors and editors of this volume are grateful for the encouragement by members of staff of Emerald Group Publishing Limited, especially Rebecca Evans and Daniel Berze, in seeing this volume to completion. The authors and editors express their gratitude to the in-depth (2,500 +  words per review) comments by all members of the ACTHR Editorial Advisory Board (EAB). All chapters were improved via the blind reviews by members of the EAB.

The ACTHR Series Editor (Arch G. Woodside) asks all readers who are working in institutions with members of the EAB to take a moment to thank them personally – work in serving as a member of an EAB is usually under-recognized while being extremely valuable in improving the quality of manuscripts. Please review the listing of EAB members and their affiliations appearing in the front pages to select one to a few colleagues to thank. Thank you for doing so!

The authors and editors invite the reader to participate as an author in future volumes of the ACTHR series and to join the Academy of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. Information about the Academy and the steps to become a member are available at http://www.iacthlr.com/.

Arch G. Woodside

Metin Kozak

Editors