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Article
Publication date: 5 June 2017

Xueyan Yang, Xiaoni Zhang, Samuel Goh and Chad Anderson

The purpose of this paper is to understand e-loyalty in the travel industry. Specifically, this paper aims to examine the curvilinear relationship between predictors and e-loyalty.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand e-loyalty in the travel industry. Specifically, this paper aims to examine the curvilinear relationship between predictors and e-loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was conducted using an online survey with one of the largest travel companies in China. Structural equation modeling was used to test the models, and pair-wise nested F-tests were used to compare the models.

Findings

Results show that the curvilinear model has greater explanatory power of loyalty than traditional linear models. The results of pair-wise nested F-tests show that the loyalty model exhibits statistically significant R2 improvement compared to the linear model. However, the R2 improvement in the integrated model is not statistically different from that in the linear model. Confirmation and satisfaction are found to be salient factors influencing loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

This study makes important contributions to the online community literature by understanding the drivers of loyalty in the travel industry. However, there are limitations. First, this study addressed member loyalty of an online travel community with data collected from one company. Thus, generalizability is limited. Online communities and firms may have different characteristics, resulting in different factors influencing consumer loyalty. The authors plan in the future to collect data from other online travel companies and examine their model with different samples so as to check the generalizability of the current findings. Second, the authors collected a snapshot view on loyalty. Both researchers and managers note that small changes in loyalty and retention can yield disproportionately large changes in profitability (Reichheld et al., 2000). Consumer loyalty may change over time, so to maintain and increase profits, it is important to monitor such change. In the future, the authors plan to conduct a longitudinal study of community members to evaluate their loyalty over time.

Practical implications

As China seeks to gain additional market share in the global tourism market, travel companies should make use of websites as a marketing tool to attract and retain customers. These actions enable a travel company to enhance its competitiveness. More and more people use the internet for tour deals, bookings and finding tour-related information. Effective use of websites can affect the competitiveness of ecommerce companies. E-vendors could assess and adopt the dimensions recommended in this paper to help better understand areas for improvement. It is common today for consumers to buy travel products online instead of going through a travel agent. Considering the importance of reciprocity in formulating consumer satisfaction and loyalty in the virtual environment, companies should monitor reciprocal behavior on the virtual community. With advancement in technologies, consumer behaviors have changed and more consumers prefer social interactions in the virtual world. Companies can analyze posts in the virtual environment to assess reciprocity and may design a mechanism to foster reciprocal behaviors. By leveraging reciprocity, firms can better connect satisfaction with loyalty. More than 70 per cent of executives surveyed by McKinsey (2012) said that they regularly generate value through their Web communities. In addition, to pay attention to consumer to consumer reciprocity in the virtual world, companies should listen to what customers say in their online community, as this attention is an indication of reciprocity between consumers and companies. The ideas and opinions expressed in the online community tell the company customers’ perception of the value of its products and customers’ needs. Such attention to the voices in the online community will help companies to better tailor products/services to meet customers’ needs. Furthermore, the voices expressed in the virtual community are also effective in developing and maintaining new internet marketing opportunities such as email marketing, giveaways, search engine optimization, pay per click and shopping comparison marketing. Companies interested in retaining and attracting customers should leverage their established virtual communities and pay close attention to online posts and evaluate members’ satisfaction. Such effort will provide tangible benefits. As shown in Ye et al.’s study, traveler reviews produce a significant impact on online sales (Ye et al., 2011), with a 10 per cent increase in traveler review ratings, boosting online bookings by more than 5 per cent. This finding suggests that businesses should link online user-generated reviews to business performance in tourism. Finding incentives for users to share might be one way to improve interactivity and further create stickiness on the part of the website.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first studies to address the need to move beyond linear models of e-loyalty and to additionally examine potential curvilinear and interactive effects. This study also identifies key variables such as reciprocity and satisfaction as determinants of e-loyalty in the Chinese online travel and tourism industry.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

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Publication date: 16 September 2020

Alexis Linoski, Sofia Slutskaya and Elizabeth Holdsworth

For the past several years, libraries have been evolving. The traditional academic library housed print collections and provided space for studying, usually quiet space. With the…

Abstract

For the past several years, libraries have been evolving. The traditional academic library housed print collections and provided space for studying, usually quiet space. With the advances in technology, libraries have had their own metamorphosis. No longer are they constrained by a physical space – they now have virtual spaces, which include virtual collections.

During this same time, the cost of higher education and textbooks has been on the rise. Universities and the federal government have enacted policies and laws in an effort to combat these rising costs. In support of the students and affordable textbook initiatives, libraries have become partners in helping lower the cost of textbooks for students through either purchasing them electronically or other means, such as course reserves. Indeed, a single library purchase can now provide course materials for an entire class.

This chapter will present an overview of the Affordable Learning Georgia Initiative and how the Georgia Tech Library has updated their collection development policies to support this initiative.

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Article
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Kay Grieves

The purpose of this paper is to share how the maturing value and impact model at The University of Sunderland is enabling the author to generate evidence and articulate the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to share how the maturing value and impact model at The University of Sunderland is enabling the author to generate evidence and articulate the insights. The author draws from that evidence to inform and underpin the strategic service planning, resourcing and reporting.

Design/methodology/approach

The author will demonstrate how impactful articulation of these insights through data visualisation is enabling the author to employ thought leadership in the relationship management with stakeholders by increasing their understanding of the benefit of engagement with the service offers and demonstrating value for money and the value and impact of the role in achieving institutional objectives. The paper will give an overview of the key techniques of the model and will then demonstrate its practical applications using the following examples: how the model is underpinning the approaches to thought leadership in relationship management by enabling the author to effectively generate and articulate evidence to inform strategic faculty action plans; how the model has enabled the authors to develop a new graphical approach to annual reporting. By combining the variety of data sets generated by the model, the author is able to articulate the outputs and impacts of cross-service holistic service offers and clearly demonstrate how institutional strategic objectives are fulfilled.

Findings

The author will discuss the key findings including: the importance of embedding the model at the heart of the service culture – both in terms of involving staff in data generation and of developing an evidence-based culture of service planning; the benefit of meaningful data, analysis and insights in helping to inform and underpin strategic conversations and relationship management; the transferability of the model across service settings; the agility of a snapshot approach in enabling the authors to evidence and inform current strategic service priorities; the impact of a “rounded narrative” technique in articulating powerful human insights which demonstrate engagement, impact and value; and the importance of creative data-visualisation techniques in communicating the insights for maximum impact with the customers and stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

This case study demonstrates the approach taken to fulfil a specific strategic need at one UK HE institution. Therefore, the readers are encouraged to consider the approach within that context.

Originality/value

This paper shares how a strategic approach to capturing and communicating value and impact evidence can contribute to thought leadership in articulating library impact.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

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Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2014

Terry Nichols Clark, Chad D. Anderson, Miree Byun, Wonho Jang, Seokho Kim, Yoshiaki Kobayashi, Jong Youl Lee, Clemente J. Navarro Yáñez, Daniel Silver and Di Wu

What drives workplace and political collaboration, democracy, trust, economic and population growth? Or protest against them? The Western models emerging from Putnam, Verba et…

Abstract

What drives workplace and political collaboration, democracy, trust, economic and population growth? Or protest against them? The Western models emerging from Putnam, Verba et al., Florida, Glaeser, Lloyd, Scott, and Porter stress variables that sometimes shift dramatically in Asia. Those relying on individualism and personal initiative, from Tocqueville on – which stress participation as driving legitimacy, and bohemia as innovating – often fail or shift drastically in a new study of related dynamics in China, Korea, and Japan, compared to the United States, Canada, France, and Spain. Karaoke restaurants and bars can play critical roles, reinforcing workplace and family solidarity, while organized groups shift in their dynamics from the West. We are constructing a multilevel interpretative framework specifying how cultural, political, and economic dynamics interpenetrate in distinct but varying combinations. How engaged or alienated are young persons, workers, and the general public shift other processes. Arts and culture can build glamour and charisma, or alienate as transgressive and inauthentic; each varies by context.

Details

Can Tocqueville Karaoke? Global Contrasts of Citizen Participation, the Arts and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-737-5

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Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2014

Abstract

Details

Can Tocqueville Karaoke? Global Contrasts of Citizen Participation, the Arts and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-737-5

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Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2014

Terry Nichols Clark

This volume outlines a new framework for analysis of democratic participation and economic growth. The new framework joins two past traditions. Their background histories are…

Abstract

This volume outlines a new framework for analysis of democratic participation and economic growth. The new framework joins two past traditions. Their background histories are clearly separate. Democratic participation ideas come mostly from Alexis de Tocqueville, while innovation/bohemian ideas driving the economy are largely inspired by Joseph Schumpeter and Jane Jacobs. New developments building on these core ideas are detailed in the first two sections of this volume. But these chapters in turn show that more detailed work within each tradition leads to an integration of the two: participation joins innovation. This is the main theme in the book’s third section, the buzz around arts and culture organizations, and how and why they are critical drivers for the new democratic politics and cutting edge economies. Buzz enters as a new resource, with new rules of the game. It does not dominate; it parallels other activities which continue.

Details

Can Tocqueville Karaoke? Global Contrasts of Citizen Participation, the Arts and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-737-5

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Article
Publication date: 2 October 2007

Hilary Landorf and Ann Nevin

The overarching purpose of this paper is to empower K‐12 educators, colleagues in teacher education programs, and educational leadership personnel to address social justice issues…

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Abstract

Purpose

The overarching purpose of this paper is to empower K‐12 educators, colleagues in teacher education programs, and educational leadership personnel to address social justice issues within communities where divergent perspectives abound.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a discursive method to uncover the historical and theoretical differences between global education and inclusive education, identify the ways in which the two fields are complementary, and propose strategies for education leadership personnel that build on the commonalities and best practices of both fields.

Findings

The authors argue that the two fields have essential elements that can and should inform each other. They term this intersection “inclusive global education”. They integrate the concepts from global education and inclusive education to define inclusive global education as a pedagogical and curricular stance, a way to honor the diverse cultural, linguistic, physical, mental, and cognitive complexities of all people, and a process that puts problematization of social justice issues at the center of leadership and teaching/learning activities.

Practical implications

Whereas global educators traditionally focus on learning to understand and come to respect the cultural, social, and political “other”, the traditional focus of special educators is to empower students to gain self‐respect. The authors argue that the first step involves a discourse that allows people with equally compelling but different views to learn to problematize issues of social justice. Once this first step is taken, inclusive global educators can come to agreements within diverse communities as to how to address local or global social justice issues. The authors further argue that global educators and special educators combine their knowledge of both fields. Together, global inclusive educators can forge pedagogical content knowledge that bridges the gap between affirming one's own identity and maintaining unity with the whole, and exemplifies a robust notion of social justice.

Originality/value

The authors believe this is the first attempt to integrate the conceptual and theoretical assumptions of two divergent knowledge bases (global education and inclusive education).

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 45 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Publication date: 15 July 2014

Abstract

Details

Can Tocqueville Karaoke? Global Contrasts of Citizen Participation, the Arts and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-737-5

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Article
Publication date: 9 December 2022

Angeliki Garoufali and Emmanouel Garoufallou

With the technological innovation dominating higher education, the university libraries, as physical spaces, continue to play a crucial role in connecting students with knowledge…

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Abstract

Purpose

With the technological innovation dominating higher education, the university libraries, as physical spaces, continue to play a crucial role in connecting students with knowledge. The emergence of the “Learning Commons” serves as a catalyst in the design of library spaces, renewing libraries’ roles and missions and making them popular to Millennials for new reasons. This study aims to record Greek librarians' views on the current situation in Greek academic libraries regarding physical space design, services provided and the existence of the “Learning Commons” model characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted through an online survey structured questionnaire (closed-ended, five-point Likert scale, multiple-choice and statements questions). This study population comprised librarians working in 37 academic institutions and colleges. The collected data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. The research questions were answered using variables creation and the tests, t-test, ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis. The groups of questions were tested for their reliability using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient.

Findings

In total, 186 librarians responded to this study. The responses revealed that participants were willing and ready to accept and support a different approach to academic library physical spaces use, according to the shared learning spaces model. However, this requires changes in the organization's vision, further growth and evolution. Although recently most Greek academic libraries have made significant progress in developing their services to function as information and digital hubs, they do not function as learning collaborative hubs, since the “Learning Commons” model is not reflected in their buildings.

Originality/value

The creation of new academic libraries according to the “common” model is a rapidly evolving issue that affects Greek libraries. This paper highlights the characteristics of libraries that should be adopted in the modern era, the new roles of academic librarians and the importance of an appropriate design of the physical space to achieve optimal learning outcomes. At the same time, this paper is one of the few that illustrates librarians', and not users', perceptions of these changes. This paper is a good research example, and the methodology for measuring this type of context could be used by other future research approaches in other countries.

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

Hugh Carter Donahue

A federal district court injunction in Illinois will reverberate beyond the Land of Lincoln by reaffiriming policy and law for local phone competition in the USA. Chief District…

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Abstract

A federal district court injunction in Illinois will reverberate beyond the Land of Lincoln by reaffiriming policy and law for local phone competition in the USA. Chief District Judge Charles P. Kocoras reminded legislators, regulators and telecommunications executives that state regulators are to employ federal telecommunications law and policy, specifically total element long run incremental pricing (TELRIC) for unbundled network elements (UNE‐s), to administer markets for local telephone services. The genius of the decision resides in its fidelity to sedulous implementation of telecommunications statute and precedents, and by so doing, in sustaining public policy that enhances consumer welfare, stimulates investment and spurs innovation.

Details

info, vol. 5 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6697

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