Jeong Yim Lee, Cynthia L. Istook, Yun Ja Nam and Sun Mi Park
The purpose of this paper is to compare body shape between USA and Korean women. It aims to analyze the distribution and proportion of body shapes of two countries and compare the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare body shape between USA and Korean women. It aims to analyze the distribution and proportion of body shapes of two countries and compare the differences of body shape according to age.
Design/methodology/approach
SizeUSA and SizeKorea measurement data were evaluated using the Female Figure Identification Technique for apparel system developed at North Carolina State University. Once the samples were defined by shape, comparisons were made of the distribution according to age and country through statistical analysis.
Findings
The paper finds that the largest shape category was the rectangle shape in both countries, but the distribution within each shape category for Korean women was different from that of USA women. More body shape categories were found in the USA women than in Korean women. In addition, most body shape categories had different body proportions when comparing the USA women and Korean women. The USA women had the higher measurements in the waist, high hip, and hips height and the larger measurements in the bust, waist, high hip, and hips circumference.
Research limitations/implications
Of the over 6,300 US female subjects in this study, only five failed to be identified by the seven shapes identified. These subjects had over 50.2 in. of hip circumference, over 10 in. larger hips than bust circumference, and over 15.5 in. larger hips than waist circumference. Further refinement of the mathematical definitions or a second group of criteria may be required for sorting the women that have no shape as defined by this study.
Originality/value
The opportunity to compare the body shapes between two very different countries, using national anthropometric survey data, is very rare, indeed. This comparison allows the opportunity to discover ways to improve the sizing systems of each country, as well as impact the development of international sizing standards that could have a significant impact on brands producing product for a variety of international consumers.
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Robert Kinlocke, Aleem Mahabir, Rose-Ann Smith and Jarda Nelson
Amid the multitude of economic effects emanating from impositions of COVID-19, workers in the tourism sector are potentially experiencing significant psychosocial impacts. These…
Abstract
Amid the multitude of economic effects emanating from impositions of COVID-19, workers in the tourism sector are potentially experiencing significant psychosocial impacts. These effects are compounded by the uncertainty of pathways for positive change and the precariousness of adjustments to life and livelihoods. Their attitudes to the newly imposed circumstances are possibly conditioned by a sense of hope which may have implications for their adaptations in the face of sudden or slow change. In this chapter, we argue that one’s sense of hope represents an important component of psychosocial well-being and may even be visualized as a necessary component of adaptation. Hope is conceptualized as a cognitive process that entails thinking and planning in order to achieve proposed goals (Snyder, Irving, & Anderson, 1991; Snyder, Lopez, Shorey, Rand, & Feldman, 2003) and can be operationalized into three core components: goals, pathways, and agency. Based on in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey administered to former accommodation workers in the Negril tourism industry, this chapter examines expressions of hope(lessness) existing among workers displaced by COVID-19. It potentially provides nuanced understandings of hope as a necessary raw material for adaptation initiatives and explores ways in which a sense of hope could be harnessed in the face of disasters and despair.
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Noel Scott, Brent Moyle, Ana Cláudia Campos, Liubov Skavronskaya and Biqiang Liu
Baek-Kyoo Joo, Jeong-Ha Yim, Young Sim Jin and Soo Jeoung Han
This study aims to investigate the relationship between empowering leadership and employee creativity and the mediating roles of work engagement and knowledge sharing in this…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between empowering leadership and employee creativity and the mediating roles of work engagement and knowledge sharing in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the results of a survey of 302 knowledge workers from a leading telecommunications company in South Korea, the relationships among the variables empowering leadership, work engagement and knowledge sharing on employee creativity were analyzed using conducted confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. This study conducted bootstrap analyses to test the mediating effects.
Findings
Empowering leadership was positively and significantly associated with work engagement and knowledge sharing. Work engagement was significantly related to knowledge sharing and employee creativity. In turn, knowledge sharing was significantly associated with employee creativity. The direct effect of empowering leadership on employee creativity was nonsignificant, but this study found a significant indirect effect of empowering leadership on employee creativity via the significant mediating roles of work engagement and knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
This study introduced empowering leadership that may work for knowledge workers who create new ideas by analyzing data from the knowledge workers’ perceptions of their leaders in the workplace. The intuitive linkage between work engagement and knowledge sharing was empirically verified in this study. This study’s findings and implications provide direction for knowledge workers and how their managers should support employees’ work environment and activities.
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Jin Jeong, Ha Kyung Lee and Yuri Lee
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of brand experiences through cafés or art spaces in luxury fashion flagships on consumers’ buying behavior toward authorized…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of brand experiences through cafés or art spaces in luxury fashion flagships on consumers’ buying behavior toward authorized shopping channels.
Design/methodology/approach
Online questionnaires are used by adapting measurements from prior research. We test whether positive relationships exist between multi-faceted (i.e. sensory, emotional, intellectual, and relational) experiences, consumer’s revisiting intention toward the experiential spaces, and the purchase intention of luxury fashion goods from authorized channels, especially focusing on the mediation effect of the intention to revisit. We also include the experiential space type (cafés vs. art exhibitions) as moderator.
Findings
The results confirm that sensory, emotional, intellectual, and relational experiences in cafés or art exhibitions of luxury fashion flagships have a positive impact on the intention to revisit. This revisit intention to experience space has a significant effect on purchase intention from authorized shopping channels. Specifically, sensory experiences in an art space could lead to a positive revisit intention for consumers. Furthermore, relational experiences in cafés could create positive revisit intention in consumers.
Originality/value
This is the first study to compare consumers' perceptions by categorizing extended brand spaces and assessing experiential marketing for authorized shopping channels.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between strategic orientations as well as the role played by them to impact the performance of industrial firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between strategic orientations as well as the role played by them to impact the performance of industrial firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper formulates some hypotheses from the literature review. These hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling with data collected from 292 randomly selected firms operating in several industrial sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Findings
The findings of this study showed the importance of these strategic orientations in enhancing the performance of Saudi industrial firms and emphasized the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation in the relationships of market orientation and technology orientation to new product development performance and firm performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study discusses the findings and advances certain limitations and research and managerial implications for future research avenues. It proposes some recommendations to help Saudi firms to choose more than one orientation simultaneously and adopt an appropriate configuration of orientations. Future research has to consider the interplay between these strategic orientations and the impacts of environmental turbulence in terms of market and technology turbulence on strategic orientations – performance relationship.
Practical implications
The study suggests that managers of Saudi industrial firms should utilize a mix of aspects from several strategic orientations such as market and technology through entrepreneurial capabilities and resources that enhance higher levels of performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and strategic management by showing the reliability of scales used and the confirmatory of the factor structure. It also contributes to business practices by showing the importance for Saudi firms to combine different strategic orientations and provide more attention to the interplay of these orientations in order to perform better in such a transitional context.
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Qiang Zhang, Brian Yim, Kyungsik Kim and Zhibo Tian
The aim of this study was (1) to investigate the relationship between destination image (DI), destination personality (DP) and behavioral intention (BI) in the context of ski…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was (1) to investigate the relationship between destination image (DI), destination personality (DP) and behavioral intention (BI) in the context of ski tourism and (2) especially the role of DP in the relationship between DI and BI among ski tourists.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected data using WJX.CN (N = 400) to test the hypothesized model. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the psychometric properties of the measurement model and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that DI directly affects DP and partially affects BI, while DP directly affects ski tourists' BI. In addition, the indirect effect of DP between affective image and BI was significant, showing full mediation, and the indirect effect of DP between cognitive image and BI was significant, showing a partial mediation effect.
Originality/value
The findings enrich the ski tourism literature, contribute to the development of ski tourism in destination cities and the strategic marketing of ski resorts and provide recommendations for ski tourism researchers and marketers.
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Sojung Kim and Mark Yi-Cheon Yim
This study aims to examine how culture influences consumer attitudes toward the brands of products they own during a product-harm crisis. To this end, average consumers from two…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how culture influences consumer attitudes toward the brands of products they own during a product-harm crisis. To this end, average consumers from two countries - the USA, representing a highly individualistic society and China, a less individualistic (i.e. collectivist) society – are compared.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducts an invariance test of the measurement model for a more rigorous comparison of the two countries. Structural equation modeling is performed to identify how average consumers respond to a product-harm crisis (e.g. iPhone explosion) based on survey results of 188 American and 197 Chinese consumers.
Findings
These results reveal that in both countries, an individual’s susceptibility to a normative interpersonal influence determines their brand consciousness, which, in turn, enhances consumer attachment to well-known brands, resulting in favorable brand attitudes. During a brand crisis, an owned brand’s buffering effect is observed among consumers high in brand consciousness in collectivistic but not in individualistic societies. The moderating role of feelings of betrayal on the brand attachment-consumer attitude relationship is also reported.
Originality/value
Culture shapes consumer behavioral patterns. In today’s global market, a company’s decisions are no longer limited by borders and many companies experience product failures. Thus, findings that show consumers’ distinguishable psychological experiences between different cultures contribute to crisis management literature.
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Xiangzhen Nie, Weibing Max Zhao and Jieqi Guan
This study conducts a systematic review of research on restaurant menus and uses a detailed analytical framework to examine how these menus are developed. It incorporates insights…
Abstract
Purpose
This study conducts a systematic review of research on restaurant menus and uses a detailed analytical framework to examine how these menus are developed. It incorporates insights from the multi-level perspective (MLP) and signaling theory (ST) to provide a thorough and nuanced analysis of the factors that influence menu design.
Design/methodology/approach
This study scrutinizes 120 peer-reviewed articles published from 2004 to 2023 at A or A* journals, as classified by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC). Following a comprehensive analytical framework, it endeavors to delve into the intricate complexities of menu research, giving particular emphasis to the latest trends and developments. Two tools, namely CiteSpace and VOSviewer, were utilized to perform a thorough bibliometric analysis of the publications.
Findings
This study explores menu design from macro, meso and micro perspectives, illustrating that menus are more than simple lists of food items. Instead, they are shaped by societal norms, values, market dynamics, industry standards and consumer preferences. It underscores the vital role of menu as a communication and management tool in engaging consumers and influencing their dining choices and decisions.
Originality/value
This study represents the pioneering effort to incorporate the MLP and ST into the realm of menu research, providing a novel approach to the systematic review of related literature. It offers a distinctive macro-level theoretical perspective on menu dynamics, providing insights that are relevant to industry professionals, policymakers, academics and the public.
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Serhat Yüksel, Hasan Dinçer and Gülsüm Sena Uluer
With the increase in population, the energy needs of countries are also increasing. These countries have difficulties in meeting these increasing needs. Countries that cannot meet…
Abstract
With the increase in population, the energy needs of countries are also increasing. These countries have difficulties in meeting these increasing needs. Countries that cannot meet this need have to import energy from abroad. This situation adversely affects the current account balance of countries. Nuclear energy investments allow countries to obtain their own energy, although there are some criticisms. In this framework, while some countries in the world increase their nuclear energy investments, some countries do not have any nuclear power plants (NPP). There are 32 such countries where nuclear energy projects are running till date. Therefore, it is very important to determine the socio-economic variables of countries that have nuclear energy investments. In this context, a detailed literature analysis will be made first to determine socio-economic criteria. Then, the importance weights of these factors will be calculated using the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The profiles of the countries that make nuclear energy investments demonstrate that education level is the most essential socio-economic factor for the improvement of nuclear energy investments. Also, income inequality is another important variable in this regard. However, consumption behaviour and saving behaviour have the lowest weights.