Megan Divett, Nadia Crittenden and Ron Henderson
Previous attempts to enhance consumer loyalty have failed, including point reward schemes such as frequent fliers. In response to the poor performance of existing loyalty…
Abstract
Previous attempts to enhance consumer loyalty have failed, including point reward schemes such as frequent fliers. In response to the poor performance of existing loyalty programs, this study explores an alternative way of actively influencing consumer loyalty and subsequent purchase behavior. A field experiment was conducted on 240 customers of a theater subscription, using a Solomon Four Group design to evaluate the impact of an intervention on loyalty and subsequent purchase behavior. The intervention increased levels of perceived approachability and responsiveness to customer voice. Initial results indicated that greater perceived approachability and responsiveness led to greater loyalty toward the theater, and greater purchase behavior.
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Jesús Claudio Pérez Gálvez, Mónica Torres-Naranjo, Tomas Lopez-Guzman and Mauricio Carvache Franco
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the attitude declared by the tourists towards the local gastronomy as a variable of tourist interest in a WHS destination. Gastronomic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the attitude declared by the tourists towards the local gastronomy as a variable of tourist interest in a WHS destination. Gastronomic tourism strengthens and consolidates the tourist destinations.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on a survey conducted on foreign travellers who visited the city of Quito. In total, 516 valid surveys of foreign tourists were conducted, using convenience sampling. As for the data analysis, a multivariate technique of grouping cases (K-mean clusters) was applied with the objective of analysing the similarity existing among those surveyed, taking as a reference variables that indicate greater or lesser interest in the local gastronomy.
Findings
The results show evidence on the existence of different attitudes towards gastronomy as a variable of interest in the choice of a tourist destination. There is a direct relationship between their attitude towards gastronomy and their expenditure.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitation of this research is found in the time period in which the surveys were conducted.
Practical implications
The study allows the hotel/restaurant companies and tourism rooted in the city of Quito to know the importance of the local gastronomy as variables of interest for the foreign tourists as well as the segmentation carried out with regard to their attitudes.
Originality/value
Gastronomy is used as a source of inspiration in tourist destinations. This research reinforces this theme, taking on the study of food tourism in an important heritage destination, such as the city of Quito, in a geographic area, Latin America, characterised by a recognised gastronomy, but still little studied in the scientific literature.
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Anna Shnyrkova and Marina Predvoditeleva
The purpose of this study is to identify Halal hotel attributes demanded by the Russian Muslim travelers. Following this, the study aims to investigate whether gender and types of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify Halal hotel attributes demanded by the Russian Muslim travelers. Following this, the study aims to investigate whether gender and types of travelers influence the demand for Halal hotel attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted to localize the list of Halal hotel attributes for the Russian business context. A self-administrated online questionnaire was designed, distributed and collected from 191 Russian Muslim customers, who have stayed at Halal hotels in the past 12 months. Data analysis includes a t-test and analysis of variance.
Findings
The study revealed a list of Halal attributes demanded by Russian Muslim customers. Also, the findings indicate that the list of the attributes demonstrated the differences in the requested attributes between gender and types of travelers.
Research limitations/implications
The study came across three main limitations. The first was that the respondents surveyed were leisure tourists. Second, the majority of the respondents have university degrees. Third, the research sample is limited to approximately 200 respondents. This research primarily contributes to tourism and hospitality management, and consumer behavior literature, as this is the first study yielding insights on a new demographic: Russian Muslim tourists.
Practical implications
The study provides a clear understanding of the Halal hotel attributes demanded by Russian Muslims that can help hotel managers to accommodate the needs of this group while, at the same time, meeting the requirements of guests of different religions.
Social implications
The study contributes to improving social relationships within the Russian Federation as it improves society’s understanding of the life principles of Muslims.
Originality/value
This is the first study investigating the demand for Halal attributes by Russian Muslim tourists. By partly covering the empty research field on this topic, the study provides meaningful direction to future research of the Russian hotels’ Halal services from both supply and demand perspectives.
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Mohamed A. Nassar, Mohamed M Mostafa and Yvette Reisinger
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of travel motivation, Muslim-friendly amenities and lifestyle, cognitive and affective destination image and quality of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of travel motivation, Muslim-friendly amenities and lifestyle, cognitive and affective destination image and quality of service on Kuwaiti travelers’ intentions to visit Islamic tourism destinations.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered questionnaire consisting of multiple-item scales was developed. A convenience sample of 224 Kuwaitis was surveyed. The hierarchical regression analysis tested whether and how much the influencing factors predicted a significant amount of the variance in travel. The analysis was controlled for the effects of demographic variables.
Findings
Travel motivation and cognitive and affective image had the largest significant effects on the Kuwaiti travelers’ intention to visit Islamic destinations. Contrary to expectations, the findings suggested that Muslim-friendly amenities and quality of service did not affect Kuwaitis’ travel decisions.
Originality/value
This study provides a starting point for future empirical research into Islamic tourism in the Middle East. It provides an understanding of the importance of travel motivation and destination image in attracting Kuwaiti travelers to Islamic destinations.
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Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez and María Moral-Moral
The first problem when diving into this topic is the confusion caused by a number of terms intended to designate the same concept, in addition to the lack of a shared…
Abstract
Purpose
The first problem when diving into this topic is the confusion caused by a number of terms intended to designate the same concept, in addition to the lack of a shared interpretation on what Islam requires from tourism services to secure their acceptability. This paper aims to contribute to the clarification of what halal tourism is, as it seems to be the most appropriate term to refer to practices allowed when travelling, in accordance with the Islamic law.
Design/methodology/approach
A synthesis of the current situation was carried out, based on the papers contained in Web of Science and Scopus databases. Moreover, a consultation of tourism experts was implemented to extract a number of practical implications for the promotion and development of this segment.
Findings
As the literature review suggested, halal tourism is a field of study that is still in a very early stage. In spite of this fact and the ambiguity found, halal tourism can be understood as the offer of tourist services designed to meet the needs of Muslim tourists in accordance with their religious obligations.
Practical implications
It is imperative to offer halal services (food, worship facilities, etc.) to attract this type of tourists. However, the diversity of interpretations has prevented the existence of one single certification. The lack of knowledge on this market is the main obstacle to overcome.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to clarifying the conceptualization of halal tourism. It takes a theoretical review and experts’ view as a preliminary step to study this topic in more depth.
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In this paper we extend established concepts of product and process architectures to propose a concept of organization architecture that defines the essential features of the…
Abstract
In this paper we extend established concepts of product and process architectures to propose a concept of organization architecture that defines the essential features of the system design of an organization needed to achieve an effective strategic alignment of an organization with its competitive and/or cooperative environment. Adopting a work process view of organization, we draw on concepts of product and process architectures to elaborate fundamental elements in the design of an organization architecture. We suggest that organization architectures may be designed to support four basic types of change in organization resources, capabilities, and coordination, which we characterize as convergence, reconfiguration, absorptive integration, and architectural transformation. We also suggest the kinds of strategic flexibilities that an organization must have to create and implement each type of organization architecture. We identify four basic types of strategic environments and consider the kinds of changes in resources, capabilities, and coordination that need to be designed into an organization's architecture to maintain effective strategic alignment with its type of environment. We then propose a typology that identifies four basic ways in which organizational architectures may be effectively aligned with strategic environments. Extending the reasoning underlying the proposed alignments of organization architectures with strategic environments, we propose a strategic principle of architectural isomorphism, which holds that maintaining effective strategic alignment of an organization with its environment requires achieving isomorphism across a firm's product, process, and organization architectures. We conclude by considering some implications of the analyses undertaken here for competence theory, general and mid-range strategy theory, and organization theory.
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The concept of corporate social responsibility of the enterprise covers a vast territory! This paper proposes to limit the analysis and evaluation of this concept to three…
Abstract
The concept of corporate social responsibility of the enterprise covers a vast territory! This paper proposes to limit the analysis and evaluation of this concept to three distinct aspects. The first will treat the comparatively new and evolving common law implied term in corporated into the contract of employment relating to the enterprise’s social responsibility of respect towards the employee. The second will analyse an other generically linked recent common law development in the field of the enterprise’s social responsibility of respect towards the employee, namely the implied over‐riding term. Thirdly, the novel and developing wider concept of corporate social responsibility will be addressed and assessed. Some concluding thoughts will follow.
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Presents anecdotes in the development of aspects of the field of management, relating to Lawrence J. Henderson, Chester I. Barnard, Peter Drucker, Kurt Lewin and J.B. Rhine. These…
Abstract
Presents anecdotes in the development of aspects of the field of management, relating to Lawrence J. Henderson, Chester I. Barnard, Peter Drucker, Kurt Lewin and J.B. Rhine. These suggest that history needs to be viewed in a hermeneutical philosophy where it is seen as presenting the Zeitgeist of its period rather than describing facts or causal relations.