Yuki Ohashi, Sanae Sugawara and Akiko Ozaki
This study aims to highlight the value of economics, social relations and culture in building a healthy community by interpreting qualitative data.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to highlight the value of economics, social relations and culture in building a healthy community by interpreting qualitative data.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative descriptive approach was used between June 2016 and May 2017 and interviews were analysed inductively. Twenty residents of a shopping street in Tohoku, a rural town in north-eastern Japan, participated in this survey. This study focused on the residents’ value of economics, social relations and culture in building a healthy community.
Findings
People acquired economic benefits in the hope of gaining irreplaceable relationships with customers and residents, including memorable stories and heart-to-heart satisfaction. The narratives reflected not only the ideal aspects of social relations but also realistic and complex aspects, such as feelings of being uncomfortable with strangers, whether they were long-term residents or newcomers. The daily life of the town is a story, which is built based on customs fostered and strengthened through capital bonds.
Originality/value
To build a healthy community, people residing on shopping streets have unique care systems in which multiple glass shop windows make it easier to tell narrative stories, communicate or request assistance, which is very different from knocking on doors in suburban neighbourhoods.
Details
Keywords
Yuki Ohashi, Sanae Sugawara, Koko Muraoka and Akiko Ozaki
Though shopkeepers in small enterprises (SSEs) are pioneers in rethinking retirement, working ages and the lifestyles of an aging society, some pertinent health issues remain…
Abstract
Purpose
Though shopkeepers in small enterprises (SSEs) are pioneers in rethinking retirement, working ages and the lifestyles of an aging society, some pertinent health issues remain unexplored. Using narratives of shopkeepers in small, rural enterprises, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways of thinking about health maintenance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed an ethnographic approach. In total, 20 shopkeepers and residents in a rural shopping street in Tohoku, in northeast Japan, were interviewed between June 2016 and May 2017. These interviews were analysed inductively.
Findings
The ways shopkeepers think about health maintenance are expressed through an interaction with their personal history. Shopkeepers and customers used narratives to arrive at novel methods to re-think health maintenance. Through data analysis, the cultural theme of maintaining vitality through long-lasting self-struggle supported by cooperation and familiar membership was identified. This cultural theme was related to three sub-themes: struggle stimulated by flexibility and responsibility; cooperation by devoting personal capital; and compensation through family support.
Practical implications
There is a growing focus on the important role that SSEs play in rural health. The results of this study will enable rural nurses to approach and develop health via communal interaction. In addition, the support of the family through cooperation at home should be enhanced.
Originality/value
There exists the potential for shopkeepers to develop a care strategy for small enterprise-related work. This strategy could enhance active ageing and promote a sustainable healthy life.
Details
Keywords
Ayush Guleria, Richa Joshi and Mohd Adil
Utilising the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, this study investigated how destination attachment and overall satisfaction mediate the linkage between…
Abstract
Purpose
Utilising the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, this study investigated how destination attachment and overall satisfaction mediate the linkage between memorable tourism experiences and customer-based destination brand equity (CBDBE).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors study presents a model that illustrates how memorable tourism experiences can influence CBDBE by impacting tourists' attachment and overall satisfaction with a destination. The model was tested using empirical data obtained through a survey of 382 Indian domestic tourists. The data were analysed using the SPSS AMOS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences Analysis of a Moment Structures) programme.
Findings
This study validates the accuracy and effectiveness of the suggested conceptual model, demonstrating significant linkage between the variables of the study. Accordingly, it was observed that positive memorable tourism experiences have a notable impact on the development of attachment and satisfaction with the tourist destination forming strong CBDBE.
Practical implications
The study's primary managerial recommendation is that, to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, destination management organisations should give priority to memorable experiences and positive emotions instead than only concentrating on product-centred marketing. Second, destination managers must mould their business models based on the link between memorable tourism experiences, destination attachment, satisfaction and CBDBE.
Originality/value
Perhaps, the authors' research is one of the earliest to explore the relationship between tourists' overall satisfaction, attachment to a destination and memorable experiences and how they impact customer-based brand equity (CBBE) for a specific urban hill station destination.