Sarah Gardiner and Alexandra Bec
This study aims to explore the evolution of the culture agapic (personal) gift-giving with the advent of new online gifting platforms that provide the opportunity to gift tourism…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the evolution of the culture agapic (personal) gift-giving with the advent of new online gifting platforms that provide the opportunity to gift tourism experiences. This study investigates this well-established cultural behavior in view of this new form of social exchange.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus group interviews with two key target markets – mothers and couples/singles – were conducted (N = 39). Interview questions focused on understanding gifting using online platforms, sharing the experience and the role of various parties in the exchange.
Findings
This study reveals that experiential tourism gifts differ from physical gifts because they offer novelty and symbolic value, heighten positive emotions and have the potential to create lifelong memories for recipients. However, giving an experiential gift can also be a risky option because of the uncertainty of getting the gift–recipient identity match correct, particularly for adventure tourism gifts. The identity of the gift-giver is also considered in gift selection as the experience selected is a reflection of self.
Practical implications
It is recommended that online experiential gifting platforms pay attention to both the identity of the gift-giver and gift-recipient. Sharing the experience through social media posts can reinforce both parties’ social identity, create a positive social exchange and may motivate repeat purchase.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to uncover the motivational factors of online tourism experiential gifting as part of the culture of gift-giving and the parties in this exchange. The findings advance theoretical understanding of this new form of social exchange.
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Liubov Skavronskaya, Noel Scott, Brent Moyle, Dung Le, Arghavan Hadinejad, Rui Zhang, Sarah Gardiner, Alexandra Coghlan and Aishath Shakeela
This review aims to discuss concepts and theories from cognitive psychology, identifies tourism studies applying them and discusses key areas for future research. The paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
This review aims to discuss concepts and theories from cognitive psychology, identifies tourism studies applying them and discusses key areas for future research. The paper aims to demonstrate the usefulness of cognitive psychology for understanding why tourists and particularly pleasure travellers demonstrate the behaviour they exhibit.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews 165 papers from the cognitive psychology and literature regarding pleasure travel related to consciousness, mindfulness, flow, retrospection, prospection, attention, schema and memory, feelings and emotions. The papers are chosen to demonstrate the state of the art of the literature and provide guidance on how these concepts are vital for further research.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that research has favoured a behaviourist rather than cognitive approach to the study of hedonic travel. Cognitive psychology can help to understand the mental processes connecting perception of stimuli with behaviour. Numerous examples are provided: top-down and bottom-up attention processes help to understand advertising effectiveness, theories of consciousness and memory processes help to distinguish between lived and recalled experience, cognitive appraisal theory predicts the emotion elicited based on a small number of appraisal dimensions such as surprise and goals, knowledge of the mental organisation of autobiographical memory and schema support understanding of destination image formation and change and the effect of storytelling on decision-making, reconstructive bias in prospection or retrospection about a holiday inform the study of pleasurable experience. These findings indicate need for further cognitive psychology research in tourism generally and studies of holiday travel experiences.
Research limitations/implications
This review is limited to cognitive psychology and excludes psychoanalytic studies.
Practical implications
Cognitive psychology provides insight into key areas of practical importance. In general, the use of a cognitive approach allows further understanding of leisure tourists’ behaviour. The concept of attention is vital to understand destination advertising effectiveness, biases in memory process help to understand visitor satisfaction and experience design and so on. Use of cognitive psychology theory will lead to better practical outcomes for tourists seeking pleasurable experiences and destination managers.
Originality value
This is the first review that examines the application of concepts from cognitive psychology to the study of leisure tourism in particular. The concepts studied are also applicable to study of travellers generally.
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Yun Victoria Chen, Xin Jin, Sarah Gardiner and IpKin Anthony Wong
This study aims to explore the role of social media visual posts (known as foodstagramming) on restaurant visit intention. Drawing on the heuristic–systematic model and normative…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the role of social media visual posts (known as foodstagramming) on restaurant visit intention. Drawing on the heuristic–systematic model and normative focus theory, this research introduces a framework that assesses the effects of key foodstagramming attributes – vicarious expression, aesthetic appeal and post popularity – and the mediating roles of goal relevance and mimicking desire, in the process.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modelling was performed to test the proposed model using a sample of tourists (n = 377) and residents (n = 341). Multi-group analysis was performed to compare the differences between these groups.
Findings
Results reveal that mimicking desire and goal relevance influence restaurant visit intention; however, mimicking desire has a stronger influence than goal relevance. Little difference was found between the tourist and the resident groups in the proposed relationships, except that vicarious expression positively influences mimicking desire in the tourist group but not in the resident group.
Practical implications
This study guides restauranteurs and social media influencers (foodstagrammers). It shows that consumers value the textual content and aesthetic appeal of photos over the popularity of a post. It also indicates that vicarious expression is more important for tourists than for residents.
Originality/value
This research advances social media marketing literature by proposing a new information processing framework. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to explore the impact of visual post attributes on individual decision-making behaviours through socially acceptable norms.
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This chapter discusses innovation within the tourism small business sector and provides a case study of academic-industry research collaboration and knowledge transfer…
Abstract
This chapter discusses innovation within the tourism small business sector and provides a case study of academic-industry research collaboration and knowledge transfer. Governments of many countries are interested in improving innovation in the tourism industry. Academics have important skills useful for developing innovative new products. However, collaboration between academic and industry partners is complex and difficult to effectively operationalize. A thriving and innovative new experience for Chinese tourists to Australia’s Gold Coast provides evidence of the characteristics of collaboration needed for successful academic-industry innovation.
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Sarah Gardiner, Debra Grace and Ceridwyn King
The purpose of this paper is to explore congruency between the self-identity of Baby Boomer, Generation X and Generation Y consumers with the generational label and popularised…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore congruency between the self-identity of Baby Boomer, Generation X and Generation Y consumers with the generational label and popularised identity of each generational cohort.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a mixed methods approach of focus groups (n=49) followed by an online survey (n=627) of Baby Boomer, Generation X and Generation Y consumers. Focus group data were thematically analysed. Descriptive, ANOVA and factor analysis was conducted on the survey data.
Findings
The results show that most consumers only have a vague association with their generational label and profile and find it easier to characterise generations that are different to their own. Generation self-identity congruency is greater among members of the Baby Boomer cohort compared to the younger generations. Yet, even in the Baby Boomer cohort, generational identity is not homogenous among its members.
Practical implications
The results challenge the explicit use of generational labels and stereotypes in marketing strategy.
Originality/value
Given the immense interest and application of generational cohort segmentation, understanding whether and why consumers identify with cohort labels and profiles is critical. The paper questions the longevity of generational cohort analysis given the limited understanding and relevance of this concept to consumers.
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Jianya Ma, Ana Cláudia Campos, Shanshi Li, Sarah Gardiner and Noel Scott
This paper aims to address the central guiding questions: What principles of services management need urgent re-thinking in the Asian Century? What opportunities and challenges…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the central guiding questions: What principles of services management need urgent re-thinking in the Asian Century? What opportunities and challenges lie ahead?
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a review of relevant literature on hedonic consumption and related issues of emotion, attention, mental time travel and, importantly, how these phenomena may be measured.
Findings
The paper addresses this question from a psychological and customer perspective. Services managers are well-positioned and have a great future for two reasons. First, services in general are the growing part of the global economy. Second, services managers provide the experiences required by increasingly affluent consumers. On the other hand, there is in general within the services sector, a lack of knowledge and expertise in understanding the consumer psychology of hedonic consumption. Additionally, and especially in Western countries, there is lack of knowledge about the cultural differences in experiential requirements of Asian consumers.
Originality/value
The paper provides directions for future research in the area of tourism experiences and emotion.
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Richard Jefferies, Ibrahim H.N. Sheriff, Jacob H. Matthews, Olivia Jagger, Sarah Curtis, Peter Lees, Peter C. Spurgeon, Alex Oldman, Ali Habib, Azam Saied, Jessica Court, Marilena Giannoudi, Meelad Sayma, Nicholas Ward, Nick Cork, Olamide Olatokun, Oliver Devine, Paul O'Connell, Phoebe Carr, Rafail Angelos Kotronias, Rebecca Gardiner, Rory T Buckle, Ross J Thomson, Sarah Williams, Simon J. Nicholson, Usman Goga and Daniel Mark Fountain
Although medical leadership and management (MLM) is increasingly being recognised as important to improving healthcare outcomes, little is understood about current training of…
Abstract
Purpose
Although medical leadership and management (MLM) is increasingly being recognised as important to improving healthcare outcomes, little is understood about current training of medical students in MLM skills and behaviours in the UK. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study used validated structured interviews with expert faculty members from medical schools across the UK to ascertain MLM framework integration, teaching methods employed, evaluation methods and barriers to improvement.
Findings
Data were collected from 25 of the 33 UK medical schools (76 per cent response rate), with 23/25 reporting that MLM content is included in their curriculum. More medical schools assessed MLM competencies on admission than at any other time of the curriculum. Only 12 schools had evaluated MLM teaching at the time of data collection. The majority of medical schools reported barriers, including overfilled curricula and reluctance of staff to teach. Whilst 88 per cent of schools planned to increase MLM content over the next two years, there was a lack of consensus on proposed teaching content and methods.
Research limitations/implications
There is widespread inclusion of MLM in UK medical schools’ curricula, despite the existence of barriers. This study identified substantial heterogeneity in MLM teaching and assessment methods which does not meet students’ desired modes of delivery. Examples of national undergraduate MLM teaching exist worldwide, and lessons can be taken from these.
Originality/value
This is the first national evaluation of MLM in undergraduate medical school curricula in the UK, highlighting continuing challenges with executing MLM content despite numerous frameworks and international examples of successful execution.
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Richard Teare and Leonardo (Don) A.N. Dioko
The purpose of this paper is to profile the Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) theme issue “Services management and the growing number of Asian travellers: what…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to profile the Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) theme issue “Services management and the growing number of Asian travellers: what needs re-thinking?” with reference to the experiences of the theme editor and the theme issue outcomes from countries within and beyond Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editor to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.
Findings
This paper reports on research and discussions between academics and practitioners about an issue faced by many countries with established hospitality, tourism and travel industries. Specifically, what are the adjustments needed to mirror the radically changing demographic landscape of inbound tourism – now characterized by more affluent and mobile Asian visitors?
Practical implications
This paper builds on the outcomes of an international conference on “Managing and Delivering Services in the Asian Century”, and offers a response to the changes needed to better serve Asian travellers.
Originality/value
It provides guidelines for destinations, hospitality organizations and travel operators that have traditionally relied on European and American source markets to help them re-think their service delivery process, management and operations.
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Peter Gardiner and Sarah Quinton
Increasing competitiveness in the marketplace has led to pressure being applied to brands and past poor brand management in the 1980s saw brands suffering under short‐term…
Abstract
Increasing competitiveness in the marketplace has led to pressure being applied to brands and past poor brand management in the 1980s saw brands suffering under short‐term, profitability‐based aims. The need for stability throughout the commercial environment in the 1990s has led to the longer‐term view now being adopted by marketing practitioners. This paper will highlight how direct marketing can be employed as a strategic marketing management tool to build a brand through the establishment of a mutually beneficial relationship. In this paper the authors will demonstrate the important role that direct marketing can play in establishing and building a brand through the in‐depth analysis of a single case study within the business‐to‐business arena. By using the case study approach the authors will combine relevant theory and practice to illustrate the potential of direct marketing in brand building.