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1 – 5 of 5K. Thirugnanasambantham, Pillai K. Rajasekharan, Vidya Patwardhan, G. Raghavendra and Shreelatha Rao
India has a marvelous distinction of hosting religious and cultural extravaganzas on an enormous scale, keeping in with its rich lineage and civilizational assortment. The…
Abstract
Purpose
India has a marvelous distinction of hosting religious and cultural extravaganzas on an enormous scale, keeping in with its rich lineage and civilizational assortment. The philosophical threads of such festivals are eventually subjective well-being and spiritual awakening. In this context, the authors examine how the visitors' festival motivation culminates in life satisfaction and subjective well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a theory-driven deductive approach to test the construed relationships. The data were collected from the sites of religious fiesta when the participants were immersed in their cultural fervor. The study uses structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized model.
Findings
The study finds that place attachment and life satisfaction empirically mediate the relationship between festival motivation and subjective well-being. However, the relationship between place attachment and subjective well-being is not empirically strong when life satisfaction mediates their relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a convenience sample and is limited to the visitors of local religious festivals. Future research must verify the suitability of the model in other types of festivals of other religions and different locations. Also, this research deliberates on the relationship between only four variables. Future researchers could discuss other variables such as authenticity, emotional solidarity, festival images, festival values, religious faith, etc. to develop a more robust model to explain the relationship between festival motivation and subjective well-being.
Practical implications
In India regardless of social strata, people are religiously conscious and inclined toward attending publicly celebrated religious festivals. The scale of these festivals is significant and given the scenario, the local Government has to join hands with the temple administration, local people and visitors to reap the full benefits of the festival. These temple festivals not only foster coordination and involvement among various stakeholders, but also invoke the devotion of the people to jointly organize the celebrations.
Social implications
As some of the religious festivals go beyond caste, creed and nationality, the celebrations should evolve as multi-cultural mass events uniting the societal cohesiveness, spirit and national culture. The variables chosen and results found in this study will surely support publicizing the significance of religious festivals in the region and provide an idea to the organizers and supporters to develop new strategies to promote similar events.
Originality/value
The results claim several implications for theory and practice. Theoretically, the study contributes to the literature on religious tourism and event management. Practically, the study discussions indicate the importance of disseminating the significance of religious festivals as a platform for local tourist attractions to generate social, cultural and economic benefits.
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Mesbahuddin Chowdhury, Girish Prayag, Vidya Patwardhan and Nischal Kumar
Using social capital theory, this study aims to investigate internal social capital (ISC) and external social capital (ESC) as determinants of knowledge sharing intention (KSI…
Abstract
Purpose
Using social capital theory, this study aims to investigate internal social capital (ISC) and external social capital (ESC) as determinants of knowledge sharing intention (KSI) and new product development (NPD) in high-end restaurants.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model is developed and tested using data collected from 523 respondents (owners/proprietors, partners and managers) from high-end restaurants in Karnataka, India. Partial least square structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results suggest that ISC has a significant and positive influence on ESC. This highlights the important role of ISC in building ESC. While ISC has a positive relationship with KSI, ESC has no influence on KSI. KSI has a positive effect on NPD.
Practical implications
Restaurant managers and owners should invest time and resources in building ISC by nurturing relationships with employees and partners. Encouraging and rewarding collaborative behaviors internally will facilitate the development of external relationships. Results also suggest the existence of an optimum level of knowledge sharing with external partners in restaurants.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between ISC and ESC, and test the effects of both KSI and NPD in high-end restaurants.
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Vidya Patwardhan, Gita Bajaj, Sujoy Sen and Renuka Kumawat
This study aims to investigate the relationship between student perceived teacher mindfulness (STM), student mindfulness (SM), adversity quotient (ARP) and learner satisfaction…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between student perceived teacher mindfulness (STM), student mindfulness (SM), adversity quotient (ARP) and learner satisfaction (LS). This study likewise examined whether SM and ARP mediate the relationship between STM and LS.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire battery of STM, self-reported SM, ARP and LS was prepared and pilot-tested. A cross-sectional survey of 2,000 students from four universities, three in India and one in the UAE was administered. In total, 713 survey responses after data cleaning were used for analysis.
Findings
The results from three-stage hierarchical multiple regression predicted that STM was the strongest predictor of LS followed by SM and ARP. The parallel mediation Model 4 from PROCESS Macro by Hayes (2013) was used to test the mediation effects of SM and ARP profile on the relationship between STM and LS. It was found that SM has a larger effect than the ARP profile on the LS of a student.
Practical implications
The results of this study show that learner satisfaction in the virtual learning environment can improve through interventions at the institutional level by reviewing the recruitment process of faculty and students, and at the governance level by adopting processes that help address teacher challenges such as stress and anxiety.
Originality/value
In the extant literature, the studies on STM, teacher mindfulness, adversity quotient and learning satisfaction are an under-researched domain, especially in the context of virtual learning. Likewise, the adversity quotient though an established concept has not been adequately studied on students in the virtual environment.
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Valsaraj Payini, Badrinarayan Srirangam Ramaprasad, Jyothi Mallya, Megha Sanil and Vidya Patwardhan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of two personality traits (i.e. food neophobia (FN) and domain-specific innovativeness (DSI)) on revisit intentions of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of two personality traits (i.e. food neophobia (FN) and domain-specific innovativeness (DSI)) on revisit intentions of consumers in the food festival context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a FN scale, DSI scale and food festival revisit intention scale to capture the study constructs. Furthermore, data were collected from 265 food festival attendees in the town of Udupi (State of Karnataka, India). Furthermore, the study adopted structural equating modeling to investigate the relationship between the three study constructs.
Findings
The findings of this study reveals that DSI seems to exercise significant positive influence on consumers revisit intentions for the food festival. On the contrary, FN seems to exercise a negative influence on consumers revisit intentions. This relation, however, is found to be non-significant.
Practical implications
The findings of this study are expected to help food festival event managers, organizers and practitioners outline and delineate marketing strategies so as to increase the revisit intentions of consumers for the food festivals.
Originality/value
FN and DSI have been extensively studied in the context of consumers’ food consumption and related behaviors. On the contrary, majority of the studies that relate to festival revisit intentions situate consumers’ experiential values and satisfaction with attributes of the festival itself (e.g. location, affordability, quality of food, infrastructure, venue ambiance, service quality, entertainment avenues, timing and duration and size of the festival) as key precursors to their revisit propensity. This research endeavor, however, attempts to investigate whether, notwithstanding other food festival attributes, personality traits of individuals (i.e. FN and DSI) exercise any influence on food festival revisit intentions.
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Aarthy Chellasamy, Elangovan N., Aishwarya Nagarathinam and Sangeetha Rangasamy
Indian patients have different medicine systems available at the service that alter their healthseeking behaviour (HSB). This study aims to examine the beliefs and behaviour of…
Abstract
Purpose
Indian patients have different medicine systems available at the service that alter their healthseeking behaviour (HSB). This study aims to examine the beliefs and behaviour of patients in India towards the healthcare system and how it affects their intention to use healthcare chatbots.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey instrument was developed from standard scales and validated by experts. The data was collected from 397 respondents in an urban area and tested using a structural equation model in SAS JMP software.
Findings
The study found that awareness and perception of chatbots and distrust on doctors and health systems impact trust in a chatbot. The results show that trust in chatbots influences the intention to use chatbots. The belief in alternative medicine systems and HSB also influence the intention to use chatbots. The study findings also imply that health-care chatbots should cater to HSB and the belief in alternative medicine.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted only among the urban population because services based on technology are more available in metro cities. Bengaluru is considered the representative population of urban India.
Practical implications
The level of disruption that chatbots can provide to the healthcare system makes this study significant. The study findings will help to manage the factors that can enable chatbot inclusivity, as the current system is inaccessible to many patients.
Originality/value
This paper addresses an identified need to study patients’ trust in the Indian healthcare system and their intention to use chatbots. The level of disruptions these chatbots can cause in the health-care system is undeniable and patients’ trust in these chatbots will eventually transform the health-care sector.
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