Himanshu Sharma and Anu G. Aggarwal
The experiential nature of travel and tourism services has popularized the importance of electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) among potential customers. EWOM has a significant…
Abstract
Purpose
The experiential nature of travel and tourism services has popularized the importance of electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) among potential customers. EWOM has a significant influence on hotel booking intention of customers as they tend to trust EWOM more than the messages spread by marketers. Amid abundant reviews available online, it becomes difficult for travelers to identify the most significant ones. This questions the credibility of reviewers as various online businesses allow reviewers to post their feedback using nickname or email address rather than using real name, photo or other personal information. Therefore, this study aims to determine the factors leading to reviewer credibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper proposes an econometric model to determine the variables that affect the reviewer’s credibility in the hospitality and tourism sector. The proposed model uses quantifiable variables of reviewers and reviews to estimate reviewer credibility, defined in terms of proportion of number of helpful votes received by a reviewer to the number of total reviews written by him. This covers both aspects of source credibility i.e. trustworthiness and expertness. The authors have used the data set of TripAdvisor.com to validate the models.
Findings
Regression analysis significantly validated the econometric models proposed here. To check the predictive efficiency of the models, predictive modeling using five commonly used classifiers such as random forest (RF), linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbor, decision tree and support vector machine is performed. RF gave the best accuracy for the overall model.
Practical implications
The findings of this research paper suggest various implications for hoteliers and managers to help retain credible reviewers in the online travel community. This will help them to achieve long term relationships with the clients and increase their trust in the brand.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study performs an econometric modeling approach to find determinants of reviewer credibility, not conducted in previous studies. Moreover, the study contracts from earlier works by considering it to be an endogenous variable, rather than an exogenous one.
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Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel rapid prototyping (RP) approach and verifying its feasibility. This alternative solution is to bring several merits from both selective laser sintering and laminated object manufacturing.
Design/methodology/approach
The phenolic resin coated sand is used in this method. It could be cured at an appropriate temperature and be invalidated at a higher one. Therefore, the fabrication flows from laser cutting along slice profiles to a bulk curing heating after stacking up. Finally, the workpiece may be detached out of the excess material. Experiments and modeling on laser scanning are conducted to optimize the processing parameters, which, along with the direct slicing strategy, guarantee the part performance.
Findings
A novel prototyping system is developed comprising the software package and prototyping machine, through which several specimens are fabricated. The results show the feasibility of the proposed RP method.
Originality/value
This research brings the applicability of a hybrid solution: profile invalidation RP.
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Saeed Loghman and Azita Zahiriharsini
Research focusing on psychological capital (PsyCap) has been mainly conducted at the individual level. However, recent research has expanded investigations to the collective level…
Abstract
Research focusing on psychological capital (PsyCap) has been mainly conducted at the individual level. However, recent research has expanded investigations to the collective level with a greater focus on team-level PsyCap. Although, as demonstrated by recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the relationships between individual-level PsyCap and the desirable/undesirable outcomes are fairly established in the literature, less is known about such relationships for team-level PsyCap. One of these important, yet least investigated, research areas is the research stream that focuses on the relationship between team-level PsyCap and the outcomes of health, Well-Being, and safety. This chapter aims to highlight the role of individual-level PsyCap as an important predictor of employees’ health, Well-Being, and safety outcomes, but also to go beyond that to provide insights into the potential role of team-level PsyCap in predicting such outcomes at both individual and team levels. To do so, the chapter first draws upon relevant theories to discuss the empirical research findings focusing on the relationship between individual-level PsyCap and the outcomes of health, Well-Being, and safety. It then focuses on team-level PsyCap from theoretical, conceptualization, and operationalization perspectives and provides insights into how team-level PsyCap might be related to health, Well-Being, and safety outcomes at both individual and team levels. Thus, this chapter proposes new research directions in an area of PsyCap that has been left unexplored.
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Nathalia de Paula and Silvio Melhado
The objective of this paper is to draw up management guidelines on environmental sustainability for architectural and engineering design firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to draw up management guidelines on environmental sustainability for architectural and engineering design firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is derived from a research experience between 2010 and 2018. That experience comes from three source sets: Management Development Program for Design Firms from the Research Line of Management Design, Department of Civil Construction Engineering, University of São Paulo in Brazil; papers including a doctoral thesis; and literature review. Revisiting and investigating processes were conducted by research questions, resulting in lessons learned, management difficulties and guidelines.
Findings
The guidelines were drawn up from a strategic sphere, understanding internal and external factors to the firm, diagnosis of the firm's management and sustainability, a building sustainability plan, implications of the plan for management processes, plan monitoring and control and plan evaluation.
Research limitations/implications
The studies were mostly conducted in Brazil, and one of them in the USA. Other studies could be carried out in other countries comparing findings or implementing the guidelines.
Practical implications
The findings will provide feedback to Management Development Program for Design Firms (PDGEP) in the action research method. Moreover, the knowledge about firm's capabilities can advance understanding of architectural and engineering (AE) design firm management as support for sustainability, performance and building information modeling (BIM).
Originality/value
Architectural and engineering design firms are hardly discussed; design is treated in the building project context, giving prominence to technical solutions, not to management ones.
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W Feng, L Wenhua and G. Xiangguan
The cultural tourism industry, which has subtly met the needs and solved the major problem of the current age, is a new growth point for the current city economic growth…
Abstract
The cultural tourism industry, which has subtly met the needs and solved the major problem of the current age, is a new growth point for the current city economic growth. Therefore, its position in the industrial structure system will be increasingly improved. The development of the cultural tourism industry also provides an important opportunity for the renewal and re-engineering of urban space. For the current urban space construction crisis needs the integration of historical and cultural elements urgently while the development of the cultural tourism industry itself happened to need the city to provide the necessary carrying space and incubation carrier urgently as well. Thus this research discusses the construction of urban visual planning system and the specific implementation path from the perspective of the development of cultural tourism industry.
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Jong-Hyeong Kim, Yuchen Xu and Seongseop (Sam) Kim
In a reflection of individuals’ interest in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, nutraceutical restaurants, which provide health benefits, have emerged on the market. However, little…
Abstract
Purpose
In a reflection of individuals’ interest in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, nutraceutical restaurants, which provide health benefits, have emerged on the market. However, little is known about the underlying factors and mechanisms of the consumption of nutraceutical foods. Therefore, grounded in an extended cognitive–affective–conative model, this study examines the role of dining motivations and restaurant attributes in explaining an integrated model that focuses on customers’ loyalty formation process.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 893 Chinese customers who had recently dined at traditional Chinese medicine restaurants. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, this study examined the structural relationships among dining motivations, restaurant attributes, customers’ perceived benefits, overall satisfaction, place attachment and revisit intentions.
Findings
The results of a confirmatory factor analysis revealed that two main motivations (i.e. health and traditional culture) and five restaurant attributes (i.e. food, service staff food recommendation, service staff service quality, furniture and tableware and atmosphere) are stimuli that influence customers’ perceived benefits. This study also revealed that four types of perceived benefits (functional, emotional, social and epistemic) significantly affect overall satisfaction and place attachment, which determine revisit intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study help identify not only important dining motivations and restaurant attributes but also their roles in loyalty formation with respect to traditional Chinese medicine restaurants. Thus, the results contribute to an improved understanding of how to satisfy customers’ dining motivations and efficiently manage restaurant attributes to strengthen customer loyalty.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to simultaneously examine the effects of customer motivation and restaurant attributes and to explain how they affect customer loyalty behaviors at traditional Chinese medicine restaurants.
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Asis Kumar Sahu and Byomakesh Debata
This study examines the impact of firm-level climate risk exposure (FCRE) on firm stock liquidity by using a sample of Indian-listed firms from the financial years 2003–2004 to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the impact of firm-level climate risk exposure (FCRE) on firm stock liquidity by using a sample of Indian-listed firms from the financial years 2003–2004 to 2022–2023. Further, it endeavors to investigate the moderating role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
A novel text-based FCRE metric is introduced using a sophisticated Word2Vec model through a Python-generated algorithm for each firm and year based on the management discussions and analysis (MD&A) reports. The panel fixed effect model is used to study how FCRE affects stock liquidity.
Findings
The result shows that FCRE negatively affects firms’ stock liquidity, and the effect remains robust after addressing endogeneity concerns. In addition, we find that a high ESG disclosure rating significantly moderated the adverse effect of FCRE. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that investor sentiment, information quality, corporate life cycle and institutional holdings moderate the impact of FCRE on liquidity.
Practical implications
The study offers valuable insights for investors, managers and policymakers on integrating climate risk into investment strategies, improving corporate climate governance and shaping policies that incentivize sustainable corporate behavior.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this study is an early study to explore the relationship between firm-specific climate risk exposure and stock liquidity using advanced machine learning techniques. It contributes to the existing literature by illustrating how climate risk can lead to adverse market reactions while highlighting the critical roles of corporate ESG practices, investor sentiment and disclosure quality in influencing this relationship.
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Lin Wu, Miao Wang, Ajay Kumar and Tsan-Ming Choi
The call for supply chain transparency (SCT), especially the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspect, is getting increasingly louder. Based on the signaling theory, our…
Abstract
Purpose
The call for supply chain transparency (SCT), especially the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspect, is getting increasingly louder. Based on the signaling theory, our study investigates the operational benefit of supply chain transparency in terms of ESG (SCT-ESG). To further clarify the signaling process, the moderating roles of digitalization of the firm and signal strength are also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Longitudinal secondary data from multiple databases are matched and analyzed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions to validate the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
Results suggest that with SCT-ESG, firms have a weakened disparity between production variance and demand variance, and the supply chain experiences a reduced bullwhip effect. Further, digitalization of the focal company and signal strength reinforce the negative effect of SCT-ESG on the bullwhip effect.
Originality/value
The study integrates the SCT and ESG literature through SCT-ESG, extending benefits of ESG disclosure to the supply chain context. It extends the application of the signaling theory in OSCM by including contextual factors of digitalization and signal strength.
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This research paper aimed to investigate the affordances of using virtual reality (VR) in teaching culture among in-service teachers of teaching Persian to speakers of other…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper aimed to investigate the affordances of using virtual reality (VR) in teaching culture among in-service teachers of teaching Persian to speakers of other languages (TPSOL) in Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study, conducted at two Iranian universities, used purposeful sampling to select 34 eligible in-service Persian teachers from a pool of 73. Data collection used an open-ended questionnaire and interviews.
Findings
Before the TPSOL in-service training workshop, teachers expressed their reservations regarding the use of VR to teach culture in TPSOL courses. The emerged themes were “skepticism toward effectiveness,” “practicality concerns,” “limited awareness of VR applications,” “technological apprehension” and “prevalence of traditional teaching paradigms.” During the post-workshop interview, it was discovered that the teachers’ perceptions of VR in teaching culture had undergone a positive shift. The workshop generated emergent themes that reflected positive perceptions and affordances for using VR to teach culture in TPSOL, including “enhanced cultural immersion,” “increased student engagement,” “simulation of authentic cultural experiences,” and “facilitation of interactive learning environments.”
Research limitations/implications
One primary limitation is the lack of prior experience with VR for teaching practices in real-world classrooms among the participants. While the study aimed to explore the potential of VR in enhancing pedagogical approaches, the absence of participants with prior exposure to VR in educational contexts may impact the generalizability of the findings to a broader population. Additionally, the study faced practical constraints, such as the unavailability of sufficient facilities in the workshop. As a result, the instructor had to project the VR cont7ent on a monitor, potentially diverging from the immersive nature of true VR experiences. These limitations offer opportunities for future research to refine methodologies and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the implications of integrating VR into teaching practices.
Originality/value
Extensive research has been conducted on the effectiveness of VR in language education. However, there is a significant gap in research on TPSOL, which is considered a less commonly taught language. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the use of VR in the TPSOL through the lenses of in-service teachers. As part of a larger investigation, this qualitative inquiry focuses on the perceptions of in-service teachers about VR, with a particular emphasis on the cultural understanding of the Persian language.
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Yu-Cheng Lin, Chiung-Yao Huang and Yu-Shan Wei
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical investment willingness decision-making process to understand how investors evaluate corporate social responsibility (CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical investment willingness decision-making process to understand how investors evaluate corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a survey of 298 individual investors and analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results reveal that perfectionist decision-making style is positively related to perceived moral intensity, substitutability of financial returns, and ethical investment willingness. In addition, perceived moral intensity and substitutability of financial returns are positively related to ethical investment willingness. Finally, perceived moral intensity is positively related to substitutability of financial returns, and a two-factor causal mediation model is supported.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study was that the pre-tests and sampling methods required all participants to have investing experience; however, procurement of trading information for each investor was impossible; thus, actual investment behaviors were undetermined. This study shed light on the mediating roles of perceived moral intensity and the substitutability of financial returns. Future studies can further investigate the factors influencing perceived moral intensity and the substitutability of financial returns.
Practical implications
Future ethical investment education can focus on cultivate the ability to distinguish ethical investments and change ethical investment willingness into actual investment behavior.
Originality/value
Understanding the relationship between these variables can help understand why ethical investment willingness varies among investors and how the traditional financial theory investment decision model should be revised as, internationally, more people have begun to observe CSR and sustainable development.