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An official destination website (ODW) is a key component for tourist’s decision-making processes. ODW acts as a direct channel where users may share experiences and opinions about previous or future travels. At the same time, it drives user participation in destination branding activities. In this context, it is crucial to identify how the destination website, using Web 2.0 technologies, could motivate user’s participation with the brand. The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate a model that posits the destination website quality as a determinant factor to predict users’ attitudes toward the website and their willingness to participate in co-creation experiences.

Using a combined qualitative and quantitative method, this paper provides an exploratory research that examines the role of destination website quality on attitudes toward the website and the willingness to participate in online co-creation experiences.

Findings confirm that there is a direct and significant relationship between website quality, attitudes toward the website and willingness to participate in online co-creation experiences. Moreover, attitudes toward the website partially mediate relationships between destination website quality and willingness to participate in online co-creation experiences.

The literature of value co-creation is trying to identify which factors drive consumer’s participation with brands across different consumption contexts. This study provides evidence that confirms, from a tourism destination website point of view, that website quality is one of these key factors that motives user’s co-creation with a destination.

The field of website quality evaluation attracts the interest of a range of disciplines, each bringing its own particular perspective to bear. This study aims to identify the main characteristics – methods, techniques and tools – of the instruments of evaluation described in this literature, with a specific concern for the factors analysed, and based on these, a multipurpose model is proposed for the development of new comprehensive instruments.

Following a systematic bibliographic review, 305 publications on website quality are examined, the field's leading authors, their disciplines of origin and the sectors to which the websites being assessed belong are identified, and the methods they employ characterised.

Evaluations of website quality tend to be conducted with one of three primary focuses: strategic, functional or experiential. The technique of expert analysis predominates over user studies and most of the instruments examined classify the characteristics to be evaluated – for example, usability and content – into factors that operate at different levels, albeit that there is little agreement on the names used in referring to them.

Based on the factors detected in the 50 most cited works, a model is developed that classifies these factors into 13 dimensions and more than 120 general parameters. The resulting model provides a comprehensive evaluation framework and constitutes an initial step towards a shared conceptualization of the discipline of website quality.

This paper is a corpus-driven study of written electronic texts, particularly the “About Us” sections in the university websites of 41 members of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU). This inquiry is important because it will provide an insight as to how AAOU members describe and portray themselves in the World Wide Web, a platform which is highly utilized in the field of distance education. This will also lead to the understanding of conventional knowledge among AAOU members during the period of study. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Guided by Swales’ (1990) seminal work on genre analysis, the researchers conducted a three-part genre analysis which involved identification and analysis of moves, keywords, and concordance lines.

Results of the keyword analysis were conducted using the AntConc application. Anthony (2017) found that the top 100 keywords with positive keyness exemplified inherent characteristics of open and distance learning institutions as well as characteristics common to higher education institutions and their thrusts. The analysis also found that the use of adjectives and verbs with positive denotations is common in the “About Us” sections. Concordance for several keywords related to the overarching theme of the AAOU 2017 Conference then revealed that the AAOU members are active in the discourse about accessibility, assessment, and quality, while there is not much discourse on openness, inclusivity, and justice. Meanwhile, subscribing to equality and equity could still be a point of discussion among the AAOU members as the concordance analysis revealed more discourse on equality than equity as a goal and principle. Overall, results of the genre analysis resonated with previous studies of the academic genre as the “About Us” sections are promotional in both authoritarian and inclusive ways.

The inquiry will provide the members of the AAOU with an overview of their common communicative purposes, overused or underused keywords, and their usage of these words which they may opt to work on in the future.

This study aims to examine the impact of website design, reliability and perceived ease of use as an engagement motivational factors on customer e-trust and e-retention in online shopping.

By using deductive approach, quantitative methods and purposive sampling technique, this study has collected the data from 295 young online customers to enhance an understanding of website design, reliability and perceived ease of use in an online shopping context.

The findings revealed interesting insights where reliability is the most significant predictor of customer e-trust in online shopping, followed by perceived ease of use and website design. In addition, a significant mediating effect of e-trust is found between customer e-retention, website design, reliability and perceived ease of use.

Future research is recommended to predict the antecedents of online engagement motivational factors with value co-creation and co-creation experience in online shopping context.

This study offers fresh insights about driving elements and impediments of online customer retention. Customer engagement comprising of website design, reliability and perceived ease of use appear to influence the online customer retention through direct and indirect effect.

Because of the increasingly higher expectations of accrediting organizations, calls for greater accountability from state governments and students’ demand for an education that prepares them for a career, most hospitality programs are now required to have an effective assessment of learning outcomes process. The increasing popularity of the assessment of learning outcomes process is viewed as highly positive because it can be considered as best-practices in higher education. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This is Part 2 of a two-part article that provides an overview of the justifications for implementing an assessment of learning outcomes process, the steps that were developed by two hospitality programs, and the experiences of the two programs during implementation.

The steps in a closed-loop assessment of learning outcomes process are relatively detailed; however, because of changes in expectations of stakeholders and the requirements of accreditors, they are now mandatory for most hospitality programs. Therefore, the choice is not whether to implement them, but when. From a competitive standpoint, it is to the program’s advantage to begin as soon as possible. Another factor to consider is that the implementation of a closed-loop assessment of learning outcomes process will take several years to complete.

This paper is presenting a critical view of one of, if not the most important concepts in higher education, the closed-loop assessment of learning outcomes process. Hopefully, the information on the process that is provided and the experiences of the two programs can shorten the learning curve for other hospitality programs.

This research aimed to explore the commonalities and differences in the type of information provided on corporate websites in relation to their employment brand equity.

Mixed methods of content analysis, ANOVA and regression analyses were employed to answer the research questions. The data were collected from multiple sources, including the websites of a sample of forty companies listed as the US Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work in 2012 and information presented on Fortune’s website as well.

Employment brand equity hardly showed any significant impact on either company’s job growth or reputation in the ranking as an “employer of choice”.

The results indicated some practices to make a company’s employment brand outstanding and how its web presence reflected its “brand” and presence for potential employees. They are useful for HR practitioners concerned with building an employee brand. For example, the more highly ranked companies in the Fortune 100 tend to provide more forms of online support related to employment opportunities.

Using brand equity theory from the marketing arena and applying this within the human resources management area, this study suggests that “employment brand equity” became a major factor that many companies and organizations should focus on to enhance their standing with job seekers, particularly talented ones. Nearly a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, the best companies to work for in the US had paid attention to digitalization via websites and social media, to attract talent (and support employees).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how well hotel website load time performance compared against customer expectation benchmarks. In a competitive market, service interactions are important. As customers move to mobile devices, the time to load a website is a critical part of the service delivery. Long load times can lead to poor service experiences, customer frustration and lost business. Hotel website load times on both mobile and desktop devices were examined and compared to service expectations.

The study used an online service to assess and compare website load performance using both desktop and mobile devices for 259 international hotel company and sub-brand websites.

The time to load hotel websites was significantly slower on mobile devices compared to desktops. Load times on both platforms exceeded 3 s, which is considered best practice. Long load times represent a service gap and can cause dissatisfaction resulting in a potential customer abandoning the website for a competitor’s site, thus affecting sales.

While the population for the study was robust in size and contained most of the major hotel companies worldwide, it was not exhaustive. Data also represent a snapshot and will change over time. Load times vary based on test location, access device and network traffic. Additionally, web page load times and customer expectations will change as technology evolves.

Increased use of mobile devices for hotel reservations increases the importance of mobile service delivery. This is the first known study to measure hotel website load times for mobile devices, and to examine both mobile and desktop performance against best practice. The results of this study highlight a service gap, which can lead to loss of business. Given the consistency of the results, the authors suspect that this is an issue that has not been recognized within the industry. This study is valuable because it exposes an issue of website design not generally addressed in the hospitality industry, even though tools are available to monitor site performance.

Incorporating flipped learning (FL) into teaching English as a foreign language may improve student learning outcomes. This study gathered information on Saudi EFL teachers' readiness and willingness to apply FL. So, it aims to describe Saudi EFL teachers' readiness and willingness to apply FL in language classrooms and to find suitable guidelines for Saudi EFL professional development (PD) designers to follow.

This descriptive study involved 153 male and female Saudi EFL teachers as participants, investigating the perspectives and perceptions of these teachers within the context of foreign language teaching in Saudi Arabia. Surveys in Qualtrics were employed as the primary data collection tool for the study.

Results showed that teachers' self-efficacy of their current teaching was high. Most participants had positive attitudes and abilities related to FL, although they also identified potential challenges related to its engagement and assessment. Teachers expressed a strong willingness to participate in PD in this area, with a preference for online videos and group workshops.

The study emphasizes the importance of PD for Saudi EFL teachers. In addition, it offers guidelines for planning effective PD.

This study aims to analyze the factors that drive purchases via Instagram and contribute to the growth of Instagram Commerce and examine the moderating role of gender, age and experience in Instagram use in the proposed relationship between six variables derived from commitment–trust theory, the technology acceptance model and consumer decision-making theory.

A survey was completed by respondents after watching a video about Instagram Commerce. A total of 404 valid responses were collected. The research model was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

This study makes numerous contributions to Instagram Commerce and holds significant implications for professionals in the social commerce field. Among other results, we found that trust, attitude, perceived usefulness and alternative evaluation significantly affected consumers’ purchase intentions. However, this study found no relationship between trust or ease of use and purchase intention. Finally, it demonstrates the moderating role of gender, age and experience on some of these relationships.

This research centers on an analysis of consumer purchase behavior on Instagram Commerce, taking a highly innovative approach. The particular originality of this study lies in the proposed model of adoption of social commerce via Instagram, based on a critical framework. This study also provides an original analysis of the moderating effect of the classification variables: gender, age and experience in Instagram use.

Factores que impulsan la intención de compra en Istagram Commerce

Resumen

Los objetivos de la presente investigación son (i) analizar los factores que impulsan las compras a través de Instagram y contribuyen al crecimiento del comercio en Instagram y (ii) examinar el papel moderador del género, la edad y la experiencia en el uso de Instagram sobre la relación propuesta a partir de seis variables derivadas de la Teoría del Compromiso-Confianza, el modelo TAM y la Teoría de la Toma de Decisiones del Consumidor.

Los encuestados completaron una encuesta después de ver un vídeo sobre Instagram Commerce. Se recogieron un total de 404 respuestas válidas. El modelo de investigación se analizó mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales.

El presente estudio hace numerosas contribuciones al Instagram Commerce y tiene importantes implicaciones para los profesionales del campo del comercio social. Entre otros resultados, encontramos que la confianza, la actitud, la utilidad percibida y la evaluación alternativa afectan significativamente a las intenciones de compra de los consumidores. Sin embargo, este estudio no encontró ninguna relación entre la confianza o la facilidad de uso y la intención de compra. Por último, se demuestra el papel moderador del género, la edad y la experiencia en algunas de estas relaciones.

Esta investigación se centra en un análisis del comportamiento de compra de los consumidores en Instagram Commerce, adoptando un enfoque muy innovador. La originalidad particular del trabajo radica en la propuesta de un modelo de adopción del comercio social a través de Instagram, basado en un marco crítico. El estudio también proporciona un análisis original del efecto moderador de las variables de clasificación: género, edad y experiencia en el uso de Instagram.

本研究的目的是(i)分析推动通过Instagram购买并促进Instagram商务发展的因素; (ii)研究性别、年龄和使用Instagram的经验对源自承诺-信任理论、TAM模型和消费者决策理论的六个变量之间的拟议关系的调节作用。

受访者在观看了有关Instagram商业的视频后完成了一项调查。共收集到404份有效的回复。研究模型采用偏最小二乘法结构方程模型进行分析。

本研究对Instagram商务做出了许多贡献, 并对社交商务领域的专业人士具有重要意义。在其他结果中, 我们发现信任、态度、感知有用性和替代性评价对消费者的购买意向有显著影响。然而, 本研究发现信任或易用性与购买意向之间没有关系。最后, 它证明了性别、年龄和经验对其中一些关系的调节作用。

这项研究以分析消费者在Instagram商务上的购买行为为中心, 采取了一种高度创新的方法。这项研究的独特之处在于提出了一个基于批判性框架的通过Instagram进行社交商务的模型。该研究还对分类变量的调节作用进行了原创性分析：性别、年龄和使用Instagram的经验。

There is widespread agreement that the tourism sector should address the issue of sustainability. The purpose of this study is to analyze the digital accessibility of the cities awarded as European Capitals of Smart Tourism for their innovative, accessible and sustainable practices by the European Commission.

An analysis of the digital level of accessibility of 50 uniform resource locator (URL) of European cities was undertaken. The analysis followed the international evaluation requirements of the World Wide Web (W3C).

The results show that none of the official Web pages analyzed obtained 100% in relation to the digital accessibility requirements. The main factors that pose barriers to communication and interaction were identified.

The paper encourages smart tourism destinations to overcome the challenge of matching both dimensions of accessibility to obtain barrier-free information to ensure cities are inclusive and sustainable in line with Agenda 2030 (sustainable development goal [SDG] 11).

The concept of tourism for all receives special attention in the sector, and this notion is reflected in the UN SDGs. However, accessibility has not been extensively analyzed in relation to the cohesion between the digital and the physical dimension. Tourism research tends to focus on accessible experiences within destinations. This paper introduces a new insight into the key issue of digital accessibility, which can promote destination choice and influence the tourism experience.

人们普遍认为, 旅游业应该解决可持续性问题。本研究旨在分析被欧盟委员会授予欧洲智慧旅游之都的城市的数字可及性, 以了解其创新、可及和可持续的做法。

对50个欧洲城市的URL的数字可及性进行了分析。该分析遵循万维网（W3C）的国际评估标准。

结果显示, 所分析的官方网页中没有一个获得100%的数字无障碍要求。对交流和互动构成障碍的主要因素被确认。

全民旅游的概念在该领域受到特别关注, 这一概念也反映在联合国可持续发展目标（SDGs）中。然而, 无障碍性还没有被广泛地分析到数字和物理层面之间的凝聚力。旅游研究倾向于关注目的地内的无障碍体验。本文对数字可及性这一关键问题提出了新的见解, 它可以促进目的地的选择并影响旅游体验。

本文鼓励智能旅游目的地克服挑战, 使无障碍环境的两个维度相匹配, 以获得无障碍信息, 确保城市的包容性和可持续性符合2030年议程（SDG 11）。

Existe un acuerdo generalizado en el sector turístico para abordar la cuestión de la sostenibilidad. Este estudio pretende analizar la accesibilidad digital de las ciudades premiadas como Capitales Europeas del Turismo Inteligente por sus prácticas innovadoras, accesibles y sostenibles por la Comisión Europea.

Se realizó un análisis del nivel de accesibilidad digital de cincuenta (50) URL de ciudades europeas. El análisis siguió las normas internacionales de evaluación de la World Wide Web (W3C).

Los resultados muestran que ninguna de las páginas Web oficiales analizadas obtuvo el 100% en relación con los requisitos de accesibilidad digital. Se identificaron los principales factores que suponen barreras para la comunicación y la interacción.

El concepto de turismo para todos recibe especial atención en el sector y esta noción se refleja en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la ONU. Sin embargo, la accesibilidad no se ha analizado ampliamente en relación con la cohesión entre la dimensión digital y la física. La investigación turística tiende a centrarse en las experiencias accesibles dentro de los destinos. Este artículo introduce una nueva perspectiva sobre la cuestión clave de la accesibilidad digital, que puede promover la elección del destino e influir en la experiencia turística.

El documento anima a los destinos turísticos inteligentes a superar el reto de hacer coincidir ambas dimensiones de la accesibilidad para obtener información sin barreras que garantice que las ciudades sean inclusivas y sostenibles en línea con la Agenda 2030 (ODS 11).