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Today's long haul travelers require destination information before they travel to a destination, and also while they are at the destination. The increasing complexity of the tourism industry and the increasing sophistication and diversity of travelers, makes access to this information both more important and more difficult, especially for long haul destinations. Indeed there are substantial search costs for travelers to identify products in long haul destinations. More accessible information sources on a destination's facilities can reduce the substantial search costs that are incurred in the planning and organization of a long haul trip, and thereby facilitate market transactions in the destinations.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of atmospherics on consumer symbolic interpretations, and various psychological outcomes in a purely hedonic service environment.

Field data were collected from 500 respondents in Florida across four hedonic service attraction sites and then analyzed using MANOVA in SPSS. A mediation method proposed by Baron and Kenny is utilized to determine the mediating role of consumer symbolic interpretations in the nomological network.

There were four major findings. First, similar to other service sectors, environmental factors do play a critical role in determining behavioral intentions in hedonic services. Second, patrons conceptualize hedonic attractions/services in terms of both utilitarian and hedonic components. Third, consumer symbolic perceptions (meanings) do affect behavioral intentions. Finally, consumers do evaluate their service environments (ambient, design and layout and social factors) differently depending on the meanings they attach to a service environment.

Managers can tailor service environments to match the symbolic interpretations and behavioral outcomes they would like to foster in order to maximize monies spent on physical upgrades. Additional work is needed in the area of consumer meanings and symbolic interpretations.

The study indicates that the service environment can be used as a differentiating tool to perpetuate brand meaning and uniqueness in the minds of the consumer, thereby creating a competitive advantage for the hedonic facilities and by extension ensuring repeat patronage.

Thrift shopping (the buying of previously owned products) provides products and shopping pleasure for consumers of all economic levels, however, little is known about how information regarding thrift shopping is acquired by consumers. This research aims to investigate whether there may be a “thrift maven,” someone who could and does transmit information about the thrift market to other individuals.

A scale was developed from previous research to identify thrift mavens. Data were collected via survey to see if the scale could be used to segment the market and to assess differences in the mavens' demographics and shopping patterns.

The study found the scale valid and useful. Thrift mavens were found to have lower household incomes, but were as likely to be male as female. This finding was surprising since thrift shopping is a more difficult method of acquiring products, and males in the USA are notable for their dislike of the task of shopping. The study also found that thrift mavens both shop and purchase from thrift outlets more frequently than non‐mavens.

This was a single study in a single setting. Future research should examine whether this type of individual exists across a range of living conditions (e.g. rural, urban settings) as well as examining such areas as the type of behaviors mavens may engage in to assist fellow thrift shoppers.

The value of this paper is in identifying a segment of consumers who may be key informants for other consumers interested in thrift shopping. Thrift outlets typically have a limited promotional budget, at best, and thrift mavens would be a key resource to identify and encourage to shop at the outlet in order to pass on information.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the business model of second-hand fashion stores and explore their challenges/opportunities and suggest potential strategies for second-hand fashion retail stores.

A qualitative research method using in-depth interviews of convenience sample of owners/store managers from within the USA was employed.

Contrasting the traditional retail stores, customers are the primary partners and suppliers of second-hand fashion stores. These stores retain minimal profits given a business model that typically involves sharing profits with customers. Cheaper price, thrill of finding great deals, value for brands and variety are the primary reasons mentioned by respondents for shopping at second-hand stores.

Limitations include the use of a convenience sample of store owners/managers as well as the research is limited to women and children’s stores. Respondents of the study were from the same geographical region and the characteristics of the redistribution markets may vary in a different region.

As a means to foster textile waste reduction through second-hand clothing business, these stores could adopt innovative revenue streams, additional partnerships, and improved fashion and store appeal that may be effective in increasing profits and the number of customers.

This study is one of the early attempts to examine the business model of second-hand fashion stores, a form of collaborative consumption in the fashion context. The study contributes in promoting second-hand fashion stores as a sustainable business model in the fashion industry.

In a current trend of a growing amount of short city trips, it becomes crucial to understand how local residents perceive the presence of tourists and tourism in their cities and how their socio-cultural context influences those perceptions. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this understanding which will enable the city planners to take actions to create the well-balanced and resilient communities in which the needs of residents and tourists are equally met.

To understand residents’ perceptions’ about tourism in Bruges, this research applied photo-elicitation interviews with 28 residents who lived in various locations in the historical center to understand socio-cultural background of residents, their tourism-related concerns and whether they are in line with what is commonly perceived as problematic in Bruges.

Results show that as long as residents can benefit from tourism and tourism-related infrastructure, they support tourism. On the other hand, tourism decreases the liveability of the historical center due to supersession of infrastructure serving the residents by tourist-oriented amenities.

To build a sustainable and resilient city in the future, the authorities of Bruges should cease further “museumification” of the historical city by breaking the hegemony of tourism industry, providing affordable housing and rethinking the concentration model of tourism.

The photo-elicitation method proved to produce rich content and good-quality data by stimulating respondents’ memories and evoking experiences and emotions. Thus, this paper recommends that future research about residents’ attitudes is developed around visual methods as they give voice to the residents and are able to uncover issues which are difficult to capture with other methods.