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The purpose of this paper is to delineate a clear definition of health tourism, and to explain it in two sub-categories, namely, medical tourism, and wellness tourism.

Grounded theory approach through an in-depth literature review and practical data from three different cities were researched to support the study.

Determinants of travelers’ decision making for the destination of health tourism, such as distance, cost, language, economy, competency of medical technology, and culture, in each classification of health tourism, were identified.

This study suggests an inductive research model to synthesize and structure a logical relationship of determinants that affect health tourists’ decision to visit specific health tourism destinations. The results of this study are quite revealing to governments, industrial practitioners, and potential customers of health tourism in terms of the context of health tourism and the behavior of health tourists.

This study examines how the lifestyle of senior citizens affects their choices of retirement communities. A survey was conducted among 256 potential customers of elderly housing, targeting citizens over 45 years old who were residents of Seoul, the capital city of Korea, at the time of the survey. Findings reveal that most respondents preferred a location based in proximity to Seoul, convenience to the suburbs, a pleasant surrounding environment, and physical equipment and facilities. Medical services and community services were also found to have an impact on preference for residency. Canonical correlation analysis between the factors of elderly lifestyle and selection attribute factors of senior housing facilities demonstrates various significant relationships with implications for developers.

Examines the underlying dimensions of brand equity and how they affect financial performance of hotel firms. The results of this empirical study, using data collected from 12 luxury hotels, indicate that brand loyalty, perceived quality, and brand image are important components of consumer‐based brand equity. The result implies that hotel firms should seriously consider brand loyalty, perceived quality, and brand image when attempting to establish definite brand equity from the customers’ viewpoint. A review of detailed measures constituting these three variables, brand loyalty, brand awareness, and brand image, shows that most measures affect financial performances of hotels. Nonparametric correlation analysis provides fairly convincing evidence of the effect that consumer‐based brand equity has on a firm’s financial performance in the hotel industry

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of electronic distribution systems (EDS) in Korean hotels and investigate the differences between large and small and medium (S&M) hotels.

This is a qualitative and explorative study. An in‐depth interview was conducted of seven large hotels and nine S&M hotels.

Regardless of size, the surveyed hotels received, on average, more reservations through offline systems than online. It was found that large hotels showed less variation in the use of EDS than S&M hotels. While there was no distinct difference in the overall use of EDS, in terms of average, the highest percentage of hotel EDS use was demonstrated by S&M hotels. Regarding specific components and distribution flows, large hotels overall employed a variety of distribution channels, often implemented in multi‐faceted systems. S&M hotels, in most cases, adopted simpler distribution flows, i.e. hotel web sites and online travel agencies. This difference seems to be the result of the affiliation of primarily large hotels with huge hotel corporations.

An emphasis has been placed on the current use of an EDS within S&M hotels, given their greater competitive challenge with regards to their larger counterparts.

Meaningful implications are made that building an extensive and effective information system appropriate to the size and type of the hotel's operations is especially needed by S&M hotels.

The paper addresses EDS issues specifically for S&M hotels.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the causal relationships of city personality and city image, together with the possible effect of city image on the revisit intention of visitors, through empirical validation, so that some meaningful implications can reveal to city planners and marketers how the city tourists can be affected by the personality and image of the city.

This study offers an integrated approach to understanding the relationship between city personality and city image. The research model investigates the relevant relationships among the underlying dimensions of city personality and city image by using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Data obtained from a sample of 302 respondents drawn from a web-based survey in South Korea were analyzed with AMOS program.

The results of this empirical study indicate that city personality positively or negatively affect city image depending on the nature of constructs. Positive relationships are found to exist between excitement as well as sophistication personality and dynamic image of city. On the contrary, the relationship between sincerity personality and dynamic image is negative. All the specific three images of city: dynamic, specific, and static image show positive impact on revisit intention of city tourists.

The empirical results of this study provide tenable evidence that the proposed SEM designed to consider city personality and city image, and revisit intention simultaneously is acceptable. Even though in the previous literature, researchers tried to explain the relationship between city personality and city image, the conceptual model and empirical studies pertaining to causal relationships among those constructs have not been thoroughly examined. It is believed that this study has a substantial capability for generating more precise applications related to city tourism, especially concerning city personality and city image.

The importance of analytical techniques in international marketing is illustrated. An overview of related research is given. The question is asked, “Which way will research on the subject go in the future?”

The current study conceptualizes and empirically tests a new model of market brand equity (MBE). This model, that not just provides an understanding of customer mindsets toward the brand, as most empirical models do, but also measures the marketing benefits of such mindsets. The present study offers two models. One is comprehensive and theoretical while the other is an empirical model. The empirical model is a practical model drawn from the more comprehensive and conceptualized model. The hypothesized empirical MBE model is tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis followed by a formula that offers a method to calculate and rank competitive brands in the market place. The purpose of this paper is to conclude with a discussion of the implications of the model.

The findings of the present research are based on a representative sample of 964 cellular phone users selected randomly from an Israeli internet panel were analyzed. The questions related to the dimensions of the brand equity needed a more intimate relationship of the customers with the brand. Thus, those questions were asked only with regard to the brand that the respondents were mainly using. These questions were concerned with brand knowledge, brand commitment and brand overall attitude. The other questions that the respondents answered were about three other brands on the market. All dimensions, except purchase barriers, were measured on a ten-point scale.

SEM analysis was used to test the hypothesized MBE model as well as alternative models. The results, which supported the hypothesized model, indicated that knowledge has a strong positive effect on image, personality and attitude. Image has a positive effect on attitude, but that of personality was insignificant. Attitude, image and personality have a positive effect on commitment. Commitment affects recommendation strongly and positively. Both commitment and recommendation have a positive and significant effect on potential market share.

The limitations of the current research are that it was not measured over time and that only one product category has been tested. In addition to dealing with these limitations, future research may also add additional marketing performance outcome variables such as the ability to obtain premium prices and to exercise brand power in relation to channels of distribution.

The model presented in this paper provides the marketer with the ability to compare, from a competitive perspective, the relative average in the market place of customer mindset, customer performance and marketing performance. The analysis also reveals whether to invest in strengthening customer mindset or in capturing a greater market share. When the brand leader is far from its followers, an additional analysis may be required and it may be necessary to increase the sensitivity of the analysis by examining separately (without the leading brand) the relative differences between the follower brands. Moreover, the measurement questions should be adjusted to fit different product categories. For example, in testing the MBE in the service industry, “product performance,” which is a component of brand commitment, should be measured by the “quality of service.” But the way of using the model will not change. Another example for future research may be found in sport marketing, such as among football or basketball clubs. In such instances, performance – winning or losing – or even the quality of the players on the team may be considered. It is suggested here that the MBE’s measurement of fast-moving products vs slow moving ones. However, in such cases the model would probably show a significant difference in involvement with the brands of fast-moving products displaying much lower customers’ involvement then brands of slow-moving products.

The empirical model suggested in this study is a new and practical market-based brand equity that uses commitment as the main construct, building brand equity to represent the performance outcome of the customer mindset used in the models noted above. The current study also offers a new practical and useful formula for calculating and ranking MBE.

The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model that is composed of immersion, perceived attractiveness, happiness, satisfaction and behavioral intention in light of the extended cognitive-affective-conative model.

To test the suggested research model, 271 genuine on-site questionnaires were gathered.

Immersion was found to positively affect perceived attractiveness and happiness. It is also suggested that perceived attractiveness and happiness mediate the association between immersion and tourist satisfaction.

This study also has advantageous marketing and management implications for destination managers and marketers to improve tourist satisfaction.

As per the authors’ knowledge, this is the very first study that inspects the mechanism by which how immersion influences tourist satisfaction.

利用拓展的认知-情感-意动理论, 本研究旨在提出和测试一个将沉浸感、感知吸引力、幸福感和行为意图联系起来的模型。

本研究收集线下有效样本271份。

本研究发现沉浸对感知吸引力和幸福感有正向影响。本研究还提出感知吸引力和幸福感在沉浸感和游客满意度之间的关系中起中介作用。

本研究还为目的地营销人员提供有用的营销和管理启示, 以提高游客满意度。

这是探索沉浸感如何影响游客满意度的机制的研究首批研究之一。

Este estudio tiene como objetivo proponer y probar un modelo que vincula la inmersión, el atractivo percibido, la felicidad, la satisfacción y la intención de comportamiento basado en el modelo cognitivo-afectivo-conativo (CAC) extendido.

Se recogieron un total de 271 cuestionarios in situ válidos para probar el modelo de investigación propuesto.

Se encontró que la inmersión afecta positivamente el atractivo y la felicidad percibidos. También se propone que el atractivo percibido y la felicidad median la relación entre la inmersión y la satisfacción del turista.

Este estudio también proporciona implicaciones útiles de marketing y gestión para que los comercializadores de destinos mejoren la satisfacción del turista.

Este es el primer estudio que explora el mecanismo detrás de cómo la inmersión influye en la satisfacción del turista.