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The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of Penang in being a dark tourism destination in Malaysia with the influence of urban tourism development.

A systematic review was conducted to serve as a foundation by highlighting the number of dark tourism studies conducted in Southeast Asia (SEA).

The results projected a total of 23 dark tourism studies conducted within the SEA region. These papers revolve around the following key themes that were conducted in these countries: tourists’ behaviour (motivation, satisfaction and experience), nation building and narratives, dark tourism development (management, marketing and implications), theoretical underpinnings and the role of dark tourism. Amongst these, it was found that tourists’ behaviour is the most studied with eight papers while the least is on nation building and theoretical underpinnings of dark tourism with three papers each.

The lack of dark tourism studies in SEA results in insufficient existing literature which justifies the need of exploring Penang as a potential dark tourism destination.

This paper builds on prior dark tourism studies that are significantly related to urban tourism but takes a step further by exploring the Asian settings. Specifically, into Malaysia which is more than just an SEA country, but a multicultural one which is rich and diverse with its culture and heritage that leads to many unique tourists’ destinations. This paper extends the geographical scope of the dark tourism literature as it focuses on Penang in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of Asian consumer culture by exploring how hungry ghost death ritual in the Buddhist world reconciles spiritual asceticism and materialism.

This is an interpretive study that incorporates elements of visual semiotics, ethnography and qualitative data analysis. The native-speaking first author interviewed local ritual leaders of the Pee Ta Khon festival in Dansai, Thailand, while both authors witnessed examples of other Buddhist death rituals in Thailand and visited temples and markets selling death ritual paraphernalia. Data include translated semi-structured interview transcripts, field notes, photographs and videos, the personal introspection of the first author and also news articles and website information.

The paper reveals how hungry ghost death ritual resolves cultural contradictions by connecting materialism and spirituality through consumption practices of carnival celebration with feasting, music, drinking, costumes and spirit offerings of symbols of material wealth, such as paper money and branded goods.

Further research in the form of full ethnographic studies of the same and other rituals would add additional detail and depth to the understanding of the ritual in Asian consumer culture.

The paper extends existing qualitative consumer research into death ritual into a new area and sheds light on the way managers must locate Asian marketing initiatives within distinctively local contexts.

The purpose of this paper to start a conversation on the possibility of future research on afterlife communication in the communication field.

The author utilizes autoethnography, a method that blends ethnographic observation with the writing of personal narrative.

The author proposes a research agenda for communication scholars to explore the complexity of family stories about postdeath contact.

The author discusses how utilizing interpersonal communication theories to study relationships with the dead can help researchers understand impact how, when, and if stories of postdeath contact are told.

In this editorial viewpoint for the special issue, the authors identify a need to deepen our understanding of the important role that Asian consumer culture plays in the global marketplace of the twenty-first century.

This editorial article discusses the emergence of Asian consumer culture, offers an integrative summary of the special issue and develops several key directions for future research.

The authors observe that Asian consumer culture is not a coherent knowledge tradition that can be described merely as “collectivist” or “Confucianist” in nature. Rather, it is better understood as the confluence of cultural traditions that are characterized by inner differentiation and complexity, various transformations and mutual influences in the Asian region and beyond.

Although Asia’s economic growth has received much recent attention, extant theory regarding Asian consumer culture is still in its infancy. The authors highlight important developments in this area that show the path for future work.

The authors make three contributions to the emerging scholarly interest in Asian consumer culture. First, the authors respond to recent calls to increase the use of qualitative methods in Asian contexts. Second, the authors draw attention to the cultural complexities and mutual influences that characterize contemporary Asian consumer cultures, and subcultures in the Asian region and beyond, through the selection of articles for this special issue. Finally, the authors draw the threads together to provide directions for future research in this area.

In this chapter, I will draw upon East-Asian wisdom traditions, quantum, transpersonal, and integral theory to posit consciousness as fundamental. In doing so, the relationship between Self and reality will be articulated as nondual. I will argue that knowledge about the nature of Self is both an educational entitlement and learning process. Such understanding is generally thwarted by the impact of scientific materialism and behaviorism on educational orthodoxy, which instead promulgate a separate sense of self with destructive individual and collective consequences. Moving from philosophical theorization to application to teacher education, I will argue that a massive program of deconditioning and unlearning is necessary within education and show how a module I teach, “Responding Mindfully to Challenging Behavior,” attempts to do some of this work via a focus on “discipline.” The focus of the module invites us to question the nature of Self when difficulties arise. As explored, this is often a conditioned self with automatic reactions that can shift toward a “witnessing consciousness” when experiential learning and contemplative practices are integrated with theories of human flourishing.

This chapter summarizes and explicates the work of Kenneth Liberman, an exemplary but underappreciated practitioner of ethnomethodology for the past 30 years. Four paradoxes or tensions organize the discussion. First, Liberman is highly confident that confidence is almost always unwarranted. Second, Liberman is extremely skeptical yet respectful of ordinary knowledge and practices. Third, Liberman insists that meaning is not inherent even while he tries to faithfully study and represent reality. Fourth, Liberman attempts to do work that benefits various individuals and groups, but he believes that the self is illusory and that social problems are interpretations. These four themes are common (but not universal) in ethnomethodological scholarship. Consequently, Liberman's work can be used as an instructive point of entry into that form of inquiry.

This paper aims to report on research aimed at determining the nature of business strategies employed by micro small and medium-sized street vendors in a local market area in Bangkok.

The research consisted of a longitudinal study of the defined research site, involving ethnographic interaction and observation mediated by the use of a research diary.

The research found that the use of business strategies was quite limited and varied in line with the street vendor's relationships with other actors and business practitioners.

The research was deliberately limited in terms of space and is ongoing in terms of time. Additional areas of Bangkok will also be studied for comparative purposes.

Street vending and markets offer valuable opportunities for informal employment and for part-time employment to provide additional income generation for the working poor. Vendors also help sustain a decent standard of living for migrant workers.

Street vending of this sort reflects the nature of underlying changes in urban life: the building of new mass transit routes, the opening of condominiums in place of shop houses and the flourishing of the frozen food industry. Many street vendors are mobile and flexible but not all of them.

This paper contributes to the literature on street vending and urban micro-entrepreneurs and will be of interest not just to scholars of business but also in planning for social policy and urban management.

In the literature there is very little exploration on how the Tibetan approach in leadership may be relevant for management. Here, for the first time, the paper discusses the ancient yet continuing practice of succession in leadership of the Kagyu Karma School of Tibetan Buddhism within the context of management practices. In so doing, the author suggests a theory of continuous consciousness for succession in leadership.

A multi‐method design is utilized in the research paper. First, the biographical literature on the 17 Karmapas is reviewed and content analyzed for insights: Who is the Karmapa? Second, the author, through a process of planned personal, activity‐based research, including field visits of ritual ceremonies, gathers insights on the Karmapa leadership in action. Furthermore, he was invited to host for HH The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje a forum on, “Living a Meaningful Life in the Contemporary Age”. Third, comparative analyses of tenure of leadership are made of different succession approaches: Karmapa versus other systems of succession, for example Chinese dynastic system (Yuan, Ming, Qing and Chinese Communist Party) are presented. Fourth, traits in the leadership of the Karmapa are portrayed: symbolically, the divine parasol through a rare photograph. A parallel symbolism of leadership, especially the motif of the Sun is drawn between the Tibetan Karmapa and Han Chinese Mao Zedong. For this, the artistic method of montage is utilized to the findings. Fifth, drawing upon research on psychology (nineteenth century German psychologist, Ebbinghaus), the author suggests the memory tests employed by the Tibetans for selection of successor have some scientific basis. Finally, in discussion on corporate vision; from a review of past biographies of 16 Karmapas and for the first time a taxonomical portrayal of the visionary experiences of His Holiness is presented.

The continuity in the leadership of the Karmapas over almost 912 years (1100 BCE to present) is certainly one of the most remarkable in the history of mankind. It is the longest lineage of spiritual leaders within the Chinese minority, of the Tibetan culture. Among the theory of leadership, the case of Karmapa reinforces strongly the role of personality traits. Every Karmapa, including the present 17th has to manifest certain traits or signs to gain continuing acceptance as leader of the spiritual community. In a very sharp contrast to the very short tenure of American CEOs (statistically, graphically presented), the tenure of leadership for Kagyu Karma School of Buddhism is life‐long. Indeed, uniquely as a Tibetan practices in succession, multi‐lifetimes. In this paper, the author discusses how modern corporations may draw insights from this as unique case of institutionalizing the sustainability of leadership. Perhaps, there is a case for expanding the current paradigm of leadership research?

This paper highlights the value of management learning through research from ancient religious or spiritual traditions. In this case, the focus is on leadership succession and it is hoped this paper will foster inter‐disciplinary (management and spirituality) research by scholars.

Employing the Star Wars brand as a case study, this paper seeks to critically discuss the importance of comparative mythology for inter-generational branding and consumption practices within arts related markets.

Secondary data have been gathered focusing on the analysis of material in the form of books, academic journals, films, videos, television programs, websites and media reports related to the interface between comparative mythology, the Star Wars brand.

First, this paper indicates how the long-standing success of the Star Wars brand mirrors and reflects the power of monomythic storytelling in creating a platform for arts and place building branding associations and extensions for numerous products and services. Second, this study shows and highlights the potential of monomythic structures/storytelling and comparative mythology in acting an underlying cultural platform whereupon several arts brand associations, narratives, extensions and overall strategies can emerge. Finally, this project suggests how arts marketing scholars could further explore the infusion of mythological narratives within branding practices in the areas of performing/visual arts, museums, entertainment and arts related tourism campaigns.

Focusing on the most successful film franchise of all times, this study argues that comparative mythology constitutes an endless source for common templates of artistic, cross-cultural and inter-generational marketing practices focusing on universal moral codes and archetypes.