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Coffee shops are becoming more aware that brand loyalty can be an effective strategy for securing a competitive edge in business. To supplement current understanding of the importance of coffee shop branding, this study investigates the role of personality traits and congruity in the formation of brand loyalty. This study finds that personality traits have direct effects on congruity and customer satisfaction, the two defining factors of brand loyalty. Overall, our results suggest that the interaction of personality traits, congruity, and satisfaction is essential to the process of influencing coffee shop customers’ brand loyalty.

This study uses a mixed methods approach to investigate the pedagogical approaches and teaching practices that the English Department at a private Lebanese university implemented to rectify the deteriorating speaking skills of their students during the first few months of the lockdown in Lebanon between March and June 2020. The data consisted of semi-structured interviews with English instructors, the speaking assessment scores, and the English peer support program (PSP) enrollment records. Qualitative analysis of the interviews identified the main challenges that the English instructors faced during their transition from face-to-face (FTF) to distance education. The analysis also identified the intervention strategies that were implemented to overcome these barriers to learning and adapt to and even benefit from computer-mediated communication (CMC) instruction and other technological resources to develop and improve the oral proficiency and fluency of tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The quantitative analysis referred to the average percentage variation of the pre-test and post-test scores of the speaking assessment to track the improvement (or lack thereof) of the students’ speaking skills across four semesters, prior to and after the intervention. A one-way ANOVA test was also conducted for the enrollment records of the English PSP and speaking assessment scores that showed that the program was an effective form of intervention that helped struggling students to at least prevent the further deterioration of their speaking capabilities in English. These findings show that for students to develop and enhance their speaking skills in English in a distance education context and during emergency times, efforts need to be made to reduce the hindering psychological factors and address all technology-related barriers that disrupt the online language learning environment and process.

Islamic banking contributes significantly to the total assets of Malaysian banking sector. Yet, many argue that Islamic banking in Malaysia does not receive satisfactory support and participation from the public mainly due to poor awareness of its products and services and misconception about the Islamic banking system. It is timely to study consumers’ awareness of Islamic banking in the hopes of providing useful strategies for and assistance with marketing plans. This study is to explore consumer awareness towards Islamic banking products and services across a diverse set of demographic variables.

A quantitative approach was used in this study. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed via convenience and snowballing sampling method to bank customers in a public university in Malaysia, and 817 responses from the survey were used for the analysis. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were employed to answer objectives of this study.

The findings of this study are anticipated to provide a holistic and comprehensive marketing insight to improve and strengthen Islamic banking in Malaysia.

This study examines the role of demographics such age, gender, race/religion, education level, occupation and income level in trying to understand the issues of Islamic banks’ product awareness. It is well accepted that the consumer’s attitude or behaviour should be studied among others through understanding customers’ demographics.

Beginning with a historical outline and the definition of tourism as a privileged opportunity for physical and spiritual renewal, the author deals with the question of how young people put themselves in touch with religion and spirituality. After 2012, Catholic pastoral has changed: not only devotional attention to the pilgrimages but also an overview of the resources constituted by sacred places as a tool for socioeconomic and cultural development of destinations. Religious tourism means an appropriate moment to let the body relax and to nourish the spirit: from this approach, the author shows examples of ‘religious light tourism’ in Europe founded on an ecumenical approach and on sustainability. The effects are positive: for the offer, new jobs (guides, resorts, enogastronomic and folkloristic services); for the demand, a new way to preserve the beauty of creation for future generations, by offering emotional and not massive travels: Caminos, trekking and slow paths, in order to know local traditions and nature. Therefore, ‘religious light tourism’ is a champion of sustainability and responsible tourism because religious tourism is, usually, less affected by season's trends, social and economic crisis (but not in the present COVID-19!).

Definitions of domestic homicide shape data collection and prevention efforts and, consequentially, our understanding of these crimes. This chapter explores issues related to defining domestic homicide in the context of our work with the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations (CDHPIVP). We discuss selected case studies to demonstrate what cases are included and excluded in this work and to highlight the importance of understanding our narrower, project-based definition in relation to the larger context of domestic violence-related homicides and deaths. By considering how victims and perpetrators are identified when defining domestic violence, we illustrate how undercounting of domestic homicide may occur, contributing to the “dark figure” of domestic homicide. Furthermore, we argue that cases from certain groups, such as Indigenous women in Canada, may be systematically excluded from definitions of domestic homicide. In reflecting on these issues and cases, our aim is to advance calls for consistency and transparency in definitions to allow for stronger research across jurisdictions (Fairbairn, Jaffe, & Dawson, 2017; Jaffe et al., 2017), as well as to support efforts of initiatives such as domestic violence death review committees (DVDRCs) in their work to prevent domestic homicides.

This chapter offers a new sustainability-oriented paradigm for cultural and heritage tourism studies: an integrated approach to heritage tourism and heritage conservation based on resilience. Its extensive literature review examines resilience in a range of disciplinary areas, including heritage conservation and tourism studies. An important aim is to “make visible” often neglected parameters in the interactions among social, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions of heritage conservation and tourism. Within the broader concept of resilience, “cultural resilience” was identified as a crucial bridge between conservation and tourism. The study argues that resilience in general and its cultural forms in particular offer a potentially valuable framework vital for an integrated approach between the two in the common pursuit to manage change and uncertainty in cultural and heritage destinations. The chapter concludes with directions for further development of sustainability-oriented paradigm studies.