Search results
1 – 10 of over 10000Akke Folmer, Ali (Tanya) Tengxiage, Hanny Kadijk and Alastair John Wright
The purpose of this paper is to explore domestic experiential travel by Chinese millennials, a group of consumers who will increasingly influence the global travel and tourism…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore domestic experiential travel by Chinese millennials, a group of consumers who will increasingly influence the global travel and tourism industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research method was adopted to explore motivations and memorable experiences of Chinese millennials who successfully mountain biked the Qinghai–Tibet Highway in China.
Findings
For Chinese millennial mountain bikers in Tibet, experiential travel motivations and experiences are important. During the trip, they challenged their mental and physical abilities, enjoyed nature, bonded with friends and perceived a warm welcome by Tibetan families. This study adds to existing knowledge on experiential travel, as it was found that transformation was perceived as important outcome of the trip. Participants perceived personal change in attitude and behaviour, which will help them face everyday life challenges.
Research limitations/implications
Further research could focus on gaining insight into other types of Chinese adventure tourists, on comparing wishes and demands of Chinese with other mountain bikers and on developments in transformative travel.
Practical implications
Adventure tourism organisations could adjust their tourism product range to cater more for Chinese millennials who aim to improve their physical and mental skills.
Originality/value
In-depth research into motivations and experiences of Chinese millennials is scarce. The influence of Chinese millennials on the tourism market is already large and will continue to increase.
Details
Keywords
John A. Martin and Frank C. Butler
This paper aims to examine the shareholder versus stakeholder debate. This paper outlines how businesses are starting to move toward a stakeholder model, and also discusses what…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the shareholder versus stakeholder debate. This paper outlines how businesses are starting to move toward a stakeholder model, and also discusses what must be done to sustain the momentum toward the stakeholder model.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses examples from organizations to highlight the momentum toward the stakeholder model.
Findings
This paper suggests that countervailing forces - from financial analysts, institutional investors, and institutionalized practices in many corporations - will need to be overcome if businesses are to succeed in adopting the stakeholder model.
Practical implications
Thus paper discusses the role of educators in the process of changing the mindset of students, executives, and others from a shareholder to stakeholder mindset.
Originality/value
This paper discusses not only the trend toward the stakeholder model of businesses, but also how to sustain the momentum toward this model.
Details
Keywords
Daniel Adomako Asamoah, John Bowman Dinsmore and Kunal Swani
While few studies have examined business-to-business (B2B) mobile application (app) usage, none have examined the challenges in developing these technological assets. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
While few studies have examined business-to-business (B2B) mobile application (app) usage, none have examined the challenges in developing these technological assets. This study aims to examine B2B marketing executives’ perceptions regarding benefits, barriers and facilitators in app development.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 311 B2B marketing executives at selling firms in the USA was conducted to identify key themes related to the benefits, barriers and facilitators in developing B2B apps. The research featured “open-ended” questions exclusively, and advanced textual and thematic analysis of executives’ responses produced several key themes.
Findings
Results show that the perceived benefit of lowering customer servicing and costs drives development more so than trying to realize new revenue opportunities (e.g. “saving” vs. “making” money). Achieving internal buy-in/participation was perceived as a larger barrier than the commitment of financial resources. Additionally, training and education were viewed as the strongest facilitators of an app’s success over its design and functionality. Implications for B2B firms are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
The open-ended format of this research captures a greater breadth of perspectives at the expense of more granular analysis of any particular issue.
Originality/value
The themes generated from the responses offer novel insights into the benefits sought in developing an app, as well as the technological, organizational and environmental factors that act as barriers and facilitators. The open-ended format of this research captures a greater breadth of perspectives at the expense of a more granular analysis of any particular issue.
Details
Keywords
Roman Konopka, Malcolm John Wright, Mark Avis and Pamela M. Feetham
There are substantive disagreements about whether encouraging deliberative thinking increases consumer preference in low-involvement product categories. The authors draw on…
Abstract
Purpose
There are substantive disagreements about whether encouraging deliberative thinking increases consumer preference in low-involvement product categories. The authors draw on dual-process theory to add rare experimental evidence to this debate. They also investigate whether the effect of deliberative thinking increases with familiarity of the stimuli, as different theories of memory yield different predictions on this point. Finally, they provide evidence on whether the effectiveness of the Fairtrade logo arises more from mere exposure or attention to the ethical claim.
Design/methodology/approach
The context for the research is the use of ethical logos in packaged coffee, as this provides a realistic setting for the desired experimental manipulations. The fieldwork consists of two sets of trade-off experiments – rankings based conjoint analysis (n = 360) and best-worst scaling with a balanced incomplete block design (n = 1,628). Deliberative thinking is manipulated in three ways: by varying logos between visual (Type 1 processing) and lexical (Type 2 processing) treatments, by post hoc classification of time taken, and by imposing either time constraints (Type 1) or cognitive load (Type 2) on the completion of the task. Familiarity is manipulated by varying logos between the Fairtrade and a fictional Exchange Ethics logo.
Findings
Consumers do have higher preferences in the deliberative treatment conditions; thinking more results in an 18 per cent increase (Cohen’s d = 0.25) in the preference for choices that display an ethical cobranded logo. Surprisingly, the impact of deliberation is not greater for the more familiar Fairtrade logo than the fictional Exchange Ethics logo. This result is inconsistent with strength-based theories of memory, as these predict that deliberation will have a greater effect for more familiar stimuli. However, it is consistent with newer theories of memory that acknowledge familiarity can lead to activation confusion, reducing retrieval of pre-existing knowledge into working memory. The research also shows that the Fairtrade logo has substantial utility to consumers, and that this is approximately 59 per cent due to the ethical claim and 41 per cent due to the familiarity of the logo.
Research limitations/implications
In field conditions, attempts to manipulate deliberation may not be effective or may simply result in reduced attention. Also, the costs of increasing deliberation may outweigh the benefits obtained.
Practical implications
The research confirms the heuristic value of the Fairtrade logo and shows that the effectiveness of ethical logos may increase with additional deliberation by shoppers.
Originality/value
There is relatively little work in marketing that applies dual-process theories to investigate consumer behaviour. The present study extends the use of dual-process theories in marketing, demonstrates a new method to investigate the effect of deliberation on brand choice and shows how deliberation magnifies the effect of endorsing logos, including unfamiliar logos.
Details
Keywords
Kate Melvin, John Wright, Stephen R. Harrison, Mike Robinson, Jim Connelly and D.R. Rhys Williams
Reports on a study which explored the views of key stakeholders regarding the meaning and implementation of effective health care and clinical governance in NHS Trusts, and the…
Abstract
Reports on a study which explored the views of key stakeholders regarding the meaning and implementation of effective health care and clinical governance in NHS Trusts, and the role for public health professionals. The authors used a national questionnaire survey to derive a sample for qualitative telephone interviews and two area case studies. The authors found that the meaning of effective health care and the means employed for implementation varied. Mergers were seen as hindrances to gaining organisational engagement whilst others, such as the White Paper on quality and the notion of clinical governance, were seen as facilitating. A widespread aspiration was a more integrated and corporate quality culture where quality was central, not marginal. The authors conclude that there is widespread concern among Trusts to change their culture and assert effective health care as a central value. Public health skills, rather than the discipline itself, are seen as important for such culture change.
Details
Keywords
Messrs. W. and G. Clark have invented a milling machine which, it is claimed, for the first time enables a meal containing the whole of the wheat berry in assimilable form to be…
Abstract
Messrs. W. and G. Clark have invented a milling machine which, it is claimed, for the first time enables a meal containing the whole of the wheat berry in assimilable form to be produced. The cells of the berry, containing the protein, starch grains and wheat germ, are exploded by intense air pressure. The process is wholly dry, whereas wheat which is roller milled is first soaked in water for many hours; and meal produced by the new method contains 8·2 per cent. natural moisture, compared with 17 per cent. in ordinary flour. Already much bread made from the new meal is being sold. It can be obtained from a well‐known London store. Three depôts of the Royal Navy and a London hospital are among regular consumers of bread and biscuits made from the new meal, which is to be subjected to a biological feeding test at the Lister Institute to test its vitamins B1 and B2 complex content.
hydrolysis can be described as the reaction between water and another material in which a definite chemical change occurs. Materials which do not react with water can be said to…
Abstract
hydrolysis can be described as the reaction between water and another material in which a definite chemical change occurs. Materials which do not react with water can be said to possess hydrolytic stability. Polyurethanes can be hydrolysed by water under certain conditions and the chemical changes involved result in a deterioration in properties of the material. These changes can be followed chemically or physically but under severe conditions the degradation is readily apparent. In these cases the polyurethane can change from being a tough elastic material to a soft plastic substance with little or no strength.
John Bowman Dinsmore, Scott A. Wright and Daria Plotkina
The freemium pricing model is dominant in digital products such as mobile applications. While limited evaluation of a product such as when a consumer is under time pressure, has…
Abstract
Purpose
The freemium pricing model is dominant in digital products such as mobile applications. While limited evaluation of a product such as when a consumer is under time pressure, has been found to increase consumer preference for the free version (“the zero price effect”), this paper aims to explore moderators that attenuate or reverse that effect.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments test the role of anchoring effects induced by time pressure in moderating the zero price effect.
Findings
The studies offer evidence that anchoring effects induced by time pressure can be directed to reduce preference for free versions of products. In addition, these effects are mediated by the perceived performance risk of a product and an upper boundary condition for monetary price level is found.
Research limitations/implications
This research demonstrates exceptions to time pressure’s role in intensifying the zero price effect. Future research could focus on additional moderators of the effect such as the need for certainty and examine time pressure’s effect on in-app purchases.
Practical implications
These findings can be directly applied by marketers of digital products using a freemium pricing model who wants to use time pressure to create urgency with customers without pushing them toward the free version of a product.
Originality/value
This paper finds exceptions to the zero price effect where consumers exhibit a stronger preference for the paid (vs free) version of a product when under time pressure.
Details
Keywords
Leon C. Prieto, Simone Trixie Allison Phipps and Babita Mathur-Helm
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to knowledge in the field of business by recognizing two historic entrepreneurs who played an important role in the African-American…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to knowledge in the field of business by recognizing two historic entrepreneurs who played an important role in the African-American community, and by viewing their contributions through the lens of servant leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is conducted by reviewing and synthesizing a number of writings from sources, such as history journals, newspapers and other resources.
Findings
The main finding is that two former slaves (Merrick and Herndon) practiced servant leadership in the early twentieth century as a way to create jobs and transform communities.
Originality/value
The contributions made by African-Americans have not been adequately covered in the literature. This paper begins to fill a noticeable void by highlighting the contributions of two former slaves who managed to become successful servant leaders within their communities.
Details