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Given the socialisation of men and women to their gender roles and expression of emotion, this study aims to investigate whether there are gender differences in the use of emotive language in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), specifically in online reviews. The authors propose that female reviewers will use strong emotive terms, such as love, more frequently in online reviews than do male reviewers. The authors further propose that the gender of the reviewer influences audience responses to the reviewer’s use of emotive terms in online reviews.

The authors conducted secondary data analysis of restaurant reviews (Study 1) to provide evidence on whether the gender of the reviewer affects the frequency of use of emotive terms in an online review. In addition, three separate experiments (Studies 2–4) were conducted to test the theoretical arguments.

The results of the secondary data analysis indicated that female online reviewers used the term “love” much more frequently in their reviews than male reviewers, whereas there was no usage difference for the term “like”. The experimental studies further showed that an emotive review by a male reviewer containing the word “love” resulted in a higher evaluation of the restaurant being reviewed than a non-emotive review containing the word “like”. This difference was stronger when the overall rating was less salient and for consumers who believe (vs do not believe) that men and women use emotional language differently.

First, the paper extends our understanding of gender differences in emotional expression within the domain of eWOM and online reviews as well as our understanding of consumer responses to these gender differences. Second, the authors identify a boundary condition for these gender effects, namely, the overall rating score. Third, the authors find that consumer beliefs regarding gender stereotypes in emotional expression provide an explanation for these effects.

The results of the research indicate that the electronic algorithms operating on review sites might be modified in terms of their criteria for selecting the reviews to display to consumers, as consumer decision-makers may find greater utility in reviews written by male reviewers that contain strongly positive emotive terms.

The research extends the knowledge on gender differences in emotional expression in online reviews by demonstrating the actual usage patterns and differing responses to the emotional expressions of each gender.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the luxury accommodation experience is created by investigating the perceptions of the three main participant groups – managers, employees and guests – using case studies from New Zealand.

An interpretivist case-study methodology was used. Eighty-one participants were interviewed (27 managers, 27 employees and 27 guests) from six luxury properties. Thematic analysis was conducted to inform the results.

The key themes identified in creating the luxury accommodation experience are: setting the stage; the ethos of the property; performances of the actors; and co-creation between the participants. Using the themes identified, a conceptual model of the creation of the luxury accommodation experience has been formulated.

The conceptual model can be used to assist managers to deliver a more positive and memorable experience of their properties. Strategies to enhance the luxury accommodation experience include: training; standards of procedure; staff incentives; and the use of effective communication tools.

This study identified the three alternative perspectives of managers, employees and guests regarding how the luxury accommodation experience is created. The luxury accommodation sector contributes to the economies of a number of nations and therefore it is important to highlight how it can be maintained and improved.

The Field Guide opens with a series of chapters addressing somewhat disparate issues – touristification of the countryside, emotions experienced in a secular pilgrimage, assessment of museum performance, tourists’ packing for travel and the role of the hospitality receptionist. Yet, what these chapters hold in common is their broad approach to case study research. Each chapter presents findings based on the analysis of texts. Here we use the term texts in its broadest sense, to mean the written word, spoken word or visual image intended to express meaning. Thus, amongst these chapters we see research findings generated from the analysis of words and images in tourism promotional materials; analysis of the diaries of tourists; computer software analysis of concepts generated from focus group discussions amongst museum stakeholders; verbal protocol analysis and videotape analysis of a tourist packing for travel; analysis of story, poetry and metaphor used by hospitality reception staff to express their lived experiences of their jobs. Each of the chapters concludes with comment on lessons learned about the processes of data gathering and analysis.

Packing for travel is an intriguing aspect of tourist behavior. Until recently, no research has sought to explain what the modern traveler packs for air journeys or why these items are packed. Perhaps for some observers these questions appear mundane, and the answers appear obvious, yet these issues attract a great volume on commentary on websites, blogs, in travel books, in magazines, and conversations between travelers. From these sources, Hyde and Olesen (2011) developed a grounded theory of packing for air travel. The purpose of this article is to test the grounded theory of packing for air travel using video-ethnographic case study data. The findings are that the grounded theory for air travel is able to explain what possessions are packed and the motives for these items being packed. The emphasis that any individual places on the possessions they pack and the role these possessions play during a journey will differ by traveler. This adds to extant literature on packing for travel.

Each of the three chapters in this part of the Field Guide has, as its primary data source, interviews with tourism and hospitality executives. Sushma Seth Bhat (2012), in her chapter titled Single Case Study Research: The Development of www.purenz.com, explains how she compiled a single case on the development of a destination website, based on interviews with tourism industry executives in New Zealand. In her chapter titled Fashions in Tourism: The Views of Russian Tourists and Experts, Olga Lysikova (2012) utilises information from interviews with travel industry executives to address the question, are there fashions in tourist behaviour? Cindia Ching-Chi Lam and Clara Weng-Si Lei's (2012) chapter, Case Studies in Multicultural Contexts in Asia, presents experiences acquired in undertaking two case study projects in Macao, with much of the data gathered from interviews with executives in the Macao hotel industry.

This section of the Field Guide presents an alternative paradigm for case study research, stakeholder participatory research. Such research takes an alternative viewpoint from that of researcher as owner of the research process, or researcher as disinterested creator of knowledge for general consumption. Instead, the four chapters here present an alternative view on who should own the research process and who should benefit from the knowledge that research generates. In answer to both of these questions, stakeholder participatory research has a singular answer: the local community-based stakeholder should own and benefit from case study research.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers in this Special Issue of IJCTHR on dark tourism. These papers take either a demand‐side, supply‐side, or integrated demand‐and‐supply side perspective to understanding dark tourism. Collectively, the papers explore tourist experiences at dark sites, the management of dark sites, ethical issues in profit making, and the involvement of indigenous peoples in site management.

This editorial draws lessons from the papers presented in the Special Issue.

Just as we contemplate our mortality in different ways in our daily lives, so we contemplate death in different ways in tourism praxis. The papers presented here stretch the boundaries of the current definition of dark tourism. We move beyond a discussion of classifications of dark tourism to recognise dark tourism as both an individual experience and a complex socio‐cultural phenomenon.

The move from a purely descriptive to an experiential and critical investigation of dark tourism bodes well for the development of a dark tourism body of knowledge. This paper suggests several avenues for future research on dark tourism.

This chapter is a general introduction to the field of case study research in tourism, hospitality, and leisure. The chapter presents a brief review of the literature on the intra-individual logic of case study research. The chapter describes the “four horsemen” for doing case study research: accuracy, generality, complexity/coverage, and value/impact. Examples in the chapter that illustrate this perspective for undertaking case study research may impassion the reader to read through the field guide and personally engage in case study research – at least that is the hope of the editors of this field guide.

This paper introduces the seven empirical studies on vacation decision making in this special issue of IJCTHR. The paper compares the findings of these seven studies to traditional models of vacation decision making, and highlights a number of new perspectives for research into vacation decision making.

Five themes appear in these contemporary studies of vacation decision making: the multifaceted nature of the vacation; joint decision making by members of the household; impact of the type of vacation trip on the decision making process; the role of the internet in vacation decision making; and the role of socio‐psychological variables in vacation decision making.

The paper provides recommendations for future research in vacation decision making, in light of contemporary changes in the travel and tourism industry.

The value of this paper lies in its review of traditional approaches to researching vacation decision making, and advice provided for future research on the topic.