Search results

This study aims to examine the symbolic meanings of the local shopping malls inscribed by the shoppers from the sociocultural lens other than merely departing from the economic dimensions.

In this research, Kwai Chung Plaza was adopted as the case study. The author interviewed 12 local shoppers through an in-depth individual interview. All interviewees were selected through convenience and snowball sampling. All names of the participants in this paper are kept pseudonymous to protect their privacy.

An integrated model, which consists of three major levels, namely, the spatial, individual and community levels, has been formed to show that the shopping mall was not merely a place for buy-and-sell transactions but rather a place that could be understood as an extension of the street, a body of collective memories and a place for Hongkongers.

The most significant limitation of this study was the lack of a diversified demographic profile adding that the sample was restricted to the young generation. It is recommended that future research should consider including interviews with middle-aged and old-aged shoppers to ensure the generalizability of results. Future research may also consider examining other small/medium-sized shopping malls for comparison.

The findings demonstrated the diversified social roles and functions of the local shopping malls in a community. In addition, the present study, to the author’s knowledge, is one of the few scholarly discussions on small/medium-sized shopping malls from a sociocultural perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the history and dark tourism attractions associated with a case study of the Thai-Burma Railway in the city of Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The paper considers how history has been abridged and distorted at a number of attraction sites in order to exploit the dark tourism commercial potential. The role of film media is considered as a critical element of the site narrative and the reality of the tragic past of this place is discussed within the context of Thailand’s role in the Second World War. Kanchanaburi, through the urban attractions that constitute the primary motivations for visitation, distorts and exploits its dark history for commercial and ideological purposes. Where accurate the Second World War interpretation was identified, it was maintained by balancing the requirements of national governments and institutions with acceptable levels of ambiguity and non-controversial perspectives on this urban location’s dark past.

The paper draws on literature, historical documents and tourism publications related to the Second World War and the incarceration and forced labour associated with the Thai-Burma Railway and the city of Kanchanaburi. Fieldwork incorporating tourist attraction and commemorative site visitation was undertaken in Northern Thailand in January 2017. Curators, managers, operators and tourist authorities were contacted in advance of the fieldwork by e-mail to request interviews. The sites identified were the primary sites visited by tourists, and no related Second World War site in the area was excluded. For those interviewed in relation to the subject area, a standard questionnaire based on a rolling database, relevant to particular sites was utilised. Interviews were taped and transcribed.

The city of Kanchanaburi is defined by a heritage that has changed over time. Many factors imbue the meanings and content of place. This is a function of a plethora of competing Influences and agendas; political, economic, cultural, demographic and historical. Yet, this destination is defined by the dark history of the Second World War which is associated with this place. The visitor attraction sites considered in Kanchanaburi provide multiple narratives around the Second World War events. They offer a range of content driven by influences as diverse as simple commercial gain to the complex interaction of political, economic and ideological agendas (cf. Gegner, 2012). In each case, the interpretation is used to articulate heritage through objects, artefacts, audio recording, place or imagery. These elements exist in environment(s) of their creation; the Second World War heritage of Kanchanaburi is developed in a nation that has only a partial and selective acceptance of its role in this conflict. The visitor attractions examined in this research and their content have all re-constructed and re-represented the past. Historical memorialization remains embedded in interests that are global, commercial, ideological but rarely neutral. The interpretation of the Thai-Burma Railway and the narrative of the many victims is associated with the construction merit respect, commemoration and consideration that is value free and not distorted by ideology or commercial imperatives.

This paper provides a foundation for further consideration of how such contested dark heritage is viewed not least by visitors and users. Development of research in this area would provide a valuable source of data on: consumer profiles, motivations and orientation. Relating this data to nationality and origin would provide useful comparative data to that offered by operators and managers of key attractions. Furthermore, the prevalence of social and digital media as primary tourist information source could be measured against the continued (and possibly declining) importance of the filmic narrative. Furthermore, deeper evaluation of nature and content of interpretation is merited, given the range of approaches and content observed. At a political and policy level, the treatment of this part of Thai history and the degree of sensitivity around interpretation is linked to how a nation confronts its difficult past. More thorough evaluation of treatment in national media and education curriculum also merits review. Urban heritage is an important element of urban destination marketing and evaluation based around core themes of transparency, openness, respect for the past, and sensitive treatment of tragic events offer direction for application and evaluation in other urban contexts.

This is the first time the heritage of this city has been considered in the context of dark tourism and the role of Thailand in the Second World War. It incorporates an analysis of all of the relevant attractions in the city and provides through the fieldwork conducted an original contribution to the tourism literature in this field. It draws on historical record, original documentation, interview analysis and tourism data. It provides further evidence of the dark tourism phenomena in a South East Asian context linked to a conflicted and selective appraisal of the past.

Mid-stream operation has had a significant role in Hong Kong’s economic development since the 1960s. Prior to the building of container terminals in Hong Kong, cargo was mainly loaded onto and discharged from ocean-going vessels by mid-stream operations and then shipped to Europe and North America. This paper aims to reinforce mid-stream operation is considered a “must” in supporting the substantial growth of maritime industry and strengthening Hong Kong’s role as an entrepôt.

The authors undertake a historical review of the evolution of Hong Kong’s mid-stream operation over the past half-century and investigate the future of mid-stream operation in light of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s policy of allocating Public Cargo Working Areas through an open auction process. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews are also undertaken in this study.

The emergence of container terminals generated competition for cargo between container terminals and mid-stream operators. In addition, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s policy of allocating Public Cargo Working Areas to mid-stream operators through an open auction process intensified negative influences on the survival of the mid-stream operation sector.

To date, mid-stream operation has been abandoned nearly everywhere except in Hong Kong. Yet, Hong Kong’s container system has become the most advanced in the world. The authors explain how and why mid-stream operation still plays such a key role in Hong Kong and how to enhance its sustainability. The authors also discuss the academic and managerial implications of their findings.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a research model examining users’ perceived needs-technology fit of mobile communication software through motivational needs and technological characteristics. The study investigated the effects of perceived needs-technology fit on user satisfaction and intention to continue using mobile communication software.

This study proposes a research model based on task-technology fit theory and uses and gratification theory, incorporating key determinants of users’ continuance intention toward mobile communication software. An online survey instrument was developed to collect data, and 403 questionnaires were used to test the relationships in the proposed model.

The causal model was validated using AMOS 21.0, and all nine study hypotheses were supported. The results indicated that users’ perceived needs-technology fit and satisfaction were crucial antecedents of their intention to continue using mobile communication software and that they mediated the influence of users’ needs as well as technological characteristics.

Mobile communication software practitioners should focus on enhancing users’ perceived needs-technology fit through motivational needs (utilitarian, hedonic, and social needs) and technological characteristics (mobile convenience, service compatibility, and user control) to further boost user satisfaction and intention to continue using mobile communication software services.

This study contributes to a theoretical understanding of factors explaining users’ continuance intention toward mobile communication software.

FOOD SAFETY The initial recommendations of the Richmond Report on the Microbial Safety of Food have recently been published. These include detailed labelling recommenations such as the introduction of compulsory ‘use by’ system and the phasing out of the ‘sell by’ dates for foodstuffs that are highly perishable. The Government has already agreed with other member states of the EC that this should be implimented and the relevant changes to the UK Food Labelling Regulations will be proposed shortly.

This study examines the effect of a regulatory-focused prime (i.e. a brochure with a picture and message) on the recommending behavior of investment advisers in the context of an investment decision.

Three experiments were conducted with 468 participants, mostly from the financial services industry. Study 1 examined the direct effect of a regulatory-focused prime on an investment adviser's recommending behavior, whereas Study 2 examined the moderating role of regulatory fit on such behavior. Study 3 validated the findings.

The results provide evidence that a message using visual and textual cues based on a promotion and prevention regulatory focus may trigger a preference in an investment adviser's product recommendation. A promotion (prevention)-focused framed message will trigger the recommendation of an investment plan with a higher but riskier (safe and stable) potential return. However, when the same prime is presented with details of a performance incentive scheme, the effect of the prime is reduced when there is a regulatory nonfit between the prime and the message relating to the performance incentive scheme.

The findings highlight the importance of understanding how regulatory-focused stimuli may subconsciously influence the recommendation of investment advisers as heuristics used in decision-making, thereby influencing their clients' investment decisions.

Past studies have focused on how regulatory-focused visual and message cues influence consumer decision-making. This study provides empirical evidence regarding the influence of regulatory-focused prime on an investment adviser's behavior when providing investment advice.

The purpose of this paper is exploring the effects of segment dynamic and temporal dynamic triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic on classifying service quality attributes, thereby formulating improvement strategies to satisfy customers and respond to threats.

Given the dynamics of the attractive quality theory, this paper designs a framework with four phases by embedding techniques of text mining and deep learning based on evidence from online reviews.

This paper figures out dynamics of service quality attributes for distinct segments and their dynamic proportion along with different stages of the pandemic. Another finding demonstrates segment dynamic and temporal dynamic effects of sentiments toward service quality attributes on customer satisfaction under the impacts of pandemic. Classification results and improvement strategies are derived for varying segments at different pandemic situations.

This paper reveals dynamic effects on classifying service quality attributes, which contributes to assisting hospitality practitioners from different segments in improving service quality when facing with the challenges of crisis and potential risks.

Given hospitality industry is time- and segment-sensitive, the authors achieve the quantification of dynamics of attractive quality theory and extend it into hospitality marketing and crisis management from the perspective of dynamics with evidence from online reviews.

Rapid urbanization and the influx of rural residents to urban cities has led to the growth of informal settlements globally. Drawing on institutional theory, this paper aims to examine institutional actors’ legitimacy seeking behaviour to housing issues and their responses to regulative, normative and cultural pressures.

The qualitative case-study research approach is adopted by conducting 25 in-depth interviews that involved purposefully chosen institutional actors in the housing sector. Online observations and documents are used to support the interview data.

Thematic analysis of data gathered suggests that these actors, guided by sensemaking, invest in relationship-building to attain market, social, relational and political legitimacy. The relationship-building also leads to the legitimation of institutional actors’ existence via an eclectic mix of economic, social and political actions.

The results not only guide policymakers faced with potentially conflicting demands to legitimize sustainable housing developments policy that could benefit the urban poor’s shelter needs but also to consider the interactive and dynamic processes of stakeholders’ pressures, in a highly regulated housing environment.

IN LESS than sixteen years time—on June 30 1997 to be precise—the lease on Kowloon beyond Boundary Street, and on the New Territories, will, according to British Law, expire. Naturally Hong Kong is concerned as the Peking Lease nears its end. Writing in the Daily telegraph on September 28 1981 Graham Earnshaw commented that China ‘obviously wants to keep Hong Kong as it is for at least the immediate future because of its immense economic value, and that is the main thread of hope that Hong Kong people keep returning to when discussing the future’. Kevin Rafferty concluded a lead article ‘The first city in Asia’ in the Financial times special supplement on Hong Kong (June 15 1981)—‘China and Hong Kong are two different worlds and it will take a lot of effort and patience to bring them together’. David Bonavia writing in the Times on October 3 1981 sees in China's recent ‘seemingly generous offer to Taiwan of easy terms for a political reunion’, ‘the true way to a possible solution for the eventual re‐absorption of Hong Kong into the People's Republic’.

In the actual livestreaming background, to obtain more income, some broadcasters will transform their original single role orientation into mixed one. This research study aims to conduct an empirical study on the influence of the broadcasters' role orientation transformation on the viewers' tipping behavior.

The authors collect data from Kuai, a leading online live streaming service provider in China. The dataset includes 175,701 live streaming data from 971 broadcasters in 7 months. To avoid unobservable factors, the authors adopt two difference-in-differences (DID) models to estimate the effect of two kinds of broadcaster's role orientation transformation on the broadcaster’s direct income separately. And the authors use the Heckman-type correction to solve broadcasters’ self-selected problem.

The authors evaluated that there is a U-shape relationship between the broadcasters' role orientation transformation and their direct income. The broadcasters' direct income experienced a sharp decline for a short period of time after transformation and followed by a rise after a period of adaptation. And for broadcasters with different genders and amounts of fans, the influence degree of role orientation transformation is various.

This paper provides a fresh usage of the regulatory engagement theory in the brand new information communication technology. And it also explores the boundary effect of the participating object's self-factors in the regulatory engagement theory. Besides, this paper expands the research of livestreaming into natural background. Such results also provide operable suggestions for the livestream platform, the broadcaster himself and the enterprises who want to employ some broadcasters to recommend their products.