Search results

This study aims to explore the relationship between Generation Z (or Gen Z) consumers’ decision-making styles and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) use in the tourism sector. Drawing on the consumer style inventory (CSI) model and the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the research examines how specific decision-making styles influence Gen Z’s propensity to use eWOM recommendations for accommodation choices.

The study uses structural equation modelling to analyse data collected from 296 Gen Z users of Booking.com. The CSI model is adapted to the analysed context and attributes – impulsive, recreational, sustainable, fashion-conscious and perfectionist attitudes – are examined to determine their impact on eWOM use intention and actual eWOM use.

Three of the hypothesised relationships in the model were validated. Specifically, the results suggest that the attitudes of sustainable and perfectionist consumers influence the intention to use eWOM. Furthermore, use intention is positively associated with the actual use of eWOM.

For marketers and tourism businesses, understanding the decision-making styles of Gen Z can inform the development of targeted marketing strategies that emphasise quality and sustainability. Highlighting these aspects in online reviews and eWOM platforms can enhance engagement with Gen Z consumers.

This research advances the understanding of eWOM behaviour by integrating CSI and TRA theories in the context of Gen Z’s tourism decision-making. It provides empirical evidence on the significant role of perfectionist and sustainable attitudes in shaping eWOM intentions, contributing to the literature on consumer behaviour and digital marketing in tourism.

The purpose of this research is to conduct a theoretical prediction study exploring the effectiveness of different content marketing strategies in expanding the second-hand market for fashion brands, comparing the costs and risks involved in these strategies in practice.

First, the expert interview method is employed to extract the content marketing strategies of the fashion second-hand market. Then, a descriptive space that is able to identify various fashion brand images is established. Then, experts' perceptions of the relationships between content marketing strategies and fashion brand image dimensions are obtained through a subjective evaluation procedure. Data of semantic evaluation were quantified and analyzed using the fuzzy logic method.

When fashion brands expand to the second-hand market, they not only need to focus on improving the individual differentiation of products but also give priority to the quality of products and services and the overall customer experience. Exploring the “social impact strategy” will become an important direction for the development of fashion brands in the future.

The research methodology employed herein exhibits a noteworthy degree of novelty. This study introduces a pioneering theoretical prediction approach utilizing fuzzy logic, marking the inaugural exploration of this emerging and captivating dimension within the context of the study. Simultaneously, the study provides comparative results among content marketing strategies for expanding the fashion second-hand market, offering guidance for market expansion.

This paper focuses on the last-mile logistics (LML) operations in fulfilling online grocery orders and the related sustainability considerations in sparsely populated areas like Australia. It aims to examine how online groceries in sparsely populated areas can benefit from online business. Specifically, this study seeks to investigate whether a centralized order fulfillment approach is better than the existing approach which fulfills online orders from local grocery stores.

A multi-method approach is employed to conduct a high level of cost and emission analysis between the existing and the proposed approaches to illustrate the ratios between the two approaches in terms of cost and carbon emissions. Mathematical models are developed with support from the literature. The model is empirically validated with a case study of grocery distribution in the city of Gold Coast, Australia.

It finds that the centralized order fulfillment approach in sparsely populated areas can achieve LML sustainability with low cost, high efficiency and less double handling. Meanwhile, the separation of in-store and online retailing processes improves the in-store shopping experience and online shopping visibility, jointly improves customer satisfaction, and consequently achieves a positive effect on long-term sustainability. Additionally, the possibility of automating order picking and dispatching at a central place can make the processes more efficient and help build more sustainable grocery retailing supply chains by using more environmentally friendly systems.

This paper offers analytical and empirical insights into the sustainability of multi-channel grocery retailing supply chains. The high-level model developed first incorporates the concept of online shopping adoption rates and can serve as a decision-making tool for practitioners to improve supply chain sustainability in LML.

This paper is part of Horizon 2050 series of papers. This paper aims to highlight the importance of stronger engagement with ethical philosophy in tourism. A number of potential research streams are identified.

The paper first introduces several theories of ethics. It then reviews the history of tourism’s engagement with ethics, especially within academia. Subsequently, several themes for the future of research on tourism ethics are discussed according to four scales: the tourist, tourism business, tourism destination and the tourism system.

At the individual tourist level, future research should focus on better understanding tourist (un)ethical behaviour by considering the hedonic and cross-cultural nature of tourism. At business level, motivations to be ethical, ethical corporate models should be studied. Endurance of tourist products that are deemed unethical needs further analysis. At destination level, further understanding of stakeholder relations, stakeholder values and dissemination of those values is required. Fair and just options to sustainably manage visitation merit further discussion. At tourism system level, a stronger engagement with political philosophies and more creative alternatives for the current global tourism system require exploration.

While several reviews of ethics of tourism research exist, this paper is oriented towards opportunities for future research. The paper does not intend to cover all current ethical debates; however, it provides a number of topics within the tourism ethics field that merit further exploration in hope to inspire new research.

本文是地平线 2050 系列论文的一部分。 它强调了在旅游业中加强参与道德哲学的重要性。 确定了许多潜在的研究方向。

文章首先介绍了伦理学的几种理论。 然后回顾了旅游业与道德的接触历史, 特别是在学术界。 随后, 从游客、旅游企业、旅游目的地和旅游系统四个层面讨论了旅游伦理研究未来的几个主题。

在个体游客层面, 未来的研究应侧重于考虑旅游的享乐性和跨文化性质, 更好地理解游客的（不）道德行为。 在商业层面, 应该研究道德的动机、道德的企业模式。 被认为不道德的旅游产品的耐久性需要进一步分析。 在目的地层面, 需要进一步了解利益相关者关系、利益相关者价值观以及这些价值观的传播。 可持续管理访问的公平公正的选择值得进一步讨论。 在旅游系统层面, 需要探索更深入地参与政治哲学, 并为当前的全球旅游系统提供更具创意的替代方案。

虽然存在一些关于旅游研究伦理的评论, 但本文面向未来研究的机会。 本文并不打算涵盖当前所有的伦理辩论, 但它提供了旅游伦理领域内的一些值得进一步探索的主题, 以期激发新的研究。

Este artículo forma parte de la serie de artículos Horizonte 2050. El estudio destaca la importancia de un mayor compromiso con la filosofía ética en el ámbito turístico. Se identifican una serie de posibles líneas de investigación.

En primer lugar, el artículo presenta varias teorías de la ética. Luego revisa la historia del compromiso del turismo con la ética, especialmente dentro del mundo académico. Posteriormente, se discuten varios temas para el futuro de la investigación sobre la ética turística según cuatro escalas: el turista, la empresa turística, el destino turístico y el sistema turístico.

A nivel de turista individual, las investigaciones futuras deberían centrarse en comprender mejor el comportamiento (no)ético de los turistas considerando la fundamentación hedónica e intercultural del turismo. A nivel empresarial se deben estudiar tanto las motivaciones para ser éticos, como los modelos corporativos éticos. Además, la perdurabilidad de productos turísticos que se consideran poco éticos necesita un análisis más profundo. A nivel de destino, se requiere una mayor comprensión de las relaciones con las partes interesadas, sus valores y la difusión de esos valores. Las opciones justas y equitativas para gestionar de forma sostenible las visitas merecen un debate más profundo. A nivel del sistema turístico, es necesario explorar un compromiso más fuerte con las filosofías políticas y alternativas más creativas para el actual sistema turístico global.

Si bien existen varias revisiones de la ética de la investigación en turismo, este artículo está orientado hacia oportunidades para futuras investigaciones. El artículo no pretende cubrir todos los debates éticos actuales, sin embargo, proporciona una serie de temas dentro del campo de la ética del turismo que merecen una mayor exploración con la esperanza de inspirar nuevas investigaciones.

In 2000, Cañibano et al. published a literature review entitled “Accounting for Intangibles: A Literature Review”. This paper revisits the conclusions drawn in that paper. We also discuss the intervening developments in scholarly research, standard setting and practice over the past 20+ years to outline the future challenges for research into accounting for intangibles.

We conducted a literature review to identify past developments and link the findings to current accounting standard-setting developments to inform our view of the future.

Current intangibles accounting practices are conservative and unlikely to change. Accounting standard setters are more interested in how companies report and disclose the value of intangibles rather than changing how they are determined. Standard setters are also interested in accounting for new forms of digital assets and reporting economic, social, governance and sustainability issues and how these link to financial outcomes. The IFRS has released complementary sustainability accounting standards for disclosing value creation in response to the latter. Therefore, the topic of intangibles stretches beyond merely how intangibles create value but how they are also part of a firm’s overall risk and value creation profile.

There is much room academically, practically, and from a social perspective to influence the future of accounting for intangibles. Accounting standard setters and alternative standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and European Union non-financial and sustainability reporting directives, are competing complementary initiatives.

Our results reveal a window of opportunity for accounting scholars to research and influence how intangibles and other non-financial and sustainability accounting will progress based on current developments.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation follows a structured approach called define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC). Earlier research about its application in emergency healthcare services shows that it requires organizational transformation, which many healthcare setups find difficult. The Kotter change management model facilitates organizational transformation but has not been attempted in LSS settings till now. This study aims to integrate the LSS framework with the Kotter change management model to come up with an integrated framework that will facilitate LSS deployment in emergency health services.

Two-stage Delphi method was conducted by using a literature review. First, the success factors and barriers of LSS are investigated, especially from an emergency healthcare point of view. The features and benefits of Kotter's change management models are then reviewed. Subsequently, they are integrated to form a framework specific to LSS deployment in an emergency healthcare set-up. The elements of this framework are analyzed using expert opinion ratings. A new framework for LSS deployment in emergency healthcare has been developed, which can prevent failures due to challenges faced by organizations in overcoming resistance to changes.

The eight steps of the Kotter model such as establishing a sense of urgency, forming a powerful guiding coalition, creating a vision, communicating the vision, empowering others to act on the vision, planning for and creating short-term wins, consolidating improvements and producing still more change, institutionalizing new approaches are derived from the eight common errors that managers make while implementing change in the institution. The study integrated LSS principles and Kotter’s change management model to apply in emergency care units in order to reduce waste and raise the level of service quality provided by healthcare companies.

The present study could contribute knowledge to the literature by providing a framework to integrate lean management and Kotter's change management model for the emergency care unit of the healthcare organization. This framework guides decision-makers and organizations as proper strategies are required for applying lean management practices in any system.

The proposed framework is unique and no other study has prescribed any integrated framework for LSS implementation in emergency healthcare that overcomes resistance to change.

Colonial epistemes distort ideologies through power structures and control, perpetuating differences and the development of an inferior status. This study aims to serve dual purposes: Firstly, the authors advocate for Pacific and international business (IB) researchers to consider adopting inclusive research practices, particularly regarding Pacific and indigenous populations. Secondly, the authors argue that decolonization presents conflicting challenges, demonstrating that the authors still have a long way to go regarding the decolonization agenda within academia, the university, IB and broader society.

An essay style is adopted to introduce inclusive Pacific research practices specific to the Pacific context, what that looks like and the advantages of using culturally appropriate methods.

This paper highlights some examples that justify why Pacific methods should be used, such as spirituality and prayers underpinned by the va (i.e. relational spaces) – a concept well-known in Pacific cultures but missing in Western academic frameworks, models and approaches. Additionally, the authors found that the endeavours to be inclusive can paradoxically lead to exclusion and marginalization within academia, the university and popular mainstream media.

This paper enriches IB theory and pedagogy by advocating for the co-creation of inclusive research practices in collaboration with Pacific and indigenous communities. It contributes to the broader movement to restore indigenous knowledge and scholarship research spaces.

The originality and value of the viewpoint lie in its potential to stimulate conversations and reflections among IB researchers regarding inclusive research practices of decoloniality. Thereby strengthening the “trumpet-shell” call to decolonize the field and academia, which IB as a discipline should not be immune to.

This paper aims to investigate and formulate several business models (BM) for various energy communities (EC) members: prosumers, storage facilities, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, aggregators and local markets.

One of the flexibility drivers is triggered by avoiding the cost and maximizing value that consists of delivering a service such as increasing generation or reducing consumption when it is valued most. The transition to greener economies led to the emergence of aggregators that aggregate bits of flexibility and handle the interest of their providers, e.g. small entities such as consumers, prosumers and other small service providers. On one hand, the research method consists of formulating six BM and implementing a BM that includes several consumers and an aggregator, namely, scheduling the household electricity consumption (downstream) and using flexibility to obtain revenue or avoid the cost. This is usually performed by reducing or shifting the consumption from peak to off-peak hours when the energy is cheaper. Thus, the role of aggregators in EC is significant as they intermediate small-scale energy threads and large entities' requirements, such as grid operators or retailers. On the other hand, in the proposed BM, the aggregators' strategy (upstream) will be to minimize the cost of electricity procurement using consumers’ flexibility. They set up markets to buy flexibility that is valued as long as their costs are reduced.

Interesting insights are revealed, such as when the flexibility price doubles, the deficit coverage increases from 62% to 91% and both parties, consumers and retailers obtain financial benefits from the local market.

One of the limitations of using the potential of flexibility is related to the high costs that are necessary to implement direct load control. Another issue is related to the data privacy aspects related to the breakdown of electricity consumption. Furthermore, data availability for scientific research is limited. However, this study expects that new BM for various EC members will emerge in the future largely depending on Information Communications and Technology developments.

An implementation of a local flexibility market (LFM) using 114 apartments with flexible loads is proposed, demonstrating the gains obtained from trading flexibility. For LFM simulation, this study considers exemplifying a BM using 114 apartments located in a multi-apartment building representing a small urban EC situated in the New England region in North America. Open data recorded in 2016 is provided by UMassTraceRepository.

As a novelty, six BM are proposed considering a bottom-up approach and including various EC members.

This study aims to elucidate the dynamics of social media discourse during global health events, specifically investigating how users across different platforms perceive, react to and engage with information concerning such crises.

A mixed-method approach was employed, combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Initially, thematic analysis was applied to a data set of social media posts across four major platforms over a 12-month period. This was followed by sentiment analysis to discern the predominant emotions embedded within these communications. Statistical tools were used to validate findings, ensuring robustness in the results.

The results showcased discernible thematic and emotional disparities across platforms. While some platforms leaned toward factual information dissemination, others were rife with user sentiments, anecdotes and personal experiences. Overall, a global sense of concern was evident, but the ways in which this concern manifested varied significantly between platforms.

The primary limitation is the potential non-representativeness of the sample, as only four major social media platforms were considered. Future studies might expand the scope to include emerging platforms or non-English language platforms. Additionally, the rapidly evolving nature of social media discourse implies that findings might be time-bound, necessitating periodic follow-up studies.

Understanding the nature of discourse on various platforms can guide health organizations, policymakers and communicators in tailoring their messages. Recognizing where factual information is required, versus where sentiment and personal stories resonate, can enhance the efficacy of public health communication strategies.

The study underscores the societal reliance on social media for information during crises. Recognizing the different ways in which communities engage with, and are influenced by, platform-specific discourse can help in fostering a more informed and empathetic society, better equipped to handle global challenges.

This research is among the first to offer a comprehensive, cross-platform analysis of social media discourse during a global health event. By comparing user engagement across platforms, it provides unique insights into the multifaceted nature of public sentiment and information dissemination during crises.

In light of the expanding prominence of work-integrated learning (WIL), the pedagogical model that integrates work experiences into an academic curriculum, this paper presents a systematic review that uncovers little-explored students’ reflections of quality (RoQ).

Drawing on the concept of wayfinding rocks and Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory, the “students’ RoQ (pronounced [ROK]) WIL model” offers guidance for future research, policy development and educational interventions aimed at optimizing students' experiences of WIL.

This paper highlights RoQ WIL through student voice. The outcomes offer a model, contributing insights for institutions, employers and students involved in WIL experiences.

While the study addresses specific limitations such as the use of specific search terms and potential biases, future research is needed to explore cultural capital’s influence on WIL quality. A focus on broadening the scope of data collection to include a more comprehensive range of student perspectives is needed.

The paper suggests practical implications for institutions, employers and educators in designing WIL programs that prioritize student perspectives, ultimately enhancing the quality of WIL experiences.

By focusing on students' RoQ in WIL, this paper fills a significant gap in the literature and provides a foundation for future research and practice in optimizing WIL engagement and outcomes.