Search results

This paper investigates the interrelationships of destination social responsibility (DSR), emotional attachment, self-congruity, experiential satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavior (ERB).

Using a sample of 294 visitors to the Guangzhou Zoo in China, this study tested the aforementioned relationships via structural equation modeling.

Emotional attachment mediates the effect of DSR on experiential satisfaction, while emotional attachment and experiential satisfaction mediate the effect of DSR on ERB sequentially. Moreover, self-congruity moderates the relationship between DSR and emotional attachment.

The management of zoos should use DSR communication strategies more proactively to make visitors become well-aware of their economic, philanthropic, environmental and social activities in the host community. This will result in many positive consequences, including visitors’ ERBs.

The study adds to the DSR literature by introducing multiple mediation mechanisms and paths that lead to visitors’ ERBs.

我们的论文调查了目的地社会责任 (DSR) 情感依恋、自我一致性、体验满意度和对环境负责的行为 (ERB) 之间的相互关系。

我们的研究以中国广州动物园的 294 名游客为样本, 通过结构方程模型测试了上述关系。

情感依恋介导 DSR 对体验满意度的影响, 而情感依恋和体验满意度依次介导 DSR 对 ERB 的影响。 此外, 自我一致性调节 DSR 与情感依恋之间的关系。

动物园的管理层应该更积极地使用 DSR 沟通策略, 让游客充分了解他们在东道社区的经济、慈善、环境和社会活动。 这将带来许多积极的后果, 包括访客的 ERB。

该研究通过引入多种调解机制和导致访客 ERB 的路径增加了 DSR 文献。

nuestro artículo investiga las interrelaciones de la responsabilidad social del destino (DSR), el apego emocional, la autocongruencia, la satisfacción experiencial y el comportamiento ambientalmente responsable (ERB).

utilizando una muestra de 294 visitantes del zoológico de Guangzhou en China, nuestro estudio probó las relaciones antes mencionadas a través del modelo de ecuaciones estructurales.

el apego emocional media el efecto de DSR en la satisfacción experiencial, mientras que el apego emocional y la satisfacción experiencial median el efecto de DSR en ERB secuencialmente. Además, la autocongruencia modera la relación entre DSR y apego emocional.

la administración de los zoológicos debe utilizar estrategias de comunicación de DSR de manera más proactiva para que los visitantes estén bien informados sobre sus actividades económicas, filantrópicas, ambientales y sociales en la comunidad anfitriona. Esto tendrá muchas consecuencias positivas, incluidos los ERB de los visitantes.

el estudio se suma a la literatura de DSR al presentar múltiples mecanismos de mediación y caminos que conducen a los ERB de los visitantes.

The study compares the social services functioning in two local contexts, one urban and one rural, in the same Italian region, to understand how contextual features affect frontline workers' work.

By applying the framework of the street-level bureaucracy theory (SLB) and proposing a framing of the spatial contexts under analysis, the present study adopts a qualitative approach. In particular, semi-structured interviews were conducted among street-level workers, decision-makers and privileged witnesses.

The study shows how the typical features of the rural and urban Italian contexts analyzed impact differently on the working conditions of frontline workers, leading to substantive differences in the possibility of exercise their role at the street-level.

The article contributes to a wider understanding of social services provision in a highly fragmented system like the Italian one by taking into consideration contexts that are usually little investigated in SLB and welfare studies in the Mediterranean Europe area: those rural and, in particular, those belonging to the so-called “inner areas”.

Over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in incivility within the higher education sector, potentially due to mounting pressure and demands on academics, both collectively and individually. The effects on various aspects of academia, such as knowledge and learning, however, remain largely unexplored. The purpose of this research is to fill the gap by performing a theoretical trend analysis and subsequently empirically investigating the impact of workplace incivility on research scholars’ learning engagement and knowledge sharing intentions, including the mediating role of self-esteem.

This study uses a three-stage methodological process: first, a thorough theoretical (bibliographic) analysis of scientific publications, using Biblioshiny, to identify the trends of workplace incivility; second, an empirical, qualitative exploration of the emergent themes and subthemes based on 102 in-depth interviews with research scholars, using NVivo 12 Plus; and third, quantitative testing, using 154 responses and structural equation modeling.

The authors verify a visible negative association between incivility and learning engagement, incivility and knowledge sharing intentions as well as self-esteem’s mediating effect on this relationship. Also, the thematic analysis revealed three distinct themes: the type of incivility; reasons for such incidences; and the impact of such incidences on research scholars.

The research bears implications both to theory and practice. Regarding the former, the gravity and graveness of incivility versus knowledge and learning, within the academic workplace environment, are not simply highlighted, but analyzed and refined, with explicit findings of both scholarly and practicable worth; that also provide solid foundations and avenues for future research.

Further to its primary findings, the research contributes to extant knowledge by elucidating and explicating the topic, both theoretically and empirically, as well as by presenting implications for theory and practice. Regarding practical implications, this research sheds light on how to develop an appropriate organizational culture that facilitates learning engagement and increases knowledge sharing intentions, by nurturing the identified explicit and underlying motivators of civility.

The purpose of this paper is to review cases of artificial reefs built through additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and analyse their ecological goals, fabrication process, materials, structural design features and implementation location to determine predominant parameters, environmental impacts, advantages, and limitations.

The review analysed 16 cases of artificial reefs from both temperate and tropical regions. These were categorised based on the AM process used, the mortar material used (crucial for biological applications), the structural design features and the location of implementation. These parameters are assessed to determine how effectively the designs meet the stipulated ecological goals, how AM technologies demonstrate their potential in comparison to conventional methods and the preference locations of these implementations.

The overview revealed that the dominant artificial reef implementation occurs in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Seas, both accounting for 24%. The remaining cases were in the Australian Sea (20%), the South Asia Sea (12%), the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, both with 8%, and the Indian Sea with 4% of all the cases studied. It was concluded that fused filament fabrication, binder jetting and material extrusion represent the main AM processes used to build artificial reefs. Cementitious materials, ceramics, polymers and geopolymer formulations were used, incorporating aggregates from mineral residues, biological wastes and pozzolan materials, to reduce environmental impacts, promote the circular economy and be more beneficial for marine ecosystems. The evaluation ranking assessed how well their design and materials align with their ecological goals, demonstrating that five cases were ranked with high effectiveness, ten projects with moderate effectiveness and one case with low effectiveness.

AM represents an innovative method for marine restoration and management. It offers a rapid prototyping technique for design validation and enables the creation of highly complex shapes for habitat diversification while incorporating a diverse range of materials to benefit environmental and marine species’ habitats.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model of relationships for conflict-ridden destinations that include variables concerning the dispute and their effect on key constructs that shape visitation decisions.

The theoretical model is examined for two conflict-ridden Eastern Mediterranean destinations, Israel and Turkey, which suffer from ongoing armed conflicts, using two samples of potential tourists residing in the USA (n = 1,581) and India (n = 1,383).

The relationships are stable for both destinations and cultural contexts. Animosity is a strong factor in tourists’ decisions, whereas perceived risk has a relatively insignificant impact. Knowledge of the conflict is also found to influence decisions about visiting conflict-ridden destinations.

The study investigates the role of variables related to the conflict as antecedents of animosity and perceived risk, thus contributing to the understanding concerning decisions to visit conflict-ridden destinations. The model is generalized for varied destinations and cultures.

该研究提出了一个针对有冲突目的地的关系模型, 其中包括与冲突有关的因素以及对旅游访问决策的关键概念的影响。

使用基于美国（n = 1,581 ）和印度（n = 1,383）的潜在游客样本, 本文的理论模型检验了两个东地中海目的地, 以色列和土耳其, 该目的地遭受了持续的武装冲突。

获得的关系在两个目的地和文化背景下都是稳定的。敌意是影响游客决策的重要因素, 然而风险感知的影响相对较小。研究还发现了对冲突的认知会影响有关访问目的地的决定。

该研究调查了与冲突相关的因素作为敌意和感知风险的前因变量, 从而有助于我们理解关于访问有冲突的目的地的决策, 该模型适用于不同的目的地和文化。

La investigación propone un modelo de relaciones para destinos en conflicto que incluye variables relacionadas con el conflicto y su efecto en conceptos clave para las decisiones de visita del turista.

Se examina el modelo teórico para dos destinos del Mediterráneo oriental, que sufren conflictos armados en curso, Israel y Turquía, utilizando dos muestras de turistas potenciales que residen en los Estados Unidos (n = 1.581) y la India (n = 1.383).

Las relaciones obtenidas son estables tanto para los destinos como para los distintos contextos culturales. La animosidad es un factor importante en las decisiones de los turistas, mientras que el riesgo percibido tiene un impacto relativamente insignificante. También se ha encontrado que el conocimiento del conflicto influye en las decisiones de visita al destino en conflicto.

El estudio investiga el papel de las variables relacionadas con el conflicto como antecedentes de la animosidad y el riesgo percibido, contribuyendo así a nuestra comprensión sobre las decisiones de visitar destinos en conflicto. El modelo es generalizable a distintos destinos y culturas.

Current evidence indicates that humans and animals are at increased risk of multiple health challenges due to microplastic (MP) profusion. However, mitigation is constrained by inadequate scientific data, further aggravated by the lack of evidence in many African countries. This review therefore synthesized evidence on the current extent of MP pollution in Africa and the analytical techniques for reporting.

A literature search was undertaken in research databases. Medical subject headings (MeSH) terms and keywords were used in the literature search. The authors found 38 studies from 10 countries that met the inclusion criteria.

Marine organisms had MPs prevalence ranging from 19% to 100%, whereas sediments and water samples had between 77 and 100%. The most common and dominant polymers included polypropylene and polyethylene.

This review shows that most studies still use methods that are prone to human errors. Therefore, the concentration of MPs is likely underestimated, even though the authors’ prevalence evaluations show MPs are still largely pervasive across multiple environmental matrices. Also, the study reveals significant spatial disparity in MP research across the African continent, showing the need for further research in other African countries.

Even though some reviews have assessed MPs pollution in Africa, they have not evaluated sample prevalence, which is necessary to understand not only concentration but pervasiveness across the continent. Secondly, this study delves deeper into various methods of sampling, extraction and analysis of MPs, as well as limitations and relevant recommendations.

In this article, the authors analyse a complex social process affecting historic public paths in rural areas in southern Spain. Despite the fact that urban populations are demanding the enhancement of this type of natural heritage for tourism, sports and recreational use, some parts of the network have been abandoned or usurped.

The study is multidisciplinary, comprising three interlinked studies. The cartographic study comprises an inventory of public paths in rural areas based on administrative sources. The legal study analyses local, regional and national regulations governing agricultural, environmental, heritage, sports and tourism uses of the infrastructure. The sociological study analyses social discourses on the uses of public paths, and identifies conflicts between farmers, landowners, environmentalists, sportspeople and tourists.

The preliminary results identified an important public paths network in Andalusia, approximately 160,000 km. The legal study found that there are laws regulating use, although local authorities do not monitor compliance or provide solutions to enhance management. The sociological study determined the attribution of environmental, cultural and economic value to public paths, but also the existence of conflicts between rural and urban populations.

Given that this is ongoing research, only state of the art and some preliminary albeit sufficiently consistent results are presented.

The results could help to guide public policy and governance of public paths.

Public paths promote rural development and a green/sustainable economy.

The research results and conclusions are original.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not a foodborne infectious disease, but it has dramatically impacted food safety practices worldwide due to its potential for transmission through contaminated surfaces and food. Accordingly, the Omicron variant seems to have affected food-related activities and behaviours and disturbed food supply networks since its appearance in November 2021. Hence, this paper aims to assess how the Omicron variant impacted food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices amongst adult consumers in five countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Russia.

The study is based on an online survey. The questionnaire was developed and revised based on previous research on the impact of previous COVID-19 waves on food-related activities in several countries. The questionnaire was distributed through the SurveyMonkey platform from January 15 to February 25, 2022. It consisted of 29 multiple-choice and one-option questions organised into three sections. A total of 6,483 valid responses were received. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 was used to analyse the survey results.

According to the survey findings, food safety practices evolved during the Omicron wave in the studied countries. Firstly, less than half of the sample used a face mask whilst purchasing food. Secondly, regarding food safety knowledge, the survey results suggest that there is still a lack of knowledge in the studied countries. Thirdly, the survey indicates a lack of knowledge amongst the respondents regarding food safety attitudes. For instance, more than a third of the sample (34.4%) are unsure whether the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted through food. These results are surprising and alarming, especially considering that our sample has a higher education than the population of the studied countries.

The main limitation of this research is the sample bias. Survey participants were randomly chosen, enrolled voluntarily and not rewarded. As a result, the questionnaire was self-administered and completed exclusively by people motivated by an interest in the topic. Consequently, our survey does not represent the general population of the studied countries. People with a high degree of education and women, for example, were overrepresented in our sample.

This study is unique in that it is the first to gather information and analyse people’s perceptions of the effects of the Omicron variant on food safety. As a result, the findings of this survey offer a solid basis for future investigations into the impact of the pandemic on food safety in the Balkan region and Russia. This study can help further understand the changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides crucial insights that can be used to guide future decision-making and policy development regarding improving food safety practices. This and other future studies will be a foundation for organisational and government readiness for future shocks, crises and pandemics. The effects of the present Ukrainian conflict on agricultural systems and supply chains throughout the globe (e.g. increased food prices) show that this is timely, urgent and highly required.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorder that significantly impacts the quality of life of affected individuals. Diet has been identified as a potential modifiable risk factor for IBS, yet its association with IBS risk in the Kurdish adult male population remains understudied. This case-control study aimed to investigate the association between the lifeline diet score (LLDS), a validated tool assessing overall diet quality and the risk of IBS in Kurdish adult men.

A total of 200 Kurdish adult men were recruited, comprising 100 IBS patients (cases) and 100 healthy controls without IBS. Medical records and interview questionnaires were used to confirm IBS diagnoses, while detailed dietary questionnaires were administered to assess participants’ dietary habits and calculate their respective LLDS scores. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between LLDS and IBS risk, adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Participants with higher LLDS scores exhibited a significantly reduced risk of IBS compared to those with lower LLDS scores (OR= 0.38, 95% confidence intervals = 0.18–0.77; p <0.001). The association remained statistically significant even after controlling for potential confounders such as socioeconomic status, age, eating rate, protein, fat, physical activity and body mass index.

This case-control study demonstrates a significant inverse association between the LLDS and the risk of IBS in Kurdish adult men. Higher LLDS scores, indicative of a healthier and more balanced diet, were associated with a decreased risk of IBS. These findings highlight the potential role of dietary patterns in IBS prevention and management within the Kurdish adult male population.

The purpose of this study is to identify the process of virtual influencer stickiness in the age of influencer marketing, which has received little attention in the literature. This is essential because the research creates a theoretical model of follower loyalty/stickiness to virtual influencer techniques from the standpoint of influencer marketing, which has a substantial effect on the evolution of the global marketing world.

In 2022, 302 people who currently follow an Instafamous virtual influencer took part in an Instagram self-administered online survey.

The findings show that both expertise and trustworthiness have a positive and significant influence on parasocial interaction, which in turn has a significant influence on virtual engagement and stickiness.

This research will specifically assist international readers in understanding how to harness and increase the efficiency and efficacy of interactive marketing strategies and methods to engage and retain followers of Instafamous virtual influencer. Moreover, the findings will be beneficial to opinion leaders, brand managers, company investors, entrepreneurs and service designers.

1. The study pioneers a holistic virtual follower stickiness mechanism that comprises the role of source credibility, parasocial interaction, informational influence and virtual follower’s engagement and their interrelationship to each other.

2. This study is based on parasocial interaction theory and source credibility theory to understand the relationship between virtual followers and influencers stickiness process at social media platforms.

3. In addition, the study examined the subsequent effects of sources of credibility components on parasocial interaction; as well as, on virtual follower engagement and stickiness.

4. This study also categorized and examined the moderating effects exerted by the genres of informative influence of virtual influencer.

The study pioneers a holistic virtual follower stickiness mechanism that comprises the role of source credibility, parasocial interaction, informational influence and virtual follower’s engagement and their interrelationship to each other.

This study is based on parasocial interaction theory and source credibility theory to understand the relationship between virtual followers and influencers stickiness process at social media platforms.

In addition, the study examined the subsequent effects of sources of credibility components on parasocial interaction; as well as, on virtual follower engagement and stickiness.

This study also categorized and examined the moderating effects exerted by the genres of informative influence of virtual influencer.