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1 – 10 of over 1000The following remarks are dedicated to Norman D. Stevens, director of the Molesworth Institute, in anticipation of his retirement from the hustle bustle world of academia. They…
Abstract
The following remarks are dedicated to Norman D. Stevens, director of the Molesworth Institute, in anticipation of his retirement from the hustle bustle world of academia. They are offered in gratitude from his colleagues and fellow editorial board members at Reference Serials Review.
Vincent Wing Sun Tung and Norman Au
The purpose of this study is to explore consumer reviews with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences (i.e. embodiment, emotion, human-oriented…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore consumer reviews with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences (i.e. embodiment, emotion, human-oriented perception, feeling of security and co-experience), as derived from research in human-robot interactions (HRI).
Design/methodology/approach
The study first reviews the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences in HRI and then analyzes user experiences with robotics at four hotels (i.e. Yotel New York, Aloft Cupertino, Henn-na Hotel Japan and Marriott Residence Inn LAX) based on reviews on TripAdvisor, Agoda, Yelp and Booking.com.
Findings
The findings highlight the influence of robotic embodiment and human-oriented perceptions on consumer experiences. The findings also suggest that users and robots can co-create novel experiences, with some guests even proactively seeking new opportunities to interact and communicate with robots to develop a certain level of “relationship” with them.
Research limitations/implications
An understanding of user experiences from HRIs can inform future hospitality and tourism research and management.
Practical implications
This study contributes to hospitality and tourism management by highlighting current practices with robotics to suggest areas of improvements for enhancing future consumer experiences.
Social implications
Consumer experiences will change rapidly as hospitality and tourism management deploys robotics in the future.
Originality/value
This is one of the early studies in the field to explore consumer experiences with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences from research in HRI. In doing so, this study provides a number of theoretical and managerial implications relevant for hospitality and tourism research and practice.
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Carmen Jane Vallis, Huyen Thi Nguyen and Adrian Norman
Educational design patterns offer practical strategies that can be shared and adapted to address problems in teaching and learning. This article explores how educational design…
Abstract
Purpose
Educational design patterns offer practical strategies that can be shared and adapted to address problems in teaching and learning. This article explores how educational design patterns for connected learning at scale at an Australian university may be adapted to a Vietnamese higher education context.
Design/methodology/approach
12 educational design patterns that address the challenges of active learning and large teaching team management are discussed. The authors then critically reflect on their cross-cultural adaptation for the higher education context, from an Australian to a Vietnamese university.
Findings
Transitioning from passive to active learning strategies and effectively leading large teaching teams present similar challenges across our contexts. Educational design patterns, when dynamically adapted, may assist educators to teach skills that are critical for work and the future. Higher education institutions globally could enhance their practices by incorporating international best practice approaches to educational design.
Practical implications
The Connected Learning at Scale (CLaS) educational design patterns explored in this article offer solution-oriented strategies that promote a more active learning experience. This paper identifies adaptations for educators, especially those in Vietnamese higher education that respect traditional structures, cultural nuances and resource limitations in implementation.
Originality/value
Whilst educational design patterns are well-researched in the Western contexts, few studies analyse design patterns in an Asian, and in particular the Vietnamese context. More research is needed in the cross-cultural adaptation of educational design patterns that joins practice and theory.
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Violetta Wilk, Geoffrey Norman Soutar and Paul Harrigan
Despite an increasing interest in online brand advocacy (OBA) and the importance of online brand conversations, OBA’s conceptualization, dimensionality and measurement are…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite an increasing interest in online brand advocacy (OBA) and the importance of online brand conversations, OBA’s conceptualization, dimensionality and measurement are unclear, which has created confusion. This paper aims to answer calls from researchers and practitioners for a better understanding and measurement of OBA. The development and validation of a parsimonious and practical OBA scale is outlined in this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-methods, multi-stage approach was followed to develop a parsimonious OBA scale. From an initial pool of 96 items obtained from qualitative research and from items used in prior general brand advocacy scales, a test-retest reliability study is followed. Academic judges were consulted to verify dimensionality, followed by two separate online surveys to further purify the scale and assess criterion-related validity. Programs including SPSS, AMOS and WarpPLS were used.
Findings
This research extends the knowledge of OBA by developing and testing a parsimonious and practical 16-item, four-dimensional OBA scale. Unlike previous attempts to measure OBA, this study suggested OBA as a multidimensional construct with four dimensions (i.e. brand defense, brand information sharing, brand positivity and virtual positive expression). Further, this study showed that OBA is conceptually different from consumer–brand engagement and electronic word-of-mouth.
Research limitations/implications
Future research is encouraged to validate the OBA scale in various contexts and locations. Researchers can use the new OBA scale to examine potential brand-related antecedents and consequences of OBA.
Practical implications
This study provides brand and marketing practitioners with a better understanding of brand advocacy occurring online. The OBA scale offers clear markers or trademarks that will be useful in assessing any brand’s health online and to track and better manage online brand communications and performance.
Originality/value
This research provides the first empirical investigation of Wilk et al.’s (2018) exploratory insights into OBA. The resulting parsimonious scale has furthered OBA as a new area for academic enquiry and presented practitioners with a practical way of measuring OBA.
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Rebecca Trowman Day, Richard Norman and Suzanne Robinson
Worldwide, there is significant growth in the cost of (and demand for) healthcare, which often clashes with a requirement to contain expenditure. This duality leads to an…
Abstract
Purpose
Worldwide, there is significant growth in the cost of (and demand for) healthcare, which often clashes with a requirement to contain expenditure. This duality leads to an increasing need for a systematic approach to disinvestment in health technologies. The purpose of this paper is to consider the challenges and opportunities for disinvestment policy decisions in Australia. It discusses the implementation of the Choosing Wisely campaign and the need for rigorous evaluation of such campaigns in the Australian healthcare system.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors highlight characteristics of disinvestment: what it is and what it is not and discuss international examples of identifying low value care, including the recent Choosing Wisely initiative. The authors discuss the barriers to implementing initiatives such as Choosing Wisely and the complexities in evaluating their effectiveness.
Findings
While the primary purpose of the Choosing Wisely campaign is improved decision making through clinical engagement, it is expected that implementation could lead to resource savings alongside improvements in patient safety and service quality. While there is research looking to understand the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of initiatives such as Choosing Wisely, little is known about broader patient impacts, and more attention on the quantification of their effect on both patient outcomes and resource use is needed.
Originality/value
This work highlights the limited knowledge around implementation of disinvestment strategies and the paucity of research around the impact of strategies such as Choosing Wisely in the Australian public hospital system. This is important as future research in this area will give greater certainty about the benefits and consequences of Choosing Wisely leading to improved opportunities for resource savings and patient safety and quality.
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Momoko Fujita, Paul Harrigan and Geoffrey Norman Soutar
The purpose of this paper is to understand the lived experiences of the international students using their university’s social media, through a lens of customer engagement (CE) in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the lived experiences of the international students using their university’s social media, through a lens of customer engagement (CE) in the services marketing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was conducted in an Australian university. Three semi-structured focus groups with ten international students, along with a preliminary netnographic analysis of the university’s social media account, provided a rich description of the phenomenon in the real-world context.
Findings
The results suggest that these students are likely to engage in their university’s social media as part of their acculturation and social identity construction strategy. Their engagement was cognitive and emotional, being influenced by the instrumental value of the social media page, engagement with campus rituals and artefacts, social identity and bonds with other students and perceptions of the page administrator. Furthermore, these students’ engagement influenced their identification with the university and its student community, manifested in a sense of belonging and pride.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the higher education literature by offering relationship implications of social media CE. Limitations include small sample size and the single institutional context.
Practical implications
The paper informs student communication practice, especially the design of university-initiated social media content and policy.
Originality/value
Universities and faculties today use social media to engage with students outside classrooms. However, little has been known about how international student sojourners view and respond to such initiatives. The paper addresses this gap by offering insight into how they engage with their university on social media and its relationship implications.
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Shin-Yiing Lee, Jillian C. Sweeney and Geoffrey Norman Soutar
Despite recognition of the importance of emotions and emotion regulation in service encounters, emotion regulation has been generally studied from an employee perspective. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite recognition of the importance of emotions and emotion regulation in service encounters, emotion regulation has been generally studied from an employee perspective. This study investigated customer emotion regulation behaviours (CEREBs) in face-to-face service encounters; arguing for a more nuanced approach through an emotion regulation matrix representing the playing up and downplaying of positive or negative emotions. Motivational factors and service-related situational conditions that influence the likelihood of emotion regulation were also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Four focus groups and the critical incident technique method were used to obtain data from people who had interacted with service employees within the previous six months.
Findings
There was support for emotion regulation in the four facets of the emotion regulation matrix. Five CEREB dimensions, including verbal behaviours and facial expressions, were evident. Motivational factors and situational conditions that impacted on customer emotion regulation in service encounters were also identified.
Research limitations/implications
The findings were based on two qualitative methods. A quantitative approach should be used to further validate the suggested framework.
Originality/value
Most research on emotion regulation has focused on employees. We examined the phenomenon from a customer viewpoint and in a service encounter context. As customers are not bound by employment rules and conventions, a wider range of emotion regulation behaviours were found. The study used the four-faceted emotion regulation matrix to investigate this, developing a conceptual framework that provides a foundation for future research.
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Tram-Anh Ngoc Pham, Jillian Carol Sweeney and Geoffrey Norman Soutar
Drawing on an extensive range of activities across different types, including mandatory (customer), mandatory (customer or organisation), voluntary in-role and voluntary…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on an extensive range of activities across different types, including mandatory (customer), mandatory (customer or organisation), voluntary in-role and voluntary extra-role activities, this study aims to identify different health-care customer value cocreation practice styles based on the combinations of value cocreation activities they undertake and empirically examine how customers adopting different styles differ in terms of well-being and satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted across health customers with a variety of chronic conditions. Data were collected from three focus groups and an online survey.
Findings
Five customer practice styles, namely, the highly active, other-oriented, provider-oriented, self-oriented and passive compliant customers, were revealed. While a moderate to a high level of activities is often recommended as it is associated with higher levels of physical, psychological, existential and social well-being and customer satisfaction, the results also suggest there is no single ideal style as different styles may be associated with the same level of outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
As customers cocreate value differently, it is crucial to understand the underlying heterogeneity and its implications to outcomes.
Practical implications
Highly active and provider-oriented are the two styles that should be particularly encouraged because of their association with positive outcomes. Personalised strategies need to be developed and resources need to be put in place to build productive relationships amongst service providers, customers and peers and to increase the perceived value of such interactions so as to shift customers towards more active styles.
Originality/value
The study advances the understanding of customer value cocreation and its link to well-being by empirically deriving five distinct practice styles and demonstrating how they differ across meaningful well-being and satisfaction dimensions.
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Jyoti Rao, Piyush Tiwari and Norman Hutchison
Property often forms the biggest component of household wealth and assets. Irrespective of landowners’ willingness, the act of compulsory acquisition abruptly ceases the security…
Abstract
Purpose
Property often forms the biggest component of household wealth and assets. Irrespective of landowners’ willingness, the act of compulsory acquisition abruptly ceases the security that this ownership carries. This often induces dissatisfaction among affected landowners over the: loss of “property rights”; loss of commodity, or property; and loss of future opportunities associated with the property. Though there have been attempts in various land acquisition laws and a practice to compensate acquirees for their loss, the dissatisfaction of acquirees has persisted. The persisting resistance of landowners compels deeper insight into the process of compulsory purchase and the compensation mechanism to understand underlying causes for resistance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of involvement of these different stakeholders, at various stages in the compulsory purchase process, using stakeholder interaction analysis. Results obtained from this research will be helpful in identifying the gaps in the process of compulsory purchase of land for public projects in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of ten different stakeholder groups has been conducted to inquire the level of interaction of different stakeholders at various stages of compulsory purchase process. A comparative study was then performed to identify the gaps between the advocated process (suggested in the literature) and the process adopted by stakeholders.
Findings
The results illustrate that: affected landowners seek involvement at the initial stage when the project plan is under preparation and compulsory purchase declaration are not finalised; objectors (from the public) seek opportunities to convey, to the public agency, their views even though the accountability of public agencies towards this stakeholder is nil; and strong interactions are established during negotiation over the compensation amount thus signifying the urge of acquirer and acquirees to avoid monetary losses and time delays.
Originality/value
This research will be useful in identification of pain points in the compulsory purchase process for public projects. This shall help in evolution of fairer mechanism of land acquisition.
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Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi, Takiah Mohd Iskandar, Gary S. Monroe and Norman Mohd Saleh
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of self-efficacy, goal orientation and task complexity on audit judgement performance in correctly linking audit procedures to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of self-efficacy, goal orientation and task complexity on audit judgement performance in correctly linking audit procedures to audit objectives and types of misstatements.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an experiment audit with 154 auditors from small and medium audit firms in Malaysia as participants. The experimental task required them to link audit procedures to audit objectives and types of misstatements.
Findings
For sample of auditors from small and medium audit firms in Malaysia, the authors found that learning goal orientation has a stronger effect on audit judgement performance than performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations. Self-efficacy mediates the effect of goal orientation when an audit task is less complex compared to when the task is more complex.
Research limitations/implications
These results highlight the importance of social cognitive factors in explaining variations in audit judgement performance for audit judgement tasks with different levels of complexity.
Originality/value
The incorporation of individual psychological differences as explanatory variables in audit judgement studies may lead to a better understanding of auditors’ judgement and decision-making processes in small and medium audit firms located in developing economies.
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