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The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the historic ways of reviewing patterns of regional engagement, with special attention to how the emergent concepts of higher education (HE) regionalization stand in relationship to regionalism. Additional implications are spelled out for governance, citizenship and university transformation.

This conceptual essay is meant to appear in conjunction with more discrete, case‐oriented examinations of Asia Pacific HE regionalization.

Discussions of regionalism in Asian HE are being replaced by those focused on regionalization; the former is a nation‐state and geographic policy framework whereas the latter tends to refer to emergent empirical relationships. Regionalization itself can be further distinguished in terms of its “older” forms, focused on geographic proximities and exchanges defined and carried out within those proximities. New regionalization is increasingly linked to global circuits of exchange in which the currencies of such exchanges are closely linked to the emergent dynamics of the knowledge society and economy. These dynamics in turn are closely linked to patterns of migration and mobility in HE and the efforts of higher education institutions (HEIs) and regional governments to develop new governance structure structures appropriate for this style of regionalization. These regional dynamics reflect tensions that draw institutions and nations together (centripetal forces) and those that keep them apart (centrifugal forces). These processes are marked by governance dynamics, those of affinity and affiliation, transnational innovation, and redefinitions of the responsibilities and promises of citizenship.

Use of these modal concepts can be used to promote and extend a region‐wide discussion and related research relevant to HE transformation within the region.

“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.

The choice of which country or countries to enter is a critical decision and needs to be made with considerable care and deliberation. Initial market entry decisions have typically focused on country evaluations based on macro‐economic data. While appropriate in providing an initial screening of countries, other factors, notably contextual factors, can provide important insights in assessing international market opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of context at four distinct levels.

The literature on the influence of context on consumption and purchase behavior is reviewed to provide a framework to understand contextual factors as a means to refine entry strategy and develop effective segmentation strategies.

A wide range of contextual factors exert influence on consumption choices and contribute to within‐country heterogeneity. These are typically examined at the macro‐level, but also need to be examined at the meso‐level, micro‐level and situational level to fully assess market opportunities and establish viable market segments.

Examination of contextual factors provides a richer and deeper understanding of which international markets to enter and which segments to target. Within‐country cultural diversity, dramatic economic and regional disparities and marked differences in the infrastructure need to be assessed. In particular, examination of contextual factors helps to shed light on heterogeneity within countries not only in customer behavior, but also in the nature of the market infrastructure. This is a key element, not only in formulating entry and segmentation strategies, but also in implementing those strategies.

The effect of context has received little attention to date. The current paper highlights the importance of considering contextual factors and their impact on consumption behavior – an issue which has largely been ignored in previous research.

This study aims to understand the satisfaction and needs of eastern and western travelers as hotel guest, based on their experiences as seen in guest reviews and review topics.

Considering 2,965 and 1,035 western and eastern traveler reviews, respectively, from 47 countries, obtained from TripAdvisor listed-hotel in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap city in Cambodia, this study investigates the differences in hotel guest satisfaction and needs by using topic modeling (i.e. latent Dirichlet allocation [LDA]).

The results reveal differences in the online preferences, experiences, expectations and behaviors of hotel guests from different cultural backgrounds. Though western and eastern travelers appear to place similar emphasis on service, location, room and destination. The westerners more likely focus on meal and online reservation, whereas the easterners focus on hotel facility.

Reviews were obtained from only two cities in Cambodia, which is not an adequate representation of the diverse travelers visiting the country.

The comparison highlighting the similarities and dissimilarities between western and eastern traveler perspectives enable hoteliers to understand guests’ preferences and their hidden changes in (dis)satisfaction and leverage it to improve hotel service quality, increase occupancy and, thereby, maximize profits.

This study contributes to the literature on hotel guests’ experiences by presenting the difference in perceptions of service experience of western and eastern travelers, through topic modeling.

The purpose of this paper is to report an application of the CETSCALE measuring consumer ethnocentrism for high‐value consumer goods in the emerging markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The study examines how regional markings can be thought of as variants of national markings and then goes on to establish a regio‐centric scale, thereby taking up calls for ethnocentrism studies to be conducted across multiple countries that actively trade with one another.

This research is based on an empirical investigation of consumer ethnocentrism (CE) that includes simultaneous manipulation of country‐of‐assembly and region‐based country‐of‐components. The study surveys a sample of 720 car owners equally divided between the three largest automotive markets of ASEAN: Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Statistical analysis of this study's empirical results confirms that for the three‐country sample of 720 respondents, this newly derived regional ethnocentrism construct is as relevant as the classic country‐based construct. The research concludes that regional use of campaigns with a (potentially collaborative) Made‐in‐ASEAN theme may reach the target group of regio‐centric consumers.

The study is original in providing a new perspective on the ethnocentrism debate by adding and testing for a regional dimension reflecting realities in the marketplace for a major product category. The study is also one of the few to focus upon the ASEAN region rather than the more commonly studied regions such as Europe or North America.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that synergy between firms and local institutions may lead to success even in an economic environment which cannot offer competitive advantages to high tech industrial clustering. However, the condition for such a complex result is convergence between cluster‐based regional development policy, the related industry national strategy and the central government preferential policy for less developed areas.

The experiences selected as case studies are the Xi'an National Civil Aerospace Base in Shaanxi Province (China) and CampaniAerospace in Campania region (Italy). As information was gathered both through policy documents (China and Italy) and direct interviews to cluster's stakeholders (Italy), the outcome is, according to the criteria suggested by Eisenhardt and Yin, a qualitative research. Comparing economic data provided by the respective countries' Statistical Offices, the authors assessed that Shaanxi Province and the Campania region share a “peripheral” position within their respective national context. Starting from this, the authors analyzed the formal documents which reported the experience of the two clusters.

The finding is that the outcome (the status of cluster which is assumed as “a value in itself”) of the convergence between firms' will to gain agglomeration advantages and the policymakers' plan to redress interregional economic disparities is definitely not an efficiency‐driven process. In the high tech sectors which are very sensitive to the increasing competition for technology on the international market, the pursuit of efficiency may, on the contrary, be dissipated.

As attested by the comparative literature, aims and performance of industrial clusters differ in accordance with the stage of economic development as well as the institutional and regulatory framework. The paper demonstrates, however, that in the take‐off stage, it is the position occupied by the host region within the national context which determines the behaviour of the actors concerned as well as the outcome of their commitment.

Examines regional variations in house prices and the rate of house price inflation over the last 20 years. Shows the existence of marked cyclical variations and argues that the frequent downturn of house prices in the South East of England was predictable and will lead to a reduction in the North/South house price divide.

The perception of consumers towards the products or services that are provided by organisations that are certified to various international quality management and allied standards, such as the standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization, has not been extensively researched. Available research is limited to few standards. It is not comprehensively explored if consumers view certified products, services or organisations favourably in each case. This study aims to explore inclination of three consumer categories i.e. retail consumers, business consumers and subject expert consumers towards 11 international management system standards.

A survey is carried out among 229 consumers of different types in different countries. Total 11 quality management and allied standards are studied. Similarities and differences among different consumer groups towards these 11 standards are analysed using Chi-square test.

The study shows that although all consumer categories perceive products, services, and organisations certified to international management system standards favourably, the inclination towards certification is greater among developing economies than in developed economies. It is also proven that all standards are not equally popular among consumers. The brand name of a certification agency is found not influencing consumer’s preference towards certification.

The study is unique in three ways. First, it comprehensively analyses multiple quality management and allied standards from consumers’ point of view. Similarities and differences among retail consumers, business consumers and subject experts are researched, which was not attempted previously and thus it shows a novel approach. Second, no other study has analysed so many standards together. Third, differences in perception of consumers towards international standards between developing and developed nations are compared, which was not available earlier for all the 11 standards.

The paper aims to review the perceived benefits of the Mediterranean diet alongside traditional or regional foodstuffs, and to examine the extent to which food producers and retailers make use of these labels in order to enhance the perceived value of their products.

The paper draws on marketing literature relating to origin cues within the food industry. It first analyses criteria used by the EU for food labelling, following this with a review of the perceived value of authenticity in foodstuffs, offering an evaluation of Mediterranean‐labelled products available from a leading UK supermarket chain.

The paper involves an exploration into the descriptors used by food producers, suggesting they are designed to respond to consumers’ subjective criteria in food choices with only tenuous links to the promoted origins and corresponding quality designations. It is concluded that regional and Mediterranean labels do not display common dietary or preparation features but are convenient marketing labels designed to enhance food product attributes.

It appears that regional links or the term “Mediterranean”, when linked to foodstuffs, suggest a level of authenticity that is not always borne out in product ingredients and preparation methods. Origin and authenticity are widely held to enhance the perceived attributes of food products but this paper highlights certain mismatches between regional quality marks and food marketing practices. Greater awareness of the practices employed to satisfy “subjective criteria” when making food choices is of benefit to consumers.

Within the framework of EU policies and measures to develop a just and fair green energy transition model. This paper aims to offer valuable insights into a paramount concern not so well debated in the literature, i.e. the spatial variation of energy poverty.

This empirical analysis investigates the regional variation of energy poverty we draw on a sample of more than 300,000 Spanish households, extracted from the Spanish Household Budget Survey (HBS) for the period 2006–2022. To characterize the probability of a household finding itself in a situation of energy poverty the authors use a discrete choice univariate probit model.

The results confirm that energy poverty is a phenomenon that is asymmetrically distributed across Spain, and mainly occurs in un-densely populated regions. In addition, the findings demonstrate that the incidence of energy poverty drivers is highly heterogeneous across regions.

The paper ends with some recommendations for policymakers suggesting that countries need to design an energy poverty policy for the households that jointly pursue both a correct identification of vulnerable groups and a match with the type of measure to the characteristics of each region.

This study enhances previous research by considering the case of areas at a lower level of aggregation (i.e. on the NUTS two regions in Spain called autonomous communities) and offers the opportunity to tailor policies to those regions most in need. Furthermore, to provide a more realistic picture of the complex phenomenon of energy poverty, the authors use the information for the period 2006–2022 differentiating by economic micro-cycle. This timespan allows the authors to understand the dynamics of energy poverty in periods of economic crisis, including the effects of the 2008 crisis and the present global energy crisis.