Search results

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been devastating to countries around the world. Much of the problem has been the need to contain the infection via harsh social movement restrictions while having the necessary policies to cushion the ensuing economic blows that follow them. This study aims to look at The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and assess the good practices that are associated with those which performed relatively better than the rest.

The authors use data envelopment analysis (DEA) to identify the most efficient country among the ASEAN nations in dealing with the pandemic and observe their practices with regard to the movement control metrics.

One particular country stood out in this regard, which is Singapore. The authors observed that its social restrictions were less stringent than many others yet its management of the pandemic has been highly successful despite having had the highest number of cases at one stage in 2020. This suggests massive lockdowns may not necessarily be the solution. However, the nation did place a high priority in having a high-income support, effective public campaigning and very restrictive policy on public events. In terms of originality and value, this paper uses DEA in identifying the best practice among ASEAN countries in dealing with the pandemic, both from an economic and medical perspectives.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other papers have used this approach. The authors hope the findings can be of some value to policymakers in designing better (public) policies when it comes to dealing with pandemics in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover the motivational tensions underlying mobile shopping (m-shopping) behaviours. The authors focus on consumer motivations and the pursuit of life end goals with respect to m-shopping.

Based on the means-end chain theory, hard-laddering approach was used to elicit associations between attributes, consequences and values from 251 online participants. Content analysis was used to develop a hierarchical value map “mapping” these associations to uncover underlying values for m-shopping.

Mobile shoppers are motivated by their self-actualisation needs (self-focused) and/or social needs (other-focused). Participants’ response contradictions reflected internal complexities and ambivalences during their purchasing decisions. Decisions are based on their concerns around security, time, technological or financial.

This study provides managerial insights into retail marketing and strategies. Marketers should consider creating user-friendly applications by researching the customer journey experience, heightening security measures and ensuring that added-value offers are clearly communicated to meet consumers’ personal values and motivations.

The paper presents an original conceptual contribution of personal values related to m-shopping as desires for self-empowerment, altruism and relationships with others, self-fulfilment and hedonism and possible consumer internal conflicts.

Wellness tourism offers opportunities for consumers to explore the self. This paper aims to explore how identity transitions occur in a liminal tourism space – a holistic wellness retreat.

The authors adopt a qualitative methodology, including in-depth semi-structured interviews supplemented by various projective techniques. Following an interpretivist approach, eight consumers were interviewed at the commencement and the completion of a holistic wellness retreat stay. Participant observation was also undertaken during the retreat programme.

The paper shows an identity transition is facilitated by the liminal space of the holistic wellness retreat and further shaped by self-work during the retreat. As participants gain new knowledge on the self and start living “consciously”, they gain a sense of vision, clarity and direction to a new self, wherein identity transition is a starting point and a process of change rather than an end goal.

While much past research views tourism activities as mainly “play”, the findings reveal the holistic wellness retreat experiences as both identity play and identity work. This paper provides theoretical insights into the process from identity play to identity work and what makes this process effective for identity transition.

The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: how do consumers construct meaning around their inconspicuous luxury fashion experiences? What desires do inconspicuous consumers strive to fulfill? What sentiments do they associate with their inconspicuous luxury fashion consumption?

This exploratory research begins with a netnographic study of 11 online luxury blogs followed by in-depth interviews and home observations of ten luxury consumers with inconspicuous preferences in Dubai.

Inconspicuous choices are not simply for associative or dissociative motivations but several symbolic consumption schemas come into play. A typology of inconspicuous luxury fashion consumers has emerged: fashion influencers, trendsetters, fashion followers, and luxe conservatives.

The findings have potential to yield important managerial implications for fashion retailers and brand communications. The typology of inconspicuous consumers provides a basis for developing a more targeted relationship marketing program for luxury fashion brands.

This research advances luxury knowledge in fashion and consumer behavior research by unveiling how consumers construct meanings around their inconspicuous consumption. The typology developed in this study marks the starting point for further extensions to explore the complexities of inconspicuous luxury consumers, which are grounded in the roles they take on in society, how they plan their luxury consumption journey and how they eventually use these possessions for self-identification and communication to others.

“Institutional repositories” is a new concept for collecting, managing, disseminating, and preserving scholarly works created in digital form by faculty and students in individual universities and colleges. It is born out of problems with the current scholarly communication model structured by commercial journal publishers and vendors. To properly implement these repositories, libraries will need to recruit librarians who possess digital collection management and Open Archive Information System (OAIS) management skills. In addition, training faculty and students to use OAIS, helping them prepare their digital products, involving them in institution‐wide policy making, and setting repository goals would be some of the new tasks that libraries will face.

The electronic resource management initiative (ERMI) is one of the Digital Library Federation’s (DLF) active initiatives. The purposes of this initiative are to develop XML‐based metadata schemata/DTDs and tools for managing data associated with licensing issues. Developing workflow, identifying best practices, promoting the standards, and engaging library system vendors to implement this system are the other goals of ERMI. This article describes the recent progress made by ERMI.

Healthcare service is a process that comprises a series of touchpoints underlying the key facets of service delivery, collectively shaping the users' (i.e. patients, hospital staff, and visitors) experiences. Departing from most sensory studies dedicated to understanding the retail environment and hedonic service, this study focuses on how sensory knowledge can contribute to understanding the sensory-based experiences of hospital users and their interactions with healthcare services at multiple touchpoints.

This study employs a multi-method approach comprising two studies involving semi-structured interviews and a qualitative online survey of past patients.

Drawing upon the user-centered theory, the authors (1) consulted healthcare experts on hospital service touchpoints and standards around medical protocol; (2) explored users' needs, experiences, expectations, and evaluations of healthcare services; and (3) identified the issues and challenges faced by healthcare service users at various service touchpoints. Based on these insights, the authors proposed sensory tactics across healthcare service touchpoints that promote the well-being of major hospital users.

The proposed sensory tactics require follow-up empirical evidence. Future research could adopt robust methodological designs on healthcare environmental interventions and progress with a transdisciplinary approach to advance this research area.

The authors' experience-based framework forms the basis of a valuable toolkit for healthcare service management.

This study advances services literature by integrating sense-based marketing knowledge with healthcare service research to understand the dynamic and interactive relationship between hospital users and the environment.

The impact of computer technology on libraries is changing the face of information services and how these services are delivered. It is significant that human interaction with computers prevails all service‐oriented institutions, especially libraries where circulation, reference, and technical services are fully automated and depend on computers for information access and retrieval via patron files and online public access catalogs. Libraries spend lots of time on implementing and upgrading electronic services and library functions. However, the human factors are generally overlooked. This article will provide a systematic way to address employee safety and health issues in the library through background readings, library ergonomics in literature, current technologies on ergonomic product design and a case study of ergonomics program implementation at Queens College Library, the City University of New York.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges associated with the delivery of facilities management (FM) under public–private partnership (PPP) for healthcare services in Malaysia.

A questionnaire survey has been administrated to PPP practitioners in Malaysia. The study has adopted reliability and descriptive method for analysis.

This research resulted in a series of 14 challenges that have to be faced in the implementation of PPP FM for healthcare services in Malaysia. Inadequate specific PPP risk management model is identified as the most significant challenge followed by the difficulty in reaching agreements and project complexity.

This study is considered the first study that identifies and assesses the challenges of PPP within the Malaysian context. The findings will provide a more informed basis for decision-making process, especially for the FM bidders.