This study aimed to develop a psychometrically sound measure of the construct of love and deep caring for nature as an expression of people’s personal and explicitly emotional relationship with ...nature. Expert opinion and pre-pilot surveys were employed for refinement of the item pool, and a sample of 307 university students was used in a major pilot study aiming to further purify scale items. A field trial was conducted using a sample of 261 tourists at leisure with nature. The final 15-item Love and Care for Nature (LCN) scale is differentiated from established measures of similar constructs, and demonstrates high internal consistency and sound validity. This research extends the psychological frameworks of environmental altruism, and has also taken the philosophical concept of biophilia, as love for nature, into the operational realm by making it perceptible and measurable.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Online review sites provide increasingly important sources of information in tourism product purchases. We tested experimentally how source, content style, and peripheral credibility cues in online ...postings influence four consumer beliefs, and how those in turn influence attitudes and purchase intentions for an eco-resort. We compared tourists' posts to managers' posts, containing vague versus specific content, and with or without peripheral certification logos. First, we tested effects of tourists' beliefs about utility, trustworthiness, quality and corporate social responsibility on attitude toward the resort and purchase intentions. Second, we tested the role of source, content, and certification on the beliefs. The interactions are complex, but broadly tourists treat specific information posted by customers as most useful and trustworthy. Their purchase intentions are influenced principally by their overall attitude toward the resort and their beliefs in its corporate social responsibility.
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•We use an online travel context to test three aspects of communication content.•Specific information posted by customers is seen as useful and trustworthy.•Certification logos influence perceptions of corporate social responsibility.•Trust emerges as an important variable for the industry to consider.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Scientific understanding about the motivations and behavior of so-called true ecotourists remains incomplete. This study examined the relationship between core values and tourists’ interest in ...tourism where nature is the focus of the experience, as well as their commitment to environmental conservation and protection. The empirical basis for this research involved a survey of 258 tourists holidaying on the Gold Coast in Australia. This study found that biospheric or biocentric values, focusing on the intrinsic worth of nature, are strongly associated with particular interest in ecotourism, tourism-specific pro-environmental attitudes, and commitment to environmental protection. Conversely, egoistic values, concerned primarily with self-interest, are associated with less interest in nature tourism, greater interest in hedonistic-type tourism activities, and less consumer support for environmental conservation and protection. The authors discuss evidence for the particular importance of values-based research in developing a theoretically grounded model of demand for ecotourism-type experiences.
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Information literacy self-efficacy and academic motivation are both argued to play important roles in student academic development. The former is considered to be a predictor of student academic ...achievement while the latter is considered a key factor in developing information literacy self-efficacy. Today, many students undertake paid employment in conjunction with their academic studies and little is known about the effect this may have on their information literacy self-efficacy and academic motivation. As such, the relationship between information literacy self-efficacy, academic motivation, and employment has been unexplored. Data were collected via a questionnaire, comprised of existing scales, which was administered to undergraduate business students in an Australian higher education (HE) institution. A response rate of 58% resulted in 585 completed questionnaires. Findings suggest that whether or not students were engaged in paid employment did not appear to influence information literacy self-efficacy, although students in paid employment did exhibit significantly lower intrinsic motivation than students not in paid employment. Additionally, for students not in paid employment a significant relationship was found between amount of time spent on study and information literacy self-efficacy. Of some concern, the small amount of time students reported spending in academic pursuits outside of scheduled classes raises issues regarding the placement of information literacy instruction. For information literacy practitioners this study contributes to awareness regarding the conceptualization of information literacy instruction and its placement in the HE environment.
•Students in paid employment tend to have lower intrinsic academic motivation.•A relationship exists between amount of time spent on study and IL self-efficacy.•Outside of class, students spend less than recommended time on academic pursuits.•Due to student academic disengagement, IL should be embedded in the curriculum.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Although there is considerable consumer power resting in the hands of the individual tourist, in terms of the types of tourism products offered and the places being visited, there has been, ...surprisingly, little empirical research regarding tourists' preferences for particular tourism packages and holidays. Furthermore, little is known in relation to tourist differences (or similarities) in preferences for, or motivation towards, mainstream as opposed to ecotourism tourist experiences. This study addresses this deficiency in the literature via empirical research involving a self-report survey of a sample of 255 tourists. The results indicate that a definite ecotourism market segment does seem to exist and that the motivations of mainstream tourists are qualitatively different from those of ecotourists, each defined by their preferences and interests.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Considered essential to lifelong learning, information literacy skills and information literacy self-efficacy are associated with higher levels of student academic motivation. However, little is ...known about the interrelationships between the different types of academic motivation and information literacy self-efficacy. This study investigates the relationships between these constructs. Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising existing scales. The questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students in an Australian higher education institution with a response rate of 58%, resulting in 585 completed questionnaires. Both intrinsic and extrinsic academic motivation were found to be positively related to information literacy self-efficacy, while amotivation was negatively related. The most important predictor of information literacy self-efficacy was intrinsic motivation to know. Overall, all academic motivation types increased over time, including, unexpectedly, amotivation. Differences were apparent by gender. The need for higher education institutions to actively identify academically amotivated students and facilitate intrinsic academic motivation is discussed.
•Information literacy (IL) self-efficacy is associated with higher levels of student academic motivation.•The most important predictor of IL self-efficacy is intrinsic motivation to know.•Amotivation is significantly associated with lower levels of IL self-efficacy.•It is important to actively identify academically amotivated students and facilitate intrinsic academic motivation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Closing the gap between theory and practice presents a major challenge for branding. However, a disconnect has formed between city branding research and practice. This article argues that the ...divergent evolutionary paths of city branding research and practice contribute to this disconnect. Specifically, we review the evolution of city branding research and practice through a macroscopic lens in order to delineate major shifts in the philosophies and assumptions shaping each trajectory. In terms of practice, we map the development of city brand management over five waves covering primitive attempts to adjust what cities mean to people, boosterish city promotion, entrepreneurial urban governance, formalised city marketing and, finally, a rhetorical city brand focus. We then identify four major waves in city branding research: (i) initial possibilities, (ii) application and adaption of existing branding theory, (iii) development of a critical lens and (iv) progressive approaches that intersect with the co-creation branding paradigm. As well as providing a basis for mutual understanding and collaboration between researchers and practitioners, examination of both evolutionary paths indicates major research gaps in the city branding literature that appear particularly pertinent to bridging the city branding theory-practice gap.
This research aims to explore the underlying structure of Chinese tourist motivation as influenced by traditional Chinese cultural value systems that are based on Taoism and Confucianism. Both ...quantitative and qualitative data were collected through 256 respondents who are Chinese citizens in mainland China. The results show that self-cultivation, as a core Taoist and Confucian principle, plays an important role in shaping Chinese tourist motivations. In addition, this research highlights the predominance of nature in Chinese tourist preferences. The findings have significant implications for tourism marketers in understanding Chinese tourists and their needs and wants from a cultural perspective.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The adoption of digital communications, facilitated by Internet technology, has been among the most significant international business developments of the past 25 years. This article investigates the ...effect of these new technologies and the changing global business environment to understand how regional approaches to international market entry (IME) are changing in light of macro developments. Despite substantial resources in business practice dedicated to combining rebtional strategies in digital settings, this analysis of extant literature reveals that fewer than 3% of peer-reviewed research articles in the international marketing domain examine digital contexts. To address this gap, the authors assess 25 years of literature to provide (1) a description of the evolution of IME research; (2) a review and synthesis of pertinent literature that adopts relational, digital, and hybrid approaches to IME; (3) a taxonomy of IME strategies; and (4) directions for further research.
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BFBNIB, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
City branding literature discounts the nonmarketer-controlled aspects of city brand meaning co-creation as part of everyday, sociocultural meaning-making. Engaging a fundamental gap within this ...theoretical oversight, the present article explores how socially constructed and, thus, inherently uncontrollable elements of the city communicate symbolic messages about the city during the course of daily urban life. Specifically, the article contributes to marketing theory by conceptualizing how (1) urban reminders, (2) the arts, and (3) residential behavior emit symbolic messages in highly interrelated ways that see these elements propel the interconnected meaning-making processes enveloping city brands. Subsequent critical discussion further demonstrates how the more holistic view of city brand meaning-making processes that we develop opens up a fresh lens to grasp more of city brand meaning co-creation, advance intellectual debates around city branding, and, ultimately, expand the frontiers of marketing theory.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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