External information search in marine recreational fishing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine external search by marine recreational anglers. Both prepurchase and ongoing external search were examined as a function of (a) the perceived importance of information to fishing success and (b) the perceived difficulty of information acquisition. In addition, the effects of previous experience, knowledge, and involvement on the perceived information importance and difficulty measures were examined. The results indicate that information importance is a significant determinant of both prepurchase and ongoing external search. Furthermore, ongoing external search and the balance of prepurchase to ongoing search activities are also influenced by enduring involvement and previous experience.     

An exploratory study of how casino dealer communication styles lead to player satisfaction

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to verify the importance of communication styles in the casino industry. More specifically, it was proposed that nine types of casino dealer communication styles affect player satisfaction. In addition, it was hypothesized that player satisfaction plays an important role in the formation of trust, commitment, and loyalty. A conceptual model was developed and tested using the empirical data collected from 414 table game players in Korea. The results indicated that six dimensions of communication styles (i.e. attentive, open, friendly, relaxed, animated, and contentious) positively affect player satisfaction, which in turn has a positive influence on trust, commitment, and loyalty.     

Line Manager Challenges in Human Resource Development

ABSTRACT

There is a range of challenges inherent in and surrounding line managers' involvement in human resource development, according to theoretical perspectives. At a conceptual level, the challenges include organisational commitment to human resource development; senior managers' understanding of training and development issues; and trust between line managers and human resource specialists. At a practical level the willingness and ability of line managers to carry out human resource tasks; organisational support; time pressures and workload are all challenges.

The aim of this article is to explore levels and types of line manager challenges in human resource development in the context of a branded international case organisation, Hilton International hotels. The empirical work is derived from a survey of 760 of Hilton International's UK line managers on their perceptions of, and involvement in, human resource activities. With a survey yield of 328 questionnaires, the Hilton work affords an in-depth analysis of the perspectives of line managers on their interface with human resource development. In particular, the analysis reveals high levels of senior manager understanding of training and development issues, very high levels of trust in human resource specialists and high levels of personal commitment to the human resource development activities. However, also evident are issues of conceptual understanding and responsibility for the service quality strategy that shapes human resource development activities, together with the importance senior managers attach to human resource development, and workload pressures. The respondent line managers themselves make suggestions, notably in the provision of training, to improve their involvement in human resource development within Hilton International hotels.     

Can innovative behavior be led by management? A study from the lodging business

This study examined the effects of hotel management leadership on employee innovative behavior in Chinese hotel organizations. Using a dyadic sample of 164 hotel supervisors and 603 service employees at 23 four-star and five-star hotels in 11 Chinese cities, we investigated whether organizational commitment mediated the effects of leadership on employee innovative behavior. We also examined how organizational tenure moderated leadership and innovative behavior through organizational commitment. Findings from our moderated-mediation model revealed that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between leadership and innovative behavior. Similarly, organizational tenure moderated the relationship between leadership and organizational commitment: there was a stronger relationship for long-tenured employees and a weaker relationship for short-tenured employees. However, the effect of higher leadership on organizational commitment was stronger for short-tenured employees than long-tenured employees. Our results spotlight the importance of fostering organizational commitment, which directly affects innovative behavior and through which supervisors can influence individual innovative behavior.     

Recreation and Leisure Research from an Active Living Perspective: Taking a Second Look at Urban Trail Use Data

This paper examines recreation and leisure research within the context of active living, and highlights an apparent gap between the current involvement of recreation and leisure researchers and the potential they could offer to this important and expanding area of inquiry. To illustrate this potential, I looked at two previous studies that focused on the recreational use of urban trails and reanalyzed the data from an active living perspective. In Study 1, individual, social and environmental factors helped distinguish between low, moderate, and high activity level trail uses. In Study 2, use patterns helped distinguish between health-motivated trail users and individuals using trails for recreation and other purposes, but perceptual and demographic data were similar among groups. Findings from similar studies can help inform active living research, and recreation and leisure studies can provide leadership and contributions to a transdisciplinary understanding of active living.     

Marital Satisfaction: An Examination of Its Relationship to Spouse Support and Congruence of Commitment Among Runners

Role-identity theory supports the position that marital satisfaction is influenced by shared identities to a salient recreation role and by role support provided by a spouse for a salient recreation role identity for her or his partner. In addition, some previous studies have suggested that these effects are more prominent among women, but other research indicates that the effect is stronger among men. This study examined the relationship among the congruence of spouse's commitment to running, perceived role support, and gender to marital satisfaction among a population of married adult runners. Participants were 85 married runners and 75 of their spouses sampled from a list of participants in an annual marathon in a western U.S. city. Questionnaires were administered to runners and their spouses that measured commitment to running, role support, marital satisfaction, and the type of recreation participation within the marriage. A significant main effect for role support was found in the regression analysis, indicating that as the runner's perceived role support decreased, marital satisfaction also decreased. No significant interaction effects involving gender or level of congruence in commitment to running were identified. In an exploratory analysis, it was found that participation in shared activities, or commitment to the same activities, was not essential to marital satisfaction if the spouses perceived that their partners supported their recreational choices.     

Examining the Use of Leisure for the Sociopolitical Development of Black Youth in Out-of-School Time Programs

Abstract

The current social and political climate in the U.S. requires a reexaminationof how marginalized groups shape their leisure around political identity development and resistance. This paper will first provide a brief introduction to the concept of sociopolitical development (SPD) and its role in culture specific out-of-school time programs that serve Black youth. Next, using a multiple case study approach, the authors examined how leisure informs the SPD of Black youth. Results identify SPD as a critical component of these recreational program’s theoretical approaches, leadership structure, staff selection and training, and curriculum design. Study results inform the ways recreational agencies can serve as sites for SPD and activism for marginalized groups like Black youth.     

Socio‐demographic variables,recreational resource use,and attitudes toward development in Camrose,Alberta

The paper examines relationships between socio‐demographic variables, recreational behavior, and attitudes toward development of a natural recreational resource among a city‐wide sample of residents of the city of Camrose, Alberta. Three aspects of recreation behavior, namely participation in recreation in general, participation in selected activities, and use of the resource were found to be associated with four socio‐demographic variables. The relationship with age was the strongest and most consistent, but income, education, and family size were also important. None of the aspects of recreation behavior was related to sex and marital status, nor was it possible to use any of the variables as predictors of the frequency of recreational activity. Respondents additionally differed with regard to the perceived importance of future decisions about the resource, and it was found that variations in preferences for future activities and proposals were consistent with these perceptions and with current use patterns. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical contribution to research on socio‐demographic variables arid recreation behavior, notably with reference to opportunity theory, and with reference to their role in choosing strategies of recreational management.     

Process,goal, and social interaction differences in recreation: What makes an activity substitutable

Abstract

In the present study two recreational activities, deer hunting and goose hunting, both similar in form, are compared. The study shows that the activity with the fewest perceived substitutes, deer hunting, also showed higher mean ratings on items measuring the importance of various elements of the experience, such as the process of participation, the goal of the activity, and the social interaction that accompanies the activity by the participants. Deer hunters also reported greater participation in the activity by peers and were more likely to be introduced to the activity by a family member. It is argued that these differences in the importance of the elements of the experiences influence the perceived substitutability of a recreational activity.     

Role of positive emotions in the constraint process: the case of Taiwanese college students

This study adopts the partial least squares (PLS) method to analyse the relationships among positive emotions, leisure constraints, leisure negotiation strategy, and participation frequency in outdoor recreational activities using stratified proportional sampling of Taiwanese students (N = 569) and SmartPLS 2.0 statistical software to perform statistical analyses. This study determined that positive emotions not only directly affected the level of involvement in outdoor recreational activities but also indirectly increased involvement by improving negotiation ability. While leisure constraints have a direct, positive and significant impact on the leisure negotiation strategy, they do not significantly influence the level of participation in outdoor recreational activities. This article observed that the level of participation did not depend on constraints but instead depended on the process of ‘leisure negotiation’ based on the constraints. In the future, different samples can be used to test the stability and adaptability of this model; alternatively, other variables can be added to better understand college students’ participation in outdoor recreational activities.     

That's Not Fair!

ABSTRACT

Organizational commitment has been shown to be significantly negatively related to employee turnover. Given the high incidence of employee turnover in the hospitality industry, practitioners and academics alike should be focused on a more complete understanding of this phenomenon. The present study is an exploration into the identification of the relationships among organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational justice. The study was conducted with employees of a major casino-hotel. Results indicated that organizational justice has an indirect positive impact on organizational commitment by working through job satisfaction. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Accounting for Varying Setting Preferences Among Moose Hunters

Recreation planners and managers realize the importance of different tastes and preferences among recreationists. This fact is explicit in recreational planning efforts and in the theories developed to understand recreational behaviors. While market segmentation approaches steeped in behavioral theory provide a rich source of information to planners and managers, we argue that such exogenous market segmentation approaches alone are insufficient to understand the degree of variability in tastes and preferences among recreationists. In this paper we employ a random parameters logit model to account for both the extent and sources of heterogeneity in preferences among recreationists. We illustrate the random parameters logit choice model with an application to the stated choices for hunting sites by moose hunters from northwestern Ontario. The application shows that the random parameters logit represents a considerable improvement over multinomial logit models based on market segmentation approaches.     

Married couples’ involvement with family vacations

Abstract

The involvement construct has received a great deal of attention in recent years. However, the majority of research on this topic has focused on the individual and has ignored spouses’ shared leisure involvement. In addition, little work has been done on involvement in the product‐class context of family vacations. This study examined the underlying dimensions of married couples’ involvement with family vacations and how these dimensions relate to selected personal variables. Factor analysis revealed two underlying dimensions. Stepwise multiple regression revealed that pleasure‐importance was positively related to gender role ideology and education and negatively related to presence of children in the home. A positive relation existed between the second dimension, sign value, and age. The study provides insight into both the nature of the involvement construct and how it might be used in future research.     

Propositions for testing the involvement construct in recreational and tourism contexts

Abstract

The involvement construct has been extensively studied in the consumer behavior literature. Recent conceptual and measurement breakthroughs have made examination of the construct appealing in the contexts of recreational and tourist behavior. This article suggests 15 propositions that evolve from a review of involvement‐related literature. The propositions are grouped under the following headings: measurement issues; the relationship between involvement and time; the relationship of involvement with search and purchase behavior; the relationship between involvement and promotional stimuli; and accessing the involvement variable. The propositions are intended to stimulate and guide empirical research related to involvement in recreation and tourism contexts.     

The role of cultural context in the development of low‐capital ocean leisure activities

Abstract

The ocean beaches of the United States are an economically important resource. As American culture has become increasingly more preoccupied with leisure activities, however, traditional commercial interests along the beach have been replaced by expressive activities. In terms of the number of participants, the vast majority of beach users have performed their leisure activities without the benefit of sophisticated equipment or infrastructure, and without high‐capital expenditure; that is, they have been engaged in low‐capital beach uses. With particular reference to these low‐capital beach uses, this paper examines the role of culture in determining leisure beach activities using the example of the differential development of marine recreational fishing and surfing on the East and West Coasts of the United States. Based on participant observation, legal histories, and popular and academic literature one location on each coast was chosen, and the development of these two leisure activities compared and contrasted. Variations and changes in cultural contexts at the local and national levels were found to be important factors in explaining the observed differential development of these activities in the two locations.     

The Impact of Self-Efficacy on Job Outcomes of Hotel Employees

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effect of self-efficacy on job performance, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment using data collected from employees in three-, four-, and five-star hotels in Northern Cyprus as its setting. The research hypotheses were tested using LISREL 8.30 through path analysis. The model test results demonstrated that self-efficacy is a significant determinant of job performance. This study, however, failed to find a significant positive association between self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Although not hypothesized, the results of the present study revealed that job performance mediates the impact of self-efficacy on job satisfaction. In addition, the results of the path analysis showed that self-efficacy is among the significant predictors of affective organizational commitment. The model test results provided empirical support for the rest of the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, the path-analytic findings indicated that job satisfaction exerts a significant positive influence on affective organizational commitment. The model test results also demonstrated that job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment are negatively associated with intention to leave. Discussion of the results, implications for hotel managers, and future research directions are presented in the study.     

How Cultural Differences Cause Dimensions of Tourism Satisfaction

Abstract

This paper develops a conceptual model of the relationship between different cultural values and how they influence consumer satisfaction in the tourism industry. It is hypothesized that cultural differences manifest themselves in different levels of importance being placed upon different aspects of service, and the differences between the levels of importance and the actual service received cause differences in the levels of satisfaction. These hypotheses are tested using 269 independent samples of levels of importance and 411 independent samples of satisfaction of tourists from four cultural groups (Australian, USA/Canadian, Japanese, Mandarin speakers) who visited Melbourne, Australia in the period May-September, 1996. The analysis develops dimensions of importance and satisfaction separately for each cultural grouping, and uses structural equation modeling (Amos 3.6) to develop the causal model measuring the way in which importance of service dimensions cause dimensions of satisfaction. Conclusions from the analysis show little evidence of a causal relationship between importance of service quality attributes and satisfaction. However, significant differences are found between cultures for different levels of satisfaction resulting indirectly from differences in the importance and actual levels of service received.

The implications for cultural differences affecting tourism satisfaction are discussed.     

Estimating the Economic Impact of Event Tourism

Abstract

Tourism has become an important economic sector in many parts of the world, and many regions, states, and local areas have identified expenditures by visitors as a potential source of economic growth. Because visitor spending can contribute to the local economy, many communities seek to enhance tourism and visitor-oriented activities. As a result, estimates of the economic impact of event tourism are of interest to a wide variety of interested parties. Economic impact analyses of sports facilities and other entertainment events have come under increasing criticism in recent years. At the same time, visitors to sports events, festivals, and other visitor-oriented and event related activities can produce very substantial economic impacts for host communities. This article examines key considerations and issues that affect and are critical to reliable estimates of the economic impacts of events and event tourism.     

Gambling: The misunderstood sport— a problem in social definition

Abstract

The prevailing social science perspective views gambling as a socially deviant activity with detrimental consequences for the individual and society. This paper presents an alternative perspective which views gambling as human play sharing much of the structural and functional components of acceptable sport activity. Gambling has conventional rules for defining participation, for determining legitimate winning and losing, and for judging expert performance. It also has regulatory commissions, standardized equipment, symbols, an element of sociability, and it promotes a collective validation of the basic values of society. This perspective allows the social scientist to examine gambling behavior in a theoretical framework which focuses on the features of gambling shared in common with other legitimate sport activity. This paper explores two popular forms of social gambling, race track and casino, showing how they reflect contemporary American culture while they provide recreation for players. We have found among recreational gamblers a well developed subculture that places their form of play directly in the mainstream of American values, despite the moral critics who proclaim gambling to be a major social problem. In fact, the gambling problem may be better understood as an ideological conflict between gamblers and the moral judges of the proprietary limits and functions of sports.     

Servicescape and shopping value: the role of negotiation intention,social orientation,and recreational identity at the Istanbul Grand Bazaar,Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the influence of negotiation intention, recreational shopper identity, and social shopping orientation on both servicescape and visitors’ overall shopping value in the Istanbul Grand Bazaar, Turkey. We developed and tested a conceptual model using a sample of 300 international visitors to the Bazaar. The results demonstrate that bargaining intention, recreational functions, and social interactions influence servicescape. This implies that, when tourists are motivated by bargain hunting, recreation, and socialisation, their attitude towards the shopping environment is more positive, which subsequently results in increased overall shopping value. Implications for managerial practice are also presented alongside suggestions for future research.