Perceived Onboard Service Needs of Passengers with Mobility Limitations: An Investigation among Flight Attendants

The purpose of this study is to explore flight attendants' perceptions of the in-flight service needs of passengers with mobility impairments. In addition, this study seeks out flight attendants' recommendations for improving services to passengers with mobility impairments. The existing literature draws attention to the service needs of passengers with disabilities from the customers' perspectives. However, this study aims to understand these service needs from the service provider's perspective. Participants of the study are flight attendants who have extensive in-flight service experience and have served passengers with disabilities. The study finds four types of in-flight needs from people with mobility impairments: (1) the need for help in using in-flight amenities, (2) the need to be treated the same as passengers without any disabilities, (3) the need for individualized services, and (4) the need for effective communication and accurate information. To address these needs, flight attendants suggest that airline managers should provide adequate flight information for people with disabilities and sufficient training to front line airline and airport employees.     

Evaluation of Travel Convenience for Residents in the Yangtze River Delta,China

Based on the road network in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and using geography information system technology, this article quantitatively evaluates travel convenience for residents with regard to the accessibility of scenic spots, both inside and outside the Delta. It shows that the accessibility of tourist attractions inside the Delta reflects the centricity of their location, and the score figure of accessibility in the YRD presents a circular structure with Taihu Lake at the center. Furthermore, the structure of outward accessibility indicates that accessibility is high in the west and low in the east, with the best areas distributed along the Nanjing–Hangzhou expressway and the worst areas distributed to the east and to the south of the YRD. The areas with higher travel convenience for the residents are mainly distributed around Taihu Lake and along the Nanjing–Hangzhou expressway.     

Destination Images Penetrated by Mega-events: A Behaviorist Study of the 2008 Beijing Olympics

While the penetration effect of mega-events on the hosts' destination images is important, its research has rather been insufficient. This study aims to fill the gap by initiating an in-depth investigation of this effect. Guided by behaviorism rather than introspectionism and psychometrics adopted by previous researchers, the study interviewed 66 tourists visiting Beijing city – the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics – before, during and after the event. The results showed that: (1) elements of the Olympics had penetrated into the core and semi-core of Beijing's destination image; (2) the penetration did vary according to different event elements and event stages; and (3) the penetration was jointly determined by the stimuli the tourists received during the surveys and their complex mental mechanisms (i.e. cognitive matching and attitudinal preference). This research has strengthened the evidence for the penetration effect, explained it systematically and expanded the methodological choices in studying similar topics.     

基于陆域和空域运输系统的空港可达性评价方法研究

空港可达性可分为陆域可达性和空域可达性两部分进行计量,前者评价可知乘客访问空港的便利程度,后者评价空港为乘客提供前往目的地从事活动的便利性和丰富程度.选取全国141家空港为评价对象,基于SAGA GIS平台建立空港的陆域运输网络,根据航班信息构建空港的空域航空时空服务网络,再计算空港的陆域和空域可达性,然后比较及分析各空港可达性在空间和时间上的分布特征.研究认为,评价方法有助于规划建设者或运营管理者充分认识空港的区位选址与航空系统资源的特性,保证机场选址和运营管理方案的科学有效性.     

Gender differences of shoppers in the marketing and management of retail agglomerations

This paper aims to first identify gender differences in perception and evaluation of retail agglomerations, and second, discuss the implications of these differences for marketing and management. Based on a conceptual model 2151 agglomeration shoppers were surveyed using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling revealed that accessibility, parking and infrastructure are perceived differently between gender groups. The attractiveness in terms of satisfaction, retention proneness and patronage intention was also evaluated distinctively. Nevertheless, when examining the impact of the perceived attributes on agglomeration attractiveness, there was no difference. In both settings, the retail tenant mix and the atmosphere are the main antecedents of attractiveness. Finally, an importance–performance analysis offers managers a method for prioritising their marketing efforts considering gender differences.     

Retail stores as brands: performances,theatre and space

The scholars of Consumer Culture Theory studies as well as practitioners have recognised the potential power of spatial design in stores in constructing and communicating retail brands. Retail space and the aesthetic structuring of a range of expressive artefacts have become the stage on which shop attendants perform. This paper focuses on how management and shop attendants of Dutch menswear fashion house Oger communicate and construct the Oger brand, with a special focus on the spatial settings of the retail store. This study shows how the management carefully combines elements generally found in Italian ateliers, English gentlemen's clubs and boardrooms. The symbolic message behind the spatial design of the Oger flagship store is that of human quest for wealth and fame removed from the everyday life. In addition to this earlier observed interplay between design, display and consumption processes, this study indicates the important role of shop attendants in constructing and communicating retail brands. By forging links with organisation studies, we show how retail management carefully designed, managed and orchestrated retail space, objects and shop attendants’ roles to construct and communicate the Oger brand. The selling of products through performances in designed theatres connects organisation and economic and aesthetic realms. Finally, the paper introduces “internal design proxemics” as an extra analytical concept of spatial settings.     

The Role of Logo Recoloring on Perceptual Fluency in Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns

Abstract

This article investigates the influence of brand esthetics on consumer response to cause-related marketing campaigns. Drawing on brand visual identity and advertising research, a processing fluency perspective is explored in the relationship between stimulus characteristics and consumer judgment. Processing fluency suggests color enhances the ease with which consumers recognize and process brand elements, and more broadly, cause-related marketing campaigns. Brand logos were recolored to enhance the perceptual fluency of the two entities. Its joint effect with conceptual congruence (e.g., fit) indicate that both low and high fit brands benefit from enhanced processing fluency, with a more robust outcome for high fit brands. These effects were mediated by logo evaluation, leading to a new path of fit perceptions in CRM initiatives.     

Visual Metaphors in Ads: The Inverted-U Effects of Incongruity on Processing Pleasure and Ad Effectiveness

ABSTRACT

Ads with visual metaphors are commonplace in advertising, but are characterized by varying degrees of incongruity. Across two experiments, this article presents the first empirical evidence that incongruity in a visual metaphor (VM) ad has an inverted-U (nonlinear) effect on attitude toward the ad. We find that a moderate level of incongruity in a VM ad produces maximal processing pleasure, which in turn yields the most positive attitude toward the ad. The findings confirm that processing pleasure mediates the effects of incongruity on ad attitude. Consequently, when creating ads, advertisers should choose advertising elements to obtain moderate levels of incongruity in the visual figures.     

省级国土资源海量遥感影像数据管理技术研究

研究目的：研究海量遥感影像数据管理技术路线,解决省级国土资源部门影像数据管理与共享问题。研究方法：理论分析法,对比试验法,实例验证法。研究结果：（1）采用数据库和文件系统混合管理方式,显著提高影像数据的存储和检索效率;（2）通过建立影像镶嵌数据集,构建影像金字塔和概视图,实现了TB级遥感影像数据的快速组织、更新和发布;（3）采用JPEG_YCbCr视觉无损压缩方法,大幅度提升影像金字塔压缩效率和压缩比。研究结论：基于镶嵌数据集的海量遥感影像数据管理技术,应用于江苏省第二次土地调查省级数据中心系统建设,解决了技术瓶颈,实验证明该技术路线可行。     

Distributed Visual Language Environments for Cooperation and Learning: Applications and Intelligent Support

An increasing number of collaborative learning environments is based on shared workspace systems using two-dimensional graph-structured visual representations such as argumentation networks and concept maps. We propose an integrated framework that allows for flexibly specifying a wide range of visual languages and plugging in components for operational semantics, adequate feedback and intelligent support. The generic application CardBoard provides card-based user interaction and collaboration by means of different languages in shared workspaces. To enhance modifiability, the interfaces between the distributed heterogeneous system components, particularly between intelligent components and user interfaces, have been standardised.