Does tourism really cause stress? A natural experiment utilizing ArcGIS Survey123

ABSTRACT

Tourism related stress has recently been revealed as an issue for tourism host community residents. Prior studies have relied on directly asking residents if tourism caused them stress, resulting in possible participant priming. This study utilized the ArcGIS Survey123 app to collect data on resident stress from a community with high levels of tourism visitation and a community with low levels of tourism visitation. During the study, researchers never mentioned tourism. Half of study participants in the community with high tourism visitation discussed tourism directly as a stressor, accounting for almost 5% of all stressful experiences, while no participants in the community with low tourism visitation mentioned tourism as a stressor. Geospatial data revealed that tourism related stressors occurred outside of the ‘tourism zone’ in the community with high tourism visitation, and tourism related stressors mirrored perceived tourism impacts measured in a post experiment survey of study participants.     

Beyond concern: socio-demographic and attitudinal influences on privacy and disclosure choices

ABSTRACT

The co-option of consumers as unwilling agents in their own surveillance has enabled significant abuses of consumer privacy. Previous studies have largely used privacy concern as a proxy for overall privacy attitudes. In this study, we implement a choice experiment in combination with measures adapted from Communication Privacy Management theory to enable a broader exploration of the influences of privacy attitudes by contextualising privacy as a negotiation about accessibility over contextual boundaries. Key findings suggest individuals’ social media disclosure decisions are influenced at least in part by their privacy attitudes, particularly with respect to information categories which may cue other personal information. Findings are also presented on consumers’ willingness to pay for privacy, with implications for alternative revenue streams not built on consumer surveillance.     

Designing a medicalized wellness service: balancing hospitality and hospital features

Medicalized environments around the world are challenged with making trade-offs between the clinical nature of the service and the customer service elements needed to deliver the service. Many medicalized wellness services have yet to achieve an effective balance between their hospitality and hospital features to generate loyalty (repeat patronage). We present a case study of a blood service organization in a developed country that, at the time of data collection (2011), was working to resolve tension between clinical goals and expectations of Millennial donors. The results identified seven principles: ‘control over booking and service interactions’; ‘build social connections’; ‘offer a luxury, indulgent experience’; ‘build relationship with customer beyond the “medical” procedure’. The three remaining principles related to hospital-like features: ‘hide the functional/medical features of the service experience’; ‘demystify the “hidden” processes’; ‘ability for the physical service environment to be modified by the customer’.     

Fair Trade Consumption: In Support of the Out-Group

Two sets of self-transcendence values – universalism and benevolence – act as a source of motivation for the promotion of the welfare of the other rather than the self. This article sought to determine the exact nature of the interaction between these sets of values and the consumption of fair trade products. In an earlier study, universalism values were found to have a significant influence on fair trade consumption whereas benevolence values did not, despite their shared goal and values theory. Additionally, there was supporting evidence in the extant literature that benevolence values should influence fair trade consumption behavior. This study took a closer look at the individual values that make up the value categories universalism and benevolence to better understand and describe this universalism–benevolence distinction in fair trade consumption. It was established that perhaps group membership has an influence on the decision to buy fair trade products. Specifically, it seems that an overriding sense of responsibility to one’s own group – the in-group – prevents some consumers from identifying with, empathizing with, and subsequently sharing resources with fair trade producers; members of out-groups in far-flung corners of the globe. It appears that the universalism–benevolence distinction in fair trade consumption might also be described as an in-group–out-group distinction.     

The federal reserve board MPS quarterly econometric model of the US economy

This paper describes the structure and properties of the Federal Reserve Board's (MPS) econometric model of the US economy. The theoretical underpinnings are developed using a small growth model that is a simplified version of the steady-state structure of the full model. Short-run dynamic properties, which are Keynesian, are discussed and quantified with simulation results. The largest part of the paper consists of a discussion of the theoretical basis and empirical properties of the key behavioural equations. A complete list of equations is included.     

Hadfields Ltd: its annual general meetings 1903–1939 and their relevance for contemporary corporate social reporting

Little attention has been given to studies of the historical antecedents of corporate social reporting (CSR). The paper looks at the disclosures made by Hadfields Ltd and other British companies at the beginning of the 20th century, and finds that these included topics such as economic, political and industrial relations conditions, in a style analogous to that employed in CSR reporting today, during periods of difficulty and conflict for the reporting companies. The paper concludes that these findings support the argument that CSR may be less a reflection of a new relationship between companies and society than another form of what Milne calls ‘advocacy advertising’.     

Forecasting foreign exchange rates: an expert judgment approach

Studies have indicated that forecasts by market experts can be more accurate than time series forecasts. This article describes a process for structuring an expert foreign exchange forecast using Saaty's Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The specific example developed is a forecast of the yen/dollar spot exchange rate from the standpoint of a company considering the desirability of arranging for forward exchange cover.