The role of the celebrity chef

The celebrity chef is a phenomenon of contemporary popular culture that shows no sign of decreasing in interest, as reflected in the boom in TV cookery programmes and a number of bestselling cookery books and chef biographies and autobiographies. This has contributed to the professionalization of the industry and to a growing influence of the celebrity chef on consumer food habits and choices. This article makes an original contribution to the literature on chefs by identifying the various roles played by the celebrity chef: the media performer, the writer, the entrepreneur, the role model, and finally the rebel. Implications for practice are drawn.     

The effects of teppanyaki restaurant stimuli on diners’ emotions and loyalty

This research examines the influence of restaurant stimuli (i.e., chefs, service staff, other customers, food quality, and atmospherics) on diners’ emotions and loyalty to teppanyaki restaurants. In teppanyaki restaurants, chefs take orders from diners, prepare food in front of diners, and serve dishes to diners. Although the importance of chefs has been acknowledged by scholars, empirical research on the influence of chefs on diners has been scarce. To augment the literature on how chefs influence diners, this research incorporates “chef’s image” into an extended Mehrabian-Russell model (M-R model) to conceptualize diner loyalty to teppanyaki restaurants. A total of 308 diners from Taiwan were recruited. After examining their completed questionnaires, this study found that chef’s image, service quality, and food quality can affect the positive and negative emotions of diners. Moreover, other diners and restaurant atmospherics affect only the negative emotions of diners. Both positive and negative emotions can affect diner loyalty to teppanyaki restaurants. In addition, the managerial implications of this study are discussed.     

An Exploratory Study of Convention Specific Social Media Usage by Attendees: Motivations and Effect of Generations on Choice of Convention Information Source and Intention to Use Mobile Application

While social media and mobile devices have grown as important tools of communication and marketing in the meeting industry, limited research has explored convention attendees’ perception of convention specific social networking media and what the motivations are for attendees’ adoption of using convention specific social media. This study aims to identify convention attendees’ motivations of using convention specific social media and demands of convention specific mobile applications. This study also investigated how attendees’ generation affects their selection of convention information sources and attitude toward mobile applications. Based on the identified key motivations of using convention specific social media, convention organizers need to build social media that provide up-to-dated convention information as well as a functionality of building community among attendees. The findings also show that generation affects the choice of convention information source and intention of mobile applications usage. This study identified the most demanded convention mobile applications including, exhibitor directory search, convention floor plan, and convention itinerary planner. This study can be used as a basis for more extensive examinations of the use of social media in conventions and for empirical testing of convention attendees’ attitudes toward convention social media and mobile applications.     

Analysis of the Implementation of Celebrity Endorsement as a Destination Marketing Instrument

This study will investigate the implementation potential of celebrity endorsement to market destinations. Nine marketing experts in endorsement strategies expressed their views of the key elements to effective celebrity destination endorsement. Content analysis was used to find three categories that may moderate the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers, High‐Involvement Products, Celebrity Credibility and Celebrity Expertise. It seems that when products are high in psychological or social risk, such as the annual main holiday destination, the ‘right’ celebrity endorser could make an appropriate match and create a more favorable evaluation of the advertisement than a non‐endorsed advertisement. On the other hand, various issues regarding the tourist decision‐making process suggest that the choice for celebrity endorsement to market a destination is less appropriate.     

Celebrity endorsements in destination marketing: A three country investigation

The present study extends research on the role of celebrity endorsements in destination marketing by exploring various facets of the effect of celebrity endorsements in destination marketing on the consumer. More specifically, theories of source credibility, congruence, social identity and consumer cosmopolitanism, are used to build research questions that investigate the relative effectiveness of a celebrity endorsed tourism advertisement vis a vis a generic advertisement and the boundary conditions governing the same such as destination type (local/global), celebrity country of origin and consumer level factors. The research questions are addressed using four experimental studies in sequence. The same four experiments are run in three countries with different socio-cultural backgrounds to enhance generalization, with a combined sample size of 1073 respondents. Major findings suggest that a celebrity endorser is effective for a destination advertisement. Significant cross-country differences were observed in consumer affect depending on the choice of celebrity (local or global) and the destination type (i.e., domestic or international). The effects are also moderated by consumer cosmopolitanism. The study has multiple theoretical and managerial implications.     

Abusive work practices and bullying among chefs: A review of the literature

Discussion in the media suggests that bullying and abuse are rife in commercial kitchens. This paper analyses the issue of abusive work practices among chefs through a review of the literature; it examines the possible causes of bullying and abusive behaviour in the industry and argues that personal characteristics, culture and socialisation, and the transient nature of the industry, may offer some explanations as to why abusive behaviour is tolerated.Evidence from the literature suggests that abuse may be an expected part of the culture of a commercial kitchen; this is supported by both historical and social structures including education and training systems.In conclusion, research into abusive behaviour among chefs has been limited and further research into its true extent, and how it becomes tolerated, would be useful.     

网红短视频传播对消费者旅游态度的影响——以丁真走红现象为例

短视频网红宣传对旅游地知名度的提升起到重要作用。文章综合信源吸引力模型、信源可靠性理论和心流理论,探究短视频传播的网红特质对受众观看短视频时的专注度、快乐度、身临其境感和心流体验的作用,以及对受众想要去短视频宣传地的旅游态度的影响。通过问卷调研,收集558份有效样本,并构建了网红个人魅力影响受众心流体验和旅游态度的结构方程模型,进行路径分析和中介效应检验。研究发现:网红包括吸引力、可信度和受欢迎度在内的个人特质显著影响受众观看短视频的快乐度、专注度和身临其境感,促使受众产生心流体验,继而影响受众对网红相关地区的旅游态度。该研究对于借力短视频、网红经济等数字媒介环境下的新兴传播形式开发旅游资源,提升旅游知名度具有一定实践参考价值。     

An Examination of Social Media Marketing in China: How do the Top 133 Hotel Brands Perform on the Top Four Chinese Social Media Sites?

The purpose of this study is to evaluate hotel companies’ social media marketing efforts using the “6Is” social media monitoring framework. More specifically, in this study we set out to understand how hotels disseminate information, engage with consumers, and distribute products through social media. We investigate the presence of the top 133 hotel brands in China on the top domestic Chinese social media sites in order to identify to what extent the hotel industry in China recognizes the potential of this marketing tool. The findings indicate that the majority of the hotels actively and consistently use the Sina Weibo and Wechat platforms for their social media marketing.     

Responding to the bed bug crisis in social media

The increasing trend in social media changes the landscape of crisis communication and thus, calls for innovation in hotel crisis management practices. This research examined how New York City hotels responded to recent issues surrounding the bed bug crisis on the social media site TripAdviosr. This study adopted a mixed methods research design. The quantitative findings revealed that hotels’ response behaviors were associated with organizational factors (e.g. hotel's popularity, average rating, and star rating) and the rating of online reviews. The qualitative findings indicated that hotels employed various types of strategies in the response, which were dominated by strategies of bolstering and enhancing. In conclusion, this study addressed the need for a proactive approach in hotel crisis management and provided practical implications.     

Celebrity endorsement and brand passion among air travelers: Theory and evidence

The influence of brand characteristics on a consumer passion for a brand is firmly established in the literature. However, celebrity endorsers influence to the formation of brand passion remains largely untapped. Using three theoretical lenses- source credibility theory, relationship motivation theory, and congruity theory, the present study examines the influence of celebrity endorsement on brand passion using data from air travelers. To this end, we involved (n = 432) airline passengers to test the hypotheses in the service context. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling techniques were used as methods. When celebrity attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness were assessed, celebrity attractiveness was appeared to have the strongest influence on air travelers’ brand passion via relatedness need satisfaction. The moderation analysis reveals that the effect of celebrity attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness on relatedness needs satisfaction is salient when the celebrity and user having the opposite gender. Finally, implications for policy, research and practice are discussed.     

Visitors' Motivation for Attending the South Beach Wine and Food Festival,Miami Beach,Florida

The objective of this study was to identify the major factors that motivated visitors to attend the South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami Beach, Florida, and determine whether these factors varied among the visitors from the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia. A survey of 475 visitors to South Florida was conducted in February 2006. Forty‐four motivational items were factor analyzed. The seven factors that motivated first‐time visitors to the festival were the desire to taste new wine and food, enjoy the event, enhance social status, escape from routine life, meet new people, spend time with family, and get to know the celebrity chefs and wine experts. A significant difference in motivation among the five national groups of visitors was found in the area of family influence. Implications of the study results are discussed.     

Employee responsibility and basic human values in the hospitality sector

This study attempts to investigate the connection between the personal value profile of different groups of hospitality employees (i.e., restaurant managers, chefs/cooks, waiters/bartenders, and kitchen helpers) and the magnitude of authority and responsibility in their positions using the analytical aspect of Schwartz’s (1992) theory in basic human values as the basis. A set of logistic regression models are created to provide support for the hypotheses related to such jobs with self-transcendence, self enhancement axis, and openness to change-conservation axis of Schwartz’s theory of basic human values and to achieve the objectives of the study. Our findings generally supported the hypothesized relationships between personal values and professional status of hospitality employees. Distinct relationships are manifested in jobs with higher professional status such as restaurant managers and chefs/cooks. The study aims to expand on the existing literature by exploring the human values in the hospitality sector.     

Athletes’ Expectations,Experiences, and Legacies of the Winter Youth Olympic Games Innsbruck 2012

The first Winter Youth Olympic Games held in Innsbruck in January 2012 attracted about 1,000 adolescent athletes aged between 14 and 18. At large-scale events such as the Youth Olympic Games, coaches, chefs de mission, and others accompany athletes and, therefore, gain a deeper insight into their behavior. This study aims at assessing young elite athletes’ perceptions of the Youth Olympic Games experience from the point-of-view of different stakeholder groups. Qualitative data was retrieved during the games from 12 athlete and 4 other stakeholder focus groups. The data analyzes sports and educational legacies and indicates that social leveraging is another central benefit for the young athletes.     

Conference Announcement

Sporting texts are designed to prioritize, personalize and sensationalize characters in an attempt to capture audience attention. The sporting hero has traditionally been perceived of as epitomizing social ideals and masculine virtues, and as embodying values that learnt on the playing fields will readily transfer into everyday life. However, growing media intrusion signifies the contemporary sports star as a ‘damaged hero’ – the male sports celebrity exemplifying contemporary laddishness, drunken exploits, wife and girlfriend beatings and gay relationships, all of which influence the image of the modern day sports hero. In contrast, female sport stars are well documented as marginalized, trivialized and objectified, to the extent which sports heroines are both invisible and questionable as role models for young girls.

This article discusses ways in which sport stars are constructed as role models for young people. It cites instancing examples from the sports calendar of the ‘summer of sport’ 1996, in its discussion of the media construction of sports stars as villains, fools or heroes. It identifies the gender differentiated readings of sports stars as heroes and heroines and concludes that the ways in which media critics accord hero and role model status does not necessarily reflect the opinions of young people.     

Let's get this show on the road! Introducing the tourist celebrity gaze

The tourist celebrity gaze is identified and outlined in this article. A netnographic study of adventure backpackers' social media, documenting their taking part in the 2019 Mongol Rally, highlights a shift from touring places to being on tour. Hereby, the tourist may go travelling not only to observe, but to be observed by others. Symptomatic of this inverted gaze, distinctions from other travellers are drawn, making the tourist stand out, and attention is solicited and reported upon whilst on the road. The tourist enters an obverse panopticon where they can perform for an audience. Certain destinations and selective use of social media support this performance. Revealed therefore, is an extension of the traditional tourist gaze building on more recently described technologically mediated gazes.     

从民宿到“名宿”——网红民宿红在哪?

“网红民宿”是近年来旅游住宿业在社会生活网络化趋势中诞生的新现象,“名宿”的网红气质有哪些构成要素,其如何影响游客的购买意愿是本文的研究内容。首先基于网络社区“小红书”上关键意见领袖有关网红民宿的笔记,采用扎根理论的研究方法探索民宿构成网红气质的要素,其次是开展了问卷调查,以收集的556份问卷调查数据来验证这些要素对网络口碑和游客购买意愿的影响。研究发现：（1）民宿配置、风格设计、周边环境、直观印象、心理感受和出游形式是民宿构成网红气质的要素;（2）民宿网红气质要素积极影响游客对民宿的购买意愿;（3）“网络口碑”在民宿网红气质要素积极影响游客购买意愿中起完全中介或部分中介作用。研究结果丰富了民宿领域的网络口碑研究相关理论和实践。     

Effect of celebrity endorsement on tourists’ perception of corporate image,corporate credibility and corporate loyalty

This study explores the effectiveness of using Korean celebrities to endorse a Korean hotel in the Japanese market. Specifically, Japanese tourists’ perception of the hotel's corporate image and corporate credibility were tested along with corporate loyalty. This study found that trust in celebrity endorsers by consumers is transferable to perceptions of image of the hotel, its credibility and loyalty to the hotel. Structural equation modeling was used to explain difference in the relationships between constructs that identified the effectiveness of each celebrity. One important finding was that specific celebrity endorsers may not appeal to the entire target market and for this reason more than one endorser may be required to promote a product.     

Integrating the tourist gaze with the social servicescape: Implications for creating memorable theme park experiences

This research examines how the social servicescape-directed gaze (i.e., perceptions of similarity, appearance, and behavior of other customers) influences theme park visitors’ affective states and experiences. A quantitative, survey-based research design was adopted with a total of 561 theme park patrons participating in the study. Results of structural equation modeling analyses reveal that similarity and behavior positively affect visitors’ feelings of arousal and curiosity, which in turn contribute to memorable theme park experiences. Other visitors’ appearances, however, are not a significant predictor of affect/experience. From a theory standpoint, this research represents a first attempt to study the tourist gaze at theme parks and makes a unique contribution by integrating the three dimensions of the social servicescape with the theoretical lens of the tourist gaze. Practically, this research provides suggestions for theme park management to create more memorable experiences by leveraging the social servicescape-directed gaze among visitors.     

Social media constraints and destination images: The potential of barrier-free internet access for foreign tourists in an internet-restricted destination

This study explores the effects of social media use constraints on destination image under the internet restrictions in China. The empirical results indicate that information search constraints have a significant effect on the affective image of destinations through emotional experience. Not allowing certain social media use has negative implications for tourists’ image of a destination through their emotional responses. Furthermore, there is a moderating effect of information search constraints on the relationships between emotion and affective image. The key findings appeal for policy breakthroughs on barrier-free internet access for foreign tourists in Hainan, China’s largest emerging free trade zone and one of its top tourist destinations. This has clear management implications for regions with internet restrictions.     

A Peircean semiotic interpretation of a social sign

A Peircean semiotics emphasizes the role of a sign’s interpretant, which connects the sign’s observable representamen and its signified object; this triadic approach offers a better interpretation than the signifier/signified dyad. The case of Xu Xiuzhen, also known as Mama Moon—a local celebrity seen by many as a symbol of Yangshuo County, China—reveals two opposing interpretations behind the seeming consensus on the sign, which indicates the structure of interrelated meanings attached to this social sign. The study of signs in tourism would benefit from focusing more on individuals by using Peirce’s concept of interpretant, which has been proved to be able to reveal both the social background and the social mechanism constructing a sign’s multiple meanings.