Determinants of the intention to participate in firm-hosted online travel communities and effects on consumer behavioral intentions

The increasing presence of firm-hosted online travel communities is motivating significant changes in the travel industry. This study attempts to explain consumers’ intentions to participate in such communities, and other consumer behavioral intentions, on the basis of a model that integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Technology Acceptance Model, and Social Identity Theory. In addition, this research investigates the link between the intention to participate in a community and two behavioral intentions that may benefit the host firm: the intention to use the firm’s products/services and the intention to recommend the host firm. The results reveal that the chosen theories provide an appropriate framework for explaining the intention to participate; this intention in turn has a positive effect on the two other behavioral intentions. On the basis of the results, the authors propose some key conclusions and managerial implications.     

Testing the sufficiency of the theory of planned behavior: a case of customer dissatisfaction responses in restaurants

This study tested the sufficiency of both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the extended TPB models by adding the variable of past behavior. In addition, the present study examined the mediating role of the TPB variables on the relationships between past behavior and customers’ intentions to engage in different types of dissatisfaction responses (i.e., voice, negative word-of-mouth communication, and exit). Results of the study demonstrated the strong predictive power of the original TPB mode but the inclusion of past behavior did not significantly improve the predictability of the three dissatisfaction response intentions. Furthermore, the mediating analyses indicated that the influence of past behavior was mediated by TPB variables. In the contexts of negative word-of-mouth communication, the effect of past behavior on intention was mediated by attitude. Meanwhile, both subjective norm and perceived behavioral control mediated the relationship between past behavior and the intention to engage in voice behavior.     

Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities

The present study proposed and tested Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model to explain the formation of hotel customers' intentions to visit a green hotel. The findings showed the TPB model has a good fit to the data and better predictive power for intention than the Theory of a Reasoned Action model. Based on theoretical support and suggested modification indices, a refined TPB model was developed. Consistent with the theory, the results of a structural equation analysis revealed that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control positively affected intention to stay at a green hotel. Further investigation indicated the paths between these predictors and intention did not statistically differ between customers who actively practice ecofriendly activities and those who are not often engaged in environmentally conscious behaviors in their everyday lives. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The Effect of Healthy Food Knowledge on Perceived Healthy Foods’ Value,Degree of Satisfaction,and Behavioral Intention: The Moderating Effect of Gender

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to determine how knowledge about healthy food impacts its perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intention among college students to access healthy foods, and to investigate the moderating effect of gender on the formulated relationships. The results show that knowledge about healthy food positively influences perceived value and behavioral intentions, and perceived value is a significant predictor of satisfaction and behavioral intentions toward healthy foods. In addition, knowledge about healthy food does not significantly influence on satisfaction in this study. The results regarding the moderating effects of gender show that gender only moderates the relationship between satisfaction and behavioral intentions toward healthy foods. These results offer useful information for foodservice companies and educational institutions; more specifically, for gaining a better understanding of college students’ behaviors and perceptions toward healthy foods and developing marketing strategies accordingly.     

Investigating individuals’ decision formation in working-holiday tourism: the role of sensation-seeking and gender

ABSTRACT

Despite the emergence of working-holiday tourism, little research has been carried out to understand working-holiday makers’ (WHMs) decision-making processes. This study was designed to examine the formation of WHMs’ intentions to participate in working-holiday tourism programs. A study model was proposed by extending sensation-seeking into Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and testing the difference between gender groups. An online survey was conducted with 369 WHMs in China. The study result indicated that the TPB model has a good fit to the data, and that the predictive power of the intention has been improved compared with the original TPB. The results from a structural equation reveal that three critical elements in TPB significantly formed individuals’ intentions for working-holiday programs, sensation-seeking formed positive and significant relationships with subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), and most importantly, significant differences were found between different gender groups. The study’s theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Medical Tourism—Attracting Japanese Tourists For Medical Tourism Experience

This study aimed at examining the intention of Japanese tourists to travel to Korea in a medical tourism context by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 237 responses were analyzed via structural equation modeling to test two dimensions of medical tourism models. A total of 14 salient belief items in the health treatment model and 16 salient belief items in the beautification model were identified. Reshaping dimensions of medical tourism and the proved applicability of the TPB extends the knowledge of medical tourism and understanding of Japanese tourists' travel intentions in a medical tourism context. The findings indicate the industry practitioners should put effort into attracting Japanese medical tourists. This research has shown that authorities should influence word-of-mouth information exchange and should seek feedback to develop marketing strategies. Publicity should be coordinated with professional bodies in the originating and destination countries. The research further indicates that regulatory and safety regulations must be in place with easy access to information.     

Exploring the online buying behavior of specialty food shoppers

Food producers are experiencing a fast-growing need to use the Internet to enhance competitive advantage. Past researchers have urged the need to understand market segmentation mechanisms as applied to different consumer behavior models to better understand the online buying behavior of consumers. This study integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior and food-related lifestyle to explore consumer's characteristics of online specialty food buying behavior, and the differences in the online buying process among consumers with different FRL. 569 undergraduate students who purchased specialty food online were surveyed. Findings indicated that consumers have positive attitudes toward purchasing specialty food online; more are inclined to heed the suggestions of others, perceive higher levels of control when using a website, and experienced a higher intention to purchase online. The study then classified consumers into ‘traditionalists’ or ‘adventurous and healthy-conscious’ groups based on their FRL via a two-step cluster analysis. These two groups of consumers had significant differences in terms of (a) attitudes toward online specialty food buying, (b) subjective norms, (c) perceived control, (d) behavioral intention, (e) demographics and (f) online specialty food-buying behavior. This investigation explored whether there is a correlation between consumer FRL and online specialty food-buying behavior. Findings reveal relevant ways for managers to enhance their website marketing strategies.     

Examining Chinese College Students’ Intention to Travel to Japan Using the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior: Testing Destination Image and the Mediating Role of Travel Constraints

Understanding the decision-making process and predicting travel behavior are critical for destination tourism marketers. This study develops and tests a structural equation model using the extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain Chinese college students’ intention to travel to Japan. Ten hypotheses were proposed regarding the relationships between destination image, travel constraints, and the original TPB constructs. The results of structural analyses reveal that the extended TPB has better predictive power for travel intention to Japan than the original one. Attitude is found to have the greatest impact on intention to travel to Japan. The mediating role of travel constraints shows a significantly negative effect on the relationships between the predictors and travel intention except for the relationship between perceived behavioral control and travel intention. The results of this study can help improve marketing promotions and the development of more effective destination positioning strategies for Japanese inbound tourism.     

Predicting Behavioral Intentions to Comply with Recommended Leave No Trace Practices

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) for predicting backcountry visitors’ behavioral intentions to comply with recommended Leave No Trace practices. Once confirmed, factors predictive of behavioral intentions can be used to inform the development of more effective persuasive communication strategies and educational messaging. Study participants were overnight backcountry visitors to either Olympic National Park, Washington, or Glacier National Park, Montana. The final model explained over 44% of the variance in the dependent variable, but significant predictors differed between the two parks. Discussion is provided as well as suggestions for those charged with disseminating Leave No Trace messaging.     

Consumers’ prestige-seeking behavior in premium food markets: Application of the theory of the leisure class

Premium food markets have emerged as a new form of foodservice establishment. They feature a unique eating and shopping experience that offers a wide variety of high-quality food in a sophisticated environment with distinctive consumer services. Based on the theory of the leisure class, this study explored how consumers’ prestige values influence their behavioral intentions, particularly their customer citizenship behavioral intention and revisit intentions, toward premium food markets. The study sample included customers who have shopped at premium food markets. Using a self-administered survey, 247 valid responses were obtained for analysis. The results showed the positive effects of prestige values on affective commitment and the positive influences of affective commitment on customer citizenship behavioral intention and revisit intention. This study significantly extends prestige-consumption knowledge in the foodservice and hospitality industries.     

饮食旅游动机对游客满意度和行为意向的影响研究

饮食旅游是近年来发展最快的旅游类型之一,但有关游客动机和行为的研究却很少.文章构建结构方程模型,剖析饮食旅游的推动和拉动动机要素,明确旅游动机对游客满意度和行为意向的作用机制.在澳门进行问卷调查获得368个有效样本后,检验假设模型,发现饮食旅游的推动动机为休闲放松、饮食猎奇和文化探索,拉动动机包括饮食产品和配套服务;休闲放松、文化探索和饮食产品对满意度有正向影响,饮食猎奇要素对行为意向有正向影响.文章从供求两方面明确了饮食旅游的参与原因及其后续效应,为发展饮食旅游、提升游客满意度和忠诚度提供了指导.     

Community-based tourism (TourDure) experience program: a theoretical approach

This research tested the Theory of Planned Behavior model to reveal the formation of tourists’ intention to experience a tour program organized by a local community (i.e. TourDure) by taking the moderating effect of gender and age into account. TourDure is an excellent case of the community-based tourism initiatives in Korea. A field survey was carried out for data collection. Our findings indicated that attitude and subjective norm had a significant impact on intention. Also, destination attachment showed a positive influence on the intention. In addition, subjective norm and attitude was found to be significant across the gender group.     

A comparative study of eight COVID-19 protective measures and their impact on Swiss tourists’ travel intentions

A comparative vignette-based experimental survey design incorporating various socio-psychological factors, linked to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking scale (DOSPERT) was carried out to test variations in eight travel-related COVID-19 protective measures on Swiss tourists’ travel intentions. Among the tested measures, vaccination passports, surgical masks and quarantining are those that stand out the most, with surgical masks having the greatest acceptance and willingness to adopt while traveling. Quarantining, on the other hand, appears to have a deterrent influence on travel intentions, and vaccination passports have the lowest perceived barriers during travel, but the highest perceived benefits in mitigating the spread of the infection. The discussion of individual differences has specific implications for tourism management against the background of our empirical findings.     

Consumers’ sustainable food choices: Antecedents and motivational imbalance

This paper examines the antecedents of sustainable food choices by consumers and investigates the differences between consumers based on their state of motivational imbalance. A sample of 609 respondents from Egypt took part in the study. Data were analyzed using a two-step approach of confirmatory factor analysis and structural models. The results indicate that attitudes, perceived behavioral control, personal norms, and activism are significant antecedents of consumers’ intention toward sustainable food. However, the data reveal a non-significant effect of subjective norms. Motivational imbalance has significant moderating effects, such that consumers who experience motivational imbalance showed consistently weaker intentions than consumers who experience motivational balance. Furthermore, there are significant differences between consumers under various scenarios of motivational imbalance. Specifically, the comparison of different motivational conflicts showed that attitude–subjective norm and attitude–activism conflicts cause the most substantial negative impact on consumer intentions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Predicting congregate meal program participation: Applying the extended theory of planned behavior

Authorized under Title III-C of Older Americans Act, congregate meal programs provides individuals 60 years of age and older nutritious meals in senior centers. Declining participation in recent years underscores the need to understand factors that affects participation. This study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain the intention of community-dwelling older adults to participate in congregate meal programs. One additional variable, past behavior, was added to increase the prediction power of participation intention. A total of 238 participant surveys were collected and analyzed. Seven hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The data fits the TPB model well. All predictor variables (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control and past behavior) had a significant positive effect on participation intention. Perceived behavior control (PBC) had the greatest prediction power on intention. Based on the research findings suggestions were made to increase congregate meal program participation.     

Mimicking menu choices: Menu choice failure and blame attribution of Korean customer

Although behavioral mimicry occurs when customers make decisions, researchers have paid little attention to how behavioral mimicry might affect food choices and subsequent behavioral intentions, especially in social networking. Therefore, this study examined how menu choice failure after using menu referrals from online social networks affect blame attribution and subsequent behavioral intention. This study considered how uncertainty about menu, task importance and tie-strength with an online social network referral affects blame attribution and behavioral intention (customer satisfaction and revisit intention). 2 (Uncertainty; high versus low) × 2 (Task importance; high versus low) × 2 (Tie-strength; strong versus weak) between-subjects experimental design was utilized. This research provided evidence that people are less likely to blame a social media friend for the failure of menu choice when the consumers have low uncertainty about the menu, when the menu choice is less important to them, and when they have strong ties.     

Brand personality of tourist destinations: An application of self-congruity theory

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceived destination personality of Las Vegas and to examine the relationships among destination personality, self-congruity, and tourist’s behavioral intentions. A convenience sample of 382 visitors to Las Vegas was surveyed, and 368 usable questionnaires were analyzed. The findings of the study indicate that tourists ascribe personality characteristics to destinations and that the perceived destination personality of Las Vegas is five dimensional: vibrancy, sophistication, competence, contemporary, and sincerity. These dimensions have a positive influence on tourists’ intention to return and intention to recommend. The study also supports the self-congruity theory within the context of tourism destinations, indicating that both actual congruity and ideal congruity have a positive impact on behavioral intentions. The study concludes that self-congruity is a partial mediator on the relationship between destination personality and tourist’s behavioral intentions. The practical and theoretical implications are discussed within the contexts of destination branding and the self-congruity theory.     

To buy or not to buy: Impact of labeling on purchasing intentions of genetically modified foods

This study conducted a partial test of the Theory of Planned Behavior [Ajzen , I., 1985. From intentions to action: a theory of planned behavior. In: Kuhl, J., Beckmenn, J. (Eds.), Action Control: From Cognition to Behavior. Springer, New York, pp. 11–39; Ajzen, I., 1989. Attitude structure and behavior. In: Breckler, S.J., Greenwald, A.G. (Eds.), Attitude Structure and Function. Lawrence Erlbaum, Springer, Hillsdale, NJ, New York, pp. 241–274; Ajzen, I., 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50, 179–211] by assessing an individual's attitude toward labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods on the individual's purchasing intentions. Data collected from 16,078 participants across 15 European Union member countries from the EUROBAROMETER 53 were examined. Using Univariate ANOVA, the results indicate that: (1) many (roughly 73% of the sample) of the individuals residing in the 15 European countries are less likely to purchase a food product with a label indicating the existence of a GM ingredient; (2) women were less likely to purchase the GM product than men; and (3) those individuals who are more likely to purchase a GM food believed it is unnecessary to include complete information pertaining to the use of GM organisms in the production of food products. Specifically, individuals were significantly more likely to purchase the product if they stated that (a) it is unnecessary to show information on a label pertaining to the use of GM organisms in the production of the food product, even if those GM organisms are present in some of the ingredients; (b) it is unnecessary to include information regarding the use of GM organisms in the product on a label if the GM organisms are present in the end product; and (c) the information regarding the use of a GM organism does not have to be clear. Future directions regarding research on GM foods are presented.     

Leading by example: A three-wave sequential mixed method food safety study

Foodservice employees that fail to adhere to food safety practices may directly introduce pathogens that can cause illness and death. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore managerial practices that influence employee’s food safety behaviors, using a two-phase sequential mixed-method approach.A total of 642 foodservice employees currently working in the United States participated in a survey about food safety knowledge and food safety behavioral intentions. Among these, 263 were invited to answer a set of open-ended qualitative questions, 36 participants responded to the questions, and two participants were selected for in-depth interviews.The majority of the employees are optimistic about their daily food safety practices. However, cross-analyses noted that the majority of employees failed the quiz regarding basic food safety knowledge. Further analyses documented that time-constraint and lack of managerial role modeling in daily food safety practices can post a considerable threat to maintaining food safety behaviors.     

Does transformational leadership style influence employees’ attitudes toward food safety practices?

The objectives of this study were to examine whether transformational leadership style (TL) and organizational climate (OC) impact employees’ attitudes and intentions to follow safe food handling practices. We also set out to investigate the moderating effect of food safety certification on the relationships among TL, OC, and employees’ attitudes and intentions to follow food safety practices in restaurants. Questionnaires were distributed to restaurants in one state. Structural equation modeling techniques and multiple group analysis were used. The results of this study indicate that TL did not impact employees’ attitudes and intentions. However, TL significantly impacted OC, and OC significantly impacted employees’ attitudes and intentions to follow safe food handling practices; additionally, employees’ attitudes significantly impacted intentions to perform safe food handling practices. Furthermore, the moderating effect of food safety certification on the relationships among TL, OC, and employees’ attitudes and intentions was also significant. The results of this study not only provide a theoretical framework but also present more detailed diagnostic information regarding the impact of TL and OC on employees’ attitudes and intentions to follow safe food handling practices.