Exploring Chinese outbound exhibitors’ motivational factors and characteristics to U.S. exhibition market

For exhibitions to have sustainable success, they must attract enough high-quality exhibitors. As China has opened up and grown economically in the past several decades, more Chinese exhibitors are participating in exhibitions worldwide, and United States exhibitions are among their top destination. To examine what motivates the participation of this growing group, this study conducted a self-administered survey among Chinese outbound exhibitors who have attended exhibitions in the United States. With the help from the Chinese exhibition organizers, a questionnaire survey was distributed to Chinese exhibitors having participating in U.S.-based trade fairs in the past 12 months via email for collecting data. An exploratory factor analysis and a series of ANOVA tests were carried out to examine the Chinese exhibitors’ characteristics. The results of the 314 usable responses showed that exhibitors with their characteristics differed significantly in the five motivational dimensions. These dimensions relate to motivations in social contacts and networking, sales, incentive, “guanxi,” and competition. The findings have marketing implications for exhibition organizers in both the United States and China for recruiting and retaining Chinese exhibitors.     

Effects of the event and its destination image on sport tourists’ attachment and loyalty to a destination: the cases of the Chinese and U.S. Formula One Grand Prix

ABSTRACT

We aim to determine the antecedents of sport tourists’ loyalty toward both the event and destination. Data were collected from both the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix (n?=?361) and the 2017 U.S. Grand Prix (n?=?351). Then, the data were analyzed by using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results showed the image associated with the hosting destination and the event is positively related to the sport tourists’ attachment and loyalty. The outcome may be utilized in planning a recurring sport event that achieves higher sport tourist destination loyalty.     

The U.S. tourists’ perceptions of destination China over two transformative periods

This study conducted a textual analysis of The New York Times to examine the U.S. tourists’ perceived image of China as a destination by comparing the two periods of January 1980–May 1989 and January 2005–December 2015. The study found a drastic shift of the U.S. tourists’ affective image of China as a destination from being favorable and positive in the early period to being unfavorable and negative in the recent period. The affective image was characterized by the two domains of Exoticism and Sense of Superiority in the 1980s, as compared to the two domains of Ordinary and Negative National Image in the recent 10 years. Paradoxically, such a sentimental shift on the part of the U.S. tourists occurred while their perception of China’s destination attributes either did not change or grew more positive.     

Memberships Levels in U. S. Private Clubs During the 2008–2010 Economic Downturn

This study measured membership changes in private clubs in the United States during the economic downturn from 2008 to 2010. Specifically examined were the changes clubs experienced with their number of members, waiting lists, and attrition rates. A letter was sent via e-mail to the same 1,000 private clubs that were sent a survey in a similar study conducted by Ferreira and Gustafson (2006 Ferreira, R. R. and Gustafson, C. M. 2006. Declining memberships during an economic downturn in U.S. private clubs. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 7(2/3): 3–18. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) The managers of these clubs were members of the Club Managers Association of America. The majority of respondents managed country clubs and member-owned clubs, representing different areas of the United States. An overall response rate of 53% was achieved. Most clubs experienced a decrease in the overall number of members and an increase in annual attrition rate. Fewer clubs reported having a waiting list of members wanting to join. The clubs without waiting lists reported a larger number of membership openings in their clubs. The results of this study suggest the levels of memberships in many private clubs are heavily influenced by economic conditions. An implication from this study is that clubs need to implement membership development strategies during economic downturns because of the decline in the number of members, candidates proposed, and waiting lists during these periods.     

Internet and tourism ‐ part v: Starasiatravel.com

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships between cultural familiarity (CF), Korean cultural involvement (KCI), involvement with Korean celebrities (IKC), attitude toward a country (ATCOUN), and word-of-mouth (WOM) toward Korea. Survey data were collected from 358 Tanzanian college students within Tanzania in March of 2017. The findings reveal that CF exerted a positive and significant influence on KCI, IKC, and ATCOUN. Moreover, KCI positively and significantly forms both IKC and ATCOUN. Additionally, IKC was a positive influence on ATCOUN. ATCOUN was demonstrated to be a significant predictor of WOM, while KCI was demonstrated to act as a partial mediator between CF and ATCOUN. IKC was a partial mediator between CF and ATCOUN. IKC was a full mediator between KCI and ATCOUN.     

Black–white differences in beliefs about the U.S. restaurant tipping norm: Moderated by socio-economic status?

A re-analysis of two national telephone surveys found that black–white differences in awareness that it is customary to tip a percentage of the bill declined as socio-economic status increased. However, black–white differences in awareness that is customary to tip 15–20 percent in restaurants was unrelated to socio-economic status. The practical as well as theoretical implications of these findings are discussed along with directions for future research.     

Training,tracking, and traversing: digital materiality and the production of bodies and/in space in runners’ fitness tracking practices

ABSTRACT

The impact of the Quantified Self (QS) movement, or the digital quantification of the body for the purposes of self-betterment, on leisure has been well-established within the literature. Drawing on the experiences of ten women who self-track while running, this project extends the literature on running and place, and lived experiences of the QS, by considering the role of fitness tracking on embodiment and emplacement. First, I trouble the notion that running data is an objective replication of a runner’s activities, illustrating instead that fitness tracking is an accomplishment of human and non-human agencies and that this accomplishment does not always go according to the runner’s plan. Second, I complicate the idea that personal data collection is a disembodying act that turns visceral sensations into impersonal numbers. Instead, I argue that running data collection is often intertwined with visceral and experiential aspects of running, thus maintaining a connection between the body and the data that is collected on that body. In so doing, I contribute to digital leisure studies efforts to characterise the lived experiences of self-tracking, pointing in particular to the role of non-humans and place in those lived experiences.