Designed for leisure … for all? Gendered experiences and practices of leisure at the architect designed second home

ABSTRACT

In contrast to an inherited or repurposed second home, owners are able to stipulate how their leisure practices are catered for when they employ an architect to design their second home. This longitudinal study examines gendered experiences and practices of leisure at architect designed second homes in New Zealand, through an analysis of written and visual discourse in an architecture and lifestyle magazine over a period of 80 years. The identified themes were persistent over the 80 years, but the discourses evolved through time and indicate the socio-cultural context in which they were written. The findings suggest that although the opportunity to imagine a ‘life lived differently’ exists at the second home, for the second homeowners featured in the magazine articles at least, this does not extend to gender relations. This may be in part due to the very nature of the second home, whereby it is difficult to escape the deeply ingrained gender ideologies associated with home/work, productive/reproductive dichotomies.     

European leisure studies at the crossroads? A history of leisure research in Europe

In this contribution, a generalized picture is given of the history of leisure research in Europe. It is based on a comparative study of the history of leisure research in six European countries: Spain, Poland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (Mommaas, Van der Poel, Bramham, & Henry, 1996a). Across Europe, leisure research has been dominated by sociological perspectives and concerns. Sociology has very much acted as a mediator of collective, public concerns, dealing with issues of enlightenment/civilization and cultural participation/welfare. However, from the late 1970s onward, the collective, educational project of free time has lost much of its former significance. On one side, there is now much more academic attention to issues of time, consumption, play, and pleasure. However, at the same time, these issues have become disconnected from former collective concerns of leisure and/or free time. This leads to two interrelated questions: Are leisure studies still in need of a unifying project of leisure? and If so, what should such a project look like?     

Allotment holding as an eco‐leisure practice: the case of the Sataf village

This article explores the phenomenon of allotment holding as a leisure practice, by drawing upon on a 2‐year field study conducted at the Sataf village allotment site near the city of Jerusalem. The findings indicate that plotting at the Sataf involves an ideological commitment to nature and environment‐friendly related themes. Accordingly, plot holding at the Sataf is termed an eco‐leisure practice. In addition, the findings indicate that plotting at Sataf is an individual rather than a socially oriented experience. These findings are interpreted with regard to all of the particular features and developments in Israel, the specific literature on allotment holding, the study fields of leisure and tourism, and George Simmel's philosophy of experience.     

‘All in a day's leisure’: gender and the concept of leisure

This paper suggests that leisure conceptualized as time or activity alone poses problems for gender. The underlying idea of leisure as freely-chosen, self-actualizing experience is presented as a basis for broadening the concept. Both the limitations and the freedoms inherent in the leisure experience of women and men may be explained through such a concept of leisure.

This concept leads us to explore new areas of literature, in particular feminist analyses of power. Women's lack of autonomy in comparison with men is highlighted. Finally, further research and future policy can be enhanced by this broader concept of leisure.     

The role of cultural context in the development of low‐capital ocean leisure activities

Abstract

The ocean beaches of the United States are an economically important resource. As American culture has become increasingly more preoccupied with leisure activities, however, traditional commercial interests along the beach have been replaced by expressive activities. In terms of the number of participants, the vast majority of beach users have performed their leisure activities without the benefit of sophisticated equipment or infrastructure, and without high‐capital expenditure; that is, they have been engaged in low‐capital beach uses. With particular reference to these low‐capital beach uses, this paper examines the role of culture in determining leisure beach activities using the example of the differential development of marine recreational fishing and surfing on the East and West Coasts of the United States. Based on participant observation, legal histories, and popular and academic literature one location on each coast was chosen, and the development of these two leisure activities compared and contrasted. Variations and changes in cultural contexts at the local and national levels were found to be important factors in explaining the observed differential development of these activities in the two locations.     

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.     

Understanding Ifá: inserting knowledge of an African cosmology in leisure studies and nature-based research

Originating among the Yorùbá of West Africa, Ifá is an ancient spiritual system that spread throughout the globe due to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. But over the past 50 years because of a desire among various racial and ethnic groups, Ifá has grown and is seen as a ‘world religion’. Within Ifá resides the Orisha, representational forces serving the greater force of the Universe. Urban and rural natural environments are sacred spaces for practitioners as tourists to interact and communicate with these forces to intercede in their daily lives. This article will present the underlying environmental ethics of the system of Ifá and how it informs nature-based tourism and interactions with nature for both leisure and spiritual development. What is presented is a continued broadening of our understanding of differing cultural views, norms and behaviours with nature that has been initiated by Native-American–based scholarship.     

Locating leisure as the route to well-being: challenges of researching women’s leisure in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This article interrogates the relation of leisure to subjective well-being by focusing on the language-based challenges during empirical research, which deeply impact upon both the substance of the data collected and its interpretation, thereby the knowledge that is produced on leisure. Drawing upon the empirical data collected via qualitative methods, the article seizes on the relationship between women’s free-time, labour, leisure and subjective well-being. The findings of the research suggest that the translation of leisure as ‘free time activities’ in Turkish creates serious challenges in researching women’s leisure. Women in this research understand leisure in multiple ways, such as an escape from boredom, a sphere of recuperation, pleasure and self-fulfilment which altogether represent their understanding of leisure as a route to their subjective well-being. Building on these findings, the article aims to highlight the importance of ethnographically guided qualitative research in uncovering both the meanings of and the interdependence between leisure and subjective well-being in both Turkey, the focus of the study, and other comparable societies around the world.     

An examination of the role of booking lead time in consumers’ reactions to online scarcity messages

Scarcity messaging is frequently employed by travel marketers to drive consumer conversion rate in the online sales environment. This study examines the effects of two types of scarcity messages, unit and option scarcity, on consumer booking intentions and explores the role of booking lead time on the scarcity messaging-booking intentions relationship in the context of the purchase of hotel accommodation. Findings suggest that when booking lead-time is long, unit scarcity messages will be more effective than option scarcity messages in influencing booking intentions as they are perceived as more credible, and induce higher perceptions of a sellout risk. When booking lead-time is short, consumers perceive no differences in the credibility of unit and option scarcity messages: both are equally effective in driving booking intentions. This research provides marketers with guidance on how and when to leverage scarcity appeals to drive consumer conversion rate.     

An examination of organizational acculturation in the U.S.‐based chain hotels in Korea

Given the relatively new concept of organizational acculturation, this study has investigated the cultural convergence of the Korean hotel employees of U.S.‐based management contract chain hotels in Korea, toward the American culture. MANOVA and subsequent univariate ANOVA tests employed have resulted in the group exhibiting a significant cultural change only in the Power Distance, one of the Hofstede's four national cultural dimensions: not in other dimensions of Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism, and Masculinity/Femininity. Some possible explanations for such marginal occurrence of the organizational acculturation have been provided in the discussion. Some possible methodological limitations have also been addressed in the study.     

Indigenous tourism from a visitor's perspective: an empirical examination of Valene L. Smith's 4Hs at a Sámi festival in Norway

Over the past three decades, indigenous tourism has received a growing amount of attention from both the tourist market and tourism academics. The research conducted regarding indigenous people has often treated the subject from a conflict perspective. In this study, a symbiotic perspective is employed in that visitors' attractions built upon indigenous resources may positively contribute to indigenous hosts. Nevertheless, to do so is dependent upon acquiring an understanding of visitors' preferences in an indigenous tourism context. To empirically ascertain visitors' preferences, a framework proposed by Valene L. Smith has been adopted. This framework operationalises the indigenous tourism product as consisting of four primary components: habitat, handicrafts, heritage, and history. This study first identifies these four components, and then examines the magnitude of their effect on visitors' experiences and perceptions at a Sámi festival in Northern Norway. The findings indicate that habitat is clearly the most salient component of this particular indigenous event in that it positively influences the visitors' satisfaction with the festival, their willingness to recommend the festival to others, and their willingness to pay to attend the festival. Further details of the findings as well as the study's implications are also provided.     

Instant‐count sampling: A technique for estimating recreation use in municipal settings

Instant‐count sampling was tested on four municipal recreation areas in Athens, Georgia. Users were counted instantaneously on the areas at randomly selected times. From these counts, estimates of use and standard errors were achieved with a minimum of sampling time required. Errors ranged from 10.2 to 37.8 percent of estimated use and did not exceed 23.6 percent for total use.     

The carnival goes on and on! Children’s perceptions of their leisure time and play in SFO 1

This paper deals with one part of a research project which aimed to identify a solid sociological base for a variety of adult education activities, through a combination of analytical and ethnographic approaches. The main focus here is on adult education as a leisure form. I propose that in considering adult education as a leisure form, account has to be taken of the relationship between leisure, paid work, the domestic work of women, and consumption in capitalist society. It is concluded that access and equal opportunities are crucial issues in considering adult education as a leisure form, but that equally important are the considerations of adult education as a preparation for leisure and leisure itself as an activity from which adults learn.     

Sex and the (seventeenth‐century) city: a research note towards a long history of leisure

Sociability and sexuality have long been acknowledged by scholars as core aspects of leisure, but historical quotidian practices such as heterosociability among young people have remained elusive. Sociologists as well as historians have elevated the interrogation of leisure to a rich area of specialisation, but one with limited historical depth since their attention has primarily focused on the last 200 years, and especially – by historians’ standards – the very recent past. This research note explores the centrality of heterosexuality as a key to youth leisure culture in seventeenth‐century French cities to argue that the pre‐modern history of leisure needs to be complicated not only by questions about class and about clearer categories of labour and leisure, but by the topics of gender and sexuality that are strikingly absent from current literature.     

Importance‐Performance and Segmentation: An Application at a Biosphere Reserve in Vietnam

This paper examines how importance‐performance analysis (IPA) used with segmentation can be an effective natural resource management tool. Data were obtained from visitors (n = 368, response rate = 66%) to the Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam. Two distinct user segments were identified according to their preference for facility development within the reserve. The two segments differed in their importance‐performance ratings for (a) attractions, (b) beach facilities and services, (c) facilities in the area, and (d) beauty of the area. Those favoring development rated each of these reserve attributes as more important (p < .001) than those less disposed to additional development. Those favoring development rated the performance of three of four attributes positively, while all four attributes received negative performance scores for those less disposed to additional development. Implications show that segmentation can allow for more accurate planning and decision making.