In the wake of conflict: the long-term effect on child nutrition in Uganda

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency from 1986 to 2006 is one of the longest conflicts in Uganda. This paper examines the effect of the LRA insurgency on child nutrition using the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. The distance from each village to the border of South Sudan is used as an instrument for identifying the intensity of the conflict. We find that each conflict event in a village lowers weight-for-age z-scores and weight-for-height z-scores for children born after the conflict. We further investigate a possible heterogeneous conflict effect on child nutrition in terms of gender, region, and maternal education. Low household wealth, limited access to healthcare, and poor maternal nutrition appear to be channels through which the conflict inhibits the growth and development of children 5 years after the end of the conflict.     

The relationships among overall quick-casual restaurant image,perceived value,customer satisfaction,and behavioral intentions

The purpose of this research is to explain the relationships among overall quick-casual restaurant image, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in the quick-casual restaurant industry. The findings indicate that overall quick-casual restaurant image significantly influences perceived value, and overall quick-casual restaurant image and perceived value had a significant role in influencing customer satisfaction. Additionally, overall quick-casual restaurant image, perceived value, and customer satisfaction are significant predictors of customers’ behavioral intentions. Finally, customer satisfaction can act as a partial mediator in the relationship between overall quick-casual restaurant image/perceived value and behavioral intentions. Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings and future research ideas.     

User-generated product reviews on the internet: the drivers and outcomes of the perceived usefulness of product reviews

This study examines how people cope with the user-generated product reviews (UGPRs) found on various websites where anonymous web users post and share their personal product usage experiences. Based on information processing model of communication, we postulate that there are source, message, media, and receiver factors to influence individuals' psychological processing of the UGPR messages, and its subsequent behavioral outcomes. A survey was administered by a professional market research firm to 262 randomly selected US residents from 18 to 55 years old. Consistent with the predictions, the results of the structural equation modeling analysis showed that the perceived source expertise, message objectivity, website credibility, and receiver–source similarity had positive and direct impacts on the perceptions of UGPR usefulness, which, in turn, positively influenced individuals' willingness to share product reviews with others. A series of causal model invariance tests also confirmed that the findings were statistically invariant across different subgroups divided by such factors as product categories, websites, subjective product class knowledge, past UGPR experience, and the susceptibility to informational influence.     

The role of other customers during self-service technology failure

Service recovery through inter-customer helping is especially meaningful in the self-service technology (SST) failure context because SSTs are associated with a high risk of failure due to the lack of face-to-face contacts with employees. In understanding the phenomenon of inter-customer helping, two fundamental questions are investigated in the current research: (1) does social influence play a role in customers’ helping decisions? and (2) what are the motives for helping? Through two experimental studies, we provide evidence that two different forms of social influence play a role in helping others during SST failures, and customers have self-centered (vs. other-centered) motives. Results from Study 1 showed that individuals in the private environment indicated more willingness to help than individuals in the public environment did due to heightened perceived responsibility. Study 2 revealed that tie strength influenced willingness to help via a dual pathway: perceived responsibility and social approach motives. Finally, we discuss and highlight the positive influence that self-centered motives can exert in the SST failure scene.     

Visitor Motivational Factors and Level of Satisfaction in Wellness Tourism: Comparison Between First-Time Visitors and Repeat Visitors

This study aims to examine the differences between visitor motivations and satisfaction between first-time visitors and return visitors to a recreation wellness tourist attraction site in South Korea. Data were collected using a questionnaire at a national arboretum and 573 samples were used for analysis. The study discovered that first-time visitor motivations were composed of four factors: “relaxation and rest”, “novelty”, “self-exploration”, and “accessibility”. The return visitor motivations were “sightseeing and experience”, “convenience for touring”, “self-exploration”, and “accessibility”. The desired outcomes motivating the visitation and level of satisfaction were different between first-time and return visitors. The results contribute practical information to managers and marketers not only of the arboretum, but also of wellness tourist attractions to improve strategic visitor management in Korea and beyond. The study strategically applies the arboretum as a competitive resource in a wellness tourism industry with strategic segmentation of visitors.     

Marketing expense and financial performance in arts and cultural organizations

Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations use marketing to sustain viability. This study uses data from the Cultural Data Project to examine the effects of marketing on revenue in arts and cultural organizations. The current analysis demonstrates that total marketing expense is positively related to total revenue. Marketing expense used for fund‐raising positively influences donation income, as intended, whereas commercial income is not affected. Alternatively, marketing expense for programs positively influences both commercial income, as intended, and donation income. The novel finding from this study is that marketing expense mainly targeting non‐donor ticket buyers not only increases commercial income but also augments donation income in arts and cultural organizations.     

Citizens’ e-participation on agenda setting in local governance: Do individual social capital and e-participation management matter?

Although a growing body of literature has touted e-participation as a means of facilitating greater citizen participation in policy decision-making processes, little is known about the driving forces behind citizens’ use of e-participation. Based on a literature review of social capital and citizen participation, this study develops and tests a model proposing that three dimensions of social capital and three dimensions of citizen participation management should be positively associated with e-participation in agenda setting. Using data from a Korean e-participation survey conducted in 2009, we found that citizens tend to be more active e-participants when they have greater trust in government and are weakly tied to offline social groups. We also found that citizen participants’ perception of government responsiveness to their input can facilitate their e-participation. The study findings imply that local governments should pay more attention to the function of public trust in local government and provide quality feedback in response to citizen input. They should also be sensitive to how the social factors of e-participants can facilitate involvement in agenda setting.     

Examining the influencing factors of intention to share accommodations in online hospitality exchange networks

ABSTRACT

CouchSurfing is a free social-network-based online hospitality exchange network, aptly representing a new sharing economy phenomenon. Based on social capital theory and previous literature, this study attempts to answer why hosts help strangers without any expected economic benefit within online hospitality exchange networks. An empirical study based on a Web survey conducted with CouchSurfing hosts reveals that the most identified antecedents (enjoy helping, shared narratives, desire to make friends, and reciprocity) are significantly related to hosts’ intention to share accommodations. Interestingly, the overshadowing effect of trust in CouchSurfing on the intention to share accommodations is also found.     

Examining the impact of experiential value on emotions,self-connective attachment,and brand loyalty in Korean family restaurants

ABSTRACT

This study examines how experiential value as perceived by customers of Korean family restaurants influences consumption emotions, self-connective attachment to the restaurant brand, and, ultimately, brand loyalty. Having conducted a comprehensive literature review, the study proposes and estimates a model that specifies the interrelationships among four dimensions of experiential value (i.e., atmosphere, escapism, customer return on investment, and service excellence), and latent variables of positive and negative emotions, self-connective attachment, and brand loyalty. Analysis with structural equation modeling was conducted with data collected from customers of family restaurants in South Korea. The results show that dimensions of experiential value influence either positive or negative emotions. The emotion variables, together with self-connective attachment, also mediate the relationships between perceived value of dining experience and brand loyalty.