Reimagining Chinatown: An analysis of tourism discourse

Ever since Chinese immigrants began to move into big North American cities in the late nineteenth century, their ethnically segregated neighborhoods have been referred to as Chinatown and layered with negative and demeaning imagery. Through an analysis of the discourse circulating in neighborhood tours organized by the Chicago Office of Tourism, this paper illustrates how current tourism representations of Chicago's Chinatown are constructed through a process of negotiation with the infamous past imagery of this ethnic enclave. The paper identifies two discursive themes that work to exoticize this neighborhood, while simultaneously attempting to render it familiar and comfortable for tourists. It is argued that such an analysis illuminates how the process of touristification is governed by an ideological shift toward diversity in the globalized city. Moreover, it also illuminates the ways that present tourism discourse, which is produced within an ideological milieu that is celebratory of diversity and multiculturalism and within a political–economic milieu that recognizes the marketability of diversity, draws upon traditional characterizations of Chinatown as Other, while reconstructing this Otherness in a way that appears friendly to tourists. It thus contributes to our understanding of how discourse about an ethnic urban enclave evolves with changing ideological and political–economic conditions, such that traditional imagery is both reinforced and revised.     

interpreting slavery Tourism

This inquiry explores the manner in which tourists endow a former slave plantation with meaning by promoting or demoting its cultural authority. Drawing on the encoding/decoding model, this study utilizes interviews to examine the ways in which tourists decode the plantation by acquiescing or negating the preferred cultural text through the adoption of dominant, negotiated or oppositional readings. The findings indicate that as active recipients of the preferred reading tourists interpreted/decoded the plantation in dichotomous polarized ways based on the meaning structures and knowledge frameworks of the interpretive communities within which they are situated. In essence, the decoding process, much like the encoding process is viewed as constituting an array of dominant ideologies.     

Sensation‐Seeking Attributes Associated with Storm‐Chasing Tourists: Implications for Future Engagement

This study explores recreational storm chasing, a new form of niche tourism. In particular, this study examines sensation‐seeking traits associated with participants' socio‐demographics, storm‐chasing involvement and tour satisfaction levels. Results show that recreational storm chasers scored highest on Experience Seeking and lowest on Boredom Susceptibility sensation‐seeking dimensions. Correlation tests showed that several socio‐demographic, storm‐chasing involvement and tour satisfaction indicators are associated with Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Boredom Susceptibility, and Experience Seeking dimensions. Marketing and management implications of study results also are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Knowledge Matters: Technology,Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Innovation Networks and Knowledge ClustersEdited by Elias G. Carayannis and Piero Formica . Hampshire,UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008. 267 + xix pages. US$90.00.

Books reviewed in this issue:

• Knowledge Matters: Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Innovation Networks and Knowledge Clusters
• Future Search: Getting the Whole System in the Room for Vision, Commitment, and Action
• Take Charge Product Management: Time‐Tested Tips, Tactics, and Tools for the New or Improved Product Manager

     

Drivers and barriers to online airline ticket purchasing

Although online sales of airline tickets are growing, many travellers are still reluctant to use the web as a purchase channel. Given the cost advantages of online sales for airlines, it is useful for them to know the main drivers and barriers affecting the use of the Internet to purchase tickets. This study analyses the influence of risk, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on the airline ticket online purchase intention. The results of a survey show that perceived purchase risk and perceived usefulness exercise a direct influence on airline ticket purchasing intentions, while perceived ease of use has an indirect influence through perceived usefulness. Psychological risk, performance risk and privacy risk are the predominant perceived risk dimensions in airline tickets purchase, whereas social risk and time loss risk are negligible.     

Impact of tacit knowledge on customer loyalty

Tacit knowledge about customers held by contact personnel is a priority for better satisfying customer needs and creating added value. This research project seeks to develop a model to analyse the impact of tacit knowledge on loyalty for rural tourism lodgings. A questionnaire was applied to the clients of rural tourism lodgings who had either already consumed rural tourism services at least once or were then currently consuming such services. By applying structural equation models, the results demonstrate how tacit knowledge does improve the performance of employees in engaging in affective bonds and enables better understanding of the needs and expectations of customers. Furthermore, the results confirm how tacit knowledge about customers represents a resource able to promote customer loyalty and thus a very strong potential source of competitive advantage.     

Cross-border consumer complaints in private international law

This survey gives an overall view of how private international law deals with cross-border consumer complaints.Firstly, the procedural private international law rules are discussed. It is shown that the private international law rules still focus on judicial complaints handling. They do not take into account that at a national level consumer complaints are often handled in another way, for instance by an Ombudsman.Secondly, Article 5 of the Rome Convention and other conflict of law rules which are of interest to the consumer, are evaluated. Article 5 is criticized because of its limited scope.

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Grenzüberschreitende Verbraucherbeschwerden im Internationalen Privatrecht

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag gibt einen überblick darüber, wie das Internationale Privatrecht mit grenzüberschreitenden Verbraucherbeschwerden umgeht. ZunÄchst werden die Verfahrensregelungen des Internationalen Privatrechts dokumentiert. Dabei wird gezeigt, da\ diese Regelungen vorrangig immer noch die Behandlung von Verbraucherbeschwerden durch die Gerichte im Auge haben; sie nehmen nicht zur Kenntnis, da\ Verbraucherbeschwerden auf nationaler Ebene oft anders, z. B. durch einen Ombudsman, behandelt werden. Anschlie\end werden Artikel 5 der VertrÄge von Rom und andere Regelungen von Rechtskonflikten, die für die Verbraucher relevant sind, behandelt. Dabei wird Artikel 5 wegen seines engen Blickwinkels kritisiert.

     

Intuition and rationality in intrapreneurship and innovation outputs: The case of health professionals in primary health care

The aim of this article is to explore the role of cognitive styles and intrapreneurship in health professionals’ innovation outputs, as well the mediated effect of intrapreneurship between cognitive styles and innovation output. This study used the survey method of data collection, through a self-administered questionnaire. Partial least square structural equation modelling method was used to analyse the result of the sample of 209 professionals of primary health care providers in Northern Portugal. Our findings reveal that cognitive style plays a significant role in intrapreneurship and innovation outputs, which are mediated by intrapreneurship. In particular, health care professionals with the rational cognitive style are likely to be more of a intrapreneur and innovative as compared to those with a intuitive cognitive style. Promoting intrapreneurship is crucial for successful innovation outputs. This study reveals that an understanding of the cognitive style of the health care professionals can help managers allocate appropriate individuals to different healthcare tasks. Our primary contribution to theory has been to highlight the importance of cognitive styles in intrapreneurship and innovation within the context of primary health care organizations.