Saving Accounts versus Stocks and Bonds in Household Portfolio Allocation

We study the structure of household portfolios of financial wealth by analyzing both the determinants of total financial wealth and the choice between risky (stocks and bonds) and riskfree assets (saving accounts). The econometric specification is a generalized trivariate Tobit model, estimated on a cross section of 3,077 households in the Netherlands in 1988. We account for endogeneity of financial wealth and for selectivity due to nonreporting. Results show that the level of financial wealth and the marginal tax rate are major determinants of the allocation between riskfree and risky assets.     

Internet and Tourism—Part XXIV: PinpointTravel

This study examines the moderating impact of consumers' time styles on their emotional reactions and evaluations of waiting time in crowded and non-crowded environments. A quasi-experimental design was used to test our hypotheses. Our results indicate that waiting in a crowded environment results in negative emotions. In addition, people who scored high on economic time style reported significantly less satisfaction with their choice of airlines when they waited in crowded conditions. These results extend the literature on crowding and waiting time, and add to our understanding of consumer emotions in service environments.     

Measuring E-Service Quality for Online Travel Agencies

Online travel agencies face intense competition, and thus have a great need to evaluate the e-service quality of their websites to succeed or even just to survive. The present study explores the underlying dimensions used by online customers to evaluate the e-service quality of online travel agencies, as well as the relationship of these dimensions to customer satisfaction and the repurchase intention, using both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. Six underlying dimensions of e-service quality are identified from the results of factor analysis; namely, Website Functionality, Information Quality and Content, Fulfillment and Responsiveness, Safety and Security, Appearance and Presentation, and Customer Relationship. Furthermore, four dimensions—Website Functionality, Information Quality and Content, Safety and Security, and Customer Relationship—are found to significantly influence online customers' evaluation of overall satisfaction and their repurchase intention. The results of multiple regression analysis show Website Functionality to be the most powerful factor in predicting customer satisfaction and the repurchase intention. Implications of the study findings are discussed, and important guidelines for the development of online travel agencies are provided.     

The Methodological Progress of Tourism Demand Forecasting: A Review of Related Literature

Research on modeling the estimation and forecasting of tourism demand has evolved with increasing sophistication and improved quality. In this study, 155 research papers published between 1995 and 2009 were identified and were classified into three main groups according to the methods and techniques adopted—an econometric-based approach, time series techniques, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods. It appears that the more advanced methods such as cointegration, error correction model, time varying parameter model, and their combinations with systems of equations produce better results in terms of forecasting accuracy. We also discuss the implications and suggest future directions of tourism research techniques and methods.     

An Analysis of The Lowest Fares and Shortest Durations for Air-Tickets on Travel Agency Websites

Despite the existence of numerous published articles on website evaluations, the present tourism literature has no prior studies that examined the topics of lowest fares and shortest durations for air-tickets that are offered by travel websites. This study reports the findings of a study that investigated the practices of five online travel agency (OTA) websites. In terms of lowest airfares and the shortest in-flight durations (hereafter known as shortest durations) in four destinations for travelers who originated from Hong Kong, empirical findings showed the regional OTA outperformed other global leaders in airfares. Likewise, a smaller scale OTA offered lowest-fare air-tickets with the shortest durations. Practical implications are offered at the end of the article.     

A Formative Approach to Modeling Residents’ Perceived Impacts of Casino Development

This study uses a formative modeling approach rather than the more common reflective modeling approach to operationalize residents’ perceived benefits/costs. Partial least square structural equation modeling was adopted to model the predicting effects of perceived benefits/costs on residents’ support for casino development. Additionally, the mediating role of satisfaction with life was examined. Drawing from a survey administered to 1047 Macao residents, this study reveals that only perceived economic and environmental benefits affect support for casino development. The mediating effect is not confirmed. Meaningful implications are provided for policymakers and casino operators.     

A Modified Model for Hotel Website Functionality Evaluation

Harnessing a mathematical computation approach to analyze data solicited from 354 website stakeholders (including 200 hotel customers, 83 hotel managers, and 71 hotel website designers), this study presents an up-to-date and robust evaluation model for assessing the functionality of hotel websites. The modified model was also empirically used to assess the functionality performance of the websites of all the hotels in Hong Kong. Results from the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests revealed a difference in performance, with higher star rating hotels performing better than those with a lower star rating. As one of the first attempts to incorporate the perceptions of multiple website stakeholders into hotel website evaluation, this study provides hoteliers with practical advice on website development.