Effects of art in retail environments

Artworks have been introduced to retail environments outside of the art gallery and museum setting, with the assumption that art can transfer everyday consumption experiences into special and memorable ones. However, the question on the effectiveness of the placement of artwork in retail environments in influencing consumers’ behaviors and experiences has not been addressed. Using the Sacred Heart sculpture by Jeff Koons, we conduct two studies to test the influence of art on an individual’s behavioral intention to visit a restaurant and expected experience of food consumption. Study 1 corroborates that the effect of attitudes toward an artwork on behavioral intentions is amplified when consumers’ art knowledge and levels of openness to experience are low, indicating that consumers who lack art appraisal skills are likely to be dependent on their attitude toward art. Study 2 examines the mediating roles of attitudes toward an artwork and an artist by manipulating art attractiveness and artist information as the sources of esthetic perceptions. The artist information serves as the factor boosting the effect of art attractiveness on the behavioral intention through the mediation of attitudes toward the artwork and the artist. Results show that how consumers perceive an artwork, namely artistic processing in a retail environment, is powerful in leading them to enter a store and have desirable consumption experiences. Retailers can also enhance consumer experience by selecting artworks based on target consumers’ level of art knowledge and openness to experience.     

Nonlinear effects of exchange rate changes on the South African bilateral trade balance

In testing for the J-curve, previous studies have shown that the trade balance model is better fitted using cointegration and error correction mechanisms. These mechanisms are able to incorporate the short-term deterioration and the long-term improvement of the trade balance – the definition of the J-curve. However, the drawback of the established cointegration and error correction frameworks is that they assume symmetry in the equilibrium adjustment process. Incidentally, studies which have used the linear frameworks have found little support for the J-curve. Since the adjustment process could be nonlinear, a fresh investigation of the J-curve using nonlinear approaches could provide competing evidence. This paper retested the J-curve by using quarterly data for South Africa and her key trade partners (China, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and the USA) and found the linear specification to support the J-curve phenomenon in only two cases (India and the USA) under relaxed conditions. In contrast, the nonlinear specification supported the J-curve phenomenon in all cases at no cost of serial correlation and functional misspecification. We also found the real exchange rate changes to have significant nonlinear effects on the South African trade balance.     

Effects of Executive Share Option Plans on Shareholder Wealth and Firm Performance: The Singapore Evidence

The main purpose of our paper is to study the institutional nature and characteristics of executive share option plans (ESOPs) in Singapore, a fast-growing economy and an important investment location in Asia. Our study provides an interesting comparison between the characteristics of ESOPs in Singapore and those in the US. Our paper also investigates the short-term market reaction to ESOP announcements and the long-run stock and operating performance of the sample firms following the adoption of the ESOPs. Results indicate weak evidence of a positive abnormal return on the days surrounding the announcement of the ESOPs. However, there is no evidence of long-term superior stock and operating performance for the ESOP firms relative to benchmarks. The lack of significant incentive effects for the sample firms reflects mainly the unique regulatory environment in Singapore.     

Strategic alignment and performance of market-seeking MNCs in China

This study explores the environment–strategy–performance relation of foreign firms, especially those with a market-seeking mandate, in China. The results indicate that the Analyzer orientation is best suited to the turbulent Chinese market, which has been undergoing an economic transition in recent years. There is also a significant difference in financial performance among market-seeking MNCs depending on strategic orientations, with the Analyzer orientation producing the highest performance. The Prospector and the Defender orientations lead to poor financial performance because of the mismatch with China's market, which is highly dynamic and complex. Our findings reiterate the importance of understanding local market traits and opportunities and developing proper strategic configurations for market-seeking MNC subsidiaries, especially in an emerging economy like China. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Important Service Quality of Tourist Retail Services

This study uses a service quality model consisting of six service quality dimensions to measure the attractiveness of a destination and their impact on customers’ loyalty intention to a tourist destination. We find that the dimensions representing destination attractiveness have a stronger impact on visitor loyalty intention than the dimensions representing retail attributes. Because the current literature has infrequently investigated the concepts of important service quality of tourist retail service that exhibit characteristics of both retail and tourist attractions, this study explores these concepts and attempts to fill this gap.     

Residents’ perceptions on the traffic impact of a special event: a case of the Macau Grand Prix

Special events may cause significant disruptions to the community and affect the daily lives of the local residents. This study examines how local residents perceive the traffic impact of a major tourism event, the Macau Grand Prix, which is an annual event that takes place on a circuit around the streets of the city, Macao. An exploratory factor analysis reveals five factors regarding the traffic impacts of the event, and the residents of different transportation modes have distinct views on the traffic measures. Bus transit and pedestrian traffic management is found to be the most effective. The result provides the event organizer implications and assessment for the traffic planning and management measures in gaining support from the community.     

The young generations’ conceptualisation of cultural tourism: colonial heritage attractions in South Korea

This study investigates how the younger generation conceptualise cultural tourism attractions associated with modern history in contemporary South Korea. Particular attention in this study is given to heritage attractions built in the Japanese colonising past. By analysing data obtained through a Multiple Sorting Procedure, this study identifies the underlying facets of heritage attractions the younger generation consider to be important when appreciating the heritage attractions. This study examines the socio-psychological properties and meanings that the heritage attractions communicate with respect to young Koreans’ sense of national identity. This study found that a range of constructs emerged in understanding heritage attractions. Social and political meanings embedded in the heritage attractions become a key determinant in appreciating heritage attractions with respect to a sense of national identity. These findings from South Korea suggest invaluable messages that can inform our understanding of, and planning regenerating negative-natured heritage attractions for tourism in contemporary society.     

The Influence of Destination-Country Image on Prospective Tourists’ Visit Intention: Testing Three Competing Models

The concept of destination-country image (DCI) in tourism context is an integration of two constructs from different fields: country image from international marketing and destination image from tourism. Based on the concept of attitude in the theory of reasoned action and halo effect view, this study explains the macro and micro structures that support DCI, and tests the influence of the original DCI on visit intention of prospective tourists through three competing models. The results show that the macro DCI includes four dimensions: country character, country competence, people character and people competence; the micro DCI is composed of three dimensions: natural attraction, cultural attraction and service facility. Full mediating model is supported, which indicates that macro DCI has an indirect effect on visit intention through micro DCI. This study proposes an integrated construct of the DCI and full mediating model, which adds knowledge of the relationship between original image and potential tourist's visit intention.