An emerging tourism planning paradigm? A comparative analysis between town and tourism planning

This article examines the roots and the evolution of tourism and town planning theory and practice. It discusses how both fields have interacted with each other, and provides some clues about the way in which tourism and town planning theory and practice are likely to evolve in the future. It is argued that tourism planning theory is still looking for its own identity and ways of evolving in the future. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of affective and cognitive antecedents on negative word-of-mouth intentions

Negative word-of-mouth (WOM), defined as derogatory information disseminated from person to person and aimed at defaming a product, highlighting a product complaint, and/or highlighting unsatisfactory service experiences, influences consumer behavior and can harm a company’s image. The present study was conducted to ascertain the impact of affective antecedents (negative emotions) and cognitive antecedents (distrust) in the intent of negative WOM. A proposed theoretical model was employed to analyze the effect that perceived injustice had on negative WOM and how this effect was mediated by emotional and cognitive aspects. The research was a pre-experimental design – one treatment leading to one observation – with 252 students. Through an OLS regression and mediation analyses, we found an indirect link between perceived injustice and negative WOM intent, which was mediated by negative emotions and distrust. Contributing to the field of marketing studies, this paper fills an investigative gap regarding affective and cognitive antecedents as mediators of negative WOM. The results suggest that marketing managers should create mechanisms to allow consumers to express their negative emotions and rebuild their trust in order to avoid the spread of negative WOM.     

Running for pleasure or performance? How store attributes and hedonic product value influence consumer satisfaction

Previous retailing studies have linked consumer satisfaction to perceived hedonic or utilitarian product value. This research extends previous studies by examining how the context in which the product is purchased (store attributes) and product value influence consumer satisfaction. We conducted a field study with 213 consumers attending two major running events. The findings from structural equation modelling suggest that a specific combination of store attributes (tangible and intangible) and hedonic product value has a positive influence on satisfaction. Results also show that tangible store attributes have a stronger positive impact on utilitarian (vs. hedonic) product value, and that intangible store attributes have a positive impact on hedonic product value. However, we found that only hedonic product value has a positive impact on satisfaction. This research contributes to theory by showing that a match between store attributes (tangible and intangible) and hedonic product value can positively influence satisfaction. In managerial terms, the findings provide insights on how to improve consumer satisfaction in retail environments through store attributes and hedonic product value.     

Spend as I say,not as I do: Children,families and household consumption in different socio‐economic contexts

This article aims at contributing to a body of work about children and families by exploring the importance of socio‐economic context and social capital for understanding the ways in which money is perceived, obtained and used by children. Alleged contrasts in terms of money management, consumption priorities and postponement of gratification, especially among middle and working classes, have already been debated. It seems thus relevant to investigate if these presumable contrasts apply to children and why. Do children from different socio‐economic contexts reveal the traits that have been attributed to their households? To this end, a mixed methods research project was developed involving 245 children attending different primary schools in Portugal—one private school targeted at upper class children and one state‐sponsored school located in a working‐class area. The results revealed significant differences by school and household typology.     

The Relationship between Brand Attachment and Consumers' Emotional Well-Being

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between brand attachment and emotional well-being of consumers based on the need for personal image management and feelings of arrogant pride. A study of 107 consumers of the Calvin Klein brand was performed. Data were analyzed using the structural equations modeling technique. The results indicated a positive relationship between brand attachment and emotional well-being of consumers. A relationship was also identified between brand attachment, image management, and emotional well-being, and brand attachment and arrogant pride. No relationship was identified between arrogant pride and emotional well-being.     

Economic development and inflation: a theoretical and empirical analysis

This paper studies the relation between inflation and economic development. The literature is largely silent regarding both the theoretical and empirical perspectives that undeveloped countries endure higher average inflation than developed economies. We present a simple theoretical model linking the inflation phenomenon to the tradition of development economics. Empirical evidence is garnered to test the hypothesis that economic development engenders a downward bias to inflation rates. Through the feasible-GLS estimator in a panel of 65 countries from 2001 to 2011, we aim at listing a number of variables most commonly used to explain differences in the stage of economic development across countries and identifying the most statistically relevant ones to account for differences in inflationary patterns. While our results show that inflation is inversely correlated with the level of the technological content of the economy (measured by share of high-tech exports), human capital and cyclical unemployment, it is directly related to the degree of inflation persistence and terms of trade growth. However, our findings still present an inverse and low correlation between inflation persistence and economic development, implying that development-sensitive variables allowed into the model can only partially account for the differences in inflation at different levels of economic development.     

Management factors affecting the performance of technology firms

This paper analyzes high-technology firms within the European Union to determine the factors that influence performance through business productivity. The study examines six different factors that are representative of entrepreneurial activity, firstly from a purely business standpoint, and subsequently from the areas of production and technology, human resources, strategy and marketing and, lastly, the economic-financial area. Results indicate a direct relation between productivity and factors such as private borrowing, dynamism or using price as a strategic factor, while the reverse is true for concepts such as family resources, level of investment in R&D or training programs.     

Does the digital divide matter? The role of information and communication technology in cross-country level and growth estimates

The bulk of information and communication technology is made of weightless, implementable, and infinitely reproducible knowledge products (such as software and databases). These products are transferred by telephone lines, accessed through internet hosts, and processed through personal computers. In this work, the coefficient of the labour augmenting factor in the aggregate production function has been estimated using proxies of variables crucially affecting the diffusion of (non-rival and almost non-excludable) knowledge products. This specification provides interesting answers to some of the open issues in the existing growth literature. The most recent information, though available for a limited period, shows that telephone lines, personal computers, mobile phones, and internet hosts significantly affect levels and growth of income per worker across countries. The result is robust to changes in sample composition, econometric specification, and estimation approach.