Elite sport culture and policy interrelationships: the case of Sprint Canoe in Australia

In recent years, elite sport policy has received considerable research attention. However, to date the emphasis of such studies has been the examination of policies as stand-alone entities and the ways each policy may impact athlete performance rather than how policies influence each other. This study explores the elite sport policy interrelationships of Sprint Canoe in order to explain the dynamic links between policies and how they may affect performance. To explore these links in depth, interviews with coaches, high performance managers and athletes from Sprint Canoe in Australia were conducted. The findings of this study offer a contribution to the existing literature on elite sport policy and go beyond the mere exploration of sport and country-specific policy contexts. They showcase the role of a sport’s culture on shaping policy linkages and interrelationships. The practical implications of recognising where sport policies require attention and how to achieve improvements are discussed.     

Tracking the concept of sustainability in Australian tourism policy and planning documents

In the current climate of intense turbulence, tourism must transform to a more sustainable development platform. Yet it remains unclear how the concept of sustainability is embedded at different levels of government policy and planning, and how this has evolved over time. This paper identifies the concept of sustainability as it is articulated in 339 Australian tourism strategic planning and policy documents published between 2000 and 2011. The paper examines the extent to which the concept of sustainable tourism is evident in the discourse of Australian tourism strategic planning documents at the national, state, regional and local levels, as well as the balance of the discourse in relation to sustainability objectives. The results show that the frequency of occurrence of sustainability as a concept has slightly increased in strategies over the past decade. At the same time, there has been a shift in the conceptualisation of sustainability, with thinking evolving from nature-based, social and triple bottom line concepts toward a focus on climate change, responsibility, adaption and transformation.     

Management of Perceived Risk in the Context of Destination Choice

ABSTRACT

The primary objective of this study was to examine how perceived risk could be managed in the destination choice context. Relationships among risk perceptions, uncertainty (information quality), and price premium were explored by using ordinal logistic regression. Eight types of perceived risk were investigated: health/life risk, financial risk, personal satisfaction risk, social risk, time risk, technical risk, political risk, and terrorism risk. Findings showed that perceived risks were decreased by information quality but various patterns were identified for different types of perceived risk. Results additionally suggested that travelers were willing to pay extra for products and services if more safety and security are provided. Managerial implications for how the findings can be incorporated into risk management strategies are also presented in this paper.     

Generational Perception and Satisfaction Differences Related to Restaurant Service Environment

ABSTRACT

The current study considers perception, satisfaction, and importance rating differences of aspects of the dining service environment in a casual-themed restaurant between members of three generations—baby boomers, Gen X, and millennials. The study also assesses the moderating role of generation on the relationship between satisfaction and repeat patronage intentions. Significant differences were found between generations related to satisfaction, importance ratings, and repeat patronage intentions regarding the overall dining service environment. The current study provides assessment of components of the DINESCAPE scale along with items from the DinEX scale related to social connectedness. Implications of the research are discussed.     

Trade Sophistication Indicators: Balancing Diversity and Specialization

Motivated by the important role of trade in driving and reflecting economic transformation, we focus on the export structure of two small export-oriented economies, Ireland and Finland 2000–2009, from the perspective of the sophistication of both economies’ exports, i.e., the extent to which high-value products characterise each country’s export profile. The Product Space method is used as the basis of our comparison of the economies in terms of their sectors, activities, and structural transformation of the economies. The method focuses attention on the estimated density of the product space as evident in patterns of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) in goods exports. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, as a significant export sector for both economies, is examined specifically to investigate its further export potential.     

Edgeworth Price Cycles in Gasoline: Evidence from the United States

Studies of gasoline prices in multiple countries have found sequences of a sharp price increase followed by gradual decreases. This pattern is linked to Maskin and Tirole (Econometrica 56:571–599, 1988) duopoly pricing game and labeled Edgeworth price cycles. We examine data on average daily MSA-level retail gasoline prices for 350 MSAs in the US from 1996–2010. We confirm the finding of others and show that a relatively small number of US MSAs in contiguous upper Midwestern states evidence price cycling. However, our lengthy data set allows us to see that these MSAs began cycling in 2000. Thus, we can examine prices in cycling and non-cycling MSAs before and after cycling and find that prices are lower in MSAs that began cycling.     

Competition and its influence on consumer decision making in social marketing

Abstract

This paper extends the largely conceptual understanding of competition in social marketing by empirically investigating, from a consumer perspective, the nature of competition and its influence on decision making at the individual level. Two phases of qualitative inquiry in Australia, comprising 30 and 20 semi-structured interviews, respectively, examined the role of competition in young adults’ decision to adopt and maintain help-seeking for mental ill-health. The findings from thematic analysis suggest that competition operates at both the behavioural and goal level to influence consumers’ decision to perform behaviour and that the types of competition in operation may vary from the adoption to the maintenance of behaviour. The findings are integrated into a framework that social marketers could employ to identify, analyse and address competition.     

Attention All Shoppers,Queer Customers in Aisle Two: Investigating Lesbian and Gay Discrimination in the Marketplace

In this paper, drawing on epistemologies in social and behavioral sciences, we discuss the tenuous social-cultural climate of sexual minorities within markets. Discourses across disciplines address the socio-political and cultural evolution of sexual minorities, most notably self-identified and out lesbians and gay men. Yet, consumptive and marketing spheres offer mixed metaphors about the value and desirability of lesbians and gays, and often work to enact the homophobic at an institutional level. We review research on homonegative bias and heteronormativity within psychological and sociological domains, and then illustrate how homonegativity toward perceived lesbians and gays is structurally enacted within the marketplace. We posit four methodological strategies that may be used to further research queries in these domains, and comment on the ethical parameters of using deception to investigate discriminatory behavior against (perceived) lesbians and gay men.     

Positioning Strategies for Social Cause Organizations: A Multivariate Analysis of Dimensions and Ideals

The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for exploring positioning strategies for social cause organizations (SCO) in an attempt to better utilize their distinguishable nature and ability to foster aspects of desired change. Although much research has been considered regarding SCOs and their ability to attract understandable interest and passion, limited work has investigated their unique positioning strategies. Statistical positioning tools will provide an analytical perspective of the attributes these organizations possess and what influences they may have on individual perceptions. Published marketing materials from select SCOs will be examined. Analysis will reveal perceptual maps based upon respondent attribute ratings. “Ideal” SCOs will then be identified with multivariate regression. Results will be further tested to discern the predictive capabilities of the maps. Last, theoretical and managerial implications will be forwarded for discussion.