An analysis of visitor movement patterns using travel networks in a large marine park, north-western Australia

Good management of tourist destinations can be enhanced by understanding the movement patterns of visitors. Different itinerary types and the concept of distance decay have been explored but there has been little application to within-destination movements or, more broadly, to protected areas. Coastal marine parks offer a challenging location for such research given the connectivity between the water and adjacent land components. The aim of the study was to describe, and quantify, within-destination movement patterns of visitors travelling for recreation throughout Ningaloo Marine Park, in north-western Australia, using various modes of travel. Data were collected using 1208 site-based interviews over a 12-month period. Results revealed visitors were highly dependent on the road network and, once at their accommodation, more than a third did not travel any further to participate in recreation. Conversely, some sites had such a strong attraction that respondents, especially first time and international visitors, travelled long distances for recreation at these sites. These findings contribute to a small, but growing, body of research on within-destination patterns. Such information is essential for protected area planning and to help managers efficiently allocate their often-limited resources.     

When social intrusiveness depletes customer value: A balanced perspective on the agency of simultaneous sharers in a commercial sharing experience

A major pattern of non‐ownership consumption is “simultaneous sharing,” whereby customers simultaneously share the same resource in either a virtual or physical setting. However, little research examines the actual value that consumers derive from such a group‐based commercial experience. By integrating the literature on customer value and the psychology of autonomy, this study proposes a theoretical model of the simultaneous sharing experience that balances the benefits and social intrusiveness of sharer agency. Based on data that were collected from members of a collaborative platform dedicated to flat sharing and analyzed through structural equation modeling, social intrusiveness is found to be a pervasive phenomenon that strongly impairs customer satisfaction, whereas communal benefits, as reflected by enjoyment, companionship, informational guidance, and emotional support, enhance it. As a major antecedent of both communal benefits and intrusiveness, perceived homophily nourishes satisfaction, however, customer age may reduce the buffering influence of perceived homophily on intrusiveness, whereas an additional positive effect on communal benefits is associated with the sharer social integrative motive. We discuss the implications of this study for customer experience and commercial sharing consumption research.     

The Development of Open-air Markets in East-Central Europe

This paper considers the way in which open-air markets have developed as a legacy of both the communist and pre-communist systems, but have taken distinctive forms in the post-communist context. The small-scale capitalism represented by open-air markets is often informal and not often analysed in the context of the transformation process in East and Central Europe. However, this paper argues that they can represent an important indicator of some aspects of the nature and extent of economic and social transformation. The paper considers theoretical insights for analysing open-air markets and particular features of post-communist open-air markets: the degree of informalization; the role of ethnic communities; moral perspectives on markets; open-air markets and social capital or other forms of informal social control; and the role of social structure in understanding open-air markets. Cet article analyse la façon dont les marchés en plein air, se sont développés à partir de leurs origines dans les systèmes pré-communistes et communistes, tout en prenant des formes distinctes dans le contexte post-communiste. Le capitalisme à petite échelle représenté par les marchés en plein air est souvent informel et rarement analysé dans le contexte du processus de transformation en Europe de l’est et en Europe centrale. Néanmoins, cet article soutient qu’ils peuvent ? tre un indicateur important de certains aspects de la nature et du degré de transformation sociale et économique. Les éléments théoriques sont mis en relation avec l’analyse des marchés en plein air et leurs éléments caractéristiques après le communisme: L’importance de l’economie soutenue; le rôle des communautés ethniques; les perspectives morales sur les marchés; les marchés en plein air et le capital social ou d’autres formes de contrôle social officieux; et le rôle de la structure sociale pour comprendre les marchés en plein air.     

Innovating SMEs and Regions: The Need for Policy Intelligence and Interactive Policies

Based on the empirical findings achieved through comparative research involving 40 innovation policy instruments from 11 European regions, this paper proposes a shift in rationale and in the broad orientations of innovation policy to focus on addressing SMEs in their regional context. The main role for innovation policy, which aims to increase the capacity of a region and the capabilities of its SMEs to innovate, is to foster interactive learning within the firms and within the region. This calls for an interactive mode of policy intervention. The paper deals also with the question of how to build a coherent portfolio of policy instruments, taking into account both regional situations and specific SMEs needs in terms of innovation. The key message is that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' policy portfolio. Regional differences in innovation capabilities call for a tailored mix of policy instruments. One salient element of the conclusion is the need for more 'policy intelligence' in this complex field.     

The Role of Interested Groups in England's Emerging Tourism Policy Network

The role of interested groups within English tourism policy development has increased considerably in recent years. There are several possible explanations for this, including changing government policy styles, the perception of the importance of tourism to the national economy, and the developing sophistication of a tourism policy network. This paper reviews the role of interested groups and the nature of tourism policy development in England within the context of a theoretical discussion on public policy analysis, policy styles and policy networks. It specifically reports on the relationship between the tourism interest groups and government, and the mechanisms used by them to influence policy development. The paper shows that the tourism policy network can be characterised as immature. It has government at its centre directing strategic policy, with two sub-networks concentrating on the detail of commercial tourism and tourism resource policy. Within these sub-networks are dominant and secondary players defined as such by the manner in which they use their resources, gain access to decision-makers, collaborate with like-minded groups and work with government bureaucracy.     

We the living: the effects of living and deceased donor stories on charitable bequest giving intentions

Choosing messages to encourage charitable bequest giving may be particularly challenging given sensitivity to personal mortality reminders. Previous research suggests that people often react to mortality reminders with avoidance, including distancing themselves from those associated with death. We compare the effects of otherwise similar living and deceased bequest donor stories on subsequent intentions to leave a charitable bequest. Although both story types significantly increased subsequent intentions to leave a charitable bequest, living donor stories consistently outperformed otherwise identical deceased donor stories. Fundraisers may do well to emphasize stories of living planned bequest donors and de‐emphasize death and the deceased in charitable bequest fundraising messaging. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recall of Information from Political Advertising

Abstract

Televised political commercials have frequently been criticized for stressing idealized image characteristics of the candidates rather than issues. Content analyses of political advertising, however, have shown that these commercials generally contain both image and issue material. Given both types of content are present in political ads, this study was designed to determine what people recall from these ads in a natural environment. A telephone study during the last week of a gubernatorial election revealed that the amount of free recall exhibited was greater for information from a preferred candidate's commercials than from his opponent's. However, one-third of the respondents were unable to recall anything from either candidates' political commercials. Recall was more highly related to attitude variables than most demographic variables or total television exposure.     

Tourism experiences within an attributional framework

This paper reports on a conceptualization of previously reported data by the authors. Using the critical incident technique, tourists were asked to recount their most positive and most negative tourism experiences. These qualitative data were reduced using the attribution theory. This framework allows researchers to determine which of four causes (ability, effort, task ease/difficulty, and luck) they use to explain their experiences. Results showed an attribution bias where tourists are more likely to use internal (dispositional) attributions for positive tourism outcomes compared to more external (situation) attributions for negative experiences. Tourists perceive less personal control for both positive and negative experiences. Implications for the industry, tourism education, and tourists themselves are discussed.     

Boundary Work: Becoming Middle Class in Suburban Dar es Salaam

Suburban space provides a useful window onto contemporary class practices in Africa, where it is difficult to identify social classes on the basis of income or occupation. In this article I argue that the middle classes and the suburbs are mutually constitutive in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. Using interviews with residents and local government officials in the city's northern suburbs, I discuss the material and representational practices of middle-class boundary work in relation to land and landscape. If the middle classes do not presently constitute a coherent political-economic force, they are nevertheless transforming the city's former northern peri-urban zones into desirable suburban residential neighbourhoods.