Leaders’ Moral Competence and Employee Outcomes: The Effects of Psychological Empowerment and Person–Supervisor Fit

This study examined how leaders’ moral competence is linked to employees’ task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Based on a sample of 102 employee–supervisor pairs from seven organizations in South Korea, the results of this study revealed that leaders’ moral competence was positively associated with employees’ task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors toward leaders (OCBS). As expected, employees’ psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between leaders’ moral competence and employees’ task performance and OCBS. Furthermore, person–supervisor fit (PS fit) moderated the relationship between leaders’ moral competence and employees’ psychological empowerment such that the relationships became stronger for individuals higher rather than lower in PS fit.     

Taming wicked problems: towards a resolution of tourism access to Traditional Owner lands in the Kimberley region,Australia

This paper names and describes the longstanding issue of tourism access to the Kimberley coast region in northwest Australia. Tourism access is a problem because it occurs without appropriate permissions from the Traditional Owners. The granting of access permission is a fundamental component of the local Traditional Owner ontology, or concept of being. Tourism activities cannot be culturally sustainable without appropriate Traditional Owner permissions. We argue that this seemingly simple issue is a “wicked problem” and must be recognised as such to facilitate its “taming” to create a culturally sustainable local tourism industry. The paper first examines the cultural and historical context, establishing a more nuanced understanding of the problem. Framed in Rittel and Webber's definition of a wicked problem, it then describes its complex and intercultural nature, highlighting repeated and continuing efforts and failures by key parties to address it, linked to an ingrained lack of political will. We conclude that operators could take ownership of the wicked problem and contribute to taming it by proactively engaging in a direct relationship with Traditional Owners based on transformational learning. The paper contributes to tourism planning studies, to the concept of the Just Destination and to indigenous tourism understanding.     

THE EFFECTS OF SITUATIONAL AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS ON CONSUMER COMPLAINT BEHAVIOR IN RESTAURANT SERVICES

This study developed and tested a model to investigate the effects of situational and individual differences on consumers' propensity to complain in a restaurant setting. A structural equation modeling analysis revealed that convenience of complaining and expectation of resultant benefits, consumers' attitude toward complaining, consumer involvement with a dining experience (e.g., dining on a special occasion and expensive food), and perceived self‐importance, are factors associated with the likelihood of engaging in complaining behavior. Theoretical and managerial implications of the results of the study are discussed in detail.     

Segmenting Overseas Golf Tourists by the Concept of Specialization

A main goal of this study was to use the concept of specialization to segment and better understand Korean overseas golf holiday tourists' demographics, motivations, overseas golf tourism destination attributes, and preference for overseas golf tourism destination attributes. A total of 424 questionnaires were collected and 370 questionnaires were used for further statistical analysis. According to results of data analyses, the advanced segment was more likely to be motivated by the quality of overseas golf resorts and other benefits (such as business opportunities), compared to the beginner and intermediate segments. The beginner group was more likely to be a company employee or housewife who earn the least at between US$35,000–US$50,000 per annum, travel on full package tours, use information from family or relatives, and have a stronger preference for the Philippines or China as golf destinations. The study's results showed potential benefits using the concept of specialization in a sport tourism setting even though the concept has been popularly applied in the outdoor setting.     

Classification of Asian Complainers in Restaurant Services

In restaurant businesses, customer dissatisfaction must be accounted for and thus avoided in order to generate revenue. In the literature, researchers have confirmed a positive relationship between complaint behaviour and consumer dissatisfaction. Three types of complaint behaviour have been discussed in previous studies: voice response, private response and third-party response. This study targeted Asian consumers (n = 300) and segmented them based on their complaint behaviour. These results signify that Asian internationals' complaint behaviour is not homogenous and can therefore be segmented in terms of their complaint behaviour. Personal characteristics as well as socio-demographics were also investigated with consumer complaint behaviour of research participants.     

Mobile Technology: An Exploratory Study of Hotel Managers

Hospitality businesses provide a natural context for mobile technology, especially given the dynamic nature of the business, the size and complexity of many hotel operations, and the need to have managers visible and overseeing multiple areas of the business (and sometimes, multiple properties) concurrently. To explore the potential for mobile technology in hospitality business contexts, we surveyed 70 full-service hotel property managers. The survey was based upon two theoretical frameworks: technology adoption model and innovation diffusion theory. Specifically, this study addressed (a) hotel property managers’ intentions to use mobile technology at work, (b) factors influencing their intentions, (c) their suggestions for implementing mobile applications in different departments, and (d) demographic characteristics of those who are inclined to adopt certain types of mobile applications. This study identified the top opportunities for mobile applications and found adoption differences based upon the respondents’ demographics as well as the factors of perceived enjoyment and relative advantages as significant determinants of hotel property managers’ intentions to use mobile technology. This study concludes with recommendations for industry practitioners and suggestions for future research opportunities related to mobile technology adoption and usage in hospitality.     

The Moderating Role of Gender Identity in Responses to Comedic Violence Advertising

Comedic violence advertising has been increasing in the United States, but many studies thus far have been content analytic in nature. To gain a better understanding of who will find comedic violence ads humorous and thus have favorable brand perceptions, two experimental studies were conducted with gender identity as an influential factor. In Study 1, masculine individuals responded more favorably to highly violent and humorous ads than feminine individuals did. Study 2 varied the violence level in the comedic violence ads and found that when violence was low both masculine and feminine individuals responded similarly to the comedic violence ad, but when violence was high masculine individuals responded more favorably than did feminine individuals. Perceived humor was found to be an important mediator of comedic violence ad processing. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are provided.     

‘I owe my life to the kind individual who called the helpline’: exploring the interplay of self-views and social distance in narrative advertising on domestic violence prevention in India and the United States

Abstract

The persuasiveness and popularity of narratives in commercial advertising has gained much attention but its application in inculcating responsible behaviour is severely limited. Domestic violence against women is a global issue and there is a dire need for effective bystander intervention campaigns. This two-part study delved into how narratives could be employed to elicit favourable ad attitudes and encourage bystanders to report instances of domestic abuse in their neighbourhood. Study 1 focused on testing the effectiveness of narratives in two culturally diverse countries – India and the United States. In general, findings showed that narratives (vs. non-narratives) were more persuasive in both countries. As the next step, using culture (interdependence vs. independence) and social distance (parents vs. neighbours), Study 2 found narratives with a socially proximal entity (parents) to be more persuasive in India while no differences between countries were observed for the socially distant entity (neighbours). Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The role of love in satisfied customers' relationships with retailers

This study proposes and tests a model that includes customer love as a measure of satisfied customers' emotional responses to retailers specifically in apparel and grocery store contexts. Customer love was found to partially mediate the effect of service quality on positive word-of-mouth and willingness to pay more. In contrast, customer love was proven to fully mediate the effect of service quality on self-disclosure and competitive insulation. As a control variable, emotional intensity had a positive effect on customer love. The implications of the customer love construct are discussed, as well as limitations and areas for future research.     

Impact of Wal-Mart on Market Share in a Rural Grocery Market: An Application of the Markov Chain Model

With Americans spending up to 13% of their income on grocery shopping, smart shopping can help a typical family save. Many scholars have studied the effects on market share and profits from changing market share using the Markov model, and also studied the competitive strategies of grocery retailers under these conditions. While the forecast of the steady state is highly useful, examining the transition periods before the steady state is reached is also useful. In these transition periods, a retailer may opt for a new competitive strategy; therefore, the transition periods may provide greater insight into the dynamics of the competitive response. More attention should be paid to the revenues for groceries in transition periods before a steady state is reached—especially in markets dominated by retail giants, such as Wal-Mart. This study attempts to model that phenomenon and to explore appropriate competitive strategies.