A preliminary examination of the relationship between consumer attitude towards space travel and the development of innovative space tourism technology

With increasing global competition in service sectors, innovative technologies have radically changed the tourism industry, and to be successful innovative products/services must have clear, significant points of difference that are related to needs in the market place. Furthermore, changes in consumer perceptions that emanate from an innovation are central to its effective product and service design. Although for most of us space travel is still a faraway dream, it is in fact a future probability that will increasingly attract travellers who seek new vacation experiences, and as a result, sustain academic interest. Thus, in initiating space tourism for the purposes of recreation, leisure and knowledge enhancement, a preliminary estimation of potential global demand characteristics that are specific to consumer innovators for space travel needs to be undertaken prior to promotion of research and development. In this context, this paper investigates both consumer attitudes towards space travel by analysing the components of motivated consumer innovativeness and the interest that potential consumers have in developing space tourism technology innovations within Taiwan. Consumer innovativeness is complex and comprised four innovativeness types, namely, social, functional, hedonic and cognitive. As product/service innovation development has been relatively unexplored in the mature industry of tourism, many business managers would welcome an understanding of which vacation travellers are most likely to be the earliest buyers of such an exciting new product. With data collected from a sample of 354 Taiwanese, this research uses mediated regression to examine the influence of the four types of consumer innovativeness on consumer's attitudes and acceptance of a space tourism technology innovation, and the mediating role perceived novelty plays in the relationship. The findings indicate that only hedonic and social innovativeness are associated with improved consumer attitude and that novelty partially mediates the relationship for those two types of consumer innovativeness. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. Limitations and directions for future research are also addressed.     

A theoretical framework of electronic word-of-mouth against the backdrop of social networking websites

This study proposed and tested a theoretical framework that explains electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) against the backdrop of social networking websites (SNWs), which have gained substantial popularity among travelers. In particular, a United States (US) nationwide online survey was conducted and nine hypotheses were tested. The findings suggest that willingness to share knowledge and switching costs are positively related to eWOM communication. In addition, customer value (utilitarian) has positive relationships with willingness to share knowledge, perceived security, and switching cost, while customer value (hedonic) has positive relationships with willingness to share knowledge and switching costs. Last but not least, the findings indicate that perceived security does negatively impact eWOM. In light of the major findings, the article sets forth strategic implications for travel-related social networking websites.     

感知购物环境对旅游者购物行为的影响机制研究——旅游者购物情绪的媒介作用

在相关研究的基础上,本文运用结构方程建模方法建立了感知购物环境对旅游者购物行为的全影响和间接影响模型,通过对两个模型的对比分析,发现了感知购物环境影响旅游者购物行为的路径机制,即感知购物环境对旅游者购物行为的影响是通过改变旅游者的购物情绪而实现的,旅游者购物情绪在环境→情绪→行为这一路径中起到非常重要的媒介作用。最后,本文提出了管理建议。     

基于旅游经历的目的地吸引力感知差异研究

关于旅游经历对旅游者目的地感知的影响,现有的研究文献从感知形象和感知价值等方面进行了探讨,但尚未出现从目的地感知吸引力角度进行的相关研究。目的地的初游者和重游者代表着两类具有不同旅游经历的目的地游客,本文的研究目的在于探讨二者对旅游目的地吸引力的感知及其差异。实证研究结果表明,目的地感知吸引力包含了整体环境吸引和观光体验吸引两个维度,重游者在整体环境吸引上的感知显著高于初游者,二者在观光体验吸引的感知上没有显著差异。     

Factors affecting hotel human resource demand in Taiwan

This study explores the factors affecting hotel human resource (HR) demand and focusing on the organizational, industrial and macroeconomic factors of the hospitality industry. A prediction model was built with eight independent variables and four dummy variables. Secondary data was collected via a governmental statistic database, and regression analysis was performed using the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) method. The results show that the HR demand of international tourist hotels is more likely to be affected by industrial factors and macroeconomic factors, while the HR demand of standard tourist hotels is less complex, and is mainly affected by organizational factors.     

上市公司财务实力定量评价方法探析——基于主成分分析框架研究

上市公司是我国的绩优公司,对上市公司财务实力进行定量分析具有重要的现实意义。文章详细介绍主成分分析法的基本模型思想和解决问题思路,并构建了上市公司财务实力评价指标体系,进一步指出主成分分析法在上市公司财务实力定量评价中的具体运用以及怎样去对比和分析计算结果,总结了主成分分析法在上市公司财务实力定量评价中的优缺点并进行展望。     

高强品牌的功能与法律保护综合研究

使用市场营销学、法学、经济学、语言学与心理学的方法对品牌功能进行综合研究,认为高强品牌具有保障产品质量、降低消费者搜寻成本并能满足消费者心理需求等功能,高强品牌同时还可以使品牌所有者通过各种途径来扩大其经济利益。通过对高强品牌的功能研究发现不仅仿冒行为会损害高强品牌的价值,而且其他与高强品牌相联系的行为均会造成高强品牌价值的贬损。因此,美国法律也随着品牌功能的不断变化而逐步扩大其保护的范围(尤其是对高强品牌的保护),以适应品牌发展的需求。     

Reducing perceptions of overqualification and its impact on job satisfaction: the dual roles of interpersonal relationships at work

A sizeable portion of the working population perceives that they are overqualified for their jobs. This is problematic, given that research consistently shows that such beliefs translate into lower levels of job satisfaction. Hence, it behoves human resource management (HRM) scholars to identify factors that influence perceptions of overqualification and also moderators that may reduce the negative effect of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction. In this study, we present a moderated path model that posits that the quality of the relationships that employees hold with their leader and with their team is not only antecedents of perceived overqualification but it is also hypothesised to weaken the negative relationship between perceived overqualification and job satisfaction. Survey data that were gathered from two organisations in the Netherlands (n = 183) supported the model. Implications for theory and practice in HRM are discussed. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

HR managers in five countries: what do they do and why does it matter?

The 1980s saw the need for change in the organizational role of human resource (HR) professionals, from the traditional employee champion and administrative expert to strategic business partner and change agent. The argument posited was that a more challenging environment compels organizations to turn to managing their HRs as a source of competitive advantage and that means an increasing business partnership for HR professionals. However, very few studies examine the execution of these multiple, sometimes contradictory roles, despite the risk that neglecting traditional roles endanger organizational performance in the long term. This five-country comparative study finds that multiple roles are at least moderately executed, and that these HR roles have different impact depending on the aspect of organizational performance. As well, a more challenging environment, defined here as legal constraints and industry challenges, generally does not have a significant moderating effect on the impact of the different HR roles on organizational performance.     

HRM implementation by line managers: explaining the discrepancy in HR-line perceptions of HR devolution

Previous studies already established the idea of a partnership in which HR professionals and line managers share an organisation’s HRM responsibility. Yet, this relationship is often plagued by conflicts and other obstacles. As such, a perceptual discrepancy is likely to exist between both parties on the degree of HR devolution, which may eventually lead to bad performance. Using survey data, we empirically analyse which factors may explain a perceptual discrepancy between HR professionals and line managers on the latter group’s role in HRM. Results show that the HR-line discrepancy on the degree of HR devolution is rooted in differences in perception on several other factors, including organisational support, (personnel) red tape, the line’s individual capacity and age. Overall, though, it is a matter of understanding both HR’s expectations and the line’s experiences in all aspects of their partnership.