Quality,Value? – Insights into Medical Tourists’ Attitudes and Behaviors

The research investigates the factors influencing medical tourists’ attitudes and behaviors. The factors examined include hospital service and customer perceived value. The study was undertaken in a major hospital located in a South-East Asian country. The sample includes foreign patients who have received various medical treatments in the hospital. The findings indicate that medical tourists are value oriented customers as their value perception has the strongest direct effect on their behaviors, followed by their attitudes towards the hospital. Hospital service appears to have a substantial direct effect on perceived value and medical tourist satisfaction, and also exerts an indirect effect on medical tourist behaviors. The research highlights the prominent role of perceived value, and pinpoints the most effective avenues for healthcare providers in allocating resources to improve hospital performance from the perspective of medical tourists.     

Factors affecting donations in U.S. retail stores: A conceptual framework

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence consumer donations in U.S. retail stores. The study provides a conceptual framework of factors derived from the cause-related marketing, consumer behavior and psychology literatures. These factors are categorized as consumer-related factors, retailer-related factors and context-related factors. Consumer-related factors include consumer-retailer identification, consumer-cause affinity, impure altruism, civic engagement and post-purchase cognitive dissonance. Retailer-related factors consist of retailer-cause fit, retailer's commitment to the cause, retailer image as being altruistic, and retailer credibility. Context-related factors include time pressure, social pressure, shopping amount, and perceived savings during the shopping trip. This conceptual framework serves as a foundation for future empirical studies.     

Intended destination image positioning at sub-provincial administration level in China

Tourism development is officially recognized by the Chinese central government as one of the strategic pillars of the country's economy. Hence, regional authorities are responsible for developing positioning strategies for their tourism destinations. This study investigates the following: (1) the variety of planned image positions among sub-provincial prefectures in China; (2) the commonalities of these image propositions across China and (3) the differences within and across the regions and provinces. This research is based on a representative sample of tourism development plans of 77 prefectural administrations. The texts (in Chinese language) were content analyzed and condensed in two steps into semantically similar terms and concepts. The results show that image-positioning objectives are generally lean in the planning documents lacking sophistication and creativity. The variety of used image terms tempts to believe in quite different positioning goals. Yet, from a compound perspective, this does not yield very distinct overall image positions.     

Sensory Aspects of Package Design

Packaging is a critical aspect of the marketing offer, with many implications for the multi-sensory customer experience. It can affect attention, comprehension of value, perception of product functionality, and also consumption, with important consequences for consumer experience and response. Thus, while it was once viewed as being useful only for product preservation and logistics, package design has evolved into a key marketing tool. We introduce the layered-packaging taxonomy that highlights new ways to think about product packaging. This taxonomy has two dimensions: the physicality dimension, which is composed of the outer–intermediate–inner packaging layers, and the functionality dimension, which is composed of the purchase–consumption packaging layers. We then build on this taxonomy to present an integrative conceptualization of the sensory aspects of package design as they affect key stages of customer experience.     

以迪斯尼为案例浅谈全球化趋势下的跨文化营销

在国际营销活动中,文化环境是极其重要而又极易被忽略的一个因素,文化差异往往成为企业跨国经营的无形壁垒。那么在国际营销过程中,文化差异问题该如何解决?本人个人认为,主动调整营销战略,积极融入当地市场是最好的解决方法。本文从文化差异的角度着手,以迪斯尼乐园为案例,通过对其在跨文化经营中的成功和失败的案例进行分析,阐述了跨文化运营中存在的问题,并提出了一些相关建议。     

The Success Factors of Food Events: The Case Study of Umbrian Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Gastronomic events are an important part of the “Made in Italy” and a vital tool for rural development. The aim of the study is to identify the complexity of the factors that determine the success of a food event. The authors, after state-of-the-art analysis of the event marketing, formulate the hypothesis of a causal model and form a data collection during the “open oil mills” in the Umbria region. Through in-depth interviews the participants were asked to express themselves about the importance and interest attributed to some aspects directly related to the theme of the event, and finally to indicate the degree of satisfaction and the likelihood of some of their future behavior. Statistical analysis based on structural equation models allowed the authors to highlight which aspects are significant in order to confirm the assumptions made. Results provide guidance for management decisions and organization of food and wine.     

Technological Innovation Drivers in Rural Small Food Industries in Iran

The first step in devising the best incentives to support innovation is to investigate factors that affect the development of innovations. This article contributes to exploring such factors in small food industries in the rural areas of Tehran province, Iran. Using a census sampling method, 111 managers of 60 active firms were interviewed. The results showed that in general the level of technological innovation is low in the studied firms. The managers do not find the technological changes successful in bringing benefit to their firms. Even though correlation analysis indicated a complex association matrix between independent variables, only the firm's capacity of production was associated with technological innovation as a dependent variable. Furthermore, the regression analysis revealed that factors which influence technological innovation are the firm's age, formal research and development, fixed capital, and capacity of production. The results of this study were used to derive practical suggestions for managers and policymakers to increase technological innovation in the studied industry.     

旅游保险企业顾客资产函数模型构建——基于互补性理论的探讨

旅游保险企业销售业绩不理想的一个主要原因,是不能很好地理解互补性营销资产管理的互补机理。旅游保险企业在组合渠道资产(互补性资产)时,如果原有服务质量(核心营销资产)比较薄弱,而新渠道资产需要对服务质量作出变革时,就不可以只组合进渠道资产而保持原有服务质量不变,否则只能达到次优甚至失败。中国旅游保险企业加强与互补体合作,就有可能获取后发营销竞争优势。     

A Social Marketing Template for Solving the Musicians’ Dilemma Through Nonprofit Healthcare Networks

The Musicians’ Dilemma—the lack of affordable healthcare for the uninsured or underinsured musical entrepreneur—is actually a common problem plaguing not only 33% of musicians, but approximately 19% of the American population as a whole. The current research uses social marketing principles to conceptualize a template for designing a marketing program that meets the healthcare needs of the target market. Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) is a nonprofit organization that links healthcare providers, local businesses, and community donors in a network providing basic preventive health services to this essential segment of the community. HAAM's business model is analyzed and cast on the social marketing framework so that it can be adapted for use by other music cities. Although the template could also be applied to serve other uninsured populations, it is critical that research be undertaken to understand the specific characteristics and needs of each target market and used to adapt the model to those populations.     

独立学院市场营销专业人才培养模式研究

目前独立学院市场营销专业人才培养目标、教学计划等还存在一些问题,需要对人才培养目标进行科学的定位,应根据应用性复合型人才的培养目标制订具体的培养措施。