Destination management organizations and destination marketing: adopting the business model of e-portals in engaging travel agents

ABSTRACT

Destination management organizations (DMOs) have an important role in engaging stakeholders in collaboration. Collaborating with stakeholders is useful for both stakeholders and destinations. However, it takes time and needs rigorous coordination to avoid conflicts with stakeholders. This study measures travel agencies’ attitudes towards engaging in online collaboration with DMOs for marketing purposes. It incorporates collaboration and technology acceptance models to predict the attitudes and intentions of travel agents using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from travel agents in Cairo, Egypt, using the random sample technique. This study will be useful for travel and tourism stakeholders and governmental marketing bodies.     

明代中后期政权运作与亵渎帝王小说创作

兴盛于明代中后期的亵渎帝王的小说创作风气由多层面的机缘促成,但若仅就政权运作层面来讲,除了有最高统治者的行为导向外,当道官员的权力运作、政权运作体系本身的建构状态也是其中的重要因素,此为明代政权集团不同权力阶层共同运作、政权运作体系本身建构坏损共同促成的结果。这些亵渎帝王的小说严重损伤了国家的威严,于朱明王朝的治化是极为不利的。然而若就小说创作发展而言,这有利于小说创作题材的丰富、多元,是值得肯定的。     

The Impact of Personality Variables,Prior Experience,and Training on Sales Agents' Internet Utilization and Performance

ABSTRACT

Emerging literature on the impact of the Internet on business-to-business (B2B) marketing has primarily focused on examining this issue from the perspective of manufacturers and buyers. This study focuses on the sales agent, a third prominent actor in B2B markets, and tests a conceptual model that relates a sales agent's personality, demographic, and user-situational constructs to that sales agent's Internet utilization for selling activities. Further, the model tested in this study relates a sales agent's Internet utilization to perceived sales performance. Findings in this study indicate that internal locus of control, learning orientation, and sales related Internet training relate positively to a sales agent's Internet utilization, and that a sales agent's age relates negatively to Internet utilization. Further, the results support a positive relationship between a sales agent's Internet utilization and sales performance. This study emphasizes that the Internet can be a productive tool for sales agents. The implications of the results of this study for sales agents with respect to training and recruitment are discussed and avenues for future research are suggested.     

New technology and the urban environment

Technology has always had an influence on the form of settlements, but only since the coming of Information Technology has it aroused much interest from academics and planners. The impact that IT is likely to have on urban areas is debated, some foreseeing decentralisation and the end of place, while others see evidence of the centralisation of control in a global economy. Other new technologies may also affect cities as new materials provide the opportunity for different styles of building. As we enter the 21st century, however, we do so with the largest stock of urban capital ever, much of which is ageing and in need of maintenance. Technology is part of a complex interrelationship of influences on urban areas and much of it will have to be retrofitted on to the pre-existing environment.     

The food neophobia scale and young adults’ intention to eat insect products

In the coming years, the new EU Regulation on Novel Food is likely to facilitate the development of a niche market for insects and insect‐based ingredients in many European countries. In this research, the aim is to explore the relationship between willingness to try (WTT) and behavior of eating insects, where the independent variables are food neophobia, sensory property expectations, and previous consumption. In total, 88 Italian participants took part in the study. The food neophobia scale (FNS) was constructed using 9 of the 10 items from the original FNS, and a Structural Equation Modeling approach was used to test the research hypotheses. The results show that males are more open to trying insects than females, and food neophobia is negatively correlated with the willingness to eat insects. Findings also indicate that the first exposure to insects positively increases consumers’ sensory property expectations. Intention to try is a strong predictor of the behavior of eating insects. People who scored lower on the FNS were more likely to try (intention) and consequently eat insects (behavior). These findings enhance knowledge about factors which could lead to lower levels of negative prejudice and greater willingness to taste edible insects among Western consumers. Finally, some marketing implications are discussed, like the need of information campaigns to emphasize positive sensory attributes of edible insects to increase the WTT this unfamiliar food.     

Consumer self‐construal and trust as determinants of the reactance to a recommender advice

Commercial recommendation agents (RAs) represent an important type of the decision support systems (DSSs) that are widely used by online retailers and firms. To date, little is known about the factors that shape the user's decision making and reactance toward the recommendations of these agents. Building on theories from psychology and information systems domains, this research proposes that a user's self‐construal and trust are two relevant factors that interact to shape the behavior toward the RA advice. Two studies, the first conducted using potential online customers and the second conducted at a behavioral laboratory, provided support to this proposition. The first study considered RA trust and showed that activating the interdependent self leads users with low (high) trust to exhibit high reactance behavior toward the RA advice. The second study variated trust using trust cues and corroborated the latter finding, while showing no important impact for the psychological reactance trait. As expected, in both studies the reactance behavior of independent users was not affected by trust. These results contribute by underscoring that social interdependence extends to RAs because the role of trust becomes salient when the interdependent self is activated for a user.     

How novel actors achieve a positive reputation: A case of prep schools with elite‐level hockey programs

How are novel organizations able to build a positive reputation while attempting to enter into a system with established organizations? To address this, we examined the field of elite‐level amateur hockey. Private Secondary Schools (PSS) are novel in that they offer a nontraditional pathway for players with respect to fielding elite‐level hockey teams. Findings from interviews with PSS with elite‐level hockey programs revealed that PSS highlight their Selection Processes, Player Development Practices, and the enhanced Player Experience in an effort to build a positive reputation. This study contributes to the literature on reputation by showing that novel organizations can build a reputation through highlighting the unique value they add. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of personal and social identity on the clothing consumption of adolescents

We consider the influence of personal and social identity among adolescents on the importance they attach to clothing products and brands. The conceptual framework includes more conventional variables such as socialization (family, peers, media, and celebrities) and individual characteristics (gender and grade level). Based on a sample of 1,596 French high school adolescents, our results highlight: (i) the influence of identity on the importance attached to product and brand; (ii) the mediating effects of personal and social identities; and (iii) the moderating effects of gender and grade level. We conclude with an analysis of theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于产出冲击的国际储备需求的跨期均衡分析——真实经济的视角

与现有研究相比,文章从真实经济的角度构造了一个简单的基于代表行为人的跨期均衡模型,探讨基于产出冲击和消费平滑的主动性储备需求的决定。研究表明:主动性储备需求与产出冲击发生的概率、产出冲击大小、代表行为人的相对风险厌恶系数以及代表行为人的主观贴现率呈正向关系,与经济增长速度呈反向关系,而与储备资产的相对价格呈现出非线性的关系。通过数值模拟发现,我国主动性储备约占2007年GDP的6%(相当于我国2007年底国际储备的12%),说明我国近年来增加的国际储备存在较大的被动持有部分,目前的国际储备持有额已经从一定程度上脱离了实体经济的基本需求。因此,除紧缩的货币政策外,我国政府还需要进一步运用汇率政策、贸易政策以及其他干预政策直接降低被动国际储备额。