An Analysis of Push and Pull Motivational Factors of International Tourists to Penang,Malaysia

This study identifies the travel motivations of international tourists to Penang, Malaysia, using the theory of push and pull motivations as a conceptual framework. The methodology was comprised of quantitative research based on 400 self-completed questionnaires. A principal component factor analysis was used to identify the underlying dimensions of push and pull motivational items. The results revealed three push and three pull factor dimensions. Among the identified motivation factors, Novelty and Knowledge-Seeking and Cultural and Historical Attractions were regarded as the most important push and pull factors, respectively. Based on the study’s findings, practical implications for tourism marketers are suggested and future research recommendations are provided.     

物流英语课堂上教师使用委婉语的语用理据

物流英语是将英语知识与专业知识融合的产物,它有一般英语知识课堂教学的特点,还有它自身的独特之处。作为一个特殊的语言使用环境,物流英语课堂需要英语教师像在一般英语知识教学课堂上一样使用委婉语。委婉语是语言的一种情境变体,它的正确使用和交际的得体性相关,直接关系到交际的最终效果。物流英语教师从各方面按照语言使用规约来得体地使用课堂委婉交际用语,可以取得比较理想的教学效果,还可以对学生起到潜移默化的影响,使他们懂得将来在物流工作中委婉地进行交际是保证工作成功进行的一个重要条件。     

Mobile Commerce Competitive Advantage: A Quantitative Study of Variables that Predict M-Commerce Purchase Intentions

Seeking to fill a gap in current research on the conditions that would facilitate user acceptance of m-commerce, the present study investigated m-commerce users’ perceptions of performance and effort expectancies, social influence, and facilitating conditions of m-commerce trust and perceived risk. We also analyzed how these aspects affect m-commerce purchase intentions. To this end, a total of 165 adult American users of m-commerce were surveyed and their perceptions of performance and effort expectancies, social influence, facilitating conditions of m commerce trust and perceived risk, as well as their m-commerce purchase intentions, were measured. Performance and effort expectancies, social influence, as well as the facilitating conditions of trust in the use of m-commerce, were found to significantly predict m-commerce purchase intentions. The findings also provided further clarification of the facilitating conditions of m-commerce purchases suggesting that implicit motivations and approach oriented goals might be significantly associated with m-commerce purchase intentions.     

Predictors of Templestay Satisfaction: A Comparison Between Korean and International Participants

The present study aims to determine the underlying factors critical to the overall satisfaction (Templestay satisfaction) of local and foreign participants in South Korean Buddhist temple stay programs (hereafter, Templestay). A two-step multivariate procedure was performed where the data were first subjected to a factor analysis followed by structural equation model. The findings are congruent with three out of five research hypotheses. Moreover, the empirical evidence showed that there are no differences in reporting of Templestay satisfaction between Korean and international participants. Nevertheless, being with nature, self-growth, and relaxation are underlying factors that define satisfaction for Koreans. For international participants, being with nature and relaxation are significant. The study reveals that learning experience is a poor predictor of Templestay satisfaction. The practical implication of this research is that Templestay managers should focus on the factors that have the highest importance for obtaining Templestay satisfaction for both Korean and international visitors.     

I need to touch it to buy it! How haptic information influences consumer shopping behavior across channels

Increasingly interactive touch-enabling technologies are mitigating the lack of haptic information for products online. This paper explores how consumers’ haptic traits – instrumental and autotelic – indirectly influence their impulse buying and channel stickiness intentions by the means of utilitarian and hedonic shopping motivations. A structural equation model investigating three shopping channels (i.e., physical, web, and mobile) reveals that haptic traits act differently across channels. Consumers with strong haptic traits prefer physical and mobile channels. The autotelic dimension is key in online channels. Findings support the implementation of effective multichannel strategies among retailers of high-haptic products, showing the mobile to be a valuable alternative to in-store shopping.     

我国家族企业制度选择的动因

企业究竟选择何种企业制度,受企业内、外部诸因素的影响和制约。对于家族企业自身而言,保持这一传统的企业模式是有其内在原因的。寻找这一企业制度选择的内在动因,才能理解家族企业在当前的社会历史条件下,我国民营企业多以家族企业存在的现象,进一步使我们能够全面认识家族企业的发展方向。     

Antecedents and Consequences of Eco‐Control Deployment: Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing Firms

Environmental issues have become an important consideration for a growing number of organizations. Eco‐control may represent a valuable tool to help organizations address such issues. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the eco‐control practices adopted by Canadian organizations and to understand the antecedents and consequences of their adoption. More specifically, this study examines (i) the extent to which eco‐control practices are deployed within organizations, (ii) the factors and motivations that lead organizations to implement eco‐control practices, and (iii) the impact of adoption on firms’ managerial and operational environmental actions as well as on environmental and economic performance. Using survey data from a sample of 249 Canadian manufacturing firms, this article shows that environmental missions, environmental policies, environmental strategic planning, environmental budgets and environmental performance indicators are the most frequently adopted eco‐control practices among the investigated firms, while environmental incentives seem to be less frequently adopted. The results of this study also suggest that competitive and ethical motivations as well as size, environmental exposure and stakeholder pressure are all important factors in explaining eco‐control practice adoption by Canadian manufacturing firms. Moreover, the results of this study show that organizations that have undertaken more intensive managerial and operational environmental actions have also adopted more intensive eco‐control practices. Organizations adopting more intensive eco‐control practices perform better both environmentally and economically performance than firms adopting less intensive eco‐control practices.     

Behavioural adaptation to climate change among winter alpine tourists: an analysis of tourist motivations and leisure substitutability

Understanding market responses to climate change impacts has important implications for the sustainability of Australia's winter tourism destinations. Utilising a framework incorporating push–pull tourist motivations and the theory of leisure substitutability, this study sought to explore how winter tourists in Australia will adapt to changes in snow cover in Australia's alpine regions under future climate change scenarios. The results of a questionnaire completed by 231 respondents indicated that tourist motivations were related to behavioural adaptation, and that there is a general preference among the current winter market for spatial substitution in the event of poor snow. Those motivated by recreation specialisation or snow-related attributes were likely to opt for spatial substitution, while tourists motivated by self-expression and après ski activities displayed resilience to poor snow conditions. The results demonstrate a clear division between leisure-driven tourists who valued participation in sport, and experience-driven tourists, who displayed higher resilience to reduced snow under projected climate change scenarios. These results have practical implications for winter tourism destinations, both in terms of targeting experience-driven tourists in the case of reduced snow as well as the longer term sustainability and viability of winter tourism destinations.     

RV Traveler’s Pull Factors to Campgrounds in Leisure Tourism

The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying structures of RV traveler’s pull factors to campgrounds and confirm the results by using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with multiple data sets. The results identified the following five dimensions of the campground traveler’s key attributes: Activity, Amenity, Essentials, Price, and Store. The “Essentials” factor had a grand mean of 4.47, which was the highest among the five factors. Therefore, campground owners and managers should pay extra attention to maintaining a high quality on those essential attributes first, before considering adding or promoting any other items.     

The Decentralisation of Airbus Production and Services

Airbus has been multisourcing production since the first rollouts in the late 1970s, spawning clusters of suppliers around its locations in Bristol, Hamburg, Madrid and Toulouse. Moreover, both the A380 project and globalisation of the aircraft market pointed up the need and value of outsourcing. This paper analyses the outlook for supplier clusters in Toulouse and elsewhere based on Airbus thinking and practices before identifying the ingredients of successful outsourcing.