scholarly journals Uncovering knowledge on travel behaviour during COVID-19: a convergent parallel mixed-methods study in the context of Italy

Author(s):  
Giacomo Del Chiappa ◽  
Ilenia Bregoli ◽  
Marcello Atzeni

AbstractAgainst the background of uncertainty and crisis generated by COVID-19, academics and practitioners have struggled to envision how travelling behaviour will be transformed by the pandemic and when it will resume. Despite its relevance to both theory and practice, current research devoted to this research strand is still in its early stages. This study, reliant on Protection Motivation Theory, was conducted in order to assess the ways in which travellers’ preferences are changing as a result of the coping strategies they adopt to protect themselves from the health crisis. To do this, a convergent parallel mixed method approach (data validation variant) was applied to a sample of 4,539 completed questionnaires, collected in Italy, which included 1,577 usable qualitative answers. A factor-cluster analysis was carried out on the quantitative data. Two factors driving destination choice emerged, namely: “Personal protective equipment, sanitation, and physical distancing” and “Outdoor and under-crowded tourism attractions and destinations”. The cluster analysis divided individuals into three groups: “All-round concerned tourists”, “Middle-concerned tourists”, and “Outdoor-driven tourists”. Finally, a series of chi-square and F-tests revealed that significant differences existed between the clusters, based on socio-demographics and travel-related characteristics (i.e., preferred accommodation facilities and means of transport, geographical scale of travelling, and travel companions). Quantitative results were then merged with qualitative results, allowing us to further deepen our understanding of travel behaviours during the pandemic and the related coping strategies. Contributions to this body of knowledge and managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (50) ◽  
pp. 425-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lalita A. Manrai ◽  
Ajay K. Manrai ◽  
Stefanie Friedeborn

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature and develop a model of the determinants, indicators and effects of destination competitiveness (DC), as well as several propositions. Design/methodology/approach This study thoroughly reviewed extant literature to develop a conceptual model and propositions. Findings Two key findings are listed below. First, 12 different environmental factors are identified and 12 propositions are developed linking these environmental factors to DC. Second, a new indicator of DC is developed, namely, Tourism Attractions-Basics-Context (TABC) model. The TABC model is simple and directly taps into the benefits tourists seek in a destination. Research limitations/implications Directions for future research are discussed in detail in the paper. Practical implications Managerial implications are discussed in detail in the paper. Originality/value The extant research on the topic of DC has been rather fragmented and incomplete in scope. The research presented in this paper addresses these limitations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonjeong Jeong ◽  
Seweryn Zielinski ◽  
Ji-soon Chang ◽  
Seong-il Kim

This study aims to compare motivation-based and motivation-attitude-based segmentation of tourist markets, by identifying the heterogeneity of both solutions. A k-means cluster analysis was conducted to segment markets, using the data collected from 722 respondents, via an onsite survey of visitors to the Kuang Si Waterfall and Konglor Cave in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Subsequently, socio-demographic and trip-related characteristics among the segments were compared using ANOVA and Chi-square tests. Both motivation-based and motivation-attitude-based segmentation each generated four distinctive segments. Although both solutions are viable for segmentation, the latter was found to be more useful in separating segments than the former, as its segments were significantly more distinguishable from each other in terms of socio-demographic and trip-related characteristics. This result contributes to the body of research on the comparison of market segmentation techniques, which is a rarely investigated topic.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude-Hélène Mayer ◽  
Rian Viviers ◽  
Louise Tonelli

Orientation: Shame has been internationally researched in various cultural and societal contexts as well as across cultures in the workplace, schools and institutions of higher education. It is an emotional signal that refers to experienced incongruence of identity goals and the judgement of others.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to focus on experiences of shame in the South African (SA) workplace, to provide emic, in-depth insights into the experiences of shame of employees.Motivation for the study: Shame in the workplace often occurs and might impact negatively on mental health and well-being, capability, freedom and human rights. This article aims at gaining some in-depth understanding of shame experiences in SA workplaces. Building on this understanding the aim is to develop awareness in Industrial and Organisational Psychologists (IOPs), employees and organisations to cope with shame constructively in addition to add to the apparent void in the body of knowledge on shame in SA workplaces.Research design, approach and method: An interpretative hermeneutical research paradigm, based on Dilthey’s modern hermeneutics was applied. Data were collected through semistructured interviews of 11 employees narrating their experiences from various workplaces, including the military, consulting organisations and higher education institutions. Content analysis was used for data analysis and interpretation.Main findings: The major themes around which shameful experiences evolved included loss of face, mistreatment by others, low work quality, exclusion, lifestyle and internalised shame on failure in the workplace. Shame is experienced as a disturbing emotion that impacts negatively on the self within the work context. It is also experienced as reducing mental health and well-being at work.Practical/managerial implications: SA organisations need to be more aware of shame in the workplace, to address the potential negative effects of shame on employees, particularly if they are not prepared to reframe shame into a constructively and positively used emotion. Safe spaces should be made available to talk about shame. Strategies should be applied to deal with shame constructively.Contribution/value-add: This article expands an in-depth understanding of shame from emic and culture-specific perspectives within SA workplaces. The findings are beneficial to IOPs and organisations to understand what shame is from the perspective of SA employees across cultural groups. The article thereby adds value to theory and practice, offering IOPs a deeper understanding of shame in the work context.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masefako A. Gumani ◽  
Mattheus E. Fourie ◽  
Martin J. Terre Blanche

Orientation: Identification of the inner coping strategies used by South African Police Service (SAPS) officers who do operational work is something the SAPS should consider to ensure the officers’ management of trauma and efficiency at work.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to describe inner coping strategies used by officers in the Vhembe district (South Africa) to reconstruct stressful and traumatic experiences at work.Motivation for the study: Most studies on coping amongst SAPS officers focus on organisational stress and not on the impact of the officers’ operational work.Research design, approach and method: An exploratory design was used and 20 SAPS officers were selected through purposive sampling. In-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as diaries were used to collect data, which were analysed using content thematic data analysis.Main findings: The results showed that the main categories of coping strategies that led to management of the impact of operational work amongst the selected sample were centred around problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, with some use of reappraisal and minimal use of avoidance. Considering the context of the officers’ work, the list of dimensions of inner coping strategies amongst SAPS officers should be extended.Practical/managerial implications: Intervention programmes designed for the SAPS, including critical incident stress debriefing, should take the operational officers’ inner strategies into account to improve the management of the impact of their work.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the inner coping strategies amongst SAPS officers, with special reference to operational work in a specific setting.


Author(s):  
Martin Weihs ◽  
Anna Meyer-Weitz

Orientation: To encourage workers to participate in workplace HIV testing, some SouthAfrican automotive companies use lotteries. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how lottery incentives may influence employees’ workplace HIV counselling and testing behaviour.Research purpose: Determine whether workers intend to test for HIV only to win a lottery prize.Motivation for the study: The positive and also negative influences of lotteries on workers’ HIV testing behaviour need to be understood to avoid undue coercion in workplace HIV testing participation.Research design, approach and method: Post-test only quasi-experimental studies were conducted the day HIV testing and lotteries were announced to staff in four companies using a cross-sectional, self-administered survey that measured workers’ workplace HIV testing behaviour intentions. Intention to participate in workplace HIV counselling and testing was used as the main outcome of respondents’ behaviour and investigated via the statement: ‘If the company would organise its on-site Wellness Day tomorrow, I would go testing for HIV tomorrow’. In a first setting, two companies’ workers had to test for HIV to be entered in the lottery (n = 198). In the second setting, two other companies’ workers did not have to test to be entered in the lottery (n = 316). Chi-square tests were conducted to measure significant differences between the two conditions distinguishing between permanent and non-permanent staff.Main findings: No significant association was found between behaviour intention in the two settings for permanent workers’ workplace HIV testing intention ( χ2 = 1.145, p = 0.285, phi = -0.097). However, a significant association with a small effect size was found for non-permanent workers ( χ2 = 8.04, p = 0.005, phi = -0.279).Practical/managerial implications: Results show that lotteries to encourage workplace HIV testing are very likely to help workers ‘do the right thing’ and unlikely to have a coercive effect if all staff attending HIV testing has participated in standardised HIV and AIDS workplace programme activities and is informed about the consequences of testing positive.Contribution: A better understanding of how lotteries influence workplace HIV testing among workers of different work status and informed related recommendations.


Author(s):  
Rekha Dahiya ◽  
Aparna Mishra

The present study aims to identify the potential deterrents of digital marketing communication while buying a car. Data was collected from 801 respondents from Delhi using area wise proportionate sampling. 75% of the respondents used at least one digital channel of communication while buying a car. There were 25% of the respondents who didn’t use digital channels of communication while buying a car and relied exclusively upon traditional channels of communication. The study analyzed the respondents believing only in traditional channels of communication while buying a car to know the deterrents impeding the usage of digital channels of communication. The study also aimed to identify the distinct customers segments using traditional channels of communication while buying a car. Data was analyzed with the help of chi-square test and cluster analysis. ‘Technicality’ of the medium followed by ‘lack of knowledge and time’ were identified as the major deterrents of digital marketing communication. Two customer segments were identified in the study that made use of only traditional channels of communication while buying a car. First segment comprised of respondents ‘above 40 years of age’ belonging to ‘business’ category. Second segment was composed of respondents in ‘service’ occupational category belonging to ‘26 to 30 years age’ group.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Xu ◽  
Yiye Wu

Based on the psychological reactance theory, this study examined the effect of incorporating sympathy via social media on countering reactance in crisis communication. The study employed a 2 (expressing sympathy: yes vs. no) × 2 (medium: Twitter vs. news release) between-subject experimental design. Two hundred and fifty-three ( N = 253) American consumers recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk participated in this online experiment. Results indicated that using Twitter and expressing sympathy significantly lowered reactance. There was no interaction effect between the two factors, such that their influence on reactance was not contingent on one another. There was a partial yet significant mediation effect of reactance between medium and two outcomes (perceived crisis responsibility and organizational reputation). There was no mediation effect of reactance between sympathy expressed and two outcomes. The theoretical and managerial implications were discussed, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juho A. Pesonen

Rural tourism is an important form of tourism in many countries, including Finland. To understand rural tourists’ behaviour and help tourism companies market their products more efficiently many scholars have segmented rural tourists in several different geographical locations. This study aims to combine segmentation approaches used in earlier studies, namely motivation and benefit segmentation, and segment online rural tourists in Finland. Data is collected in a rural tourism affiliate website and analysed using cluster analysis on tourists’ motivations. Among 727 respondents, four rural tourist segments are found: “Social travellers”, “Wellbeing travellers”, “Home region travellers” and “Family travellers”. The segments differ from each other in motivations, preferred destination attributes, travel behaviour and sociodemographic factors. Understanding these differences will provide rural tourism companies important information to successfully market their products by combining both push and pull motivations in their marketing and product development.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramendra Thakur ◽  
Dena Hale

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide managers with insights to help survive a crisis, create advantage during slow-growth recoveries and thrive when the crisis is over. Given the environment at the time of this paper, this paper focuses on widespread crises, such as a public health crisis like COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach The authors offer a conceptual framework, grounded in the attribution theory and situation crisis communication theory (SCCT), for managers to use when determining which crisis response strategy is most appropriate to use during a crisis. Propositions based on this framework are provided. This paper focuses on widespread crises, such as a public health crisis, particularly on the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the framework proposed for organizational crisis response strategy and recovery, several insights for managers across a variety of industries emerge. Consideration of the best strategic approach to a crisis is essential, and time is critical. This framework provides a starting point for creating a proper response strategy when a crisis arises that is not within the organization’s crisis management planning. Managerial implications for several industries, such as restaurant, hotel, airline, education, retail, medical and other professional services, and theoretical implications to further the advancement of understanding are provided. Findings The findings of this paper demonstrate that organizations that apply an accommodative strategy during unintentional crises will survive, while during intentional crises, they will thrive in the marketplace. Similarly, organizations that apply an offensive strategy during unintentional crises will thrive, while during intentional crises, they will survive in the marketplace. Practical implications This paper provides a framework highlighting strategies that best protect an organization during both internally and externally caused crises. The response strategy and crisis framework are based on the attribution theory and SCCT. Building on this framework, six propositions are postulated. In keeping with this strategy and crisis framework, this study provides several crisis response insights for managers across a variety of industries. These suggestions act as a guide for managers when assessing how to respond in the early days of a crisis and what to do to recover from it. Originality/value This paper provides a crisis-strategy matrix, grounded in the attribution theory and SCCT, to provide decision-making guidance to help managers survive a crisis, create advantage during slow-growth recoveries and thrive when the crisis is over. The authors provide multiple industry insights related to the “how to” and the “what to” in the recovery from and survival through internally and externally caused crises.


Author(s):  
Mabebe Ntumva ◽  
Josephat Itika

Since 1990s, local government reforms in Tanzania have emphasized empowerment at all levels as part of decentralisation by devolution. The major objective was to give more power where it should belong. One of the areas was human resource empowerment to take proactive roles in decision-making and day-to-day management of local authorities. The chapter draws data from a cross-sectional case study covering a sample of 103 out of 206 employees working in Mvomero district council to determine employees’ perceptions on the existence of structural aspects of empowerment in the organisation. By using frequencies and Chi square tests, the chapter concludes that the general perception is weak, and indeed, there is significant difference between theory and practice.


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