The Primordial Soup: Exploring the Emotional Microfoundations of Cluster Genesis

Previous research on the genesis of industrial clusters has focused on macrolevel (e.g., agglomeration economies and institutions) or mesolevel explanatory factors (e.g., serial entrepreneurship, spin-offs). Less studied are the microfoundations of cluster genesis, intended as the individual- and group-level processes underlying such macrolevel outcomes. Yet, microfoundations are key to understanding the “primordial soup” of cluster genesis—that is, the processes unfolding in the early moments of cluster formation, before the first emergence of commercial activity. Through a historical case study of the British Motorsport Valley (1911–1970s), we trace back the primordial origins of this cluster to the casual leisure activities of groups of amateur motorsport enthusiasts who then prompted the professionalization of motorsport racing and its transformation into the business at the core of the industrial cluster. We theorize that clusters emerge through the layering of different domains (casual leisure, serious leisure, and business), each made of three elements (actors, activities, and artifacts), which interact via two microlevel mechanisms: (1) localizing passion, a shared emotional energy by which people become affectively attached to the spaces where they carry out activities that they enjoy; (2) domain repurposing, the shift of a configuration of actors, activities, and artifacts toward a new purpose, originating a new domain. Whereas domain repurposing induces the transformation of activities from leisure to business (thus originating the industry at the core of a cluster), localizing passion anchors the activities to the same geographical area (clustering the industry). Our key contribution is to explore the emotional microfoundations of cluster genesis.

Bonsai in the time of COVID

The study sought to find out to what extent engagement with serious leisure, in this case, bonsai growing, can help people deal with challenging times, such as a global pandemic. In particular, how bonsai enthusiasts use their hobbies to manage uncertainty and stress during the lockdown and how they have shared their lived experiences on this topic via social media. The researcher employed a user-generated contents analysis approach to address the questions and explored a collection of comments from a sample of the most visited bonsai videos posted during the pandemic. The serious leisure perspective has been used as a theoretical framework to conceptualise the data based on the qualities that differentiate serious leisure from casual leisure. The findings showed that engagement in this hobby helps bonsai enthusiasts to develop social connectedness and cope with their stress caused by the pandemic.

Casual Leisure in Rich-Prospect

As digital cultural collections become increasingly sophisticated in their scope and functionality, there is a need to build an in-depth understanding concerning the information behaviors of users in this new domain. Research has demonstrated that many digital museum visitors are engaged in casual leisure during exploration of a collection, suggesting that they do not have an inherent information goal but rather seek new experiences or learning opportunities based on personal curiosity and moments of discovery. Consequently, understanding how to translate casual leisure contexts into meaningful interaction design may play a critical role in designing engaging digital collections. Our study reports on the user experience of a largely unexplored user interface design framework called rich-prospect , which was originally developed to enhance browsing and discovery for complex visual collections. We performed a mixed-method, within-subjects study (N=30) that simulated a casual leisure approach to information browsing and retrieval across three different rich-prospect interfaces for digital cultural heritage. Our results show that rich-prospect scores well in the hedonic facets of its user experience, whereas pragmatic aspects have room for improvement. Additionally, through our qualitative analysis of participant feedback, we derived salient themes relating to the exploratory browsing experience. We conclude with a series of design implications to better connect interactive elements with casual leisure contexts for digital cultural collections.

Exploring adversity and the potential for growth among Iron[wo]man competitors

The Ironman triathlon is one of the most famous endurance races in the world. Consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run, it requires significant physical and mental fitness training (Atkinson, 2008) as well as substantial investments in equipment, time, and emotional energy. As opposed to more casual leisure pursuits, the Ironman triathlon can be considered a serious leisure pursuit (Stebbins, 1982). Like other serious athletic leisure pursuits, participation in triathlon can facilitate personal growth experiences, especially through overcoming sport-related adversity (e.g., Atkinson, 2008; Connaughton et al., 2010; Galli & Reel, 2012). In fact, researchers have reported self-discovery, empowerment, agency, and mental toughness as potential benefits of sport-related growth through adversity (Atkinson, 2008; Cronan & Scott, 2008; Galli & Vealey, 2008; Granskog, 1992, 2003; Howells & Fletcher, 2015; Howells et al., 2017; Sarkar et al., 2015).

Leisure, work and simultaneous study in distance and virtual students (Ocio, trabajo y estudio simultáneo de estudiantes en modalidad a distancia y virtual)

The studies, analysis, reflections and positions regarding the leisure-work relationship is not new and is current, although sometimes it is not tangible and visible at first glance, even more so when the young population in Colombia takes advantage of distance and virtual education to be able to work and generate income and thus pay for a study; Thus, it was sought to analyze the incidence of working and studying simultaneously in the leisure time and spaces of students in distance and virtual mode of the Minuto de Dios-Uniminuto University Corporation in Bogotá-Colombia. Methodologically, the study was executed from a non-experimental, cross-sectional-descriptive design, an on-line questionnaire-type information collection instrument was used with categories: serious leisure, casual leisure, digital leisure and satisfaction with leisure time. A representative sample of 486 students was used with a standard deviation of .5, a confidence level of 98% and an acceptable sample error limit of .05 for a population size of 12096 students. The incidence of students working and studying simultaneously in distance and virtual modes is reflected in a recurrence that tends to be medium to low in the development of activities of serious leisure, casual leisure and digital leisure; However, satisfaction with leisure time is high, with which it can be inferred that leisure manages to fulfill a restorative function in terms of well-being. Resumen: Los estudios, análisis, reflexiones y posturas frente a la relación ocio-trabajo no es nueva y está vigente, aunque en ocasiones no sea tangible y visible a primera vista, más aún cuando la población joven en Colombia aprovecha la educación a distancia y virtual para poder trabajar y generar ingresos económicos y así solventar un estudio, es así que se buscó analizar la incidencia de trabajo y estudio simultáneo en los tiempos y espacios de ocio de estudiantes en modalidad a distancia y virtual de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios-Uniminuto en Bogotá-Colombia. Metodológicamente, el estudio fue abordado desde un diseño no experimental, de tipo transversal-descriptivo, se utilizó un instrumento de recolección de información tipo cuestionario on-line a partir de las categorías de ocio serio, ocio casual, ocio digital y satisfacción con los tiempos de ocio. Se trabajó con una muestra representativa de 486 estudiantes teniendo en cuenta una desviación estándar de .5, un nivel de confianza del 98% y un límite aceptable de error muestral de .05 para un tamaño de población de 12096 estudiantes. La incidencia de trabajo y estudio simultáneo de los estudiantes en modalidad a distancia y virtual, se refleja en una recurrencia que tiende a ser media y baja en el desarrollo de actividades de ocio serio, ocio casual y ocio digital; no obstante, la satisfacción con los tiempos de Ocio, es alta, con lo que se puede inferir que, el ocio logra cumplir una función restaurativa en términos de bienestar.

Understanding the diversity of recreational walking preferences and experiences: casual and serious walkers in the English Lake District.

This chapter will discuss the findings of a year-long survey of recreational walkers in the English Lake District to highlight the variety of contextual drivers of recreational walking and the motivations and experiences of recreational walkers. The research sought to tease out differences between walkers to develop a typology of walking tourists, and explore the range of associated motivations, the nature of people's walking behaviour and route choices, and their attitudes towards a range of elements related to walking and outdoor recreation. Most prominently this discussion will convey ideas on serious and casual walkers and the walks they choose, with links to the notions of serious and casual leisure proposed by Stebbins (1982).

Adventures in Winter Wonderland - observing user behaviour in a digital twin bookstore

Introduction. In casual leisure seeking contexts, visual information plays an important role for exploration or even serendipity affects. However, existing systems rarely support alternative search or browsing strategies. In the case study of this paper, we propose an approach to evaluate the potential and challenges of digital twins as digital replica of physical spaces. Method. A mixed-method approach is applied combining observation data in the physical twin with web analytics in the digital twin. Analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were applied to the data sources and comparisons between user behaviour in the physical and digital place are drawn. Results. We report preliminary results and discuss the opportunities and limitations of current practices to observe digital and physical spaces. The data analyses have given a broad insight into behaviours in the physical twin. However, standard web analytics approaches could not reveal the same insight into online behaviour, showing the limitations of current research practices. Conclusions. The analysis of digital twins requires the combination of offline and online practices. Experiences from the physical observation can inform the analysis of the digital space. It seems to be clear, that the analysis of log data alone is not sufficient but needs to be completed by other user behaviour methods.

Information-related behaviour as meaning-making processes: a study of science centre visitors

Introduction. This paper studies the science centre visitor experience from an information behaviour perspective. The study contributes to the area of casual-leisure information behaviour. Method. The qualitative walk-along method rooted in ethnographic research was applied to study the in-situ visitor experience of forty-four families (seventy-four children and seventy adults) at a science centre in Denmark. An inductive content analysis approach was adopted focusing on three analytical themes. Analysis.The concept of mediational means was used to analyse how the different exhibit features facilitate visitors’ meaning-making processes. Results. Results from the study show how different exhibition features facilitate visitors’ information use and meaning-making processes in multiple ways providing rich opportunities for meaning-making. The results further illustrate, how visitors’ meaning-making processes become informed through a duality of cognitive and corporeal ways of knowing. Conclusions. In the immersive and highly interactive exhibition, visitors mainly become informed about the importance of movement and health through corporeal information that is experienced through the situated body.