Impact of the length of stay at hotels on online reviews

Purpose The length of stay (LoS) is of major importance from the perspective of the management of tourist destinations. As tourists heavily rely on the online reviews of other travelers as a primary information source, this study aims to empirically examine how the LoS can influence the online reviews for hotels, with special emphasis on the textual review content. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzes online review data collected from Booking.com by using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program to operationalize review depth, analytical thinking and the authenticity reflected in customer reviews. Based on the analyzed data, this study used a series of regression analyses to understand the impacts of the LoS on online reviews. Findings The author’s analysis found that a longer stay at a hotel causes consumers to be more likely to post online reviews that not only include a numerical rating as well as written content but also lengthier and more detailed descriptions of their hotel experiences. Further analysis found that the LoS at hotels causes systematic differences in the linguistic attributes of the review content. Specifically, consumers who stay longer tend to write reviews with more analytical information, resulting in consumers perceiving the online reviews as more authentic. Research limitations/implications Although the LoS has been considered a significant issue in tourism, studies examining the impact of different lengths of stay on consumers’ post-purchase behaviors are limited. In this light, the author’s findings demonstrate how the LoS can change the linguistic attributes of online reviews. It expands the body of knowledge of the LoS in tourism. Originality/value This study represents the first attempt to empirically examine and reveal how the different length of stay at a hotel systemically influences consumer review-posting behaviors.

Climate Change and Child Health – Importance of Pediatricians for Parents

Background: Children are among the most vulnerable to suffer from health consequences due to climate change. Parents as caregivers play an important role in protecting them adequately. Pediatricians are regularly seen as highly-trusted health professionals, but it remains unclear whether they are an information source for parents regarding climate change and health. According to the Health Action Process Approach, parents’ risk perception is an important pre-intender for intention building. Methods: A sample of parents (N = 243) living in Germany completed an online, cross-sectional survey distributed in summer 2020. Regarding climate change and health, we asked about information sources, relevance estimation, and risk perception of parents. Multiple linear regression with general and individual risk perception as outcomes were used to analyze the effect of knowledge and personal relevance. Results: Parents seek information about climate change and health primarily via internet and social media. Pediatricians are rarely considered as suitable information source. Parents see the highest risk for their child through increasing air pollutants and stronger UV-radiation. Relevance (β = .52, t = 5.79, p < .001) and knowledge (β = .02, t = .36, p = .72) explain 18.2% of general risk perception (F(5, 208) = 9.25, p < .001, ΔR2 = .13). The effect is lower (13%) for individual risk perception (F(5, 189) = 5.67, p < .001, ΔR2 = .07). Conclusions: Pediatricians can play a valuable role in informing parents about climate change and health; nevertheless, they are not yet seen as suitable information sources by parents. Results demonstrate that knowledge about climate change and health is not sufficient to increase risk perception of parents, but strengthening risk perception is possible through rising relevance estimation. When informing parents about the expected health impact of climate change, this should be considered.

Extraction and Analysis of Social Networks Data to Detect Traffic Accidents

Traffic accident detection is an important strategy governments can use to implement policies intended to reduce accidents. They usually use techniques such as image processing, RFID devices, among others. Social network mining has emerged as a low-cost alternative. However, social networks come with several challenges such as informal language and misspellings. This paper proposes a method to extract traffic accident data from Twitter in Spanish. The method consists of four phases. The first phase establishes the data collection mechanisms. The second consists of vectorially representing the messages and classifying them as accidents or non-accidents. The third phase uses named entity recognition techniques to detect the location. In the fourth phase, locations pass through a geocoder that returns their geographic coordinates. This method was applied to Bogota city and the data on Twitter were compared with the official traffic information source; comparisons showed some influence of Twitter on the commercial and industrial area of the city. The results reveal how effective the information on accidents reported on Twitter can be. It should therefore be considered as a source of information that may complement existing detection methods.

Validity of the Fisher Community Knowledge-Based Economic Valuation of the Local Ecosystem for Oyster Farming: A Case Study in Japan

The importance of local knowledge as a relevant information resource for ecosystem conditions has recently been the focus of sustainable ecosystem management. However, the accuracy of economic evaluation based on local knowledge regarding ecosystems has not yet been discussed, despite most activities in human society, including ecological conservation, being monetarily mediated. This study reports the correspondence between the economic value estimated by the fisher community and the analyzed environmental factors in the marine areas sectioned for oyster farming in Japan. At the study site, community-agreed usage fees for the area sections showed a gradient from the inner to the outer part of the bay. Our numerical modeling showed that the gradient of the economic value correlated with oyster feeding efficiency, indicating that a better location for feeding was empirically evaluated at a high price by the local fisher community. This suggests that the economic evaluation based on the local knowledge was biologically reasonable and could be a reliable information source for the aim of the area use in the study site.

Closing the Gap on COVID-19 Vaccinations in First Responders and Beyond: Increasing Trust

Although COVID-19 vaccines are widely available in the U.S. and much of the world, many have chosen to forgo this vaccination. Emergency medical services (EMS) professionals, despite their role on the frontlines and interactions with COVID-positive patients, are not immune to vaccine hesitancy. Via a survey conducted in April 2021, we investigated the extent to which first responders in the U.S. trusted various information sources to provide reliable information about COVID-19 vaccines. Those vaccinated generally trusted healthcare providers as a source of information, but unvaccinated first responders had fairly low trust in this information source—a group to which they, themselves, belong. Additionally, regardless of vaccination status, trust in all levels of government, employers, and their community as sources of information was low. Free-response explanations provided some context to these findings, such as preference for other COVID-19 management options, including drugs proven ineffective. A trusted source of COVID-19 vaccination information is not readily apparent. Individuals expressed a strong desire for the autonomy to make vaccination decisions for themselves, as opposed to mandates. Potential reasons for low trust, possible solutions to address them, generalizability to the broader public, and implications of low trust in official institutions are discussed.

Consumers’ Knowledge and Use of Nutritional Labelling Information in Lagos, Nigeria

Nutrition labelling is a topical issue, being a vital aid that shapes consumers’ food choices and could be an efficient tool for the prevention of consumer vulnerability to diet-related diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, hypertension, and obesity. However, data on the public use of nutritional labels as an information source on nutritional properties of foods and health claims, especially as it relates to Nigeria, are not popular in the literature. This study seeks to examine consumers’ use of labelling information: knowledge; attitude, and practice. A cross-sectional study with the aid of a survey elicited information from 374 randomly selected shoppers in five shopping malls in Lagos State. Data were analysed using the T-test method. Findings show that while the majority of the respondents (70.6%) read the nutritional information, only 64.9% understand the information presented on food labels. The study also reveals that the majority of the respondents (57.5%) do not know that information on food labels should be presented in the English language before any other language as recommended by the National Agency Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). While 57.9% of consumers have a positive attitude towards using food labels, 58% of the respondents’ buying decisions are influenced by food labels. The study concludes that consequent upon the importance of nutritional knowledge and wellbeing, consumers of Fast Moving Goods in Nigeria are beginning to consciously pay attention to nutritional labels. The study recommends that producers of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) products in Nigeria should adopt the total disclosure of ingredients and nutritional content of their products. Also, regulatory bodies in charge of pre-packaged food products in Nigeria (NAFDAC) should go the whole way and make nutritional labelling mandatory.

A Critical Analysis on Obtaining and Using Data and Information for Pandemic Management

The chapter provides an in-depth overview and analysis for developing policies and strategies for managing a pandemic based on information and data. While looking for the credibility of an information source, various parameters are subjected for considerations (i.e., infection and death rates per given time, availability of personal protective equipment [PPE], overall population attitude, current strategy response rate, society behaviors, outcomes of policies interventions for curbing the spread of the virus, and many more). To critically analyze pandemic information and data usage along with issues and challenges that arise in collecting, extracting, or using various forms of information and data for pandemic management, numerous national action plans, world health databases, pandemic monitoring smart applications, government published infection-to-death ratios, and health cloud services are interpreted and discussed.

Digitalization and Political Extremism

Information and communication technologies shape, direct, and deter political behaviour and institutions as the increase in internet usage regulate our daily lives. The advance of internet and digital media also shape political involvement, partisanship, and ideology. Internet, as the new media, is an important information source that shapes political behaviour along with other effects on societal layers. The new technologies provide a platform for the voices of minorities and disadvantaged communities, therefore urging a pluralist agenda. They are also blamed for the recent rise of populism and polarisation by creating echo-chambers, filter-bubbles, and the “fake news.” In this study, the authors analyse the possible effects of internet usage on political polarisation and ideological extremism by utilising World Values Survey Wave 7 Data for 40 countries. The findings show that internet usage and education level decrease extremism, while safety, work anxiety, and religiosity drive people to the extreme.

The Role of Social Media Marketing in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Social networking is a series of Web 2.0-based applications that connect, communicate, and exchange ideas, views, perspectives, knowledge, and relationships among internet users worldwide. In the age of social media, businesses' marketing tactics have shifted from bringing products out to encouraging customers to buy things into their stores to foster a more engaging and mutually beneficial relationship. It is a significant player in the online tourism sector since it is a common and influential information source for tourists looking for destination-specific information. This study was conducted qualitatively, and this illustrates and discusses the role of social media marketing and how it works in the tourism and hospitality industries, with an emphasis on Bangladesh in particular, using a range of literature, including academic articles, journals, and books. This study would educate academics, researchers, politicians in tourism industries, and government officials about the importance of social media marketing.