Smart Tourism in Destinations

Business enterprises have gained leverage through artificial intelligence (AI) in the tourism and hospitality industry. The roots of the concept and its link with big data environment has drawn a lot of interest from researchers. The employment of technology has increased economic viability of tourism enterprises due to the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency it creates for tourism and hospitality organizations. The chapter views the emergence of smart tourism in destination management in accordance with sustainable tourism concept and evaluates the issue both in supply side and demand side of tourism. Moreover, it aims to discuss the use of such a paradigm. If the destinations have a viable ground for motivational change to adapt, this philosophy will also be high lightened. For this reason, value creation will be evaluated in accordance with cost-benefit assessment.

Emergent LOTE motivation? The L3 motivational dynamics of Japanese-major university students in China

This study explores language other than English (LOTE) learners’ third language (L3) motivational dynamics within the framework of the L2 motivational self-system theory. Analytical primacy is given to the role of the language learning experience in generating individual variances and non-linearities in motivational development. Four Japanese-major university students depicted their distinct L3 motivational fluctuations on a Motivational Timeline Sheet and recounted their stories of learning experience through narrative interviews, which were coded revealing the corresponding changes in learners’ L3 self-guides. It is found that learners’ meaning-making of experience provides the foundation for their self-guide construction, which leads to the emergence of motivation. Self-efficacy, relational influences, and perceived relevance of L3 learning play mediating roles between the learning experience and motivational change. This study calls for a non-reductionist and developmental way of conceptualising LOTE-as-L3 motivation and for attention paid to the unique opportunities and struggles faced by LOTE learners.

Altruism in Blood Donation: Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Closing donation centers influences blood donor lapse

In this paper, we use register data on all blood donors (n = 259,172) and changes in geographical locations of blood donation centers in the Netherlands over the past decade, to examine the strength of altruistic motivations in blood donation by testing how blood donor behavior changes after the cost of donating in the form of time and inconvenience increases. We examined whether closing donation centers influences blood donor lapse, and whether the risk for lapse varies between donors with different blood groups. A lower lapsing risk for donors with universal, O-negative blood as costs increase is considered as evidence of altruism: continued efforts in making a societal impact despite the increased time commitment would indicate altruism in donor behavior. In the total sample, 137,172 (52.9%) donors lapsed at least once. We found a very strong effect of changes in the distance to the nearest collection point on donor lapse. Donors whose nearest donation center closed were 53% more likely to lapse than donors whose donation center remained open, with the risk for donor lapse increasing with each extra kilometer distance to the new nearest donation center. While O-negative donors were 10.5% less likely to lapse after closing a donation center compared to donors with other blood groups, the effect of closing was similar across blood groups. Based on these results, we conclude that blood donors are clearly sensitive to cost changes imposed by blood banks and that they are not particularly motivated by altruistic concerns. Future studies are recommended to further examine the role of contextual factors in motivational change across the blood donor career. Blood banks are advised to strategically place donation centers throughout the country to promote blood donations, and design interventions to reduce donation barriers after changing their donation centers’ locations.

Motivational change in the perpetration of genocidal violence

While the study of perpetrators has benefited greatly from burgeoning work on motivations for participating in genocidal violence, there is a considerable gap regarding how these motivations change over time. This article draws on psychological theories to provide an approach to understanding such motivational change. In the interaction of situational and dispositional approaches, the article proposes that motivations derive from and are structured by hierarchies of needs and that these hierarchies can change through three processes of adaption within the hierarchy: motivation addition, motivation removal and hierarchy re-ordering. The article is primarily conceptual but draws on insights from various different cases in its development and illustrates the model with empirical examples of motivations for participating in genocidal violence.

Discrimination between nociceptive reflexes and more complex responses consistent with pain in crustaceans

Animals have quick-acting nociceptive reflexes that protect them from tissue damage. Some taxa have also evolved the capacity for pain. Pain appears to be linked to long-term changes in motivation brought about by the aversive nature of the experience. Pain presumably enhances long-term protection through behaviour modification based, in part, on memory. However, crustaceans have long been viewed as responding purely by reflex and thus not experiencing pain. This paper considers behavioural and physiological criteria that distinguish nociception from potential pain in this taxon. These include trade-offs with other motivational systems and prolonged motivational change. Complex, prolonged grooming or rubbing demonstrate the perception of the specific site of stimulus application. Recent evidence of fitness-enhancing, anxiety-like states is also consistent with the idea of pain. Physiological changes in response to noxious stimuli mediate some of the behavioural change. Rapid avoidance learning and prolonged memory indicate central processing rather than mere reflexes. Thus, available data go beyond the idea of just nociception. However, the impossibility of total proof of pain described in ways appropriate for our own species means that pain in crustaceans is still disputed. Pain in animals should be defined in ways that do not depend on human pain experience. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of mechanisms and behaviour important for pain’.

Motivational and perception changes in learning Japanese in Brunei Darussalam

This study explores issues related to motivation and perception change towards learning Japanese among language students at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam. The aim of this study is to 1) explore students’ motivational change during the semester, 2) identify the factors that influence these changes, and 3) ascertain any changes to students’ perceptions regarding the difficulty in acquiring Japanese language skills. The questionnaire survey was conducted at the beginning and at the end of a 14–week semester. Findings show that the major motivating factor identified was the teacher and the major demotivating factor was difficulty of the language. It was also found that while students perceived writing skills were the most difficult at the beginning of the semester, their perception about difficulty has shifted to listening skills at the end of the semester.