Assessing the role of venturesomeness in a destination consumer-based brand equity model

PurposeGiven the lack of research on the nomological validity of tourism destination consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) constructs incorporating core, well-established constructs from the travel and tourism discipline, this research investigates the influence of venturesomeness as a moderator in a model with destination image, satisfaction, and overall CBBE as antecedents of return intentions.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses online panel data of past visitor to the sea-side destination of Corpus Christi, Texas. A sample of 210 residents in Texas and surrounding states was employed to estimate the hypothesized effects through partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsResults demonstrate the predictive effects of destination CBBE dimensions on tourists' revisit intention, with the significant moderation effects of venturesomeness through its influence on tourist satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsFindings provide general support to the nomological validity of the proposed model, highlighting the role of satisfaction as a central dimension to explain destination loyalty, the limitations of generic scales to investigate tourism destination contexts, and the incorporation of consumers' psychographics and lifestyle variables on destination CBBE.Practical implicationsDestination marketers should develop segmentation strategies to target travelers with psychographic profiles that are more responsive to the factors that foster CBBE.Originality/valueThis research provides insights on the nomological validity of a CBBE model by evaluating its integration with a context-specific theoretical domain, which is a condition to increase the explanatory scope of theoretical relations and claims in intermediate theory, and to move the research field forward.

The German Standard and Short Authentic and Hubristic Pride Scales

The authentic and hubristic pride (A&HP) model is the domineering paradigm in pride research. Authentic pride (AP) comprises feelings of accomplishment and self-worth, whereas hubristic pride (HP) includes conceit and arrogance. We provide a German version of the A&HP scale ( Tracy & Robins, 2007 ), the GAHPS. We found a good fit for a two-factor solution. Internal consistencies were high. Nomological validity was supported for personality, self-esteem, and narcissism (Study 1, N = 569), status (Study 2, N = 565), and other emotions (Study 3, N = 204). In Study 4 ( N = 184), AP and HP had different associations with prosocial and antisocial behavior. We found high self-other agreement (109 dyads) for AP but not for HP. Further, people used different words to describe AP and HP when they described themselves and peers, thus suggesting that the two forms are associated with different linguistic styles. Finally, using an Ant Colony Optimization algorithm, we derived a short form for the scale. Researchers are advised to choose the standard or short scale, depending on the research purpose. This research broadens the validity testing of the A&HP model and, for the first time, provides linguistic correlates of the two forms of pride.

Brief Spanish Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale: Dimensionality, Internal Consistency, Nomological Validity, and Differential Item Functioning Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients in Colombia

Background and purposesThe brief Spanish Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale is a tenitem tool available; however, there is little information about its psychometric performance. The study aimed to test the dimensionality, internal consistency, nomological validity, and gender differential item functioning of the scale in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Colombia.MethodsA psychometric study was designed. It participated in 408 COPD patients aged between 40 and 102 years.ResultsThe confirmatory factor analysis showed both one- and two-dimension structures with acceptable goodness-of-fit indicators. The brief Spanish Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale presented high internal consistency, acceptable nomological validity, and non-gender differential functioning.ConclusionsThe brief Spanish Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale presents some good indicators of validity and reliability, and it can be used in the measurement of anxiety in COPD patients.

Evaluation of the Nomological Validity of Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Factors for the Measurement of Developer Experience

Background: Developer experience should be considered a key factor from the beginning of the use of development platform, but it has not been received much attention in literature. Research Goals: The present study aimed to identify and validate the sub-constructs and item measures in the evaluation of developer experience toward the use of a deep learning platform. Research Methods: A Delphi study as well as a series of statistical methodologies including the assessment of data normality, common method bias, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were utilized to determine the reliability and validity of a measurement model proposed in the present work. Results: The results indicate that the measurement model proposed in this work successfully ensures the nomological validity of the three second-order constructs of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components to explain the second-order construct of developer experience at p < 0.5 Conclusions: The measurement instrument developed from the current work should be used to measure the developer experience during the use of a deep learning platform. Implication: The results of the current work provide important insights into the academia and practitioners for the understanding of developer experience.

Improving the measurement of alexithymia in autistic adults: a psychometric investigation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and generation of a general alexithymia factor score using item response theory

Background Alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by difficulties interpreting emotional states, is commonly elevated in autistic adults, and a growing body of literature suggests that this trait underlies several cognitive and emotional differences previously attributed to autism. Although questionnaires such as the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) are frequently used to measure alexithymia in the autistic population, few studies have investigated the psychometric properties of these questionnaires in autistic adults, including whether differential item functioning (I-DIF) exists between autistic and general population adults. Methods This study is a revised version of a previous article that was retracted due to copyright concerns (Williams and Gotham in Mol Autism 12:1–40). We conducted an in-depth psychometric analysis of the TAS-20 in a large sample of 743 cognitively able autistic adults recruited from the Simons Foundation SPARK participant pool and 721 general population controls enrolled in a large international psychological study. The factor structure of the TAS-20 was examined using confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory was used to generate a subset of the items that were strong indicators of a “general alexithymia” factor. Correlations between alexithymia and other clinical outcomes were used to assess the nomological validity of the new alexithymia score in the SPARK sample. Results The TAS-20 did not exhibit adequate model fit in either the autistic or general population samples. Empirically driven item reduction was undertaken, resulting in an 8-item general alexithymia factor score (GAFS-8, with “TAS” no longer referenced due to copyright) with sound psychometric properties and practically ignorable I-DIF between diagnostic groups. Correlational analyses indicated that GAFS-8 scores, as derived from the TAS-20, meaningfully predict autistic trait levels, repetitive behaviors, and depression symptoms, even after controlling for trait neuroticism. The GAFS-8 also presented no meaningful decrement in nomological validity over the full TAS-20 in autistic participants. Limitations Limitations of the current study include a sample of autistic adults that was majority female, later diagnosed, and well educated; clinical and control groups drawn from different studies with variable measures; only 16 of the TAS-20 items being administered to the non-autistic sample; and an inability to test several other important psychometric characteristics of the GAFS-8, including sensitivity to change and I-DIF across multiple administrations. Conclusions These results indicate the potential of the GAFS-8 to robustly measure alexithymia in both autistic and non-autistic adults. A free online score calculator has been created to facilitate the use of norm-referenced GAFS-8 latent trait scores in research applications (available at https://asdmeasures.shinyapps.io/alexithymia).

Construct validation of leaders’ motivating language in the context of the hotel industries of Bangladesh and Malaysia

Purpose This study aims to validate the motivating language scale developed by Mayfield et al. (1995) in the context of the hotel industries of Bangladesh and Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach For Study 1, data were collected from employees (lower and mid-level) of three to five-star hotels in Bangladesh. Customer-contact employees working in four- and five-star hotels in Malaysia participated in Study 2. Both studies featured a cross-sectional survey design. Findings Factor analysis revealed that both samples provided three-factor solutions for the motivating language scale in both countries. Convergent, discriminant and nomological validity were assessed by testing with outcome variables of motivating language. Research limitations/implications Future studies may use all three versions of the scale (Bengali, Malay and English) to collect data, as all three have been validated. Originality/value By validating the Bengali and Malay versions of the motivating language scale, this study contributes to the leadership language literature, specifically that related to hotel industries in developing contexts.

Evaluating website quality: which decision criteria do consumers use to evaluate website quality?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine which design and operational attributes of e-commerce websites consumers use to assess website quality. Cue utilization theory is used to examine the explanatory power, robustness and relevance of the WebQual model. Results indicate which WebQual dimensions are the most relevant and salient to website users. These dimensions are categorized by their perceived and confidence values. A second study is conducted about how website users evaluate and utilize the WebQual dimensions.Design/methodology/approachSurvey methodology was utilized to provide insight into the nomological validity of the WebQual model by examining it through a cue utilization lens.FindingsThe first study categorizes the WebQual dimensions on their ability to provide a diagnostic measure of website quality, and consumer confidence in their ability to use these cues when judging the website's overall quality. The second study presents results of each dimension in relation to the quality evaluation of an actual e-commerce website. Additional analysis also revealed gender differences in cue utilization.Originality/valueThis study provided insight into WebQual-based research and identified original differences in cue utilization across genders. Results suggest that it may be beneficial for brand managers to focus on a subset of quality dimensions, rather than assume that consumers are comfortable using all website attributes to formulate quality judgments. These, results contribute to multiple literatures by providing a model that developers can utilize to focus on the deterministic characteristics of overall website quality. Further, the cue utilization perspective provides additional avenues for fruitful further research into consumer decision-making in the e-commerce context.

Understanding the Dimensionality and Underlying Nature of Senior Overseas Travel Motivations

The global increase in the elderly population has a direct influence on the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector because senior travelers have become major consumers. Therefore, developing a deeper understanding of senior motivations for overseas travel is required. However, the presence of theoretical and practical gaps limits the comprehension of this demographic market. Thus, this research sought to identify the underlying dimensionality and measurement of senior travel motivations and developed a scale to measure them. In addition, it validated the scale across future travel behaviors and preferences for tourism types and sites. An eight-factor structure of senior travel motivations was generated. The overall construct satisfied a series of convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity tests. Furthermore, the scale demonstrated a predictive explanatory power for profiling the future travel behavior and preference of seniors.

The importance of the export country's environmental image for consumer responses to an imported environmentally friendly product

PurposeFilling a gap in extant research regarding the measurement of an export country's environmental image and investigating its importance for consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated imported product.Design/methodology/approachOnline surveys carried out in Denmark (Study 1), Germany and France (Study 2; N˜500 from each country). In Study 1, we develop an environmental country image instrument and investigate its nomological validity vis-à-vis other country image constructs and Danish consumers' evaluation of organic milk from Germany. In Study 2, we validate the instrument with consumers from Germany and France, evaluating organic milk from Denmark.FindingsConsumers differentiate between a country's environmental image and its general and production-related images. The country's environmental image is important to consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated product from the country. Specifically, we find that a country's environmental image strongly influences its product-specific images and, through these, the consumer's evaluation of an organic food product from the country.Practical implicationsConsumers' use of a country's environmental image as a cue to the credibility of environmental claims gives competitive advantages to exporters from countries with a favorable environmental image, while exporters from countries with an unfavorable environmental image need measures to compensate. Companies and countries should monitor how the environmental image of their country evolves in important markets and be ready to act when facing damages to their country's environmental image.Originality/valueThis article is the first to propose a measure of environmental country image and to document that consumers use the environmental image of an exporting country to assess environmental claims on imported products.

Lifting the Curtain on Motivation in Exercise: Validation of Two Questionnaires for Physical Education and Leisure Time in French and German

The increase of cross-cultural studies and intervention programs, based on the self-determination theory, highlights the urge for validated scales to ensure high-quality research, particularly in the domain of physical education. The present study aimed at evaluating the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the revised Perceived Locus of Causality Scale (PLOC-R) in physical education and the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-II) during leisure-time translations from English into German and French among youth. Data obtained from 1808 Luxemburgish students supported the five-factor structure of the translated PLOC-R as well as for the BREQ-II and showed good internal reliability as well as concurrent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Measurement invariance analyses across the two languages revealed configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance for both questionnaires. The findings provide promising evidence for the reliability and validity of the translated PLOC-R and BREQ-II and support their use in cross-cultural and physical activity–related motivational research.