Topic and sentiment analysis of crisis communications about the COVID-19 pandemic in Twitter's tourism hashtags

The purpose of this paper was to assess Twitter as a means of communication during tourism crises with the following objectives: (a) identify the topics that are discussed, (b) establish the text sentiment, and (c) determine the differences in gender regarding the topics under discussion and the text sentiment. The data were collected from Twitter between March and April 2020. Using big data software, this study extracted 123,868 tweets globally in different languages through the Twitter API of popular tourism hashtags. Two techniques were applied: word association and sentiment analysis. The results show that the communication made through Tweets has the characteristics of a crisis communication related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the tourism industry. The theoretical contribution of the research is that Twitter in social media is an effective means of communication during pandemic crises and contributes to reducing negative perceptions and adverse effects of the tourism crises in companies and destinations. The practical contribution of the research is that Twitter can be used as a means of communication helping the communication strategies of companies and organizations. © The Author(s) 2022.

Risk perception and crisis communication during the Covid-19 pandemic: Analysis based on Twiter hashtags

This research evaluates response strategies to crisis communication, in terms of perceived risks, in organizations during the Covid-19 pandemic by studying the main discussion topics in social media. The data was collected from Twitter between March and April 2020. By using big data software, a total number of 3559255 tweets in different languages were extracted worldwide from Twitter API of popular hashtags on the Covid-19 pandemic. The data processing was carried out through the association of terms in order to identify patterns and relationships in the discussion topics. The results indicate that the relationships of the terms "crisis" and "risks" were statistically significant with seven important topics for businesses, users, and consumers: "business", "economic and financial", "social"," health"," work"," family" and "government";and in turn these seven topics are related to other terms related to the impact of the crisis, the response to the crisis, aid, the watch out, and support. This research has implications for the situational crisis communication theory by showing that in situations with high perceived risk, such as the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, the use of crisis response strategies predominates in organizations. This research also has implications for managers who can use crisis response strategies to rebuild their reputation and avoid market losses, thus helping to reduce the effects of unpredictable crisis situations.

Perceived Value in Sustainable Coastal and Marine Destinations: A Study of Jacó in Costa Rica

Perceived value influences the future behavior of tourists in sustainable coastal destinations, and thus is crucial for the elaboration of development plans. This study aims to: (i) identify the dimensions of the perceived value of demand in a coastal and marine destination;(ii) determine the dimensions of the perceived value that predict the satisfaction of the demand of a coastal and marine destination;and (iii) establish the dimensions of perceived value that predict loyalty variables such as return, recommendation, and saying positive things about a coastal and marine destination. This research was carried out in Jacó, a sustainable tourist destination on the Pacific Ocean coast located in the Central American country of Costa Rica. The sample collection was carried out on-site in June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This quantitative study used a sample of 304 valid questionnaires. Factor analysis and the multiple regression method were performed for data analysis. The results show three dimensions in the perceived value, namely, the emotional and functional value, the social value, and the economic value. The emotional and functional dimension is the most important predictor of satisfaction and loyalty in variables such as return, recommendation, and saying positive things about a coastal and marine destination. The results can serve as a management guide for managers of coastal and marine destinations and as information for service providers to develop products according to demand. © 2022 by the authors.

Post-COVID-19 pandemic motivations and segmentation in coastal cities: a study in Lima, Peru

Purpose: Coastal cities offer great ecological, cultural and economic benefits due to their tourism potential. The objective of this research is to (1) identify tourists' post-pandemic motivations, (2) establish a post-pandemic demand segmentation and (3) determine the relationship between post-pandemic segments and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach: This study was carried out in Lima, Peru, a tourist destination on the Pacific Ocean coast. The sample was collected between June and July 2020, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In total, 354 valid questionnaires represented the sample size of this quantitative study. For data analysis, factor analysis and K-means non-hierarchical clustering were used. Findings: The results show four post-pandemic motivational dimensions in coastal cities: “novelty and escape,” “learning and culture,” “destination safety” and “service safety.” Likewise, there are two post-pandemic segments in coastal cities: “safety seekers” who want to feel safe at the destination and with its services, and “multiple motives,” motivated by several reasons simultaneously, such as safety, novelty and escape, and learning and culture. The multiple motives group shows higher return intentions, making it a crucial post-pandemic segment in coastal cities. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of the present study were the online sampling and the timing when collecting the data since the demand can vary due to seasonal reasons. Practical implications: Since coastal cities have natural and cultural attractions appealing to many travelers, they should adopt the necessary biosecurity measures to attract the safety seekers’ segment, who wants to feel safe at the destination and with its services. Similarly, the multiple motives’ segment favors safety over other recreational activities in the coastal area, so it is necessary that activities such as sports on the beach, walks, observation of flora and fauna, navigation and interaction with the community, meet the required biosecurity standards. Social implications: The results will be used to plan the following actions in coastal destinations and meet the tourists’ demands when this health crisis ends. Originality/value: In this context, up to date, demand segmentation by motivations in coastal cities during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been investigated. Such a study will help to obtain post-pandemic results regarding the tourism demand for these destinations. To date, there are no studies in coastal cities that analyze demand segmentation and its motivations for the post-COVID-2019 pandemic. © 2022, Mauricio Carvache-Franco, Aldo Alvarez-Risco, Wilmer Carvache-Franco, Orly Carvache-Franco and Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales.

Multitasking behavior in online classrooms and academic performance: case of university students in Ecuador during COVID-19 outbreak

Purpose: This paper aims to explore university students' multitasking behavior in online classrooms and their influence on academic performance. Also, the study examined students' opinions. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 302 university students fulfilled an online survey. Ten questions were focused on demographic information, five items evaluated online class behavior of students, 9 items evaluated self-efficacy and four items measured academic performance. Findings: Multitasking behavior was found to negatively influence self-efficacy of −0.332, whereas self-efficacy showed a positive influence of 0.325 on academic performance. Cronbach's alpha and average variance extracted values were 0.780 and 0.527 (multitasking behavior), 0.875 and 0.503 (self-efficacy), 0.781 and 0.601 (academic performance). Outcomes of the bootstrapping test showed that the path coefficients are significant. Originality/value: The research findings may help university managers understand undergraduates’ online and face-to-face behavior and strategies to improve the behavior to ensure the best academic outcomes. The novelty is based on using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.