An Extended Model of In-Situ Trip Satisfaction Formation

Tourists'satisfaction with their trips has two elements: affective (emotional impressions) and cognitive (rational evaluations). The former often depends on the latter (which includes the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual sub-elements). Trip satisfaction, nevertheless, is usually measured after the trip has finished. Thus, a lag effect may have certain impacts on the evaluations. In addition, the influences of the current COVID-19 pandemic on tourists'satisfaction, in general, and their emotions, in particular, have not yet been considered. The purpose of this study is to examine tourists' in-situ emotions by tracing their antecedents, including the above-mentioned factors and those beyond them. Using data collected from one young tourist sample (n = 298) in Vietnam, this study found that the intrapersonal element of "nonverbal communication skills,” the interpersonal element of "relationship satisfaction,” and the contextual elements of "destination attributes” and "symbolic values” were influencers of these tourists' positive emotions. The situational elements of "COVID-19 self-efficacy” and "COVID-19 fear” did not have positive impacts. Theoretical contributions to the literature, and practical implications for trip operators and tourists are discussed. ©Copyright IJHTS.

CONSUMER ATTITUDES TOWARD CAUSE-RELATED PRODUCTS: A STUDY OF JAPANESE CUSTOMERS AND BENEFICIARY-MADE ITEMS

Much research has been done on cause-related marketing activities implemented by for-profit businesses. However, researchers seem to neglect that the beneficiaries make specific products used in cause-related campaigns, and for-beneficiaries organizations also run specific campaigns. Further research, thus, needs to be done to understand and support these self-help efforts. This study investigated customer attitudes toward products made by people with disabilities – the direct beneficiaries of the generated incomes. By interviewing fifteen female customers in Japan, this study found that the participants had a somewhat positive attitude. They wanted to buy or had bought these kinds of products. The customers' perceptions of product quality were good. However, their perception of product types and production scale was not. The women's perceptions and behaviours, or their attitudes, were affected by several personal and environmental factors. A recent factor, the COVID-19 pandemic, seemed to add some situational impacts. Implications for expanding cause-related marketing theory and improving cause-related marketing activities from the beneficiary perspective were discussed based on these findings. © 2023, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. All rights reserved.

Local Residents' Attitudes Toward Reopening Inbound Tourism Amid COVID-19: A Study in Vietnam

This study examined Vietnamese local residents' attitudes toward the reopening of their country to international tourists amid COVID-19 from March to April 2021. It began with a qualitative analysis of local residents' opinions (n = 240) to identify the factors that could affect their attitudes, then continued with a review of the literature to create a theoretical model. Finally, the study implemented a structured survey to collect quantitative data (n = 412) to confirm the model. The outcomes revealed that "perceived vaccine efficacy" and "xenophobia" were two significant predictors of "attitude toward inbound tourism." Implications of this study were then discussed.

Preferences for travel and tourism activities: contributions of personal skills and perceived travel benefits and stresses

Previous studies have carefully examined travellers’ preferences. However, they have largely neglected the contributions of travellers’ skills and their perceived travel benefits and stresses. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the impacts that intrapersonal, nonverbal interpersonal, and verbal interpersonal skills have on travellers’ perceived travel benefits and stresses, and the effects of these phenomena on travellers’ preferences for travel and tourism activities. Using data gathered from a structured survey of young respondents in Vietnam (n = 496), this study found that intrapersonal and nonverbal interpersonal skills had significant effects on perceived travel benefits and stresses. Verbal interpersonal skills only had a significant effect on perceived travel benefits. In addition, the study revealed that perceived travel benefits and verbal interpersonal skills were significant antecedents of the respondents’ preferences. These findings expand the existing literature by investigating the correlations among travellers’ skills, their perceived travel benefits and stresses, and their preferences. Practical implications for tour operators and travellers, especially under the COVID-19 circumstances, are then discussed based on these findings. © 2021 World Leisure Organization.