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Mangrove tourism is one of the tourist destinations offered by tourism managers that is currently gaining popularity and popularity among tourists. Keeping tourists coming back can be a very effective strategy for developing tourist destinations. This study employs Experiential Marketing as a strategy to increase tourist interest. Because research in the field of experiential marketing in nature tourism destinations such as mangrove tourism is still limited, the topics of this study are experiential marketing and visitor visit intention. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of strategic experiential modules (SEMs) on visitor revisits intention. The research method used is quantitative with the variable dimensions of SEMs and visitor revisits intention, a sample of 93 tourists with a purposive sampling technique, and multiple linear regression analysis techniques. The results showed that the sense, act, and relate variables had a positive and significant impact on the visitor revisits intention, while the feel variable had a positive but not significant impact, and the think variable had a negative but not significant impact on the visitor revisits intention.
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The paper reports findings from a two-stage study of consumer–brand relationships conducted between April 2021 and June 2021, at a time the COVID-19 pandemic had forced consumers to live through social distancing mandates and school/office closures. Initial exploration via focus groups began in April 2021 for the purpose of generating grounded theory, hypotheses, and measurement scales relevant to their experiences of brand consumption during this period. The second study tested the grounded hypotheses based on a nationwide sample of consumers in June 2021. The study finds evidence of three distinct brand-related behaviors in response to the COVID-19-induced stresses;i.e., heightened intentionality about brand choices, heightened concern for brand sponsors' ethical behaviors toward their employees, and engagement in brand evangelism behaviors.
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Purpose: This study links SDG goal 9 of industry, innovation strategies and another infrastructural environment to branding relating to destination and interactive marketing. Digital marketing tools with various applications aim to offer hi-tech services to customers in interactive marketing services, namely multiple goods and services, data and innovative techniques in the tourism and travel sector. Exploring the study would add to the existing literature supporting interactive marketing procedures and destination branding. Branding relating to destinations fosters tourists around the globe facilitating economic growth and development and supporting the local economies. Need for the Study: It is observed from the literature that very few studies have been identified across the globe from various researchers on the interactive marketing and destination branding that ensures brand loyalty and reassesses the intent of the tourists just before the epidemic pandemic in the form of COVID-19. Artificial Intelligence, as part of information technology, offers various interactive marketing services in the form of different social media marketing strategies, attractive websites for tourists and travel providers and image building on destination branding. This study would help fill the marketing gap, which results in branding relating to destination, brand loyalty and reassessing the intent of various tours and travel plans just before the pandemic. Methodology: The study focused on the literature, demonstrating the stimulus organism methodology and examining the impact of potential marketing strategy, which is interactive focusing on the destination branding, loyalty relating to the brand and also procedures to revert with the intent that would motivate and facilitate the customer's confidence showering the loyalty relating to the brand in the travel and tourism sector. Findings and their Practical Implications: The study revealed that the marketing relating to interactive methodologies in the hi-tech digital approaches ought to be carried out to create opportunities for prospective tourists willing to get information about various tourists destinations with the help of various marketing techniques such as different social media applications, easy access of websites for accessing the tourist destinations and relevant information, accessing images pertinent to the tourism destinations with the ease of chat box and providing suitable audios and video sources to the potential customers. © 2023 by Seval Kardes Selimoglu and Mustafa Hakan Saldi. All rights reserved.
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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has impacted the aviation industry worldwide. Several restrictions and regulations have been implemented to prevent the virus's spread and maintain airport operations. To recover the trustworthiness of air travelers in the new normality, improving airport service quality (ASQ) is necessary, ultimately increasing passenger satisfaction in airports. This research focuses on the relationship between passenger satisfaction and the ASQ dimensions of airports in Thailand. A three-stage analysis model was conducted by integrating structural equation modeling, Bayesian networks, and artificial neural networks to identify critical ASQ dimensions that highly impact overall satisfaction. The findings reveal that airport facilities, wayfinding, and security are three dominant dimensions influencing overall passenger satisfaction. This insight could help airport managers and operators recover passenger satisfaction, increase trustworthiness, and maintain the efficiency of the airports in not only this severe crisis but also in the new normality.
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PurposeThe Bed and Breakfast (B&B) enterprises generally lack sufficient human resources and time to conduct research on important social media marketing factors for visitors' satisfaction and visitors' intentions. Therefore, this study aims to provide crucial social media marketing and factors and service quality elements for improving customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in B&B sectors. This study also provides some recommendations for attracting more visitors and increasing customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through social media.Design/methodology/approachFirst, social media marketing factors and service quality elements were identified through the systematic literature review. Then these identified factors and elements were used to design a survey questionnaire for collecting data. The research data included responses of 64 B&B enterprises and 625 customers. The collected data was analyzed by feature selection approaches including Decision Tree algorithm and Information Gain to identify the key factors for improving customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.FindingsThe findings of this study determined that featured choice is an important social media marketing factor, and assurance is the common service quality element for both B&B enterprises and their customers in terms of satisfaction and loyalty.Originality/valueThis study adds a value to the growing literature on customer satisfaction and loyalty in B&B sectors by exploring key social media marketing factors and service quality elements. The study reveals several implications for theories and practices. The findings hopefully help B&B enterprises better social media marketing with less workforce and budget.
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PurposeThe present article aims to determine the factors that explain the intention to adopt electronic commerce among women traders in a developing country like Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a health crisis period.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted in the DRC, in Bukavu Town. A convenience sample of 282 respondents consisting of solely women entrepreneurs (importing traders) in Bukavu Town was selected and the structural equation model was used to test the research hypotheses resulted from Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour.FindingsThe finding results showed that only the factors attitude towards electronic commerce adoption and subjective norms which predict women traders' intention to adopt electronic commerce. The analysis shows that about 38.9% of the variation in the dependent variable is explained by the above variables.Originality/valueFew studies have presented technology and electronic commerce adoption as resilience of women entrepreneurs in a time of crisis, despite the abundance of the review literature on adoption. This study provides a new approach to assist women entrepreneurs as well as researchers in understanding the drivers of electronic commerce adoption factors in the DRC.
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PurposeMany workers with disabilities face cultures of exclusion in the workplace, which can affect their participation in decisions, workplace engagement, job attitudes and performance. The authors explore a key indicator of engagement—perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)—as it relates to disability and other marginalized identities in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachUsing an online survey, legal professionals answered questions about their workplace experiences. Ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression analysis with progressive adjustment was used to investigate the effect of demographic and organizational factors on perceptions of OCB.FindingsThe authors find that employees with disabilities have lower perceptions of OCB, both before and after controlling for other personal and job variables. The disability gap is cut nearly in half, however, when controlling for workplace culture measures of co-worker support and the presence of an effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy. Disability does not appear to interact with gender, race/ethnicity and LGBTQ + status in affecting perceptions of OCB.Originality/valueThe results point to the workplace barriers faced by people with disabilities that affect their perceptions of engagement, and the potential for supportive cultures to change these perceptions.
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This study aims to investigate the nature and intensity of the changes in corporate financial performance due to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures as a result of certain relationships between corporate governance and company performance in the non-financial sector. This study selected 625 non-financial companies across six organizations for economic cooperations (OECD) countries' stock markets for the period of 10 years (2012–2021). For this qualitative study, corporate governance, financial performance, and corporate social responsibility score data were collected from the DataStream, a reliable database for examining the research on OECD countries' listed companies. For the data analysis we applied various statistical tools such as regression analysis and moderation analysis. The findings of the study show that all attributes of the corporate governance mechanism, except for audit board attendance, have significant positive impacts on financial performance indicators for all the selected OECD economies except the country France. France's code of corporate governance has a significant negative impact on return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) due to differences in cultural and operational norms of the country. The audit board attendance has no significant impact on ROA. Moreover, all the attributes except board size (BSIZ) have significant positive impacts on the earnings per share (EPS) in Spain, The United Kingdom (UK) and Belgium. The values obtained from the moderation effect show that Corporate social responsibility is the key factor in motivating corporate governance practices which eventually improves corporate financial performance. However, this study advocated the implications, Investors and stakeholders should consider both corporate governance and CSR disclosures when making investment decisions. Companies that prioritize both governance and CSR tend to have better financial performance and are more likely to mitigate risks. Moreover, the policy makers can improve the code of corporate governance in order to attain sustainable development in the stock market.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes in consumer behavior and has created new opportunities and challenges for the provisioning of green products in emerging economies. The objective of this study was to identify how perceptions on COVID-19 affected the variables of planned behavior and responsible purchase intention during the pandemic in Colombia. A total of 320 consumers participated in an online survey, and the responses were analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM) and AMOS 24 statistical software. The results were positive regarding the development of better environmental awareness, indicating that COVID-19 (COV) influenced the attitude (ATT) of individuals and contributed to subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), and that SNs and ATT influence eco-friendly purchase intention (EFPI). However, PBC does not contribute to EFPI. Colombian consumers have become aware of the importance to society of buying eco-friendly products, and planned behavior is an opportunity for organizations to formulate new portfolios relevant to the needs of the market. This is an important opportunity to sensitize consumers to the purchase of environmentally friendly products and for the identification of commercial strategies by companies that bet on the formulation and commercialization of eco-friendly portfolios that generate value for society.
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PurposeThis study investigates how customer experience mediates the relationship between online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 167 clients from a two-star hotel in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the relationship between the variables.FindingsResults from the analysis indicate that online innovation positively leads to higher repurchase intentions and better customer experience, affirming that customer experience leads to repurchase intentions. Thus, while online innovation leads to repurchase intentions, the strength of this repurchase intention depends on customer experience. Therefore, customer experience mediates the relationship between online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry.Research limitations/implicationsThis study addressed only the customer's point of view;future studies could investigate the subject from the managers and other stakeholders' point of view to get a holistic view. Also, the sample size could be improved, and the study could be conducted in other African countries for comparison purposes.Practical implicationsThe study shows that online innovation does not automatically lead to increased positive repurchase intention. Hotel managers must, therefore, enforce good customer experience for better profitability.Originality/valueAs far as the researchers know, limited studies have been conducted into how customer experience mediates online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry in Ghana using structural equation modelling. This makes this research unique in Ghana. This study makes an original contribution by measuring the real effect of innovation on repurchase intentions in the hotel industry in Ghana.
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The COVID-19 outbreak has had detrimental consequences on the cruise industry due to the suspension of commercial cruise trips, and these effects remain apparent in Saudi Arabia. The offered service quality (SQ) in the post-COVID-19 era seems to be a critical element for improving customer experiences and satisfaction, enhancing destination attractiveness, increasing revenue, and maintaining repeat business. The current study aimed to assess the impact of service quality on tourists' satisfaction and corporate image as well as the intention to pay for cruise trips and revisit the destination among 315 tourists in Saudi Arabia. Service quality was measured using five subscales of the SERVQUAL scale, including reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Tourists' satisfaction was significantly influenced by four domains of SQ, whereas the intention to pay more, intention to revisit the destination, and corporate image were significantly predicted by ≤3 domains of SQ. The study's findings can help the cruise industry to improve its offerings and create more personalized and engaging experiences that meet the changing needs of customers in the recovery period after the COVID-19 outbreak.
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PurposeMeal ordering apps (MOAs) have transformed the customers' dining habits, particularly during mobility restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the theoretical cover of the extended stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, this paper attempts to explore the critical antecedents and outcomes of customer MOA engagement which predict the continuous purchase intentions using these apps. A multigroup analysis is conducted to investigate the difference between the hypothesized relationships between the Chinese and Indonesian consumers.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-method approach, including a systematic literature review, an open-ended essay (qualitative) with 139 MOA users and an online survey (quantitative) with 1,207 MOA users in total, was used for hypotheses testing.FindingsThe structural equation model results revealed that customer MOA experience factors such as mobile online reviews (MR), food quality (FQ), restaurant reputation (RR), service quality and system quality (SyQ) are the absolute positive factors that influence customer MOA cognitive, affective and behavioral engagement, which in turn affect continuous purchase intentions. The multigroup analysis results reveal that Chinese customers prioritized MR and FQ for customer MOA engagement (cognitive, affective and behavioral). Comparatively, Indonesian customers placed most importance on RR and SyQ.Originality/valueConsidering a market-specific setting and based on the extended SOR framework, this study is one of the first to take a comprehensive look at the critical antecedents and outcome of multidimensional customer MOA engagement in the developing countries' (China and Indonesia) online to offline meal delivery context. Further, this study investigates the customer continuous purchase intentions as an outcome of MOA engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings also reveal the differences in consumer behavior across the two developing but culturally diverse countries samples during the pandemic.
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According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the restrained recovery in 2021 was followed by an increasingly gloomier picture with greater risk levels in 2022 as the economic slowdown began to emerge. [...]customer experience mediates the relationship between online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry. [...]this research provides a varied platform to tourism researchers to advance useful insights. [...]industry practitioners, tourism authorities and government and non-government bodies may get useful insights from the developments in e-tourism and design better strategies and governance for the tourism sector. [...]these findings are valuable to the policymakers for formulating sustainable management plans for its thoughtful use and tourism development.
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This study explores the mediating role of e-satisfaction during the pandemic on the relationship between e-service quality and e-loyalty of banking customers in Pakistan. The data were collected from 442 customers of online banking services in Pakistan during the Covid-19 pandemic, following a survey-based study. Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol, 51(6):1173, 1986) and Preacher and Hayes (Behav Res Methods, 40(3):879-891, 2008) mediation technique which utilizes the bootstrapping method has been used to explore mediation. The findings show that e-service quality has a significant positive effect on the e-loyalty of the customers of online banking services. Relationships between e-service quality and e-loyalty of online banking customers in Pakistan are significantly and fully mediated by their online satisfaction in unusual situations. This study would help the bankers to implement more effective marketing strategies to retain their customers and attract potential customers, particularly during non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic. It will help them identify the areas of e-services that need improvement to enhance the satisfaction and loyalty of the customers. The bootstrap method for mediation along with Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol, 51(6):1173, 1986) leads to using a more sophisticated methodological technique to explore the mediation. The Oliver Expectancy-Disconfirmation Paradigm (EDP) in electronic banking setup during non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic also served as a unique contribution to this study. Application of Baron and Kenny (J Personal Soc Psychol, 51(6):1173, 1986) mediation along with Preacher and Hayes (Behav Res Methods, 40(3):879-891, 2008) leads to more robust findings for the study in non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic. The study findings add scientific value as they are applicable to the banking sector in particular in non-normal situations like the Covid-19 pandemic and the overall service sector in general. Further, as two different methods of mediation have been employed and this makes the study more rigorous and scientific.
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PurposeIn the context of heightened awareness and understanding of responsible tourism, it has become increasingly imperative for luxury hotels to introspect on the impact of their operations on environmental and social sustainability. This study aims at examining the prevalence and growth of sustainability practices in the Indian luxury hotel segment as it increasingly competes on a global platform.Design/methodology/approachThe research approach adopted in this paper is qualitative and emic. Primary data is gathered for the study through semi-structured interviews with select luxury hotel general managers from four hotel chains of Indian origin – ITC Luxury Hotels, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, Taj Hotels and Palaces and The Leela – to gain an insight into sustainability initiatives adopted in the Indian hospitality industry. Secondary research data regarding the eco-friendly, green measures implemented in these hotels is collected primarily from the websites of the respective hotel chains and supplemented by review of academic literature, media articles, industry reports and company press releases.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal that Indian luxury hotel brands are increasingly adopting green products and integrating innovative sustainability practices in their day-to-day operations. However, several of these initiatives are in the non-customer-facing domains such as the engineering and back-of-the-house operations. Very few Indian hotel chains are building these sustainability initiatives into their core philosophy and embedding it in the front-line customer service experience at their properties to reinforce the green image of the hotels.Originality/valueThe paper also proposes the 6Cs Framework of Sustainability that can be utilised to categorise the green sustainable practices adopted in responsible hotels in a simplistic manner under six broad verticals. Practitioners, researchers and educationists in the hospitality industry would find the implications of this study useful in the context of a post-pandemic world where sustainability is influencing consumer choices across industries in today's eco-conscious and enlightened business and marketing environment.
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The research objectives is to examine the causality relationship that occurs between WEBQUAL, trust, engagement, and backpacker loyalty. This study adopted data sourced from the backpacker community members in Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia as respondents who made online bookings at four online booking retailers, namely;Traveloka.com, Tiket.com, Alibaba.com, and Pegipegi.com. The number of the backpacker community members as respondents is 176 respondents. Testing of causality is done by using Partial Least Squared (PLS). The research found are WEBQUAL which consists of information, system, and service quality has a significant direct effect on trust and engagement. Other found in this research are trust and engagement had a significant direct effect on backpacker loyalty. Furthermore, this research found are WEBQUAL which consists of;information, system, and service quality have a significant indirect effect on backpacker loyalty through the mediating role of trust and engagement.
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PurposeThis paper aims to examine how message consistency pursued through integrated marketing communications (IMC) can build a strong destination brand equity in a very dynamic environment and whether this process is affected by the perceived risk of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachData collection was conducted among 333 international tourists visiting Croatia, a destination that has experienced a remarkable boom in the summer/autumn season of 2021, regardless of the pandemic. Partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis.FindingsResults show that IMC consistency has a significant impact on the four destination brand equity dimensions, i.e. awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty. This influence is found to be the highest on destination brand awareness and the lowest on destination brand loyalty. Perceived risk of COVID-19 moderates the impact of message consistency on brand image and perceived quality.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that examines the role of IMC consistency in a tourism context during turbulent times. The impact of IMC consistency is analyzed on different components of destination brand equity, which addresses the most recent research call from tourism literature. The moderating effects of perceived risk are considered, thus providing additional implications in a context of high uncertainty. Finally, IMC consistency is assessed from the consumer rather than managerial viewpoints, thus adopting the necessary outside-in approach embedded in the IMC idea.
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PurposeThis study examines the different effects of service recovery strategies on customers' future intentions when online shoppers were experiencing delivery failures. Two types of problem severity are evaluated: wrong-product delivery (issues with the product quality or quantity) and late delivery. This study also investigates the impact of service criticality on the relationship between service recovery strategies and customers' future intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs experimental research with 123 online shoppers as participants. Following the results, a subsequent test is conducted to examine the effect of participants' demographics on future intentions. Finally, the current study elaborates the findings using qualitative research, interviewing both sides impacted by the service failures: online shoppers and e-retail managers.FindingsThe findings show that complementing product replacement with monetary compensation is the most effective strategy to improve repurchase intention after a dissatisfaction moment. This effect is indifferent to service criticality and severity. Age influences the participants' repurchase intentions, in which younger people are less tolerant of service failures. In contrast, gender and education level do not provide any differences. To prevent delivery failures, managers participating in this study suggest several best practices regarding systems and infrastructure, people and coordination and collaboration with logistics partners.Research limitations/implicationsThe study mainly examines a limited type of service and service failures. Further studies are encouraged to expand the variables and scenarios, as well as to employ more distinctive methods, to enrich the findings related to recovery strategy in the e-commerce industry.Practical implicationsGiven proper compensation, service failure could create momentum for online retailers to boost customer loyalty. This study suggests that managers design the most effective service recovery to win customers back to the business.Originality/valueThis paper enriches the literature related to a service recovery strategy, particularly within the online shopping context.
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PurposeThis paper aims to present a hybrid approach to measure the efficiency of virtual contact centers (VCCs) started during the pandemic and benchmark them for service performance. The results are used to plot the VCC's efficiency score (performance) and customer perception (Importance) to propose appropriate strategies.Design/methodology/approachUsing the survey method, 854 responses were collected from customers who used VCC services during the pandemic. This data was then employed to assess the performance of VCCs using SERVPERF and DEA methods, followed by the development of the model for performance analysis.FindingsResults reveal the ranking of different VCCs started during the pandemic for the telecom company using SERVPERF and DEA methods. Further, the performance analysis model highlighted the strategies appropriate for each VCCs.Practical implicationsThe findings add to the body of knowledge on how multiple service units of a large organization can assess service efficiency utilizing a combination of SERVPERF-DEA. The present work also contributes to the performance analysis field by proposing a model to assess the service centers and provide improvement guidelines.Originality/valueThe work is one of the first to assess the service efficiency of the VCCs started during the pandemic by using a unique hybrid approach of SERVPERF and DEA. This approach provides a direction to whom to benchmark and to what degree service quality should be improved. Further, the study proposes a unique performance analysis model based on performance scores and customer perception.
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Due to the recent trend of sustainability and socio-economic changes and to expand the research on resilient supply chains in Korea, this study targets Korean venture companies to ensure their success and growth. This study aims to analyze the reliance factors affecting the business performance of Korean manufacturing venture enterprises by considering two types of business performance: technology and financial performance. Regarding the factors influencing business performance, this study analyzes five resilience factors: product structure intensity, brand intensity, research and development intensity, cooperation, and corporate social responsibility. Business years were used as control variables and the causal relationship between the factors was analyzed using SPSS 22. The results show that all resilience factors positively influenced technology performance. The results for the financial performance show research and development intensity and corporate social responsibility. However, cooperation only shows different results between technology performance and financial performance. Based on these results, this study provides implications and contributions for manufacturing venture enterprises.