The evolution of consumers' demand for hotels under the public health crisis: opinion mining from online reviews

This research aims to grasp the evolution of consumer demand and improve the resilience of the hotel industry under the public health crisis (COVID-19). Online reviews of 7,679 hotels in 10 cities were collected from Ctrip, China's major online hotel platform. Then, we applied opinion mining and time evolution to mine the change in consumer demand before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings show that some consumer demands (e.g. epidemic safety) will change during the outbreak period. However, during the nonoutbreak period, users were more concerned about their own check-in experience (e.g. hotel facilities, front desk services). This article provides new ideas for identifying the dynamic value of online reviews. We suggest that businesses focus on ensuring hotel safety during the crisis period. The results contribute essential theoretical and practical significance to the hotel industry's crisis management during public health crises.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Supply Chain in UAE Food Sector

The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly impacted supply chains and has caused several supply chain disruptions in almost all industries worldwide. Moreover, increased transportation costs, labor shortages, and insufficient storage facilities have all led to food loss during the pandemic, and this disruption has affected the logistics in the food value chain. As a result, we examine the food supply chain, which is one of the key industries COVID-19 has detrimentally affected, impacting, indeed, on the entire business process from the supplier all the way to the customer. Retail businesses are thus facing supply issues, which affect consumer behavior by creating stress regarding the availability of food. This has a negative impact on the amount of food that is available as well as its quality, freshness, safety, access to markets, and affordability. This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on the United Arab Emirates food distribution systems and how consumer behavior changed in reaction to interruptions in the food supply chain and the food security problem. Hypothesis testing was used in the study's quantitative methodology to assess consumer behavior, and participants who were consumers were given a descriptive questionnaire to ascertain whether the availability and security of food had been impacted. The study used JASP 0.17.2 software to develop a model of food consumption behavior and to reveal pertinent connections between each construct. Results show that consumer food stress and consumption behavior are directly impacted by food access, food quality and safety, and food pricing. Furthermore, food stress has an impact on how consumers behave when it comes to consumption. Food stress, however, is not significantly influenced by food supply.

Understanding the Impact Mechanism of User Behavior Pattern toward Real Estate APP Platforms in the Post-COVID Era: A Quantitative Analysis

While technology factors are the main driver of the booming real estate APP platforms with important implications for user behavior pattern during and post-pandemic contexts, there is a lack of adequate research. In response, this study explores the user behavior pattern of real estate APP platforms to promote user mental health by taking the real estate APP platforms users as the participants based on theory of technology readiness and acceptance model. Data collected from offline surveys are analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results reveal the technology readiness index positively affects individuals' perceived usefulness and satisfaction, ultimately positively affects individuals' continuance intention with real estate APP platforms;satisfaction with real estate APP platforms mediated the relationship between technology readiness index, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and individuals' continuance intention with real estate APP platforms. However, the group comparison finds no significant difference in user behavior patterns by gender. The contribution of this study is to reveal the influence mechanisms of digital technology on users' behavioral patterns toward real estate APP platforms, which can help guide the sustainable development of real estate APP platforms and promote user mental health and wellbeing in the post-COVID era.

Investigation of high school students' motivation for physical activity participation and eating attitude levels during the COVID-19 period

The aim of this study is to determine the motivation of high school students to participate in physical activity and their eating attitude levels during the COVID-19 period as well as to examine the relationship between the two variables. In addition, it was also determined whether the motivation for participate in physical activity and eating attitudes differ according to gender, weekly exercise, spending time with technology, family communication times, and participation in exercise during and before the pandemic. A total of 576 high school students, including 406 girls and 170 boys, participated in the study. "Motivation Scale for Participation in Physical Activity (MSPPA)", "Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40)" and "Personal Information Form (KBF)" were used as data collection tools. Data were evaluated using correlation, multiple linear regression, MANOVA and t-test analysis techniques. It was concluded that the motivation of the students to participate in physical activity was moderate, and they did not have eating disorders. It was observed that physical activity motivation did not predict eating attitude, but there were positive and low relationships between sub-factors in relational dimension. According to gender, it was determined that the eating attitudes of female students were more positive than male students. It has been found that the motivation to participate in physical activity is higher for those who exercise before and during the pandemic than those who do not. Consequently, it can be said that during the COVID-19 process, high school students' motivation to participate in physical activity is at a moderate level, and their eating attitudes are generally not at the level of behavioral disorders.

Consumers' fear regarding food security in Slovenia during the first wave of COVID-19 crisis

The various crises are having a significant impact on the entire food sector and are changing the attitudes of Europeans as well as policies on the importance of food security and sustainably produced quality and safe food for consumer health. The paper focuses on the consumer's fear of food security for the time of the first wave of COVID-19 and the associated concern for food security in the future and the changes in consumer behaviour. The online survey in Slovenia was conducted in June 2020 using a "snowball" method. The sample included 490 individuals. The results showed that both measured forms of fear (i) fear over food security during the first wave of COVID-19 crisis, and (ii) fear over food security in the future were statistically significant, moderately strong and positively associated with almost all forms of self-perceived behaviour change caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The respondents focused more on buying locally produced and processed food, food stockpiling and decreasing food waste. Only minor changes were expressed with regards to their food purchasing channels, with the elderly, the highly educated and those who classified themselves in a higher social class buying more often directly from farmers. In the future, the results of this research should be compared with other countries and the impact of an individual's economic situation and the impact of promotional campaigns on agricultural products on changing consumer behaviour should also be analysed in more detail.

Looking into shopping behavior and attitudes during the early transition phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

As Covid-19 vaccination in the U.S. begins and hopes of a gradual return to normalcy are raised after much disruption in the shopping behavior of consumers, there is a need to examine consumers' shopping patterns at different stages of the pandemic to adequately understand the potential impacts on shopping behavior. This study explored the shopping behavior of Florida residents during the early transition phase of the pandemic, using data collected from an online survey from February to April 2021. A comprehensive analysis was conducted examining the shopping patterns in terms of purchase frequency, expenditure, and shopping trip distance as well as individuals' shopping attitudes. Further analysis of the shopping behavior was also carried out to investigate whether and how key demographic variables, including age, income, and gender, might be associated with their shopping patterns and attitudes. The analysis reveals that finding and comparing products were big motivators for using online shopping, while concerns about putting personal information online, shipping costs, and the return process may discourage online shopping. Women spent less than men but had significantly higher purchase frequencies than men. People generally liked shopping without interacting with anyone, which suggests that in-store shopping was not necessarily motivated by the need for social interactions. However, price, safety, and parking availability were the top factors in choosing the stores to shop from. Thus, urban and transportation planners should promote compact, mixed-use development and parking management strategies to reduce vehicle shopping trips and the need for separate trips for different purposes. © 2023 ICE Publishing: All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Air Travel Service Quality and Factors of Theory of Planned Behavior: Evidence from Low-Cost Airlines in Thailand

Despite an increased emphasis on improvement in airline service quality concerning consumer behavior, such as passenger repurchasing as a result of their behavioral intention over the last several decades, there is still much less concern with the nature of airline service quality than should exist in the so-called "logistics service quality” and less concern with examining the specific behavioral intention preceding repurchasing behavior together with the theory of planned behavior. As such, this study aims to explore these issues, along with the psychological factors of the theory of planned behavior, that can lead to repurchasing behavior via word-of-mouth intention (WOMI). With an online survey of 383 respondents experienced with flying, the results reveal that the logistics service quality and each determinant in the theory positively influence a passenger's repurchasing behavior through WOMI. Accordingly, service marketers can implement service design and apply integrated marketing communication by learning from repurchasing behavior that was formed by the given factors to retain their existing customers. Moreover, this study is the first to empirically and explicitly validate dimensions of airline services through the lens of logistics that are deemed fit with the nature of the airlines. It advances the understanding of theory approaching and connects what has hampered its advancement in a body of knowledge, simultaneously in a context of airline context where it should not be relegated to transportation and consumer and service orientation.

The effects of online restaurant menus on consumer purchase intention: evidence from an emerging economy

PurposeThis study evaluates the impact of online menus and perceived convenience of online food ordering on consumer purchase intention and shows how a desire for food creates a relationship between an online menu and a customer's purchase intention. Suggestions for management are proposed to design an effective menu to improve business performance in the competitive market in Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachThe paper follows a quantitative method. Quantitative research aims to analyze and critically evaluate the research question(s) to discover new factors.FindingsFindings indicate a positive relationship between menu visual appeal (MV), menu informativeness (MI), desire for food (DF), the perceived convenience (PC) of ordering food online and intention to purchase (PI). The attractiveness of images and information is a significant factor affecting diners' desire to eat, while the demand for food and the convenience of ordering food online are also factors affecting purchase intention.Practical implicationsThe study confirms the importance of online menus to purchase intention. Economically, when supply and demand are reasonable, the market is stable and technology develops. In terms of social, hygiene, attractiveness and price factors, it is helpful to have an overview. Research is the premise for further studies with factors from menu to customer trust.Originality/valueThe study provides a solid foundation for further studies on restaurant menu elements as well as a new perspective on how restaurants improve their dishes.

Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour during COVID-19:A Case Study in Bangladesh

Customer shopping behaviour has changed and people are becoming used to accessing, using and adapting to online shopping rather than visiting stores physically due to COVID-19 restrictions. It is not known how long the trend will last but it can be observed that there will be changes in current and future models in almost every business around the world. According to the 'Motivation-need theory' (1943), every individual considers five (5) key elements to fulfil their needs. It includes physiological survival, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. The big question is why consumers act differently during the global pandemic, which does not support Maslow's 'Motivation-need theory'. It might be the panic situation all over the world, frustration of losing jobs, mental stress while isolated and many other factors that are making consumers act differently while shopping from e-commerce or different social media platform. This research study aims to examine the factors affecting consumer behaviour toward online purchasing during COVID-19 in Bangladesh. . © 2023 IEEE.

The influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumer–brand relationships: evidence of brand evangelism behaviors

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.

Proximity tourism: an observational analysis of the use of Instagram to promote the northeast of Brazil. (Special Issue: Tourism in the northeast.)

With the changes in consumer profile, especially in tourism activity, facing the issues brought by globalization, greater access to and use of Technologies, and more recently, the restrictions imposed by the protocols to prevent contamination by the Covid-19 virus and its consequences, it has been necessary to change the way of experiencing tourism, leading the market to adapt to the new reality. Thus, the incentive to implement so-called Proximity Tourism has gathered strength, prompting the following research question: how has this type of tourism been addressed and how have the cities of the Brazilian Northeast have been working with this theme to promote their potential on the social network platform Instagram? The main objective of this study was to perform an observational analysis of what is being posted on this social network concerning proximity tourism, by investigating the use of the hashtag #turismodeproximity, and whether the cities of the Northeast of Brazil are using this Instagram tool. As the result of this research, it was found that of the total posts indexed with this hashtag, only a small number are directly related to this region, indicating a lack of dissemination, and consequently, failure to generate greater visibility for this tourism modality.

Determinants of Online Food Delivery(OFD) Sales during COVID-19

Purpose: The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 compelled consumers to abstain from dining out and instead use online food delivery (OFD) services. This study aims to examine the determinants of OFD sales in a restaurant during the COVID-19 crisis. Design/methodology/approach: We analyzed 139,812 restaurant-level credit card OFD transaction data from January 2019 to June 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. Findings: During COVID-19, many restaurants participated and experienced sales growth through the OFD platforms. On the demand side, the composition of customers using OFD services has changed, replacing the demand for dining out. Our estimation results show that the food category, customer composition ratio, and past performance significantly affected restaurants' OFD revenue during the pandemic. Research limitations/implications: The results suggest implications for the restaurant industry responding to chang-ing customer needs on OFD platforms. Restaurants with high-performing OFDs before the pandemic experienced higher sales during the pandemic period. The results imply that experiences to fit customers' needs toward OFD are likely to help restaurants overcome the losses incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Originality/value: This study empirically revealed the effect of store category, past performance, demographic, and geographical customer profile on OFD demand for external shocks such as COVID-19. © The Author(s).

COVID-19 impacts on United States crawfish. (Special Issue: COVID-19 impacts on selected commodities.)

This research determines the impacts of COVID-19 US on crawfish production and consumption for 2020 and 2021 using an Equilibrium Displacement Model. In the US, crawfish is one of the seafood commodities where most production is consumed by domestic consumers (7% of domestic consumption is from imports). Crawfish and rice are complementary. Therefore, the impacts of COVID-19 on crawfish consumption simultaneously influence rice production and crawfish producers and consumers. In the first year of COVID-19 (2020), the reduction in crawfish retail demand caused negative effects on final consumers and producers. However, crawfish consumption recovered significantly in the second year (2021), which could compensate for the loss in 2020. Overall, consumer and producer gains ranged from $549 to $626 million if the COVID-19 pandemic only impacted retail consumption. However, in 2021, the increase in production costs due to higher oil/diesel prices and other input prices caused the farm supply to decrease. As a result, total welfare gains ranged from $200 to $228 million. If the demand in 2021 did not increase, but the crawfish farm supply decreased, consumer and producer losses ranged from $929 to $1045 million. Overall, the total effects of COVID-19 on consumers and producers for 2020 and 2021 depend on its effects in 2021. If the demand in 2021 increased following the decrease in farm supply, consumers and producers would benefit from the shocks of COVID-19 due to higher post-COVID-19 demand.

When the Future is Now: An Experimental Study on the Role of Future Thinking and Affective Forecasting in Accommodation Decision-Making

When people make travel decisions, they consult their imagination, considering how they would feel in the respective travel situation. Both, researchers who examine this phenomenon and practitioners executing it, commonly hold the vague assumption of an evaluative cognitive process that enables tourists to factor such information into their decision-making process. The nature and functioning of such a process is largely unknown. The authors suggest that travelers, often subconsciously, mentally simulate future hotel stays and predict future feelings to inform their decision-making, a process referred to as affective forecasting. Executing an experimental design, the authors show that actively engaging in episodic future thinking to trigger affective forecasting increases travelers' intentions toward holiday accommodations. This effect is mediated by hotel trust and risk perception, demonstrating that affective forecasting is an effective way for regaining tourists' trust and reducing their perceived risk during a pandemic. Contributions to theory and practical implications are discussed.

Role of Logistics Integration Capability in Enhancing Performance in Omni-Channel Retailing: Supply Chain Integration as Mediator

Although the importance and benefits of logistics integration in omni-channel (OC) retailing have been discussed in the literature, the impacts of logistics integration from the dimension of internal and external logistics remain unknown. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the relationships among internal and external logistics integration capabilities, supply-chain integration (SCI), and financial performance (FP) in OC retailing based on the dynamic capability view. An empirical study is conducted based on a survey of 230 OC retailers in China's market. Factor analysis and regression analysis are conducted to examine the hypotheses of the proposed conceptual model. The quantitative analyses show that the internal logistics integration capability is significantly related to the external logistics integration capability, and they both have positive effects on SCI, while the external logistics integration capability generates a higher impact (i.e., almost 1.5 times that of the internal logistics integration capability). The numerical results also demonstrate that the logistics integration capabilities and SCI have similar positive effects on FP (i.e., all the relevant regression coefficients show values around 0.25), and SCI plays a partial intermediary role in the relationships between logistics integration capabilities and FP. Furthermore, the quantitative evidence addresses the fact that the FP is not influenced by OC retailers' characteristics, indicating a fair business environment in the OC retail industry.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Sustainable Food Consumption: Historical Evolution, Dominant Topics and Trends

The major goal of this study is to trace the emergence of SFC-related research across time, using a thematic map and a list of corresponding publications. In addition, this study aims to determine the author who has made the most significant contribution to this particular field. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the historical development and current trends in sustainable food consumption research, examining 2265 articles published between 1990 and 2023. Using the bibliometrics package of R Studio software version 4.2.1 and its Biblioshiny package, articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases are examined. In the field of sustainable food consumption, we identify five distinct research phases: initial stagnation, infant growth, post-economic crisis, expanding phase and COVID-19 and post-pandemic. While research on broader sustainability topics can be traced back to the early 20th century, a very limited number of articles on sustainable food consumption was published in the 1990s. However, the number of publications increased incrementally over time, with a notable uptick in interest around 2015, and the subject was still being discussed in 2022. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic marked the beginning of the most recent phase of research, which analyzed the consumption patterns of consumers before and after the pandemic. Our study highlights key authors, documents and sources related to sustainable food consumption. The United States, Italy and the United Kingdom emerged as the most active contributors to the research on sustainable food consumption and were additionally the countries with the largest global market shares for organic products. Major sub-themes including organic food, food waste, sustainable development and food security, together with consumer behavior and organic products appeared as being the most researched sub-themes of recent times. The results of this study suggest that more research is related to sustainable food consumption in countries with a low organic food market share. In addition, the investigation of actual data on food waste, carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from food production and consumption is essential to gain holistic insights.

Emerging technology as an essential factor in changing lifestyles and reshaping exercise behaviour in Taiwan. (Special issue on 2023 Asia Pacific sport and social science.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced various aspects of people's lives;for instance, restrictions during the pandemic have forced people to think about sports participation and physical activity in new ways. There has been growing interest in technological interventions to support exercise-related behavioural changes in daily life;in particular, exergames designed to induce full-body movement offer alternatives to physical activity. Since Taiwan has a high rate of ownership of exergame-related equipment, it is worth examining players' perceptions of using exergames for exercise. This study utilised a Means-End Chain analysis with in-depth laddering interviews to investigate Taiwanese perceptions of certain attributes of exergames as most likely to produce desired consequences in accordance with their values. The findings provide researchers and practitioners interested in the use of technology for exercise with valuable implications of Means-End Chain theory and structuration theory and suggestions for exergame design and promotion.

Examining restaurant purchase intention during crises: The role of message appeal

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the joint role of the pandemic-induced source of crisis (i.e. health and social crisis) based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and message appeal in customer perception of and behavioral intention toward a restaurant. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a 2 (source of crisis: social, health) x 2 (message appeal: social, health) between-subjects factorial design. A total of 181 samples was collected and data was analyzed by using ANCOVA and PROCESS. Findings: The results showed a significant two-way interaction between source of crisis and message appeal on to-go intention. With the potential effect of risk aversion being controlled, message appeal significantly impacted perceived competence, which influenced both dine-in and to-go intentions. Practical implications: The research findings suggest a crucial role of perceived fit between message appeal and customer concerns during crises. Therefore, restaurant managers should actively communicate their safety practices with their customers to inspire customer confidence. Originality/value: This study identifies crisis dimensions based on human needs during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which determines the persuasiveness of marketing messages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Purchase intention of organic foods: are lifestyles of health and sustainability the reason for my purchase decision?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of scarcity and the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) consumption tendency on the purchase intention of organic foods. The study used the protection motivation theory and the stimulus-organism-response theory to understand the impact of comparatively new variables like "perceived scarcity” and "perceived consumer effectiveness” (PCE) on the consumer's organic food purchase intentions.Design/methodology/approachThe study is using structural equation modeling with 402 organic food consumers. The participants are regular consumers who bought organic food from specialized shops and supermarkets in the previous few months. The data has been collected at organic food specialized shops and supermarkets that sell organic foods.FindingsThe results showed that LOHAS consumption tendency (LCT), scarcity and PCE positively affect attitude. Similarly, LCT and PCE direct affect trust. Scarcity and PCE directly positive impact on purchase intention of organic food products. Interestingly, LCT had no direct impact on the purchase intention of the product. Trust and attitude were found to be significant mediators impacting purchase intention.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the past theoretical literature on LOHAS consumption by analyzing new constructs like scarcity and PCE in the context of organic food consumption. These findings will be crucial for marketers planning to launch organic products in new markets.

Consumer buying behaviour post and pre COVID analysis- specific reference to South Africa

This research focused on examining the motivational factors that determine the behaviour of consumers in pre and post pandemic times in South Africa by conducting a secondary literature study in the selected universe, with the aim of exploring the key factors in the changes of consumption in men and women, due to the situation of isolation caused by COVID 19. The economic factor referring to the consumption of basic necessities in consumer behaviour is a benchmark for marketing sanitary. Because cleaning, sanitizing and medicinal products have become part of the basic (emerging) consumption of men and women in South Africa. Likewise, the psychological factor, from an exercise and health perspective, is another important factor in times of pandemic. The present study conducted in two phases, pre and post COVID-19 in South Africa. During those period consumers used to buy in a hybrid mode of shopping. Twelve variables (items) are used for the scale development of buying behaviour and taken from the literature and further improved through EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) in the study. The questionnaire was developed using the five-point Likert scale. The survey tool consisted of 30 items. There are 258 respondents were replied through online questionnaire. Two set of questions were asked, and responses were analysed.