Making space for experiences

Leisure and retail providers need to understand the elements of the visitor experience and the way in which they evaluate their satisfaction. This article suggests a holistic prism model of the interaction between the management and the visitor in a leisure space. This is applied to a netnographic study of visitors to a folk festival to illustrate the interconnectiveness of the different attributes causing dissatisfaction. It found that the physical and operational attributes were evaluated not through a checklist of individual features but as hindrances to the visitor's desire to make best use of the time. Visitors also evaluated the experience in the light of their own values and concerns, passing judgement on the values communicated by the management. At the heart of the experience was the enjoyment of choosing from an abundant offer and discovering something new. The main attraction is often only the pretext for enjoying the company of friends so places to meet before and chill-out afterwards are vital to the experience. The distinctiveness of the setting, the food and drink can become the sensory cues which give the event or location its uniqueness. The challenge to retail and leisure organisations is to design these elements of a memorable experience into their offerings

Spartan Daily, February 9, 2016

Volume 146, Issue 4https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2016/1002/thumbnail.jp

Women, Children and Hospitable Spaces

This paper argues that the patronage of women with children has been largely ignored by hospitality academics. It establishes the context for the study of the subject as well as helping to set the research agenda by reviewing existing literature, identifying relevant bodies of literature which may underpin the future study of the subject, and pointing to gaps in current knowledge. The paper discusses the organisational challenges and opportunities in targeting or hosting these consumer segments. It focuses on venue design, facilities and the spatial strategies for accommodating women with children in venues. The paper also discusses issues concerning emotional labour and consumer co-creation, and it argues that studies of consumer experience in hospitality need to shift emphasis from dyadic relationships, involving hosts and guests, to considering triadic relationships, involving hosts, guests and others, including other guests and consumers not directly involved in the consumption experience

Consumer Preferences for Imported Kona Coffee in South India: A Latent Class Analysis

Considering India as a potential export market for 100% Kona coffee, this study explores consumer preferences for imported, specialty, high-end Kona coffee in South India. Conjoint choice experiment with latent class analysis is used and results indicate that India offers an export market potential for Kona coffee, provided it caters to consumer preferences. Results show a significant preference for strong taste. The relative importance of price is lower than taste but majority are also adverse to higher prices. However,15% of the sample population does not care about price but does care about taste, indicating the possibility of a high-end niche market segment. Based on the results, marketing strategies and policy recommendations have been suggested.India, US Coffee Export, Kona Coffee, Conjoint Choice Experiment, Latent Class Analysis, Agribusiness, Q13,

From Differentiated Coffee Markets Towards Alternative Trade and Knowledge Networks

This chapter presents a case study focusing on the Community Agroecology Network (CAN), an organization started by the United States and Mesoamerica’s activists, whose effort is to create an alternative trade and knowledge network. The basic aim behind CAN is to benefit conservation and social development efforts by linking producers, consumers, and producer organizations. CAN is a response to the problems arising out of the dominance of certification processes in Fair Trade and organic coffee networks, and the chapter discusses the organization’s main goals of intercommunity relationship development, direct coffee marketing, and ecological sustainability. It moots a comparison between alternative agro-food networks and CAN on the grounds of biodiversity conservation, empowerment, and enhanced livelihoods

Implementation plan of health and safety processes

An auditor was asked to review an organisation’s Health and Safety procedures to assess compliance with the new legislation imposed by The Health and Safety Act 2015. Then the organisation approached an internal source to conduct a strategic plan in order to target issues of health and safety risk. An implementation plan will be designed to achieve the auditors recommendations and improve the organisation’s Health and Safety practices. Research and audit of the current policies and procedures used at the organisation must be conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the current issues and from there develop action plans and a strategy on how to reach those action plans. Current documentation of policies and an interview with management will be analysed to detail the potential action plans.Once the research has been conducted, results will be used to determine conclusions

Rating system in Food delivery

A small business in food delivery has much competition. The organisation delivers food in food trucks at local markets. The aim of this research is to examine how a rating system will impact on the quality of goods and services and customer satisfaction levels. This research will accomplish the aim in three steps: examine the current state of food trucks, investigate the potential of a rating system, and identify further avenues to use rating systems efficiently. A survey of customers will be used to gather quantitative data and an interview to gather qualitative data

Game Time: Not Too Much, Nor Too Little

The amount of time young adults spend on online gaming has drawn attention from governments and academics. While these concerns posit a spatial separation between the game world and reality, they fail to understand the gaming activity in relation to individuals’ overall life. An alternative framing of gaming as leisure activities can yield greater insight. This research examines the temporal experience and the meaning of playing online games within a community of Chinese full-time college students. Observing their gaming routine, I try to answer: how do college students interpret the time they devote to gaming? In addition, how does the calculation of time for gaming differ from time in the game? Based on the research, I find that although the participants devote a significant amount of time on gaming, they are capable of prioritizing school obligations, making efforts to achieve a balance between work and leisure. Essentially, they regard gaming as a serious leisure and desire better performance through practicing. The findings suggest that the moral panic against online gaming, particularly in the Chinese society, is shaped by the interaction between the central regulation on internet use, the fear-delivering media representation, and the transformative work-leisure relation