Classifying and Profiling Social Media Users: An Integrated Approach

The fast-evolving business practice and the continuously changing users’ profiles attract researchers’ interest, such as Brandtzaeg et al. (2010), Brandtzaeg et al. (2007), Constantinides (2011), and Hsuan (2008). However, the current classification studies allow for users’ segmentation in specific social media applications and only one at a time (e.g. SNS, blogs). Thus, Beemt et al. (2010) and Brandtzaeg et al. (2010) called for integrated classification research. The study addresses the gap in users’ segmentation within all social media applications exploring how Greek users could be classified according to their “motivation of use”, “usage patterns” and “social identity” (n=270). This is the first study that attempts to classify users on the basis of their common demographics (age, gender, educational level, income, and marital status), motivations of use, behavioral patterns - such as frequency of use and usual activities-and social identity in the environment of all social media types. The present study explores users’ behavior (n=270) by providing a classification scheme along with detailed profiling of the resulting clusters. Implementing cluster analysis results indicated that users can be classified into three categories (“Information Seekers”, 27%, - “Operational and Psychological Boost Benefits Seekers”, 47 %- “Communication Seekers”, 26%). The “social identity” factor was also used through Anova Test presenting noteworthy differences among the emerging clusters. The current research contributes to develop a users’ classification scheme treating social media as one single category. The paper ends by providing theoretical and managerial implications serving helpful insights about social media patterns. Keywords: Social media users' segmentation, social identity, social media behavior, e-communicatio

Linking the dots among destination images, place attachment, and revisit intentions:A study among British and Russian tourists

Limited evidence suggests that the incorporation of both image components (cognitive, affective, and conative) and holistic image is meaningful for predicting tourists' revisit intentions. Extending this line of research, the present study aims to unravel the relative influence that each component of image has directly and indirectly, via holistic image, on revisit intentions. In doing so, we incorporate two national samples (British and Russians) of diverse tourist profile and significantly different levels of visitation frequency to investigate place attachment as a moderator. Evidence from 1362 British and 1164 Russian tourists indicated that all image components have a positive indirect effect on revisit intention via holistic image, while conative has also a direct one. As expected, the image components rank differently for British and Russian tourists. The indirect effects of destination images on revisit intention, except conative, are conditional and, interestingly, most of these are stronger for tourists with low PA

Quality in bank service encounters: Assessing the equivalence of customers’ and front-line employees’ perceptions

Purpose: The paper discusses the need to evaluate perception-based quality in service encounters. It sets out to diagnose potential mismatches in how customers and front-line employees perceive quality in high involvement service settings, based on the premise that any initiatives towards quality enhancement in service encounters is advisable only when employees and customers evaluate quality utilizing common perceptual structures. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes invariance analysis. The survey involved 165 bank branches and 1522 respondents (463 front-line employees and 1059 customers) and operationalized the same set of questions for both groups of participants. Multisample Confirmatory Factor Analysis tested a series of measurement models. Findings: Results revealed equivalence for tangibles, responsiveness, and assurance but also mismatches between customers and front-line employees perceptions of reliability and empathy. Practical implications: Findings add to current knowledge of how both groups of participants evaluate quality in service encounters and are discussed with reference to managerial consequences for perception-based quality mismatches. Originality/value: So far only a few studies have simultaneously examined front-line employees’ and customers’ perceptions of service quality in service encounters. Unlike previous research designs, this study addresses the critical aspect of potential mismatches in how customers and employees perceive service quality, and presents a methodological procedure to detect them

Exploring the negotiation thesis application among ski resort tourists: a segmentation approach

The negotiation thesis offers a framework for understanding the participation decision making of tourists. Unlike previous studies that investigate the causal relationship between constraints and tourists’ revisit intention, this study identified distinct segments of ski tourist based on the relative strength of constraints experienced and then investigated their decision-making process across a sample of 1,348 tourists of ski resorts. Chi-Squared Automated Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis revealed that the decision making process regarding intention to revisit a ski destination varies between highly versus less constrained ski tourists, indicating different relative strengths of interpersonal, intrapersonal and structural constraints and different interactions among them when predicting revisit intention. On a practical basis, albeit the vast majority of participants were willing to repeat its visit, we offer customized per segment recommendations on increasing frequency of visitation and spending levels

Exploring the constraint profile of winter sports resort tourist segments

Many studies have confirmed the importance of market segmentation both theoretically and empirically. Surprisingly though, no study has so far addressed the issue from the perspective of leisure constraints. Since different consumers face different barriers, we look at participation in leisure activities as an outcome of the negotiation process that winter sports resort tourists go through, to balance between related motives and constraints. This empirical study reports the findings on the applicability of constraining factors in segmenting the tourists who visit winter sports resorts. Utilizing data from 1,391 tourists of winter sports resorts in Greece, five segments were formed based on their constraint, demographic and behavioral profile. Our findings indicate that such segmentation sheds light on factors that could potentially limit the full utilization of the market. To maximize utilization, we suggest customizing marketing to the profile of each distinct winter sports resort tourist segment that emerge

Meeting the cultural and service needs of Arabic international students by using QFD

Quality has become an important factor in global competition for many reasons. Intensive global competition and the demand for better quality by customers has led organizations to realize the benefits of providing quality products and services in order to successfully compete and survive. Higher education institutions are one example of these organisations. Higher education institutions work in an intensive competitive environment worldwide driven by increasing demands for learning by local and international students. As a result, the managers of these sectors have realized that improving the quality of services is important for achieving customer satisfaction which can help survival in an internationally competitive market. To do this, it is necessary for organizations to know their customers and identify their requirements. To this end, many higher education institutions have adopted principles of total quality management (TQM) to improve their education quality which leads to better performance through involvement of every department to achieve excellence in business. This chapter considers the importance of measuring quality in order to assist universities to proactively manage the design and improvement of the social and academic experiences of postgraduate international students, and plan management decision-making processes to deliver high-quality services in a globalized business of provision of higher education. Higher education institutions must operate effectively and efficiently and be able to deliver quality programs, by seeking to better understand the needs of their customers to be competitive in this market space

Destination images, holistic images and personal normative beliefs: Predictors of intention to revisit a destination

This research examines the complex relationship between components of images of destinations and behavioral intentions, incorporating two pivotal constructs that have not been explored in the related literature, namely holistic image and personal normative beliefs (PNBs). Previous studies incorporating destination images as predictors of intention to revisit have mostly investigated their direct effect. This research integrates holistic image as a mediator and PNBs as a moderating variable. The findings verify the mediating role of holistic image for predicting tourists’ intentions to revisit a destination, supporting a model that incorporates a partial effect and two indirect mediations. Interestingly, only affective and conative images contribute to the prediction of tourists’ intentions to revisit a destination through the holistic image towards this destination. Moreover, PNBs moderate the effect that conative destination images have on tourists’ holistic images. Practically, the research sheds light to factors that affect tourists' tendency to select a tourism destination, which can serve as a basis for tailoring the effective positioning of destinations