Visitors’ perceived trust in sincere, authentic, and memorable heritage experiences

The success of cultural destinations often centres on whether consumers trust the provenance and integrity of the heritage assets, activities, and services therein. However, few studies examine whether this ‘perceived trust’ influences the authenticity, sincerity, and memorability of cultural heritage consumption. To investigate the relationships between these constructs, we surveyed 320 visitors to Iranian cultural heritage sites. The findings suggest that perceived trust positively influences visitors’ perceptions of sincerity, existential authenticity, and object-based authenticity, stimulating memorable experiences in the process. This, in turn, emphasises the antecedent importance of perceived trust in shaping consumption. In the face of increasing commercialization within the cultural heritage sector more generally, we therefore encourage practitioners to prioritise safeguarding the integrity of their offerings, promoting heritage assets in a manner that stimulates perceived trust

Turkish leaders and their foreign policy decision-making style: a comparative and multi-method perspective

Using both quantitative and qualitative research techniques, we investigate the effect of leaders’ style and personality on foreign policy. The study examines six Turkish leaders, Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit, Necmettin Erbakan, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Abdullah Gül, and Turgut Özal, and 18 foreign policy cases to answer the following questions: do Turkish leaders differ from each other in terms of their personality traits and styles?; how did their styles affect their foreign policy choices?; and how did they react to various domestic and international constraints they encountered in cases of foreign policy? Our findings suggest that: (a) in terms of their personality traits, Turkish leaders do not collectively fit in one category; (b) there are some stark differences among our six leaders, although some leaders are more similar to each other than others in terms of their personality traits and styles; (c) these differences were observable in the foreign policy decisions they made

Making memories: a consumer-based model of authenticity applied to living history sites

Purpose: Underpinned by the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA), this study investigated whether leisure involvement, object-based and existential authenticity, host sincerity, and engagement stimulate positive memorable visitor experiences in a distinctive commercial hospitality setting: a living history site. Methodology: Quantitative data were gathered from living history site visitors (n=1004), with partial least squares structural equation modelling used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results confirm the inclusion of the hypothesized relationships between leisure involvement, sincerity, and authenticity, relative to engagement and subsequent memorability. The findings suggest that engagement can be a predictor of positive memorable experience, contingent on CBA constructs (sincerity; object-based authenticity; existential authenticity). The significant association between object-based authenticity and memorable experience identified herein differs from some published studies, while other results are broadly consistent with extant research. Results also reveal significant differences for visitors who purchased souvenirs when compared to those who did not. Implications: Our research extends the CBA by positing sincere hospitality as a relationship based encounter between host and guest that influences social interaction, engagement, and memorability within the novel living history site context. Further, the ability to differentiate visitors based on their purchases at the site is illustrated. Originality: Given the ubiquity of engagement and authenticity as precursors to memorable experiences within contemporary commercial hospitality and heritage discourses, the findings apply to hospitality experiences beyond the living history site context examined herein

Modeling Agricultural Practice Impacts on Surface Water Quality: Case of Northern Aegean Watershed, Turkey

The Northern Aegean Watershed has 9032 km2 surface area and it is one of the twenty-one major watersheds in Turkey. Excessive use of fertilizers in farming activities undertaken in the Northern Aegean Watershed has led to nitrate and phosphorus level increases in the watershed surface water. The study aims to simulate the surface water quality over twenty years (2010–2030) using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the various potential BMP scenarios. Comparison of simulated results based on the developed BMP scenarios with the simulation results of the existing practices were used to review the efectiveness of the BMP on improving surface water quality. The SWAT-CUP process was used for calibration, validation, and sensitivity analysis. The simulation results can be used as a starting point to further the guidelines for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forest for BMP development on watershed-wide agricultural activities