An Investigation into the Effect of Consumer Experience Tourism on Brand Loyalty and Purchasing Behavior

Brand loyalty and repeat purchase intentions are accepted as important and inextricably intertwined phenomena in contemporary marketing literature, with many studies pertaining to this area. In order to achieve customer loyalty, it is important for companies to create strong bonds between their products or brands and consumers. Consumer Experience Tourism (CET) has been increasingly used as a strategic marketing tool in an attempt to strengthen such bonds, particularly by producers of frequently purchased consumer staples such as food and beverages. With no studies to date identified as having tested the effects of CET on medium to long-term consumer brand loyalty and purchasing behavior, how such behavior differs from that of consumers who have had other non-CET experiential interactions with the product or brand, and indeed those consumers who have had no experiential interaction with the product or brand, companies have a dilemma in how to treat this activity. Should they treat it as a worthwhile marketing expense that will reap long-term rewards, or as a tourist activity that should either cover its costs or show a profit due to limited benefits? This dissertation consists of three studies that investigate the effects of CET on brand loyalty and purchasing behavior. Study 1 obtained 415 valid surveys from CET visitors to a single winery, investigating perceived product quality, perceived service quality, and the effects of charging (versus not charging) on purchasing behavior, and found that under conditions of both highly perceived product quality and highly perceived service quality, there were no significant differences in purchasing behavior. Study 2 obtained 437 valid surveys from CET visitors to the winery of survey in Study 1 who had visited over a six-year period, as well as consumers of the brands who had not engaged in CET, and found significant differences in attitudinal brand loyalty but not in purchasing behavior. Study 3 attempted to replicate the effects of a CET using a Consumer Experience Event (CEE), with a pre-event tracking survey obtaining 74 valid responses, followed by a post-event tracking survey that obtained 51 valid responses. It was found that this type of experience remote from the brand home was able to replicate many of the CET attributes and effects. This research therefore extends CET as a theoretical construct and begins to resolve the CET marketer’s dilemma

Authentic Corporate Social Responsibility Based on Authentic Empowerment: An Exemplary Business Leadership Case

Authors Dillon, Back, and Manz examine the underpinnings of genuine or authentic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), noting the direct nexus between stakeholder empowerment and the socially-responsible actions of authentic leaders. Such an empowering leadership approach– involving structural, psychological, developmental, and financial components – is particularly exemplified by a family-owned (Back) wine and cheese company (Fairview Trust), situate in South Africa

Thinking outside the bottle: Effects of alternative wine packaging

Packaging communicates intrinsic product attributes to consumers, which can influence consumer response and decision-making; however, little is known about the impact of non-traditional packaging formats. The current research aims to bridge this gap. Across five studies, we demonstrate that non-traditional packaging negatively influenced purchase intention of a complex product, wine, through product appeal and taste perceptions (Study 1A)/expectations (Studies 1B–4). We also demonstrate that the consumer response to non-traditional packaging is a function of individual differences (desire for unique products) and label attributes (eco-friendly labels)

The Wine Tourist: Motivations, Satisfaction and Behavioral Outcomes

What inspires someone to visit a winery? And why do they go back? Three professors from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management have been considering these questions with a particular focus on the world-renowned winery, Marques de Riscal, in Spain. Dr. Robin Beck, Dr. Diego Bufquin, and Dr. Jeon-Yeol Park examined customer revisit intentions, previous visits, motivation to visit, customer satisfaction levels, and the geographic proximity of a destination to their home

Implications of an exogenous shock (COVID-19) on wine tourism business: A Portuguese winery perspective

This study investigates the impact of an exogenous and unexpected shock (COVID-19) on the wine tourism business from the winery\u27s perspective. A sample of 146 Portuguese wineries was surveyed. The econometric results show that the share of wine tourism sales, the amount of dependence on exports and the assertiveness of brand recognition have a structural effect on direct-to-consumer tasting room wine sales, even when the winery\u27s business is disrupted by a shock that degrades the dynamics and flows of international trade. The research establishes a starting point that allows to understand the implications of an exogenous shock on the structure of the winery\u27s business, calling for further research on the firm\u27s economic performance as well as on the consumer\u27s behaviour in a post-pandemic context

Nucleon-Gold Collisions at 200 AGeV Using Tagged d+Au Interactions in PHOBOS

Forward calorimetry in the PHOBOS detector has been used to study charged hadron production in d+Au, p+Au and n+Au collisions at sqrt(s_nn) = 200 GeV. The forward proton calorimeter detectors are described and a procedure for determining collision centrality with these detectors is detailed. The deposition of energy by deuteron spectator nucleons in the forward calorimeters is used to identify p+Au and n+Au collisions in the data. A weighted combination of the yield of p+Au and n+Au is constructed to build a reference for Au+Au collisions that better matches the isospin composition of the gold nucleus. The p_T and centrality dependence of the yield of this improved reference system is found to match that of d+Au. The shape of the charged particle transverse momentum distribution is observed to extrapolate smoothly from pbar+p to central d+Au as a function of the charged particle pseudorapidity density. The asymmetry of positively- and negatively-charged hadron production in p+Au is compared to that of n+Au. No significant asymmetry is observed at mid-rapidity. These studies augment recent results from experiments at the LHC and RHIC facilities to give a more complete description of particle production in p+A and d+A collisions, essential for the understanding the medium produced in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figure

Against Modern Football: Mobilising Protest Movements in Social Media

Recent debates in sociology consider how Internet communications might catalyse leaderless, open-ended, affective social movements that broaden support and bypass traditional institutional channels to create change. We extend this work into the field of leisure and lifestyle politics with an empirical study of Internet-mediated protest movement, Stand Against Modern Football. We explain how social media facilitate communications that transcend longstanding rivalries, and engender shared affective frames that unite diverse groups against corporate logics. In examining grassroots organisation, communication and protest actions that span online and urban locations, we discover sustained interconnectedness with traditional social movements, political parties, the media and the corporate targets of protests. Finally, we suggest that Internet-based social movements establish stable forms of organisation and leadership at these networked intersections in order to advance instrumental programmes of change

White Matter and Cognition in Adults Who Were Born Preterm

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Individuals born very preterm (before 33 weeks of gestation, VPT) are at risk of damage to developing white matter, which may affect later cognition and behaviour. METHODS: We used diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) to assess white matter microstructure (fractional anisotropy; FA) in 80 VPT and 41 term-born individuals (mean age 19.1 years, range 17-22, and 18.5 years, range 17-22 years, respectively). VPT individuals were part of a 1982-1984 birth cohort which had been followed up since birth; term individuals were recruited by local press advertisement. General intellectual function, executive function and memory were assessed. RESULTS: The VPT group had reduced FA in four clusters, and increased FA in four clusters relative to the Term group, involving several association tracts of both hemispheres. Clusters of increased FA were associated with more severe neonatal brain injury in the VPT group. Clusters of reduced FA were associated with lower birth weight and perinatal hypoxia, and with reduced adult cognitive performance in the VPT group only. CONCLUSIONS: Alterations of white matter microstructure persist into adulthood in VPT individuals and are associated with cognitive function

Myelin-mediated inhibition of oligodendrocyte precursor differentiation can be overcome by pharmacological modulation of Fyn-RhoA and protein kinase C signalling

Failure of oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation contributes significantly to failed myelin sheath regeneration (remyelination) in chronic demyelinating diseases. Although the reasons for this failure are not completely understood, several lines of evidence point to factors present following demyelination that specifically inhibit differentiation of cells capable of generating remyelinating oligodendrocytes. We have previously demonstrated that myelin debris generated by demyelination inhibits remyelination by inhibiting OPC differentiation and that the inhibitory effects are associated with myelin proteins. In the present study, we narrow down the spectrum of potential protein candidates by proteomic analysis of inhibitory protein fractions prepared by CM and HighQ column chromatography followed by BN/SDS/SDS–PAGE gel separation using Nano-HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry. We show that the inhibitory effects on OPC differentiation mediated by myelin are regulated by Fyn-RhoA-ROCK signalling as well as by modulation of protein kinase C (PKC) signalling. We demonstrate that pharmacological or siRNA-mediated inhibition of RhoA-ROCK-II and/or PKC signalling can induce OPC differentiation in the presence of myelin. Our results, which provide a mechanistic link between myelin, a mediator of OPC differentiation inhibition associated with demyelinating pathologies and specific signalling pathways amenable to pharmacological manipulation, are therefore of significant potential value for future strategies aimed at enhancing CNS remyelination