Beyond commodification and politicisation: production and consumption practices of authenticity in the white Tai tourist market in the uplands of Vietnam

'Basierend auf einer vierjährigen ethnographischen Feldforschung schildert dieser Beitrag die Interaktionen zwischen Bereisten und Reisenden anhand von White Tai-Dörfern im Mai Chau-Bezirk im nordwestlichen Hügelland Vietnams. Die Autorin argumentiert, dass Tourismus als Medium zur Demonstration von Gastfreundlichkeit eingesetzt werde. Neben einer Diskussion zu touristischer Produktion und Konsum, werden in diesem Artikel auch die Erfahrungen und Wahrnehmungen der TouristInnen und DorfbewohnerInnen analysiert sowie verschiedene Typen von Beziehungen zwischen GastgeberInnen und Gästen identifiziert. Es wird dabei argumentiert, dass im Kontext touristischer Räume eine Transformation dieser Beziehungen stattfinde, die in den neuen Produktions- und Konsumpraktiken evident sei. Solche Beziehungen können nur verstanden werden, wenn ein altbekanntes Verständnis von Kommodifizierung und Politisierung von Ethnizität erweitert werde.' (Autorenreferat)'This paper is based on an ethnographic enquiry conducted over the last four years and shows the setting of a close interaction between hosts and guests in the White Tai villages in Mai Chau district, in the northwest uplands of Vietnam. The author argues that tourism is utilized as a medium to demonstrate a culture of hospitality. A new trend in tourism production and consumption is brought into discussion; in relation to this, this paper looks at what is really happening in the tourism spaces of the White Tai villages through the experiences not only of tourists but also of villagers. The author identifies several types of host-guest relationships and argues that there is a transformation of the host-guest relationship within these tourist spaces, a transformation evident in the new production and consumption practices of the market. Such relationships must be understood by looking beyond conceptions of commodification and politicization of ethnicity.' (author's abstract)

Unpacking the Effects of International Experience in Intercultural Negotiations

This dissertation examines how international experience influences the outcomes of intercultural negotiations. Its main contributions lie in the novel and contextualized conceptualization of international experience and the development of a comprehensive theoretical model that unpacks the effects of international experience in intercultural negotiations. I propose that international experience is a multi-dimensional construct that encompasses four dimensions: breadth, depth, cultural distance, and cultural heterogeneity. I argue that experiences abroad develop and strengthen individuals’ intercultural competence, psychological capital and global identity, which in turn positively influence the outcomes of intercultural negotiations, i.e., they mediate the relationship between international experience and intercultural negotiation outcomes. I contend that it is crucial to differentiate between touristic international experience and international experience acquired through living/working/studying (LWS) abroad. Their effects on intercultural negotiation outcomes, intercultural competence, psychological capital and global identity can be expected to differ. I also posit that cultural distance between the negotiators in the dyad moderates the relationships between the mediators and intercultural negotiation outcomes, such that the positive effects of intercultural competence, psychological capital and global identity on intercultural negotiation outcomes are more pronounced when cultural distance between the two negotiators is larger. The sample of the empirical study to test the theoretical model at the dyad level consists of 301 intercultural negotiation dyads (U.S. versus non-U.S.), with 602 participants from 55 countries. Data was collected through survey questionnaires and a negotiation simulation. Results of the study indicate that breadth, depth, cultural distance and cultural heterogeneity of the intercultural negotiation dyads’ LWS international experience are positively related to their economic joint gains. They are also positively associated with the dyads’ joint subjective value, except for the depth dimension. For the negotiation dyads’ touristic international experience, only breadth is positively correlated with their economic joint gains. Overall, these negotiation dyads’ international experience is positively related to their intercultural competence, psychological capital and global identity, with LWS and touristic international experience having differential impact. In addition, their intercultural competence, psychological capital and global identity are positively related to their joint subjective value. Results of mediation analysis provide evidence that both intercultural competence and psychological capital mediate some of the indirect effects of the intercultural negotiation dyads’ international experience on their joint subjective value. Moreover, moderator analysis shows that the positive effect of intercultural negotiation dyads’ global identity on their joint subjective value is more pronounced when cultural distance between the two negotiators is large than when it is moderate. This dissertation provides theoretical arguments and empirical evidence that it is beneficial to acquire different types of international experience and to manage the characteristics of one’s international experience in terms of breadth, depth, cultural distance and cultural heterogeneity so as to leverage their positive direct and indirect effects on one’s intercultural negotiation outcomes. This underscores the importance of unpacking the effects of international experience in intercultural negotiations. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of this dissertation, limitations of the empirical study and avenues for future research are discussed

Is Grit the Best Predictor of University Students’ Academic Achievement?

This paper investigated the predictors of academic achievement of university students in two courses for second-year students in a public university in Ghana. Using a quantitative design, data were collected from 154 second-year trainee teachers (for the 2019/2020 academic year), randomly selected from the said public university. The study showed a direct significant relationship between gender, age, motivation to study, and academic achievement in two education courses. Again, age, gender, motivation, and grit were significant predictors of student academic achievement in two education courses, with grit as the best predictor contributing to 67% variability in student academic achievement. Based on the results, the study recommended that university authorities, among other things, should, through their academic and quality assurance sections, determine students' grit levels, identify those likely to have challenges, initiate appropriate measures to enhance perseverance and retention, thereby, improving academic achievement. Keywords: grit, economics, office management, academic achievement, motivation DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-29-08 Publication date:October 31st 202

Information Technology Product Bundling in the Presence of Complementarities, Quality Uncertainty, and Network Effects: An Agent-Based Approach

Bundling of information technology products and services is prevalent in markets for information goods, telecommunication services, computer hardware, and software goods. However, factors affecting consumers’ choice of IT product bundles, and the resultant impacts to markets, have not been clearly documented in the information systems literature. In this paper, we develop agent-based simulation models to examine the effects of bundle component quality uncertainty (in either the focal or supplement components), bundle component complementarity (complementary or noncomplementary bundles), and network effects (global market shares or local social network interaction effects) on agents’ choices of product bundles. In addition, we also examine different effects of agents’ risk preferences (risk-aversion, risk-neutrality, and risk-seeking) on their choices of product bundles. Finally, we differentiate the impact of network effects and agents’ risk preferences on bundle choices depending on two types of agent preferences for bundle attributes: homogeneous or heterogeneous preferences. Our findings indicate that global market share network effects have a significant influence on risk-averse and risk-neutral agents’ choice of different product bundles. Market share network effects do not seem to have much influence on bundle choices among risk-seeking agents. Interestingly, our simulation results also indicate that social network interaction effects on a local scale have greater effects on bundle choices of risk-averse and risk-neutral agents, compared to the market share network effect. Our overall results also indicate that agents have the highest preference for complementary product bundles with a good, certain quality focal item than for other types of product bundles. From our research findings, implications for research and practice are presented

Understanding the Visual Aesthetics of Mobile Apps in Everyday Life: The Influence Cute Aesthetics

This paper investigates visual aesthetics (VA) of mobile apps’ in everyday life by examining the effects of affect and cute aesthetics. We analyzed two theoretical dimensions of affect, positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), and provided an analysis of the relevance of PA and NA by relating them to VA of three interface designs (ID) with varying levels of cute aesthetics (i.e. low, mid and high). Data was collected using a survey. Regression results from 166 participants suggest that cute aesthetics invoke PA (i.e., interested, excited, enthusiastic) and that it is a strong positive predictor for VA across all three IDs. This study contributes to a better understanding of the relevance of positive affect and cute aesthetics on visual aesthetics of mobile apps in everyday life