The effects of perceived satisfaction with service recovery efforts: a study in a hotel setting

In the service industry, the importance of achieving the satisfaction of all involved agents is widely recognized. It is important to note that within the service sector, the hospitality sector involves a high degree of personal contact between hotel staff and customers, during which various misunderstandings can result in service failures. Therefore, instruments that enable learning about and solving problems emerging from customers now serve as one of the most important elements of the hospitality industry. In this context, the objective of answering the call for more studies investigating the effectiveness of recovery efforts and discovering their effects to perceived customer satisfaction, following a service recovery process, and customer behavior outcomes towards a hotel which had dropped the ball but later offered a solution. A structural equation model using a sample of 274 valid questionnaires, obtained from hotel establishment customers who had experienced failed service provisions and who had shown their discontent with these services, was used to examine these issues. The results confi rm a signifi cant and positive effect between the analyzed relations and also reinforce the importance of recovery efforts on satisfaction in service recovery and also determine the impact of that perceived satisfaction on behavioral outcomes of the affected consumers. Additionally, the empirical results show that communication and explanation are the dimensions of importance to consumers when they report a service failure to a service fi rm. Based on these results, this study recommends designing recovery process in such a way to get maximum advantage of this phenomenon. Therefore, organizations should offer dissatisfi ed customers with the option to choose among various recovery options

Sub-national consumer ethnocentrism and the importance of the origin of food products: An exploratory analysis

Purpose This study’s main objective is to analyse the role of the consumer’s ethnocentrism as a potential segmentation basis and to detect product origin-sensitive groups. The relationship between the consumer’s regional ethnocentrism, local and regional identity and corresponding valuation and purchase of food products from a region is also examined. Design/methodology/approach The responses of 358 consumers residing in two Spanish regions are analysed by means of a mediation analysis and a cluster analysis. Findings The results suggest the convenience of considering ethnocentric consumer tendencies, also at the regional level, when studying attitudes, valuation, information search and effective purchase of foods of diverse categories and origins. Originality The main contributions of this work derive from the assessment of consumer ethnocentrism at a sub-national level (which is much less present in the literature) and the evidence of its usefulness for segmenting the market and detecting groups of origin-sensitive consumers, which can be useful to companies that produce and market food products in different regions.publishe

¿Es posible conseguir la lealtad de los clientes de establecimientos de comida rápida? Una aproximación con PLS

En la literatura sobre fast-food restaurants (FFRs), las investigaciones realizadas no han encontrado suficientes evidencias relacionadas con la lealtad en servicios de comida rápida debido principalmente a su carácter económico, rápido y de conveniencia. El objetivo de esta investigación es verificar la existencia de lealtad en consumidores de fast-food y su dependencia de la calidad percibida, diferenciando entre la calidad de la comida, la calidad del servicio ofrecido y/o la atmósfera presente en el local. Para ello, se propone un modelo compuesto estimado en modo B para analizar los elementos que constituyen la calidad del establecimiento, ya que esta variable ha sido utilizada previamente en la literatura como un constructo multidimensional compuesto de tres dimensiones correlacionadas. Además, se estudia el papel directo y mediador de constructos como la satisfacción y la confianza para la formación de lealtad en FFRs. Los resultados de este estudio aportarán recomendaciones para los responsables de restaurantes fast-food en el objetivo de mejorar la lealtad de los usuarios.Throughout the literature on fast-food restaurants (FFRs), existing studies have not found sufficient evidence of the role of loyalty in fast-food services, mainly due to their economical, quick, and convenient nature. The objective of this research is to verify the existence of loyalty in fast-food consumers and its dependence on perceived quality, differentiating between the quality of the food, the quality of the service provided, and/or the atmosphere present in the store. To that end, we propose a composite model estimated by mode B to analyze the elements that constitute establishment quality; this variable has been previously used in the literature as a multidimensional construct consisting of three dimensions that are correlated. Furthermore, we study the direct and mediating role of constructs such as satisfaction and trust in creating loyalty in FFRs. The results of this study will provide recommendations for those responsible for fast food restaurants in order to improve the loyalty of the consumers

Participación de los principales destinos turísticos europeos en buscadores: aplicación al ámbito español

Un importante desafío al que se enfrentan las organizaciones y destinos turísticos es poder ser visualizados por un buscador y, de esta forma, poder ser accesibles por los turistas potenciales en la planificación de su viaje. La accesibilidad y visualización por el buscador proporcionan, particularmente a los destinos, una oportunidad para promover y comercializar su página web e incluso el destino en sí, incentivando la competitividad del destino turístico. Por lo tanto, el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo determinar la representatividad del turismo online para los principales destinos turísticos europeos a través de cuatro buscadores. El trabajo extiende el estudio a nueve categorías turísticas que son analizadas para los principales destinos turísticos españoles. Los resultados del estudio revelan que los buscadores indexan una gran cantidad de páginas web relacionadas con el turismo, sin embargo, la presencia de páginas de destinos que es visible y accesible por los turistas es muy pequeña. La baja visibilidad de las páginas web turísticas en los buscadores analizados indica que las oportunidades para los turistas online de tener interacciones con organizaciones y destinos turísticos son escasas. Como implicación de los resultados obtenidos, se recomienda a las organizaciones y destinos turísticos su presencia en un número importante de buscadores. Para conseguir tal finalidad, los destinos turísticos deberían utilizar una serie de acciones que ayuden a incrementar la visibilidad de una página web en los resultados ofrecidos al turista potencial a través del buscador, esperando la perfecta solución a sus necesidades de viaje.Online visibility and accessibility is a challenge for tourist organizations and destinations. Potential tourists should be able to plan their journeys and completely satisfy their travel needs using online search engines and the websites of destinations. The accessibility and visibility of tourist destinations and organizations in a search engine are a great opportunity to promote and market both organizations and destinations, and many have a decisive influence on competitiveness. This article therefore aims to determine how four online search engines present the concept “tourism” in the most famous European tourist destinations. This study divides the concept of tourism into nine tourist categories which are used to analyze how tourism is represented in the main Spanish tourist destinations. The results of this research reveal that search engines index a great number of websites related to tourism, although the visibility and accessibility of tourist destinations for tourists is relatively low. The low visibility of tourist websites in the search engines used here suggests that the possibility of online interaction between tourists and tourist organizations and destinations is small. Results also indicate that tourist organizations and destinations should increase their presence in as many online search engines as possible. Tourist destinations should also take actions contributing to increase the visibility of their websites in the results found by search engines, so that potential tourists may satisfy their travel needs completely

Mitochondrial complex I plays an essential role in human respirasome assembly

The assembly and function of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (RC) involve the organization of RC enzyme complexes in supercomplexes or respirasomes through an unknown biosynthetic process. This leads to structural interdependences between RC complexes, which are highly relevant from biological and biomedical perspectives, because RC defects lead to severe human disorders. We show that in human cells, respirasome biogenesis involves a complex I assembly intermediate acting as a scaffold for the combined incorporation of complexes III and IV subunits, rather than originating from the association of preassembled individual holoenzymes. The process ends with the incorporation of complex I NADH dehydrogenase catalytic module, which leads to the respirasome activation. While complexes III and IV assemble either as free holoenzymes or by incorporation of free subunits into supercomplexes, the respirasomes constitute the structural units where complex I is assembled and activated, thus explaining the functional significance of the respirasomes for RC function

How do offline and online environments matter in the relational marketing approach?

The goal of this study is to analyse the relational benefits that the clients of banks, insurance companies, and travel agencies receive according to whether they maintain an offline or online relationship with the company. The development of an index, called the Relational Benefits Index, allows for a comparison of differences that arise between the measures of confidence benefits, social benefits, and special treatment benefits. The results demonstrate significant differences according to the type of service business and channel used, affecting the importance that consumers place on the offline channel when they want to maintain a stable relationship with a service business

The development of the speaking skill on tenth graders at Abel Santa María Cuadrado Senior High School in Yara (Original)

El presente artículo se basa en un acercamiento al desarrollo de una de las habilidades lingüísticas más utilizadas en el lenguaje comunicativo, la expresión oral. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo principal ofrecer soluciones a las principales dificultades que tienen los estudiantes de preuniversitario a la hora de enfrentar la habilidad de la expresión oral. Los autores proponen un sistema de actividades para la práctica sistemática de la expresión oral. La propuesta está basada y estructurada en actividades contextualizadas que demandan de los estudiantes una preparación esmerada que los obliga al uso del idioma extranjero de una forma muy activa y comunicativa. Las actividades además ofrecen la posibilidad del uso del idioma entre los estudiantes utilizando patrones internacionales bien actualizados. Los resultados preliminares son significativamente muy buenos y dan solución a las dificultades presentadas por los estudiantes, observándose un desarrollo importante en la formación integral de los mismos. The present paper stands for an attempt to cope with the development of the most demanded linguistic skill for language communication: the speaking skill, as a way to provide solution to the shortcomings tenth graders face in the teaching learning process of the English subject. Its authors elaborate and put into practice a scientific and novel methodological proposal consisting on a set of linguistic and communicative activities to be applied alongside the current program. The proposal allows the students to practice speaking through a set of activities. The set is made up of well-structured, contextualized, stepped activities that encourage students to use the foreign language communicatively and actively. They are also characterized by the use of interactional patterns to propitiate a steady exchange student- student. The results are socially quite significant because they provide a scientific solution to an educational problem and favor the comprehensive formation of students´ personality.&nbsp

Effect of Relative age on Spanish Swimming

[Resumen] El efecto de la edad relativa se refiere a las diferencias cronológicas de sujetos pertenecientes a un mismo grupo de edad, que puede provocar que los nacidos en los primeros meses del año parezcan más talentosos. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la posible existencia del efecto de la edad relativa en la natación española. Para llevarlo a cabo se consideraron los 100 mejores resultados en piscina de 50 metros de las últimas seis temporadas (2015-2021), para todas las edades de las categorías con campeonatos nacionales, en ambos sexos y en los cuatro estilos. El análisis se realizó sobre 28.373 resultados obtenidos de la base de datos de la Real Federación Española de Natación, tomando como referencia las fechas de nacimiento de los nadadores. Para identificar si existe el efecto de la edad relativa en la natación en España se aplicó el odds ratio y la prueba estadística chi cuadrado. Así, para calcular las posibles diferencias entre los rendimientos medios entre los trimestres de nacimiento de los nadadores, se realizó́ un análisis de varianza. Los resultados mostraron una distribución desigual de las fechas de nacimiento por trimestres y unos rendimientos medios diferentes para casi todos los grupos de edad, en ambos géneros. En conclusión, se puede decir que la sobrerrepresentación de deportistas en los primeros trimestres del año, y la diferencia en cuanto al éxito deportivo alcanzado, son dos efectos de la edad relativa a considerar.[Abstract] The relative age effect refers to chronological differences in subjects belonging to the same age group, which may cause those born in the first months of the year to appear more talented. The aim of this research is to analyse the effect of relative age in Spanish swimming. The 100 best results in pool of 50 meters of the last six seasons (2015-2021) were analysed for all ages of the categories with national championships, in both genders and in the four styles. The sample included 28.373 results obtained from the database of the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation, taking as reference the dates of birth of the swimmers. To analyse the effect of relative age in Spanish swimming, the Chi-squared statistical est was used. The possible differences between the average yields between the birth quarters of the swimmers was calculated by an analysis of variance. The results showed an unequal distribution of birth dates by trimesters and different average yields for almost all age groups, in both genders. In conclusion, it can be said that the over-representation of athletes in the first quarters of the year, and the difference in terms of sports success achieved, are two effects of the relative age to consider

Biorrefinación sostenible del camarón: desarrollos desde la Ingeniería de Procesos Asistida por Computador.

Este libro presenta el diseño, simulación y evaluación sostenible de una biorrefinería integral de camarón para la producción de quitina, quitosano y astaxantina, con una capacidad de procesamiento de 4.110 t/año de camarones. Se registran las mayores eficiencias técnicas en la sección (iv) (91,92 %). Se obtuvo un VPN de 3,76 MM USD y una TIR de 23,6 %. Los componentes volátiles contribuyen a los impactos atmosféricos en la evaluación ambiental. La biorrefinería tuvo una eficiencia exergética de 25,61 % y las mayores pérdidas exergéticas en la etapa lavado de camarón; se obtuvo un ISI de 21 asociado a la desacetilación y al uso de acetona. El SASWROIM fue positivo alcanzando un puntaje de desempeño de 0,49, cercano al umbral deseable de 0,5.This book presents the design, simulation, and sustainable evaluation of an integral shrimp biorefinery for the production of chitin, chitosan, and astaxanthin, with a processing capacity of 4,110 t/year of shrimp. The highest technical efficiencies recorded in section (iv) (91.92%). A NPV of 3.76 MM USD and an IRR of 23.6% were obtain. Volatile components contribute to atmospheric impacts in the environmental assessment. The biorefinery had an exergetic efficiency of 25.61% and the highest exergetic losses in the shrimp washing stage; an ISI of 21 associated with deacetylation and the use of acetone was obtaining. The SASWROIM was positive, reaching a performance score of 0.49, close to the desired threshold of 0.5

Detection and mapping of mtDNA SNPs in Atlantic salmon using high throughput DNA sequencing

BACKGROUND: Approximately half of the mitochondrial genome inherent within 546 individual Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) derived from across the species' North Atlantic range, was selectively amplified with a novel combination of standard PCR and pyro-sequencing in a single run using 454 Titanium FLX technology (Roche, 454 Life Sciences). A unique combination of barcoded primers and a partitioned sequencing plate was employed to designate each sequence read to its original sample. The sequence reads were aligned according to the S. salar mitochondrial reference sequence (NC_001960.1), with the objective of identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). They were validated if they met with the following three stringent criteria: (i) sequence reads were produced from both DNA strands; (ii) SNPs were confirmed in a minimum of 90% of replicate sequence reads; and (iii) SNPs occurred in more than one individual. RESULTS: Pyrosequencing generated a total of 179,826,884 bp of data, and 10,765 of the total 10,920 S. salar sequences (98.6%) were assigned back to their original samples. The approach taken resulted in a total of 216 SNPs and 2 indels, which were validated and mapped onto the S. salar mitochondrial genome, including 107 SNPs and one indel not previously reported. An average of 27.3 sequence reads with a standard deviation of 11.7 supported each SNP per individual. CONCLUSION: The study generated a mitochondrial SNP panel from a large sample group across a broad geographical area, reducing the potential for ascertainment bias, which has hampered previous studies. The SNPs identified here validate those identified in previous studies, and also contribute additional potentially informative loci for the future study of phylogeography and evolution in the Atlantic salmon. The overall success experienced with this novel application of HT sequencing of targeted regions suggests that the same approach could be successfully applied for SNP mining in other species