Price competition within and between airlines and high-speed trains: the case of the Milan–Rome route.

In the travel industry high-speed trains and airlines are increasingly competing for passengers, and the diffusion of price optimization based on real time demand fluctuations poses new challenges in the analysis of price competition between operators. This paper presents an analysis of how different competitors simultaneously adjust their prices in the short run. The empirical model accounts for dynamic price variations, exploring both intramodal and intermodal price competition. The results, based on 12,506 price observations, show that intermodal competition presents some kind of asymmetric behaviour, with airlines reacting more than trains to competitors' price changes. The paper concludes with the implications of this heterogeneous behaviour for the tourism and travel industries

Urban destination loyalty drivers and cross-national moderator effects: The case of Barcelona

The objective of this paper is to analyze the loyalty of tourists to urban tourism destinations, studying the differences existing on the basis of nationality of origin. The review of the academic literature identified perceived value and satisfaction as antecedents of loyalty. A theoretical model was constructed which was tested empirically with a total of 927 surveys of Italian and American tourists in the city of Barcelona. In the study of the data, structural equation models (SEM) were used, by means of a multi-group analysis. The empirical results show that the causal relationships among perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty and the moderating effect of nationality are partially confirmed. This study contributes to better knowledge of the processes that lead tourists to be loyal to an urban tourism destination

Efecto del diseño conjunto en la capacidad cognitiva y el rendimiento. Una propuesta de diseño basado en bloques incompletos balanceados

La utilización del análisis conjunto para estudiar procesos de decisión estratégica se considera un avance respecto a los métodos habituales post-hoc. Pero, dado que los experimentos conjuntos evalúan percepciones sobre perfiles del entorno descritos por frases, en lugar de preferencias, surge el problema de que la carga informativa que generan estos escenarios puede superar la capacidad del entrevistado, dificultando su evaluación y delimitando su uso a pocos factores. Este trabajo investiga cómo el diseño (el número de atributos) afecta a la complejidad de la evaluación y el rendimiento del experimento. Además, se propone un diseño mixto basado en bloques incompletos balanceados y, mediante un experimento, se compara su rendimiento frente a un diseño de bloques estándar. Los resultados muestran que la complejidad derivada del número de atributos tiene un efecto moderado en la variación explicada pero mayor en el peso de los factores, vislumbrando el uso de heurísticas distintas de los encuestados en el proceso de evaluación

Efecto del diseño conjunto en la capacidad cognitiva y el rendimiento. Una propuesta de diseño basado en bloques incompletos balanceados

La utilización del análisis conjunto para estudiar procesos de decisión estratégica se considera un avance respecto a los métodos habituales post-hoc. Pero, dado que los experimentos conjuntos evalúan percepciones sobre perfiles del entorno descritos por frases, en lugar de preferencias, surge el problema de que la carga informativa que generan estos escenarios puede superar la capacidad del entrevistado, dificultando su evaluación y delimitando su uso a pocos factores. Este trabajo investiga cómo el diseño (el número de atributos) afecta a la complejidad de la evaluación y el rendimiento del experimento. Además, se propone un diseño mixto basado en bloques incompletos balanceados y, mediante un experimento, se compara su rendimiento frente a un diseño de bloques estándar. Los resultados muestran que la complejidad derivada del número de atributos tiene un efecto moderado en la variación explicada pero mayor en el peso de los factores, vislumbrando el uso de heurísticas distintas de los encuestados en el proceso de evaluación

Online drivers and offline influences related to loyalty to airline websites

This paper explores users loyalty to airlines’ websites, by examining differences among users belonging to the Y, X and baby boomer generations. The results indicate that to obtain users loyalty to a company’s site, it is necessary to first, affective e-loyalty, through e-trust, which is also positively influenced by offline perceived value, e-satisfaction, and indirectly by e-quality. We also demonstrates that significant differences exist among the various generations, implying airlines need to fine-tune their online strategies retain customer loyalty

La netnografía como herramienta de investigación en contextos on-line: una aplicación al análisis de la imagen de los servicios públicos de transporte

La netnografía es una nueva metodología de investigación cualitativa que adapta técnicas de investigación etnográficas al estudio de culturas y comunidades emergentes a través de la comunicación mediada por ordenador, y surge como respuesta al fenómeno cultural del crecimiento de Internet y al creciente número de consumidores que utilizan la Red para mantenerse informados y para crear relaciones y comunidades con otros consumidores que tienen similares estilos de vida y que consumen productos y/o servicios similares. Si bien, desde finales de los noventa la netnografía está tomando mayor protagonismo, se hace necesario un mayor número de trabajos que desarrollen aspectos relacionados con esta metodología; especialmente, en el contexto de la literatura de marketing, donde existen pocos trabajos centrados en la netnografía como herramienta de investigación comercial. Dada la escasez de trabajos, este estudio pretende analizar a nivel teórico la utilidad de la netnografía como herramienta de investigación en contextos on-line. Adicionalmente, se ilustra dicha utilidad a partir de un estudio desarrollado para el análisis de la imagen del servicio de autobuses de la ciudad de Madrid

Does the personality of consumers influence the assessment of the experience of interaction with social robots?

In recent years, in response to the effects of Covid-19, there has been an increase in the use of social robots in service organisations, as well as in the number of interactions between consumers and robots. However, it is not clear how consumers are valuing these experiences or what the main drivers that shape them are. Furthermore, it is an open research question whether these experiences undergone by consumers can be affected by their own personality. This study attempts to shed some light on these questions and, to do so, an experiment is proposed in which a sample of 378 participants evaluate a simulated front-office service experience delivered by a social robot. The authors investigate the underlying process that explains the experience and find that cognitive-functional factors, emphasising efficiency, have practically the same relevance as emotional factors, emphasising stimulation. In addition, this research identifies the personality traits of the participants and explores their moderating role in the evaluation of the experience. The results reveal that each personality trait, estimated between high and low poles, generates different responses in the evaluation of the experience

How do Consumers' Gender and Rational Thinking Affect the Acceptance of Entertainment Social Robots?

In recent years, the rapid ageing of the population, a longer life expectancy and elderly people's desire to live independently are social changes that put pressure on healthcare systems. This context is boosting the demand for companion and entertainment social robots on the market and, consequently, producers and distributors are interested in knowing how these social robots are accepted by consumers. Based on technology acceptance models, a parsimonious model is proposed to estimate the intention to use this new advanced social robot technology and, in addition, an analysis is performed to determine how consumers' gender and rational thinking condition the precedents of the intention to use. The results show that gender differences are more important than suggested by the literature. While women gave greater social influence and perceived enjoyment as the main motives for using a social robot, in contrast, men considered their perceived usefulness to be the principal reason and, as a differential argument, the ease of use. Regarding the reasoning system, the most significant differences occurred between heuristic individuals, who stated social influence as the main reason for using a robot, and the more rational consumers, who gave ease of use as a differential argument

The role of emotions in a model of behavioral intentions of visitors to the Gaudí historic house museums in Barcelona, Spain

This study examined an integrated model of behavioral intentions toward historic house museums, through the simultaneous relationships among visitors' perceptions of the historic house museum, crowding, interactions with employees, emotions about their visit, intention to revisit the museum and recommend it to others, and the moderator effect of price fairness. Seven hundred thirty-six visitors were surveyed after visiting La Pedrera and Casa Batlló, the historic house museums of the architect Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona. The results from a structural equation model indicate that visitors' perception of the historic house museum (i.e., their appreciation of the houses' architecture, aesthetic quality, artistic work, and accessibility), visitors' positive interactions with employees, and low levels of crowding are antecedents of positive emotions, and visitors' positive emotions about their visit are a predictor of intentions to revisit and recommend the museum to others. In addition, price fairness was tested as a moderator effect using multigroup analysis. This analysis consists of comparing two subsamples of visitors, which were selected according to whether they believe the admission price is fair or unfair. The effect between perceptions of the historic house museum and positive emotions, and the effect of positive emotions on behavioral intentions is greater for visitors who found the price fair than for those who found the price unfair. The results lead to recommendations for cultural heritage managers

Does the personality of consumers influence the assessment of the experience of interaction with social robots?

In recent years, in response to the effects of Covid-19, there has been an increase in the use of social robots in service organisations, as well as in the number of interactions between consumers and robots. However, it is not clear how consumers are valuing these experiences or what the main drivers that shape them are. Furthermore, it is an open research question whether these experiences undergone by consumers can be affected by their own personality. This study attempts to shed some light on these questions and, to do so, an experiment is proposed in which a sample of 378 participants evaluate a simulated front-office service experience delivered by a social robot. The authors investigate the underlying process that explains the experience and find that cognitive-functional factors, emphasising efficiency, have practically the same relevance as emotional factors, emphasising stimulation. In addition, this research identifies the personality traits of the participants and explores their moderating role in the evaluation of the experience. The results reveal that each personality trait, estimated between high and low poles, generates different responses in the evaluation of the experience.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version