Transworld identity as a problem for essentialism about kinds.

Essentialism about natural kinds involves talking about kinds across possible worlds. I argue that there is a non-trivial transworld identity problem here, which cannot be (dis)solved in the same way that Kripke treats the corresponding transworld identity problem for individuals. I will briefly discuss some ideas for a solution. The upshot is scepticism concerning natural-kind essentialism

Kripke and the dogmatism paradox

I aim at dissolving Kripke's dogmatism paradox by arguing that, with respect to any particular proposition p which is known by a subject A, it is not irrational for A to ignore all evidence against p. Along the way, I offer a definition of 'A is dogmatic with respect to p', and make a distinction between an objective and a subjective sense of 'should' in the statement 'A should ignore all the evidence against p'. For the most part, I deal with Kripke's original version of the paradox, wherein the subject wishes, above all else, to avoid losing her true belief or gaining a false one; in the final section I investigate the possibility of having a paradox for a subject who values knowledge above anything else

Effective Factors on Food Companies Brand Equity: Evidence from Iran Food Industry

Brand equity is one of the most cited concepts in marketing literature and internal brand equity is one of the newest derived factors of this concept in internal environment of firms. The aim of this study is to provide insights into how job satisfaction, internal marketing and brand orientation shape employees internal brand equity. Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire distributed to food and pharmaceutical firms. The empirical results indicated that while brand orientation and internal marketing were found to have impact on internal brand equity, job satisfaction has no effect on internal brand equity. Additionally, it was observed that job satisfaction and internal marketing has direct and positive impact on brand orientation and therefore indirect and positive impact on internal brand equity through brand orientation. Results of this study can help organizations to improve their financial performance through more awareness of the determinants of internal brand equity. Keywords: Food industry, internal brand equity, Brand orientation, Internal marketing, Job satisfactio

Why Customers Switch the Service Provider? A Critical Issue

Intention to switch from one service provider to another, leads to switching behavior, which results in the decrease of profits of the company. Switching behavior helps in creating relationship between consumer and producer. This study uses the theory of planned behavior to develop a unifying framework for understanding the factors that influence consumers’ switching behaviors. An empirical investigation tested the proposed model with data from 1051 customer who used the service of travel agencies. Results indicate that the theory of planned model fits the data well. Perceived behavior control, attitude toward the switching, and subjective norms all significantly influence switching intentions. Perceived behavior control also significantly influence switching behavior. Keywords: service provider, Theory of planned behavior, switching behavior, customer’s expertis

Application of Werthner and Klein’s Model in Tourism Context

Web evaluation has become a critical process in DMOs’ performance measurement efforts.  However, Web evaluation research over the past decade has led to diverse approaches and findings rather than a unified understanding of success factors that should be measured in order to gauge a Web site’s performance.  The common success factors and potential additional factors identified in this study provide an important basis for practical Web evaluation implementation and simultaneously serve as a useful input for future research.  The major benefit of this study is the digest of a large volume of key factors into one comprehensive model that can be tested and applied to Web site development and evaluation problems.  This integration helps to identify not only commonalities but also gaps in existing approaches. Keywords: Destination marketing; DMOs’ performance measurement; E-satisfaction; E-loyalty; E-quality; Qualitative meta-analysi

A Multi-Dimensional Study on Cultural Heritage Tourism: a Global Perspective

This study has some critical purposes such as: 1) To develop a theoretical structural model of cultural heritage tourism destination image formation and future intentions by investigating tourist functional motivation, motivational conflicts, and perceived value in cultural heritage tourism; and, 2) To test empirically the conceptual model of relationships among the constructs, 3) To identify the differences of functional motivation, perceived value, overall destination image and future intentions across the demographic and visiting behaviors of cultural tourists; 4) To examine the impact of tourist functional motivation on perceived value in cultural heritage tourism; 5) To examine the relationship among perceived value, overall destination image, and future intentions in cultural heritage tourism; 6) To examine the differences of gender motivational conflict on functional motivation, perceived value, overall destination image and future intentions; and, 7) To examine the influences of cultural distance on functional motivation, perceived value, overall destination image and future intentions in cultural heritage tourists. Data were collected from tourists visiting the Iran. The six-stage procedures of structural equation modeling, which was suggested by Hair et al. (2006, p.734) was adopted to test the multiple relationships in the proposed model. This study will contribute to both research and practice. Keywords: cultural heritage tourism, perceived values, domestic and international tourist

Market Value Chain and Web Marketing in Tourism Context

Web marketing refers to a broad category of advertising that takes many different forms, but generally involves any marketing activity conducted online.Information and communication technology (ICT) developments are permeating every aspect of tourism marketing. This paper proposes a methodological framework, which will enable tourism businesses to develop and implement their electronic marketing and commerce activities. This paper initially reviews the e-business models literature. In the second section ICT implications in marketing and tourism are discussed. Then it presents the e-tourism business models and subsequently proposes a framework contributing to the planning and implementation of e-commerce initiatives. This methodological framework might also be used to analyse electronic applications in tourism. Keywords: Tourism and Travel industry, Market value chain, web marketing, Business models, Management & Reengineering

A Comprehensive Perspective on Medical Tourism Context and Create a Conceptual Framework

This study developed a theoretical structural model to examine the influence of motivational factor and perceived destination image in the perceived service quality and overall satisfaction of medical tourists who have travelled to a foreign country to obtain a medical treatment. The theory of motivation, perception was combined in this research. This study included customer perceptions based on motivational factor, destination image, quality, value, and satisfaction which occurred after the medical trips. This is a quantitative study and survey method is used to collect data. The instrument of this study is developed based on the review of previous literature. There were only 260 completed responses that met all the required criteria. After data collection was completed, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and SPSS AMOS 22.0 will be used to analyze and interpret the result. The results show that there were positive impact of Destination Image and Motivational Factor on Perceived Value, and positive impact of Perceived Value on Overall Satisfaction. Once again, it can be confirmed that Destination Image has the strongest impact on Perceived Quality, illustrated by the highest standardized value of .473. Keywords: medical tourism, motivational factor, perceived destination image, perceived service qualit

Destination Brand Equity in Tourism Context: Evidence on Iran

Tourism industry is an important source of income for many countries; it has been considered the second important industry of the 21st century. This study analyzes the effect of destination brand equity on tourists’ intention to revisit. Kish Island was chosen as the case study. Components of destination brand equity include destination awareness, destination image, destination quality, perceived value, destination loyalty, satisfaction and intentions to revisit. This research is a descriptive and survey study. The target population was travelers who visited this island in the first half of 2013. Questionnaire was the research tool. Data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL. The results showed that there is a meaningful relationship between the destination awareness and perceived value, image destination and perceived value and satisfaction, destination quality and perceived value and destination loyalty, perceived value and destination loyalty, satisfaction and destination loyalty and intentions to revisit, and finally destination loyalty and intentions to revisit. Keywords: destination brand equity, intention to revisit, tourists’ evaluation