Volunteer Tourism as a Transformative Experience: A Mixed Methods Empirical Study

In an effort to combine tourism with pro-social giving and personal development, more and more people choose to go abroad on volunteer tourism trips. We explore the potential transformational influence such trips have on travelers, aiming to map the transformation process stages and examine their boundary conditions. In doing so, we follow a mixed methods approach using a qualitative study comprising ethnographically informed in-depth interviews and a quantitative one, by means of a structured questionnaire. Findings indicate that the transformation process volunteer tourists undergo involves three stages related to liminality. We conceptualize the degree of liminality as immersiveness and show how the transformation process is significantly influenced by the degree of authenticity and the immersiveness of volunteer tourists’ experiences, as well as their own perceptions on how societally meaningful their actions were during their trips. Based on our conclusions, we present important implications for academics, managers and tour operators

Green consumerism, green perceived value, and restaurant revisit intention: Millennials' sustainable consumption with moderating effect of green perceived quality

Adopting green practices does not always guarantee customer retention and loyalty. Employing the theoretical lens of cue utilization theory, we conceptualize green perceived quality as sending internal and external cues which help consumers form judgments about product quality and perceived value. Based on a survey of 280 restaurant customers, we hypothesize and report a positive and significant influence of both green consumerism and green perceived value on customer revisit intention. Further, the results confirm the moderating role of green perceived quality. From a practical point of view, managers interested in benefiting from the green practices of their restaurants should focus on increasing their customers' evaluation and overall judgment of the environmental quality of both their food and services

Fostering sustainability through technology-mediated interactions: Conviviality and reciprocity in the sharing economy

Purpose: This article addresses the lack of scholarly attention paid to the sharing economy from a sociological perspective, with respect to the technology-mediated interactions between sharing economy users. The paper provides a critical overview of the sharing economy and its impact on business and communities and explores how information technology can facilitate authentic, genuine sharing, through exercising and enabling conviviality and non-direct reciprocity. Approach: The paper begins with a critique of the technology-mediated sharing economy; introduces the concept of conviviality as a tool to grow and shape community and sustainability within the sharing economy; then explores reciprocity and sharing behaviour. Finally, the paper draws upon social exchange theory to illustrate conviviality and reciprocity, using four case studies of technology-enabled sharing. Findings: The paper contributes to the emerging debate around how the sharing economy, driven by information systems and technology affects social cohesion and personal relationships. The paper elucidates the central role conviviality and reciprocity play in explaining the paradoxes, tensions and impact of the sharing economy on society. Conviviality and reciprocity are positioned as key capabilities of a more sustainable version of the sharing economy, enabled via information technology. Originality and value: The findings reveal that information technology mediated sharing enterprises should promote conviviality and reciprocity in order to deliver more positive environmental, economic and social benefits. The diversity of existing operations indicated by he findings and the controversies discussed will guide the critical study of the social potential of sharing economy to avoid treating all sharing alike

The dark side of meaningful work‐from‐home: A nonlinear approach

Changes in the technological environment of work already in motion over the last few years, but accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, place individuals' search for meaningfulness in their work under a new light. In this context, we draw on enrichment theory and the ego-depletion perspective and challenge the prevailing notion that meaningfulness is always positive and hypothesize that, under certain conditions, there can be such a thing as “too much meaningfulness.” A two-wave study of 243 full-time employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States offers support for a nonlinear effect of meaningfulness of work for workaholics, such that it has a positive effect on individuals up to a certain point, but a negative effect if there are excessive amounts of meaningfulness. We discuss these findings in light of the debate around the moral duty of managers and firms to offer meaningful jobs to employees and offer practical suggestions for firms

Mining the hidden seam of proximity m-payment adoption: A hybrid PLS-artificial neural network analytical approach

This study investigates the adoption of proximity mobile payment services (PMPS) using, for the first time, an extended version of the decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) and considering both the linear and non-linear relationships depicted in the proposed model. Based on a two-stage hybrid analytic methodology, the proposed model was validated empirically using a sample of 951 participants. First, partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to identify the significant drivers of PMPS acceptance predictors. Artificial neural networks (ANN) were then used to rank the relative influence of the significant adoption drivers obtained in the previous step. The PLS results indicate that the extended DTPB provides a solid theoretical framework for studying the adoption of PMPS. The results of the PLS-ANN sensitivity analysis confirmed the PLS results regarding the importance of the determinants’ of normative and controlling customers’ beliefs, although there were some contradictions concerning the determination of customer attitudes and behavioural intentions towards PMPS usage. The results are discussed and implications are offered

Tourists as Experience Collectors: A New Travelling Mind-Set

While literature on experiential tourism suggests that travellers are increasingly more interested in unique experiences, little has been said about the nature and dynamics of tourists seeking new destinations/travelling experiences. Using theoretical arguments derived from literature on collecting, we re-conceptualise frequent travellers as collectors of travelling experiences and destinations, rather than tangible souvenirs, and explore the underlying and implications of this process. Findings from our 22 in-depth interviews with frequent travellers indicate that this is a pervasive and prevalent process across many tourists. We argue that interested organisation market travelling experiences ‘sets’, and offer opportunites to materialise and exhibit collectors’ experiences

BYOB of wine, but which one? Unveiling new boundary conditions and moderating effects for Restaurant Patrons’ consideration set formation.

Abstract Purpose – Departing from conflicting findings on the role of involvement in the formation of the consideration set, the authors seek to shed light to the wine consumer behaviour and expand previous findings in the Bring Your own Bottle (BYOB) of wine restaurant industry. The authors seek to determine the contradictory effect of involvement on the consideration set size and variety. Design/methodology/approach – Three empirical studies were conducted. In Study 1, the relationships were tested in a personal consumption situation and in Study 2 in a gift-giving context. Finally, in Study 3, inconsistencies in the intensity of the hypothesized relationships were explored by testing the triple interaction among the three variables (i.e. involvement, decision-making context, decision domain). Findings – According to our findings BYOB of wine consumers form larger considerations sets in memory-based decision contexts. Involvement’s effect on wine consideration set size is stronger in memory-based decisions. BYOB restaurant patrons form smaller sets of alternatives for personal consumption. BYOB restaurant patrons form more heterogeneous sets of alternatives in wine gift-giving. BYOB of wine restaurants should facilitate consumers wine selection process Originality/value –The authors make an effort to explain and determine the up-to-date contradictory effect of restaurant patrons' involvement on the BYOB of wine consideration set size and the amount of variety contained therein. The study offers new insights, by unfolding the moderating effect of decision-making contexts (i.e. memory-based versus stimuli-based) and decision domains (i.e. personal consumption versus gift giving) on this effect of involvement on the properties of consideration sets

Beyond the hype: Deciphering brand trust amid sustainability skepticism

Positioning a brand as environment-friendly does not guarantee that customers will blindly accept it. While previous research has explored consumer responses to various green marketing claims, the search for the process under which consumers form positive or negative associations remains inconclusive. Based on the theoretical lens of signaling, this study examines the process of green brand trust where consumers form green brand associations after receiving the appropriate signal from the firms. In so doing we answer calls for more research on green brand trust and extend previous understanding by arguing for and confirming the mediating role of green brand associations. We further hypothesize that resultant mediation will be stronger for individuals with low green skepticism. Findings from 270 consumers indicate that green brand association mediates the relationship between green brand positioning and green brand trust. Further, green skepticism may weaken green brand association's effect on green brand trust. While firms tend to take extra effort to make their green offering trustworthy, they need to strengthen their signaling efforts that facilitate associating with a green brand to trust that brand