Babak Taheri

Nonprofit brand heritage its ability to influence volunteer retention, engagement, and satisfaction

Volunteer organizations operate in a challenging environment and their management practices toward volunteers have become increasingly influenced by the private sector. This case study explores the impact of brand heritage on the experience of volunteering in such managed environments. We use data from the U.K. Scouts to show that brand heritage has a positive bearing on the level of engagement volunteers experience and on their reported attitude to the way(s) in which they are managed within the volunteer organization. We then use these findings to establish the salience of brand heritage to both long established and recently formed organizations, extending current volunteer management theory; consequently, we suggest volunteer managers utilize the power of brand heritage through unlocking its ability to retain engaged and satisfied volunteers.

Experiential liminoid consumption: the case of nightclubbing

ABSTRACT This study addresses a lack of holistic understanding of experiential consumption by developing and empirically testing a conceptual model that investigates the process of experiential consumption – antecedents, the experience itself, and emotional responses. We explore Victor Turner’s anthropological concept of the liminoid to create an Experiential Liminoid Consumption (ELC) model, examining the relationships between experiential marketing and consumption constructs. The study adopted a quantitative methodology using a survey method and a sample of students. The conceptual model was analysed using partial least squares (PLS). Conclusions, implications, future directions, and limitations are suggested.

Sustainability and the authentic experience. Harnessing brand heritage – a study from Japan

ABSTRACT This paper explores the influence of the formative brand heritage construct on perceived authenticity at repaired/reconstructed heritage sites, understood in relation to the Japanese practice of kintsugi (金継ぎ), thereby extending Kolar and Zabkars consumer-based model of authenticity. It notes that variations of kintsugi occur in architectural heritage conservation worldwide. We establish relationships between brand heritage, cultural motivations, perceptions of authenticity, relational value, and consumer commitment, based on questioning 768 visitors to repaired and reconstructed Japanese heritage sites. Analysis using partial least squares found consumer preconceptions of brand heritage stimulating increased perceptions of authenticity at sites of limited historical provenance, thereby increasing visitor commitment to visiting. Heritage managers should use marketing strategies that effectively communicate a sites brand heritage prior to, during, and after the tourist experience. Even where the material components of the site are entirely reconstructed, this can lead to relational value, and improved consumer commitment. In sustainability terms, holistic brand marketing can increase site revenue, help conservation maintenance and, by increasing repeat visits, reduce footfall damage at other “unreconstructed” sites. Practical implications include better artefact and information presentation, ensuring synergy between site experiences and its purported values, especially through tour guide narratives and interpretation.

Travelling for Umrah: destination attributes, destination image, and post-travel intentions

ABSTRACT This paper examines the links between cosmopolitanism, self-identity, and a desire for social interaction on perceived destination image and behavioural intentions. A model was tested using a sample of 538 Iranian visitors to Mecca for the purpose of Umrah. The result from the structural model suggests that destination attributes influence perceived destination image. Further, such tourists are likely to revisit or recommend Islamic destinations if their experience matches their perceived image of the destination. This implies that, while the religious characteristics of the destination remain important, destination managers cannot disregard the tangential, non-religious attributes of a destination which are crucial in order to satisfy more conventional tourist desires. As such, this study suggests that those managing religious travel destinations should endeavour to foster a welcoming image, where experience, interaction, and tolerance are at the forefront of the destination’s offering.

Emotional Connection, Materialism, And Religiosity: An Islamic Tourism Experience

ABSTRACT Materialism and Islamic religiosity have been studied in tourism, but the influence of these concepts on the emotional connections established during an actual religious experience has yet to be explored. This study develops a model that links Islamic religiosity and materialism with the religious experience, communitas, and emotional connection with a sample of 538 Iranian Umrah participants using partial least squares. The study found significant effects of religious connection upon emotional connection. The research also identified the positive influence of Islamic religiosity upon communitas and the religious experience, alongside a negative impact of materialism on the religious experience.

Negotiation, bargaining, and discounts : generating WoM and local tourism development at the Tabriz bazaar, Iran

This paper examines the effects of negotiation intention, bargaining propensity, and discount satisfaction on word-of-mouth (WoM) behaviours for tourists visiting Tabriz bazaar, Iran. Data from 615-survey respondents highlight that tourists are motivated to conduct WoM behaviour when they are experientially satisfied with the opportunity to negotiate and bargain, and when they are satisfied with the discount they receive. This paper makes theoretical contributions to social exchange theory and presents managerial implications for policy-makers to generate tourism development.

Escape, entitlement, and experience: liminoid motivators within commercial hospitality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between consumer motivations, their interactions with hospitality spaces and experiential outcomes. Enhancing consumer experience is of clear interest to industry professionals. This quantitative study explores the impact of escapism and entitlement to leisure upon involvement in liminoid consumptions spaces, thereby contributing a theory of liminoid motivators within commercial hospitality. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a quantitative methodology, using a survey of a sample of student nightclubbers in the UK. Data are analysed through Partial Least Squares. Findings Hospitality consumers are positively affected by the feelings of increased involvement experienced in consumption spaces that exhibit liminoid characteristics. Research limitations/implications Surveys involve potential for error regarding respondents’ ability to agree with questionnaire statements. Data collection was conducted in Scotland, and so, results may not be generalised to other commercial hospitality spaces outside of Scotland. Practical implications Hospitality consumers become more involved, and thereby more satisfied, in liminoid consumption spaces when motivated by escapism and entitlement to leisure. Attending to the liminoid motivators that drive consumers away from work and domesticity, and towards commercial hospitality spaces, will go some way towards creating the desired consumer experience. Originality/value This is the first quantitative study to investigate consumer motivations to escape and entitlement to leisure as antecedents of involvement in a commercial hospitality context. It develops a theory of hospitality consumption using the liminoid anthropological concept.

Working together to increase student satisfaction: exploring the effects of mode of study and fee status

ABSTRACT This study extends our knowledge on co-creation of value in higher education. The paper examines the relationship between support, co-creation of value and students’ satisfaction, as well as moderating factors including mode of study and fee status, via 979 survey responses from undergraduate students. Analysis using partial least squares found support to be important in determining co-creation of value and, in turn, student satisfaction. Results indicated that student satisfaction is positively influenced through students accessing support mechanisms and their active involvement in co-creation of value activities. Our findings further reveal that fee-paying students are more satisfied when they participate in co-creation activities and access support mechanisms. No significant differences between transnational and domestic students are found.

Ceremonious politeness in consuming food in VFR tourism: scale development

ABSTRACT Understanding the desire for visiting friends and relatives (VFR) has been examined in previous studies. Yet, research on the antecedences and consequences of social interaction between host and guest in VFR tourism has not received enough attention. Addressing this gap, this study introduces ceremonious politeness (CP) by tourists in consuming food as a cultural code that facilitates the establishment of a communally arranged form of social interaction. Using a mixed methods scale-development approach (e.g. Delphi technique, qualitative interviews, and surveys) during 14 months in 2015–2016, it develops and validates a CP scale to measure the impact of self-accountability and perceived others’ control on tourists’ sense of self-blame in social interaction situation related to consuming food in VFR tourism. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by introducing the concept of CP in a non-commercial setting.

Contemporary issues in museums and heritage marketing management: introduction to the special issue

Recent trends in museums and heritage marketing management suggest a move from passive consumption spaces to more pleasant, engaging and transformative spaces. Since Mclean’s (1995) and Goulding’s ...