Chul Jeong

Marine Tourist Motivations Comparing Push and Pull Factors

This study examined the relationship between push and pull factors with regard to marine tourist motivations. The survey was distributed systematically to people intercepted at high-traffic locations in Seoul, South Korea. The results indicated that escape push motivations are closely related to static activity pull motivations, while novelty push motivations are more strongly related to active activity pull motivations. These relationships may be partially explained by the push-pull framework of tourist motivations. These results imply that a marine tourist destination focusing on static activities should appeal to tourists who have escape push motivations, while a marine tourist destination focusing on active activities should appeal to tourists who have novelty push motivations.

Workplace fun for better team performance: focus on frontline hotel employees

Purpose The aim of this study is to reveal how workplace fun promotes team performance in the hotel business context. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model of this study was tested based on responses from 271 frontline hotel employees (including managers) in the USA, who had full-time work tenure of more than three months in a three-star or above-rated hotel. Findings This study revealed that workplace fun activities enhance team performance by promoting employees’ workplace fun experience and by facilitating interpersonal trust and group cohesion, which, in turn, reduce intra-group conflict and stimulates interpersonal citizenship behaviors, respectively. Research limitations/implications First, this study adopted subjective team performance measures. Although it can be exaggerated unconsciously, the literature suggests that how team members perceive their team’ performance is also an important indicator of team effectiveness. Second, the conceptual model of this study was tested in the US context. So, in a more collectivistic culture, the model might generate somewhat different results from those of this study. Practical implications The findings of this study indicate that workplace fun initiatives by the management are an effective means to promote the performance of frontline work teams at a hotel. Discussions are extended to incorporating fun elements into existing organizational cultures. Originality/value By adopting the input–process–outcome framework, this study shows how workplace fun, as a critical input, creates positive group processes and, thereby, promotes positive group outcomes in the hotel business context.

Destination Image Saturation

ABSTRACT Offering travel information sources to potential tourists can be expensive, although the importance of the amount and variety of travel information sources has been stressed in many studies. Therefore, it would be useful to examine how much exposure to travel information would lead to optimal results. Effects of exposure time to travel information on destination image were examined in this study. Two hypotheses were suggested to account for the relationships between exposure time to travel information and destination image. Specifically, the first hypothesis was related to a linear trend, while the second one was related to a quadratic trend in the conceptual relationships. A posttest-only control group design was used, and 312 undergraduate students were recruited at six colleges. Multivariate analysis of variance and a series of quadratic regression analyses were used to test the two hypotheses. Results demonstrated that there were both linear and quadratic trends in the relationships between exposure time to travel information and destination image. Findings also provided empirical evidence for a saturation effect on perceived destination image formation. Therefore, an optimum level between information exposure and perceptions was suggested.

Traveling from South to North: the relationships between historical nostalgia, novelty seeking, and attitudes to visit North Korea

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to investigate the roles of historical nostalgia and novelty seeking influencing attitude to visit North Korea in the range of South Korean tourists. Based on previous studies, 8 hypotheses were derived and two theoretical research models were proposed. The originally proposed model and its rival were tested using the data collected from 200 South Koreans. The results showed that 1) historical nostalgia positively affects novelty seeking, 2) novelty seeking has a full mediating effect between historical nostalgia and cognitive / affective attitudes. 3) affective attitude positively affects cognitive attitude, and 4) cognitive and affective attitudes significantly affect behavioral attitude. This research is expected to newly introduce the concept of historical nostalgia and its impact on tourists’ behaviors in tourism study and contribute to the tourism development and marketing of North Korea in the future.

Understanding museum visitor satisfaction and revisit intentions through mobile guide system: moderating role of age in museum mobile guide adoption

ABSTRACT Drawing from the extended technology acceptance model, we develop and test a model that links the perceived characteristics of mobile guide system to visitor satisfaction toward mobile guide system and its effect on overall museum experience. Data were collected from 408 museum visitors who have used mobile guide system in National Museum of Korea. The results found that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived enjoyment, and perceived interactivity had direct positive effects on visitor satisfaction toward mobile guide system. In addition, we found the moderating role of age between PU and satisfaction toward the mobile guide system. Furthermore, this study revealed that the experience of using museum mobile guide system was significantly associated with the overall experience of visiting the museum.

A qualitative analysis of South Korean casino experiences: A perspective on the experience economy:

This study aims to examine the casino experiences of South Koreans within the framework of the four realms suggested by Pine and Gilmores concept of the experience economy. Employing a qualitative research method, the current analysis focuses on how casinos are experienced and contextualized by contemporary South Koreans who imbue casinos with different meanings depending on how the individuals have experienced these places. The results reveal that the concept of the experience economy provides a new perspective for casino researchers to shift focus away from the rational behavior of casino visitors to focus more on their subjective and emotional experiences. The findings particularly show that South Korean casino visitors get easily absorbed in the casino environment, although they are unlikely to be completely immersed; at the same time, most of the visitors remain passive participants in gambling activities. Several salient practical implications are provided for casino researchers and marketers.

Dark Tourism and Death: A Grounded Theory Approach on Bongha Villiage

다크투어리즘 관련 연구는 지난 20여년 간 국내.외 관광연구자들에게 활발히 이루어지고 있으나 이론적기반이 부족한 채로 사례 위주의 연구가 대다수를 차지하고 있다. 그러나 지난 2008년 Stone과 Shapley에 의해 다크투어리즘이 타인의 죽음을 매개로 개인의 죽음에 대한 의미를 재정립한다는 죽음학적 관점이 등장하면서 많은 연구자들에 의해 다크투어리즘의 이론적 기반을 형성하는 관점으로 인정받고 있는 동시에 해당 관점이 다크투어리 즘 경험에서 죽음의 의미를 과도하게 부각시키고 있다는 비판도 제기되고 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 故 노무현 대통령의 생가이자 퇴임 후 사저이며, 2009년 비극적 죽음이 일어난 실제 장소로 현재 그의 묘소가 위치하고 있는 경남 김해의 봉하마을을 방문한 관광객들의 경험을 통해 죽음학적 관점이 지닌 유효성을 비판적으로 분석하고자 하였다. 근거이론적 접근에 기반하여 관광객 14명을 면접조사하고 이들의 경험을 ‘죽음’이라는 개념을 중심으로 구조적으로 분석한 본 연구결과는 죽음학적 관점이 가진 가능성과 한계를 동시에 보여주었다. 즉 봉하마을 관광객들의 경험의 각 단계에서 죽음은 경험을 구성하는 핵심적 역할을 하는 것으로 나타났으나, 이들의 경험을 결정하는 과정에 간접적으로 영향을 미치는 수많은 맥락적 조건 및 중재적 조건은 다크투어리즘 경험이 매우 문화적, 상대적 특성을 갖는다는 사실을 보여주고 있다. 이러한 연구결과는 향후 다크투어리즘 연구가 죽음이라는 요소를 기반으로 하되 각 관광목적지의 개별성을 고려한 다학제적 연구로 진행되어야 한다는 사실을 시사한다.