M. Ángeles Oviedo-García

Tourist satisfaction and the souvenir shopping of domestic tourists: extended weekends in Spain

The satisfaction dimensions of domestic tourists when buying souvenirs are studied in relation to the overall satisfaction of the same tourists, a theme that has received little attention in the prior scientific literature. The research data were gathered from interviews with domestic tourists visiting Seville over an extended weekend. The results show that souvenir shopping satisfaction consists of four factors: internal attraction, service differentiation, service provision and external attraction. The last two, moreover, influence the overall tourist satisfaction rates. A discussion of these results and their implications help contribute to a better understanding among both scholars and practitioners of tourist satisfaction.

Tourist Assessment of Archaeological Sites: The Case of The Archaeological Complex of Itálica (Seville, Spain)

ABSTRACT Few studies have examined visitors’ assessments of their stay at archaeological complexes. This study analyzed this issue, focusing on Itálica (Seville, Spain). The results show that three factors are important in assessing a visit: quality of service, perceived sacrifice and satisfaction. With regard to these three factors, significant differences were found depending on whether the visitor had previously been to Itálica and where he or she came from. From these results, the authors have identified possible ways of improving the services provided, and, consequently, visitor satisfaction.

Organizational Learning Capacity and Its Impact on the Results in a Government Agency in Chile

ABSTRACT Rising demand for quality, efficiency, and openness in the management of collective problems and their solutions has prompted successful government agencies to consider knowledge as a key resource. Government agencies make intensive use of human capital and knowledge in the performance of their duties. Knowledge represents the most important strategic resource, and its skillful management is a key capability in institutional performance. Using structural equation modeling, we analyze the relationship between the learning capability of an organizational system, characterized by the dynamic interaction of stocks and flows of knowledge, and its impact on performance. Our results support the view that learning capability, especially knowledge flows and stocks, has a positive impact on the performance of public institutions.

Does Sun-and-Sea All-Inclusive Tourism Contribute to Poverty Alleviation and/or Income Inequality Reduction? The Case of the Dominican Republic:

Tourism represents one of the most important industries in the world and one of the sectors of fastest growth. An understanding of the relation between tourism and poverty is key for poverty reduction in developing countries. The impact of tourism on the reduction of both poverty and inequality in income distribution is analyzed in this paper in the Dominican Republic (within the Caribbean Community of Small Island Developing States). The Ng and Perron test for analyzing time series stationarity and the AutoRegressive Distributed Lag bounds test were used to determine the existence of long-term relationships. The short-run dynamic models represented by the Error Correction Models were also estimated. The results showed that income from tourism has not alleviated poverty and has clearly failed to reduce inequality in the distribution of wealth. Finally, management implications are also provided for public and private bodies wishing to achieve sustainable tourism.

How to measure engagement in Twitter: advancing a metric

Purpose As social media are essentially different from traditional media, due to their social networking structures and egalitarian nature, conventional media metrics are not appropriate. Social media networks have nevertheless become another communications channel that companies use to achieve their marketing goals. Even though the measurement of marketing constructs in social media is elusive, a comprehensive means of measuring engagement is proposed for a successful social media site: Twitter. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach A measurement for customer engagement based on conceptual reflections is presented in the context of Twitter. Findings A new environment fostered by internet obliges companies to manage social media accounts and to assess engagement with company brands. To do so, companies need to analyze engagement trends by means of a metric, helping them to design an appropriate engagement strategy. The proposed metric provides much needed insight for companies to fine-tune their engagement strategy. Moreover, a means of calculating engagement from the parameters that Twitter makes available to the public is also proposed. Research limitations/implications The metric for engagement in Twitter that is proposed in this paper will be the starting point for future improvements through a conceptual and empirical discussion on this issue. Originality/value This is the first proposal specifically designed for Twitter, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, for measuring engagement.

Ex ante evaluation of interdisciplinary research projects: A literature review:

Ex ante evaluations have received little attention in the literature, resulting in a scattered set of contributions, despite their potential impact on society at large and on the academic careers of the members of research teams proposing interdisciplinary projects. Firstly, a review of the existing literature on the evaluation of interdisciplinary research proposals is presented. Then, two alternatives to the traditional peer-review process are described in the context of interdisciplinary research. The conclusions are of potential use both to academics involved in interdisciplinary research projects and to those responsible for funding such projects.