Stella Douka

Testing the role of service quality on the development of brand associations and brand loyalty

Purpose – The study aims to: measure brand associations in the context of a fitness club, test the influence of brand associations on the development of brand loyalty, and investigate the role of service quality on the development of brand associations.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 165 members of a managed‐owned fitness club, located in North Greece, participated in the study. They completed a 25‐item questionnaire to measure brand associations, and a 25‐item questionnaire to measure service quality.Findings – The exploratory factor analysis revealed eight brand association factors: popularity, management, logo, escape, vicarious achievement, nostalgia, pride and affect. In terms of the relationships among brand associations, loyalty and service quality, the regression analyses revealed that: five of the eight brand associations (escape, nostalgia, pride, logo, and affect) significantly contributed to the prediction of loyalty, the service quality dimensions predicted significant amount of vari...

Functional and psychosocial effects of either a traditional dancing or a formal exercising training program in patients with chronic heart failure: a comparative randomized controlled study

Objective: To compare the effects of traditional dancing with formal exercise training in terms of functional and cardiovascular benefits and motivation in patients with chronic heart failure. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Sports Medicine Laboratory. Subjects: Fifty-one Greek male patients aged 67.1±5.5 years with chronic heart failure of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II–III, participated in an eight-month study. Interventions: They were randomly assigned to either training with Greek traditional dances (group A, n=18), formal exercise training (group B, n=16) or a sedentary control group (group C, n=17). Main measures: At entry and the end of the study all patients underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing, functional ability assessment and quality of life evaluations. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was also used to assess participants’ subjective experience. Results: After training group A showed increased peak oxygen consumption by 33.8% (19.5 vs. 26.1 ml/kg/min, p<0.05) and B by 32.3% (19.5 vs. 25.8 ml/kg/min, p<0.05), maximal treadmill tolerance by 48.5% (p<0.05) and by 46.4% (p<0.05), and a decreased Slope of expired minute ventilation for carbon dioxide output (VE/VCO2) slope by 18% (p<0.05) and 19.5% (p<0.05), respectively. Trained patients revealed significant improvement in the quality of life indices. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was increased only in group A by 26.2% (3.08 vs. 3.87, p<0.05). Conclusions: Exercise training in chronic heart failure patients with Greek traditional dances led to functional and cardiovascular benefits similar to formal exercise training and to a higher level of motivation.

Multi-sensor Technology and Fuzzy Logic for Dancer’s Motion Analysis and Performance Evaluation within a 3D Virtual Environment

In this paper, we describe a novel methodology for dance learning and evaluation using multi-sensor and 3D gaming technology. The learners are captured during dancing, while an avatar visualizes their motion using fused input from multiple sensors. Motion analysis and fuzzy-logic are employed for the evaluation of the learners’ performance against the performance of an expert. Specifically, a two level Fuzzy Inference System is proposed which uses as input low level skeletal data and high level motion recognition probabilities for the evaluation of dancer’s performance. Tests with real dancers, both learners and experts, dancing Tsamiko, a very popular traditional Greek dance, are presented showing the potential of the proposed method.

Involvement with active leisure participation: does service quality have a role?

Identifying the antecedents of leisure involvement is of particular interest for researchers and practitioners, since involvement is associated with positive behavioural and attitudinal consequences for leisure participants. The present study was conducted in the context of traditional recreational dancing associations in Greece, aiming to test the degree to which service quality perceptions can discriminate between low and high-involved recreational dancers. One hundred and forty (N = 140) recreational dancers, who were members of traditional recreational dancing associations in Greece, participated in the study and completed the three-dimensional leisure involvement scale (Kyle et al., 2003), and a service quality scale (Alexandris et al., 2004a). The results of the cluster analysis revealed two distinct involvement groups: high- and low-involved recreational dancers. Four of the five service quality dimensions (outcome, tangibles, reliability and responsiveness) contributed to the prediction of high- and low-involved groups, indicating that service quality plays a significant role in the development of leisure involvement. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

A Game-like Application for Dance Learning Using a Natural Human Computer Interface

Game-based learning and gamification techniques are recently becoming a popular trend in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning. In this paper, we mainly focus on the use of game design elements for the transmission of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) knowledge and, especially, for the learning of traditional dances. More specifically, we present a 3D game environment that employs an enjoyable natural human computer interface, which is based on the fusion of multiple depth sensors data in order to capture the body movements of the user/learner. In addition, the system automatically assesses the learner’s performance by utilizing a combination of Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) with Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) approach and provides feedback in a form of a score as well as instructions from a virtual tutor in order to promote self-learning. As a pilot use case, a Greek traditional dance, namely Tsamiko, has been selected. Preliminary small-scaled experiments with students of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki have shown the great potential of the proposed application.

Exploiting Annotated Video to Support Dance Education

This article deals with the employment of annotated video in order to support dance education. More specifically, it is investigated the usage of multimedia technology in learning and teaching of Greek traditional dances. One of the issues faced by the teachers is that they do not have the opportunity of practicing Greek traditional dances before they teach them in a class of students. Therefore, there is a specific need for the teachers of physical education to recall the Greek traditional dances that they should teach in Primary Education schools. Furthermore, the pupils want to attend many times the performance of a dance in order to learn how to dance Greek traditional dances. The only means to support the teachers are (a) books which describe the Greek traditional dances in, a rather abstruse, symbolic language and (b) face-to-face seminars, which are not suitable for wide scale training due to time and cost limitations. More specifically, the article investigates the added value offered by annotated video presentations to support the learning and teaching of Greek traditional dances. The evaluation by a large number of students showed that annotated video presentations of a dance are helpful for the experienced dancers and neutral for the novice dancers.

Multi-Entity Bayesian Networks for Knowledge-Driven Analysis of ICH Content

In this paper we introduce Multi-Entity Bayesian Networks (MEBNs) as the means to combine first-order logic with probabilistic inference and facilitate the semantic analysis of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) content. First, we mention the need to capture and maintain ICH manifestations for the safeguarding of cultural treasures. Second, we present the MEBN models and stress their key features that can be used as a powerful tool for the aforementioned cause. Third, we present the methodology followed to build a MEBN model for the analysis of a traditional dance. Finally, we compare the efficiency of our MEBN model with that of a simple Bayesian network and demonstrate its superiority in cases that demand for situation-specific treatment.

Technology’s Role on Physical Activity for Elderly People

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two physical exercise interventions in the elderly, one with the traditional way of exercising and the other with the use of new technologies and by comparing the two interventions and evaluating the most beneficial effects in their functioning ability and their quality of life. The exercise protocols included activities to improve aerobic capacity, muscle strength, mobility (flexibility) and coordination skills (balance). Forty-four elderly women aged 60–80 years old agreed to participate, grouped by twenty-two elderly in each intervention. They evaluated at baseline (pre assessment), as well as at the end of the intervention (post assessment). Both interventions took place at Day Care Centers and lasted 10–12 weeks (min 30 sessions, 2–3 times/week, 60’). The results of this study are in line with the reports of similar studies of the last decade pertaining to the positive role of the physical exercise and the exergames to the psychological well-being and quality of life in older adults. Both interventions revealed the improvement of body functions and balance associated with daily activities, improve their physical and mental health and therefore quality of their life.

The Effect of a 12 Week Reaction Time Training Using Active Video Game Tennis Attack on Reaction Time and Tennis Performance

Reaction time is one of human abilities that involves in physical activity almost in all sports and it is important factor to winning when an athlete dominate others. Tennis Attack is an interactive 3D video game, which promises to improve response time of, including but not limited to, athletes using entertainment as its vehicle. The aim of the present study was to identify if Tennis Attack can improve the reaction time of the video game player and to explore if a possible improvement on reaction time affects the performance in tennis. The sample is consisted of 42 male undergraduate students. The sample divided into two groups. The first group (N = 20) was the experimental group and the other (N = 22) was the control group. Both groups attended two-hour tennis lessons once a week. All participants, at baseline and at end line, played Tennis Attack in order to examine their reaction time. The experimental group also played Tennis Attack for half an hour 2 times a week, as intervention. Additionally, both groups, at base line and at end line performed the Hitting Accuracy Tennis Test in order to evaluate their performance on tennis strokes. After the intervention, as regards reaction time, both groups showed an improvement in reaction time. Concerning tennis performance, the experimental group showed significant higher scores at means than the control group. Concerning tennis serve performance score both groups mentioned higher mean scores, although there were no significant differences between two groups. With respect to groundstrokes performance, after intervention, the experimental group mentioned significant better scores.

Gamified and Online Activities for Learning to Support Dual Career of Athletes (GOAL)

Dual careers defined as enabling education or work, promote the attainment of a new career after the sporting career, and protect and safeguard the position of athletes. The success of dual career arrangements is largely dependent on individual, personalised pathways enabled through the use of rich-mediated technologies that will facilitate athlete’s effort to adapt to the changing employment needs. GOAL (Gamified and Online Activities for Learning to support dual career of athletes, http://goal.csd.auth.gr/) will effectively start dual careers for athletes embracing their awareness to balance sport training and education and, at a later stage, sport training and employment.