Vania Vigolo

Older Tourists: An Exploratory Study on Online Behaviour

The Internet has reshaped the way consumers can search for and purchase tourism products. While various studies about online behaviour have addressed the ‘Y generation’, little attention has been given to older adults, particularly within the tourism industry. This article investigates older tourists’ online behaviour in an increasingly ageing context (Italy). In particular, the study focuses on past travel behaviour and online experience as antecedents of online purchase intentions. An exploratory research was conducted among a sample of 205 tourists aged 50 years and older. The findings reveal that online travel purchase intention positively depends on online word-of-mouth, previous online travel purchase, and education. In addition, significant behavioural differences emerge between prospective seniors and seniors. This study contributes to fill a gap in tourism literature about older tourists. Moreover, it provides useful insights and practical implications for hospitality and tourism companies willing to approach the senior market.

Hotel Responses to Guests’ Online Reviews: An Exploratory Study on Communication Styles

This study explores the communication approaches used by hotel managers in responding to their guests’ online reviews. Data were collected from one of the largest hotel booking websites (Booking.com). Specifically, 447 responses provided by hotel managers belonging to an international chain (Best Western) were analysed within the ethos/logos/pathos framework. The findings highlight that hotel managers tend to adopt either a company-focused or a customer-focused style in their responses. Suggestions for practitioners are provided for effectively responding to online guest reviews.

SMEs’ switching behavior in the natural gas market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore loyalty and switching behavior among corporate energy customers in Italy. Thanks to the recent liberalization process, firms have now the opportunity to evaluate alternative energy providers and try to reduce their energy expenses. Nonetheless their switching rate in Italy is currently as low as 6.3 percent. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a cross-sectional analysis of the switching behavior of a sample of 110 Italian small and medium firms that purchase natural gas from a middle-sized natural gas supplier. Findings – The analysis emphasizes the role of price convenience (but not of dissatisfaction with the service provision) as a driver of the intention to switch to a new supplier. The negative impact of procedural and relational switching costs on the intention to switch emerges, as well. Research limitations/implications – The sample size was quite limited. Moreover participants were all customers of one natural gas supplier only. Pr...

Exploring the Importance of Basic Hotel Attributes: A Focus on Senior Wellness Tourists

Senior tourists represent an attractive target for the wellness industry. Despite the diversifying needs in the senior market, the tourism and hospitality literature has only recently started to investigate the importance of hotel attributes for this specific target. In particular, very few studies have explored the importance of hotel attributes for senior tourists involved in wellness tourism activities. Hence, the aim of this study is twofold. First, it intends to explore the importance of basic hotel attributes according to senior tourists. Second, it aims to identify the underlying dimensions of those hotel attributes.

Managing responses to online reviews: an opportunity for value co-creation?

Companies use social media differently according to their mental models and specific historical antecedents. Accordingly, service providers’ online interactions with customers can produce different results in terms of value creation. This qualitative study explores the provider’s role in value (co)-creation in social-media contexts. More specifically, it analyses providers’ reactions (i.e. responses and non-responses) to usergenerated reviews and investigates what type of value creation derives from the customer-provider online interaction. For this purpose, we collected hotel responses publicly available on TripAdvisor, using the web-based ethnography method. To analyse the data, we combined the social media sensemaking model proposed by Ryden et al. with the value-creation framework proposed by Gronroos and Voima. The findings contribute to the literature about online value co-creation by suggesting a taxonomy of providers’ reactions to online reviews. As regards managerial implications, we provide recommendations for formulating responses to online reviews.

Sustainability through energy efficiency: An Italian perspective

Purpose of the paper : Firms’ efficient use of energy contributes to social, environmental and economic sustainability, as well as to their competitiveness. The discrepancy between optimal and actual implementation of energy efficiency measures has been described in literature as the ‘energy efficiency gap’. Recently, some scholars have related this gap to both technology and energy management, thus introducing, an ‘extended energy efficiency gap’. Given these premises, this study investigates the extended energy efficiency gap from the perspective of the Italian small and medium industrial enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, it intends to identify possible solutions to overcome the major barriers to energy efficiency, in terms of technology investments and energy management. Methodology : This is a conceptual study which adopts a solution-building approach based on literature review and secondary data analysis. Research findings: This study proposes a framework that can be used to explore and reduce the extended energy efficiency gap for Italian industrial SMEs. The possible solutions to improve energy efficiency include distributed generation, cluster energy management, result-based economic incentives and smart grids. Research limits : Qualitative and quantitative studies should be conducted to further investigation of the major barriers of efficiency, as perceived by SMEs. Households’ and policy makers’ perspectives could also be addressed in future studies. Practical implications : This study suggests that, through collaboration, firms could improve their energy efficiency, thus increasing their economic sustainability and competitiveness. Moreover, policy makers should encourage energy efficiency through result-based incentives and the development of smart grids. Originality of the paper : This is one of very few studies that address the extended energy efficiency gap for Italian SMEs. Additionally, it proposes a framework of analysis that takes into account the relationship between barriers and efficiency gap levels.

Services Branding: Is it a Matter of Gender?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to verify whether gender traits of brand personality (masculinity vs femininity) are able to differentiate services brands belonging to the same service industry. Second, this paper intends to assess the validity of Grohmanns scale (that measures the masculine and the feminine dimensions of brand personality) among Italian consumers. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 200 consumers. Participants were asked to rate their perceptions of the masculinity vs femininity dimensions of four different service brands (two brands of food retailers and two brands of airlines). Findings – The findings show that Grohmanns scale reaches high levels of validity in the Italian context, as well and that femininity and masculinity measured by that scale are able to register differences in services brand positioning for brands belonging to the same service industry. Research limitations/implications – The services category includes very heter...

Population Aging: Challenges and Opportunities for the Tourism Industry

In the coming years, people aged 60 years and over will account for 22% of the world population. This trend already has profound implications for many facets of human life, including social and economic activities. Within this framework, the World Health Organization coined the expression “active aging” to define the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security to improve quality of life as people age. According to this perspective, tourism activities represent a major means through which older people can increase their participation in society and enhance their quality of life. After depicting the global demographic trends and the challenges of population aging, the first part of the chapter describes the active aging approach. The second part provides an overview of older individuals as presented in marketing literature and practice. Finally, the potentialities of population aging for the tourism industry are discussed and future trends are presented.

Does this fit my style? The role of self-congruity in young women’s repurchase intention for intimate apparel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of actual and ideal congruity in predicting the repurchase intentions of young women in relation to inconspicuous fashion items. Design/methodology/approach The research focussed on a non-luxury intimate apparel brand, typical of daily use and private consumption. Regression analyses were conducted on a sample of 308 young female consumers to identify the effect of actual and ideal congruity in determining repurchase intentions. A cluster analysis based on actual self-concept was employed to develop a typology for consumers. Findings Unexpectedly, the findings revealed that ideal congruity is a stronger predictor of repurchase intentions than actual congruity. Further, based on actual self-concept, three profiles of young women emerged: active romantics, self-assureds and reliables. The clusters differed in relation to perceptions of brand personality and the effect of self-congruity on repurchase intentions. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted using participants from one university in Northern Italy. Thus, the main limitations of this study relate to sample size and selection. Additionally, this study only investigated the perceptions of young women. Practical implications This study suggests that non-luxury intimate apparel items, typical of daily use, are not merely functional purchases, but reflect young women’s self-expression motives. Accordingly, fashion marketers should focus on consumers’ ideal self-concepts to develop effective promotion strategies. Further, specific dimensions of brand personality should be considered in relation to the different clusters. Originality/value This study shows that repurchase intentions towards inconspicuous non-luxury fashion items are explained more by self-esteem motives (i.e. ideal congruity) than self-consistency motives (i.e. actual congruity).

Hotel Attributes and Visual Image: A Comparison Between Website and User-Generated Photos

The internet has greatly increased the variety and availability of travel-information sources. In particular, the development of the new Web 2.0 applications has meant the online visual image of hotels is no longer exclusively controlled by hotels themselves. Tourists have increased opportunities to define hotels’ visual image by creating and uploading photos to describe their hotel experience on media-sharing websites. This study intends to explore the differences between the visual images of hotels as presented on hotel websites and as perceived by hotels guests with the aim of analysing the gap that exists between what users consider is important in certain features of hotels and the information that hotels provide to users through photos on their website. This study employs content analysis as its primary method to analyse 1,710 images selected from hotel websites and a media-sharing website (i.e., TripAdvisor). The results demonstrate that website photos from hotels and user-generated photos tend to focus on different hotel attributes. This has important implications for academic research as well for managerial applications.