In tourism, the product is the experience. The destination sets the stage, which facilitates the experience. First impressions, based largely on visual cues in the environment, help to determine the level of quality tourists should expect from their encounter. While much research has focused on destination image in advertising, little attention has been given to on-site assessments of tourists' perceptions of the visual environment. This study had three specific objectives. The first was to determine if changes in the visual environment affect respondents' attitudes, perceptions of quality and satisfaction. The second objective set out to determine which visual quality elements have the strongest influence on respondents' attitudes, their perceptions of quality and satisfaction. The final objective was to explore the interrelationship between attitudes, quality, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Utilizing a series of digitally modified photographs and an experimental design approach with three treatments, this study examined how selected visual environmental cues affected respondents' perceptions. The relatively high adjusted R2 values across the three treatments suggests the strong influence of visual quality elements on hedonic (R2 values ranging from .16 to .27) and utilitarian attitudes (R2 values ranging from .16 to .24), and particularly on satisfaction (R2 values ranging from .31 to .44) and overall quality (R2 values ranging from .28 to .35). The visual cues having the strongest influence on perceptions were level of crowding, available seating, maintenance and upkeep, and type of signage. Utilizing structural equation modeling, this study examined the interrelationship between the endogenous variables in the model. The influence of hedonic attitude on overall quality and satisfaction was confirmed, but the influence of utilitarian attitude on overall quality and satisfaction was not. This suggests that some tourism experiences are more hedonic in nature. This research supports previous literature suggesting that a high level of quality will result in a high level of satisfaction for the visitors (significant path estimate of .422). Additionally, standardized path coefficients indicate that overall quality (.416) and satisfaction (.486) were both related to behavioral intentions, with satisfaction being a stronger predictor.

Organisatoriska, ekonomiska och individuella faktorer har betydelse för huruvida omsorgspersonalen har intentioner till att lämna sin arbetsplats eller faktiskt sluta på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med studien var att finna faktorer som påverkar omsorgspersonal att stanna eller lämna sin arbetsplats, samt hur vårdyrket inom äldreomsorgen kan göras mer attraktivt. Sexton kvinnor inom äldreomsorgen i Mellansverige intervjuades. Systematiska jämförelser mellan dem som hade för avsikt att stanna och dem som hade för avsikt att sluta på sin arbetsplats utfördes, även en eftersökning av faktorer som kunde göra yrket mer attraktivt genomfördes. Faktorer som att utvecklas var avgörande för de som hade för avsikt att lämna och kollegorna samt ett omväxlande arbete var viktigt för de som hade för avsikt att stanna. Medias negativa skildring av äldreomsorgen samt lönen rapporterades påverka vårdyrkets attraktionskraft. Framtida undersökningar bör fokusera på hur media påverkar möjligheten att attrahera ny personal inom vårdyrken.

In the developed world, the principal sources of morbidity and mortality are diseases of lifestyle, and one of the central goals of health promotion is the encouragement of risk-reducing behaviour. In a series of 3 studies, the present program of research examined the effect of self-affirmation and manipulated perceived efficacy on perceptions of efficacy, risk perception, and risk-reducing behavioural intentions. Participants were undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to a self-affirmation manipulation (self-affirmation versus no self-affirmation) and a perceived efficacy manipulation (high versus low versus baseline), followed by exposure to negative health risk information (risk of a heart attack or colorectal cancer). Across the 3 studies, factor analyses indicated 3 distinct categories of risk-reducing intentions: intentions associated with maintaining an active lifestyle, seeking medical advice and assessment, and maintaining a healthy diet. There was little evidence that self-affirmation affected efficacy, risk, or intentions. Structural equation modeling and meta-analytic analyses suggested the presence of a suppression effect for risk perception: a manipulation designed to increase perceived efficacy had direct positive effects on risk, but also had indirect negative effects on risk, with measured efficacy acting as a mediator. These analyses also showed that the 3 categories of behavioural intentions had distinct (and often different) antecedents. These results highlight the complexity of variables in health risk behaviour. Implications and future directions are discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-20 09:56:44.707

Charities provide many vital services for New Zealand society; however, charities are in constant need of donations from the public in order to provide these services. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between situational optimism/pessimism and donating intentions. Two hundred and fifty three people from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand took part in experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions in which they viewed an optimistic, pessimistic or neutral (control) image and were asked to rate their intention to donate to a disaster relief charity. When covariates were controlled for, the results revealed that people who saw the pessimistic image were more likely to intend to donate than participants who looked at optimistic image. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Background: The advice and opinions given by consumers online have been proven to have a positive influence on consumers purchase intentions. It has previously been established by researchers that consumer-created information is more trustworthy compared to information provided by a seller. As a result, consumers’ eWOM has taken over the stage on the internet. Social media has in comparison to traditional media brought communication to a new level in terms of engaging consumers online. For instance, bloggers nowadays are assumed to be viewed as peers that can generates social ties between a blogger and a blog reader due to a blogger’s credibility. Thus, the power of peer communication is of relevance when considering persuasion in real life as well as online. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how eWOM can be a powerful tool through social ties between the source and the receiver when it comes to generating consumers’ purchase intentions. The authors intend to contribute with an understanding of how different sociodemographic factors of homophily and source credibility can potentially have a direct or indirect influence on the persuasion process online. To understand the process of how consumers are persuaded through eWOM the authors examine the relationship between Swedish blog readers and Swedish bloggers and the process of how the readers are absorbing and using the bloggers’ message. Methodology & Method: This study was conducted using a qualitative methodology approach. The primary data was collected through interviews and observations. Ten interviews were implemented on the selected sample consisting of women living in Sweden, who are in the ages of 16-25 and read famous Swedish lifestyle blogs. Furthermore, the favourite blogs of the interviewees were observed by the researchers in order to complement the interviews. Conclusion: From this research the authors have found that homophily creates social ties between the blog reader and the blogger, and therefore this underpins that the likelihood of persuasion is higher if several factors of homophily exists. However, the factors of homophily are not sufficient on its own to establish a relationship between eWOM and purchase intentions. Rather, source credibility is considered to be the major factor that determines the extent of purchase intentions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different types of consumer knowledge and values on their attitude towards buying organic personal care products and their purchase intentions of organic personal care products. The aim was to make a theoretical contribution to the research area of consumer behaviour in the context of organic products. As no research had been conducted on how different types of consumers’ knowledge affect their attitudes towards buying organic products and their purchase intentions of organic products, this study aims to address this research gap. In addition, while previous studies have mainly focused on organic foods this study aims to enhance knowledge about the little researched sector of organic personal care products.

Despite the importance of offenders’ perspectives of the criminal justice system, inmates’ perceptions of prison life remain largely unexplored in correctional research. In the current study, data were analyzed from a survey of approximately 700 incarcerated felons, focusing on their perceptions regarding the perceived difficulty or severity of prison. The correlates of these perceptions were examined, as well as the impact of such perceptions on inmates’ intentions to avoid crime after release. The findings suggest that, while most inmates perceive prison life as difficult, a sizeable proportion of inmates do not find prison time to be overly difficult or severe. Further, inmates who do not view prison as difficult are less likely to report intentions to avoid crime after release. Implications for deterrence theory and future research are discussed.

Although the adverse health effects of cigarette smoking are well known, many college students continue to initiate and maintain cigarette smoking. While some college students are making quit attempts, they have limited success. Past research has identified graduation as one life event around which college students plan to quit smoking. Therefore, the college senior may be at a reachable moment related to cessation interventions. It was one purpose of the present study to examine whether attitudes, self-efficacy, and subjective norms might influence a college senior's intention to quit smoking at graduation. Past research has also identified friends and peers as an influencing factor related to initiation and maintenance of student smoking. A second purpose was to examine the influence of peer group norms and strength of group identification on intentions to quit smoking among college seniors. The theory of planned behavior provided the theoretical framework for the study. Using a nonexperimental cross sectional design, data were collected from 573 undergraduate college seniors via a web-based survey. Sixty three percent of the respondents were female and thirty seven percent were male. Of respondents, 26.5% (n= 152) reported being current smokers (had smoked at least one cigarette in the last thirty days) and of the current smokers, 48.7% (n=74) were daily and 51.3% (n=78) were occasional smokers. Independent sample t–tests revealed that, although the original hypothesis (daily smokers would have more positive intentions toward quitting than nondaily smokers) was not supported, nondaily smokers did have more positive intentions to quit smoking than daily smokers. When intentions were examined by sex, no statistical difference was found between males and females in intentions to quit smoking at graduation. Multiple regression revealed that the attitude a smoker holds about quitting was the strongest predictor of quitting intentions, followed by the confidence in one's ability to quit (self-efficacy). The importance of the beliefs held by important others (subjective norms) about quitting was also predictive of intentions to quit, but to a lesser extent than attitudes and self-efficacy. Respondents chose a “most important peer group” (i.e. people I live with, other students in my major), which they used to answer survey questions related to peer group norms and strength of group identification. When group norms and strength of group identification variables were entered into multiple regression, the effects of group norms and group identification were not significant predictors. Strength of group identification was not found to be a moderating variable for group norms when predicting intentions to quit cigarette smoking. The present study used two concepts (subjective norms and group norms) to examine social influence on behavioral intentions. Future studies will be useful in establishing how social influences can best be conceptualized.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / The primary objective of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of job resources and job demands on work engagement and employee turnover intentions within the IT division of a South African bank. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model was applied as theoretical framework to identify the unique job resources and job demands driving work engagement and turnover intentions of employees within this highly specialised section of the South African banking industry. Quantitative data was collected from 239 IT professionals via a self-administered, web-based survey comprising of four sections. Participation in the survey was voluntary, anonymous and confidential. The first section of the survey consisted of gathering of the participants’ biographical and employment information. The subsequent sections provided a measurement of the specific latent variables using valid and reliable measuring instruments, including the the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-17) designed by Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá and Bakker (2002), the Job Demands- Resources Scale (Jackson & Rothmann, 2005), and Roodt’s (2004) Turnover Intentions Scale (TIS).

Previously, an organisation's attributes (corporate appeal, product and services, social responsibility, vision and leadership, workplace environment, and financial performance) were used as determinants of corporate reputation. In other words, corporate reputation was measured using a multidimensional single construct. However, there are arguments suggesting that, in order to obtain more accurate conclusions, an organisation's attributes need to be treated as antecedents whereby organisation's attributes are used to predict corporate reputation. Thus, this study is aimed at testing the impact of an organisation's attributes that is product, corporate personality and corporate responsibility on corporate reputation, and the mediating effect of corporate reputation in influencing stakeholders' purchase intention. Malaysia national car brands are used as a case reference for this study. Using a quantitative research approach, this study found that not all attributes contribute to positive reputation and intentions. The impact of each attribute varies across different stakeholder groups and across brands. Using a sample of 419 automobile customers and 300 Malaysia national car dealers, this study shows that only corporate personality has a positive and significant influence on corporate reputation and it is consistent across both groups and brands. Corporate responsibility, on the other hand, is found to have a positive influence on corporate reputation assessed by customers, but is not significant for dealers. The effect of customers' and dealers' satisfaction on the products is rather mixed. Results from this study provide empirical evidence that reputation should not be measured using a multidimensional single construct in order to draw a more accurate conclusion. This study also contributes to practice as it provides a distinct view for corporations to establish good rapport and to assist in developing effective strategies for the relevant groups of stakeholders. Recommendations are also discussed to provide focus for future research.