Age has a significant influence on environmental attitudes and behaviour but there is no consensus on the effect that generational cohort has on these attitudes and behaviour. Using the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) as the theoretical lens, this study evaluates whether Gen Z is similar or different to three other generations (Gen X, Y and Baby Boomers) on their environmental attitudes toward travel. The sustainability practices that these generational cohorts undertake during their travel are also evaluated. Based on 615 useable surveys of international visitors to the Canterbury region of New Zealand, we identify segments of visitors based on environmental attitudes and behaviour toward travel and generational cohort using a two-step clustering procedure. The results confirm inter-generational differences in environmental attitudes and travel behaviours but also highlight intra-generational differences. Gen Z tourists are more likely to belong to “Environmental” or “Mixed-Bag Environmental” segments that are more likely engage in sustainable practices related to resource saving and buying local food compared to other generations. The findings have implications for destination marketing and management.
Panic buying and hoarding behavior is a significant component of crisis- and disaster-related consumption displacement that has received considerable attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding such purchasing and stockpiling behavior provides critical information for government, disaster managers and the retail sector, as well as policy makers to adjust crisis response strategies and to better understand disaster management, including preparedness and response strategies. This study examines consumer purchasing behavior, retail spending and transactional data for different retail sectors between January 2017 and December 2020 using data for the greater Christchurch region in New Zealand. Once COVID-19-related panic buying began, overall spending increased sharply in anticipation of lockdowns. Transactional spending increased and subsided only slowly to a level higher than pre lockdown. The magnitude of the panic buying event far exceeded historical seasonal patterns of consumer spending outside of Christmas, Easter and Black Friday, although daily spending levels were comparable to such consumption events. The results of the study highlight the importance of comparing panic buying to other events in terms of purchasing motivations and also considering that so-called panic buying may contribute to greater individual and household resilience. The volume of sales alone is not adequate to define panic buying. Instead, the extent of divergence from the normal daily spending value per retail transaction of a given population provides a much more accurate characteristic of panic buying.
Purpose: Demographic changes involving a worldwide ageing population and later retirements produce a gradual ageing of the workforce and major concerns about how ageing may influence the workplace. This paper aims to provide evidence relating to older workers in healthcare settings in Australia.Design/methodology/approach: Using a secondary quantitative dataset, the authors sub-sampled a group of workers in the healthcare sector. We used linear regression arrangement with hypotheses focused on the assessment of the significance of interaction or moderation effects relating to job characteristics and age on employee satisfaction.Findings: The authors note that older workers' job satisfaction is negatively influenced by poor perceptions of job security and autonomy in how their work is carried out. Ensuring that older workers stay in the healthcare workforce is imperative as the work force ages. This paper shows that managing their job security and offering them work autonomy enhance their job satisfaction.Research limitations/implications: The use of a secondary and cross-sectional dataset has some limitations relating to endogeneity, although these have been managed and assessed. The paper is based on a representative sample of Australian workers, and is thus generalisable within the Australian context, and will be informative elsewhere.Practical implications: The focus on elements of flexibility for older workers (enhanced autonomy) and clearer job security elements is of practical relevance in the management of older workers.Social implications: As the overall population ages, supporting older workers in their careers will be of increasing importance. In sectors with a disproportionate share of older workers, like health care, this imperative will come sooner, and the benefits of getting arrangements right be will higher.Originality/value: No other paper has explored these specific relationships empirically that the authors are aware of. This work is original in terms of its assessment of questions of what second-order effects exist in predicting employee satisfaction among older workers.
Employee loyalty is generally a very positive trait. However, when loyal employees are confronted with dysfunctionality in the workplace the impact on their well-being can be significant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the interaction of employee loyalty and employee experience of inter-professional dysfunction in a hospital setting to predict employee job tension. The paper is based on the analysis of a cross-sectional attitudinal survey of employees within a hospital setting in Australia. The authors use OLS regression and an SPSS macro (by Hayes, 2013) to assess the regions of significance of the interaction effects. The authors find, as anticipated, significant direct effects for employee loyalty and inter-professional dysfunction on employee job stress. The authors further find significant interaction effects that suggest that highly loyal employees who experience inter-professional dysfunction also experience disproportionately high levels of job tension. The main research implication of this research relates to the confirmation of the presence of an interaction effect between loyalty and inter-professional dysfunction in predicting employee job stress. Further, the zone of significance analysis (following Johnson and Neyman) suggests that this effect is evident at even low levels of inter-professional dysfunction. Organisations should appreciate employee loyalty but should also be aware that loyal employees are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of organisational dysfunction than are employees with limited organisational loyalty. The paper confirms the importance of managing organisational cooperation between groups in organisations as a precursor to positive employee outcomes. This is the first paper to investigate this interaction and to apply Johnson-Neyman analysis to confirm the regions of significance for the interaction effects noted.