The study analyzes the relationship between tourism satisfaction, cognitive and affective country image, destination image, and post-visit intentions. The proposed research model is tested with a survey on a sample of 542 international tourists intercepted in two Italian airports at the end of their journey. Results suggest that general country and destination images are able to mediate the effect of tourism satisfaction on post-visit behavioral intentions. Moreover, empirical findings show that a high-quality tourism experience is able to not only affect intention to return and willingness to recommend the country as a tourism destination but also induce more positive intentions toward the products made in the sojourn country. On the basis of results, the study concludes with discussion of managerial and research implications.
Purpose: This study aims to draw on instrumental and ethical theories to offer a quantitative review of the extant literature on the corporate social responsibility (CSR)–small-medium enterprises (SMEs) performance relationship through a meta-analysis.Design/methodology/approach: Empirical studies from 57 independent peer-reviewed articles, including 66,741 firms, were sampled and analysed. Both subgroup and meta-regression analyses (MARA) were used to test the hypotheses of the study.Findings: The authors' results demonstrated that social-oriented, economic-oriented and environment-oriented CSR activities have a positive, significant influence on overall, financial and non-financial performance of SMEs; however, the effect of social-oriented CSR activities is the strongest. Moreover, the impact CSR dimensions have on non-financial performance is stronger than on financial performance. Additionally, findings showed that the association between CSR and SME performance is positively and significantly influenced by contextual factors (i.e. sector and region of study) and methodological factors (i.e. performance measurement, study type, theory usage, sampling size and operationalisation of constructs).Originality/value: The study is the pioneering meta-analytic review on the CSR–SME performance relationship, thereby clarifying the anecdotal results, synthesising the fragmented empirical studies and exploring the contextual and methodological factors that may account for between-study variance. Following the study's findings, the authors delineate insightful suggestions for future scholarship and fine-grained managerial implications for practitioners.
12 July 2013 in International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the influence of three selected physical components of the urban environment – physical design, space layout and functionality, and store external appearance – on consumers' perceptions of service quality and behavioural intentions (desire to stay and repatronage intentions).Design/methodology/approach: The research framework is based on the atmospherics, servicescape and service quality literatures. The proposed model is tested with a survey conducted in an inner‐city shopping street in Benevento (Italy).Findings: Results show that physical space functionality and store appearance provide cues upon which customers base their perception of service quality provided in the shopping street and that service quality inferences, in turn, are able to affect desire to stay and repatronage intentions.Practical implications: Findings are able to provide policy makers and retailers with suggestions in developing appropriate strategies for managing the urban setting with particular reference to individual shopping streets with the objective of improving customers' perception of service quality and subsequent behavioural outcomes.Originality/value: The paper contributes to both retail and place marketing literature in that it is one of the few empirical studies aiming to investigate the influence of atmospheric stimuli on consumers' perception in an urban setting.
17 July 2009 in International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights for the evaluation of town centre management (TCM) effectiveness, by proposing the importance‐performance analysis (IPA) as a valuable tool to ensure a multi‐perspective evaluation. The need for more empirical methods of measuring town centre effectiveness is related to the risk of commonly used evaluation methodologies reflecting only the success criteria of dominant stakeholders.Design/methodology/approach: By reviewing the service management literature, a definition of the “town centre product” is proposed, and how IPA can be used to analyse the city users' quality perceptions is emphasized. The theoretical framework is enriched by an empirical case study: the city centre of Benevento.Findings: The results provide a clear guidance for the implementation of a TCM scheme in the historical centre of Benevento, by identifying the main area of intervention.Research limitations/implications: The paper addresses a gap in the academic literature by using the IPA as an alternative evaluating paradigm of TCM and providing a definition of the town centre servicescape. Further research could investigate the impact of the selected environmental variables on the city users' internal responses (e.g. satisfaction) and behaviours (e.g. desire to shop), beside on their quality perceptions.Practical implications: The paper proposes a handy tool both for the exante and the expost evaluation, As well, it could be used as a benchmarking tool.Originality/value: The paper has significant implications both for practitioners and for academics. It provides an original framework for further research and factual implementation.