The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in Korean society since the end of 2019. Unlike prior to the pandemic, when online and offline activities were conducted side-by-side, many aspects of consumers’ daily lives are only conducted online, especially shopping and meetings. This study analysed the characteristics of consumers who have used offline shopping channels during the pandemic. In addition, participants were asked how often they will use online and offline shopping channels after society stabilizes from COVID-19 in order to analyse what determinants will be used to select either online or offline shopping channels after the pandemic. This study will contribute to provide a deeper understanding of the consumption patterns of consumers (online vs. offline) during times of deep external impact, such as a pandemic.
Despite the declaration of the end of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS) outbreak in December 2015 in South Korea that the epidemic lasted for 2 months, the depressed domestic economy and tourism sector did not immediately restore. Thus, it is important to explore how much of an impact the disease had and how long the damage lasted. Using quantitative time-series models, the present study explored the influence of MERS on inbound tourism in South Korea and estimates the concrete impact of MERS on the market in 2015. Monthly international tourist arrival data were provided by the Korea Tourism Organization from January 2009 to December 2015. The results showed that the contagious disease was statistically and negatively significant for inbound tourists visiting South Korea. During the time of MERS, from June 2015 to September 2015, the total effect was estimated to be −1,968,765 tourists with a loss of 3.1 billion USD in receipts. This study can not only better estimate the impact on tourism number of inbound tourist arrivals, but also supports policy-makers in their attempts to establish proper policies to assure tourists of their safety in such crises.
In this study, the relationships among the experiences of visitors to the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, their emotional responses, and their satisfaction are explored by employing a theoretical background derived from Pine and Gilmore’s experience economy theory. It was found that the visitors’ satisfaction with the Incheon Asian Games was mainly affected by their emotional responses of pleasure and arousal. Furthermore, their entertainment, educational, and esthetic experiences were positive antecedents of pleasure and arousal. The results also showed that their educational and esthetic experiences positively influenced dominance, although the construct of dominance was not a significant antecedent of satisfaction.
Despite theme parks being a research hotspot, there is a paucity of research to understand the forming process of brand behavioral intentions (i.e., the intention of revisiting a theme park and the visit intentions of other theme parks under the same brand). For identifying the developing process of brand behavioral intentions from the perspective of experience, the current study developed a theoretical framework in which brand experience and memory affect visitors’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions to revisit a particular theme park as well as to visit other theme parks of the same brand. The empirical results of current study showed that visitors’ theme park experiences were good enough antecedents of their memories and satisfaction. It was also found that, when visitors’ memory and satisfaction are high, they are likely to have stronger impact on intentions to revisit the theme park and to visit theme parks of the same brand than did memory.
Due to the lockdown and restrictions on public activities and gatherings amid COVID-19, parks received renewed attention because of their importance and irreplaceable functions as healthy outdoor recreation. This study aims to explore the values reflected in Twitter content that discussed parks amid COVID-19 through a qualitative content analysis of text and images using ATLAS.ti. Specifically, a qualitative data (visual and textual) set of Twitter posts amid COVID-19 (from February 2020 to September 2022) that mentioned Everglades National Park was explored. The results from the social media content analysis of park values during COVID-19 revealed three themes: (1) nature, (2) recreational tourism, and (3) proximity. This study expands the application of social media via a qualitative content analysis of text and images using ATLAS.ti by providing methodological improvements. Practically, the findings of this study can also provide practitioners with useable knowledge for design strategies considering the value of protected areas as a model of sustainable destination management.