Babak Taheri

Heriot-Watt University · School of Social Sciences

Este estudo discute como acadêmicos de países em desenvolvimento, como os países da América Latina, podem contribuir para a pesquisa em hospitalidade e turismo (H&T) em âmbito global. O estudo fornece recomendações específicas para melhorar as jornadas de publicação e a contribuição para o campo de H&T. Ao fazer isso, ele elucida os conceitos de pe...

Market mavenism enhances the economic impacts of tourism. Using a convergent parallel mixed‐methods design, first, a quantitative study tests a conceptual model supported by goal‐setting theory to stimulate market mavenism in the traditional marketplace. Quantitative data are used to apply structural equation modeling and analysis of necessity to a...

Across travel and tourism services research, studies investigating “customer rage” typically prioritize the direct point-of-consumption, often within airport, airline, or hotel contexts. However, the sector is awash with intermediaries (e.g., travel agencies, insurance brokers, booking platforms), which serve as primary points-of-contact capable of...

Purpose Conducting mixed methods (MM) research is one of many ways to study a research topic in the hospitality and tourism domain. This paper aims to offer a synopsis and guidelines on the application of MM research design within hospitality and tourism. Design/methodology/approach This paper summarizes the pivotal information on how to write hig...

Generation Z (Gen Z), also known as digital natives, constitutes one‐third of the world' population. Despite notable contributions and progress explaining Gen Z's behavior, significant gaps remain in our understanding of digital natives, their interactions with new‐age technologies and how these technologies can be utilized to provide a better qual...

This paper explores the importance of two forms of interactions, namely marketer–traveler interaction and traveler–traveler interaction in driving destination brand engagement (DBE) dimensions, and their effect on travelers' short‐term and long‐term behavioral intentions based on impulse buying and external search behavior. Using multi‐group analys...

This study investigates how overtourism, as perceived by entrepreneurs operating in the local tourism economy, manifests itself in a large city – Wroclaw (Poland). Data were collected via a questionnaire in November 2021. The study reveals overtourism symptoms in Wroclaw, while their influence on selected city features is not recognized by entrepre...

Marketing studies highlight the importance of recognizing different cultures and suggest that race plays an integral role in the functioning and ideological underpinnings of marketplace actions. Nevertheless, this role remains understudied in research on online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interactions. Guided by extant literature and drawing on crit...

Underpinned by coping theory, this study investigates the extent to which service recovery strategies (e.g., firm-level apologies; compensation; feedback loops) stimulate customer forgiveness and post-trust following service failure. Adopting a two-stage explanatory sequential mixed-method, it investigates the interplay between prior knowledge of s...

Purpose-The purpose of this study is to analyse the CSR communication of the Fortune top-100 companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we examine the messages of international companies' CSR communication to their customers during the pandemic, focusing particularly on their posts on Twitter. In addition to identifying what internationa...

Tourism research has yet to consider the growing esport sector. Through a mixed-method research design, we employ the theoretical lens of fandom to examine what online and experiential factors may influence esport players and spectators to attend physical events, which we argue have the potential to grow into a new tourism sub-sector. Study one sur...

Understanding the most appropriate research philosophy to underpin any piece of scholarly inquiry is crucial if one hopes to address research problems in a manner distinct from those already evidenced across extant literature. Distinct philosophical ideas and positions are often associated with specific research designs, therefore influencing the r...

Authenticity in travel and tourism research is often explored at the tangible-existential nexus. However, the collaborative forces embedded within digital sharing economy platforms draw attention to how the promise of social exchange can stimulate authentic consumption. The role of tour guides has evolved accordingly, from professional designation...

This study aims to explore the effects of host sincerity on tourists’ perceived destination image, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Data were collected via an on-site survey in China and analyzed using structural equation modeling analysis. The findings suggest that local hosts should show their sincerity toward tourists in tourist-host int...

This study investigates differences in tourists' conservation commitment at developed and developing heritage sites. It examines relationships between conservation commitment and related concepts: cultural motivation, place attachment, and participation. Data was collected from two troglodyte heritage sites: Kandovan, Iran (developing) and Cappadoc...

Mixed methods research (MMR) represents an alternative methodological approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research styles, and enabling researchers to explore complex phenomena in detail. This chapter provides a critical view of mixed methods research and its application in social science research, with examples from tourism and hospit...

Purpose Underpinned by the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA), this study aims to investigate whether leisure involvement, object-based and existential authenticity, host sincerity and engagement stimulate positive memorable visitor experiences in a distinctive commercial hospitality setting: a living history site. Design/methodology/appro...

Using data from India and the USA, this research expands the expectation–confirmation model (ECM) to include constructs like neutral confirmation, customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions and perceived content quality as antecedents to perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, user satisfaction, continuance, and recommendation intentions. Across bo...

This special edition focuses on “Consumer Experience Management and Customer Journeys in Tourism, Hospitality and Events”. This introduction considers current topics concerning researchers and practitioners about consumer journeys and experience management and introduces the six papers in the special issue. We would like to thank the authors and re...

Purpose Heritage management is underpinned by preservation, sustainability and generativity; concerns of obvious interest to domestic audiences. However, domestic tourists are not homogenous and can be differentiated by various characteristics, including proximity to the sites they visit. Drawing upon the consumer-based model of authenticity, this...

Medical tourism (MT) is a valuable component of many national service economies. Understanding the marketing and recruitment of MT patients is therefore an important consideration for MT providers. Research shows that word of mouth (WoM) remains the most important acquisition channel in this sector. Yet, there is only a limited understanding of ant...

This study extends current understanding of how gender shapes value co‐creation, perceived service quality, and turnover intention within health and fitness clubs. Survey responses were collected from 485 fitness club customers in Iran. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) was deployed to demonstrate the effects of predicto...

Using the theories of complexity and the spiral of silence, this paper aims to understand how combinations of perceived news, brand gender, and participation explain conditions leading to brand love and customers’ attitudinal loyalty within online contexts. Drawing from a two-stage, mixed-method approach, results indicate that passive participation...

This study investigates whether the antecedents of co-creation influence braggart word-of-mouth (WoM) in a participative leisure context, theorising the concept of co-created food wellbeing and highlighting implications for interactive experience co-design. A sequential mixed-method approach was employed to test a theoretical model; 25 in-depth int...

Purpose This study aims to develop a framework to identify the drivers underpinning food tourists' behavioral intentions (BIs). This framework centers on examining how local food consumption value (TLFCV), local food experiential value (TLFEV) and social media influencers (SMIs) impact upon tourists’ attitudes toward local food (ATLF) and food dest...

Customer needs in service settings are idiosyncratic. Responding to these unique needs requires frontline employees to be creative. Little research looks at the drivers of service employee creativity. We aim to fill that void by assessing two potential key creativity drivers, control mechanisms and management orientations. We collected data from fr...

This study examines how ski resorts can manage events that are sustainable, while also balancing the needs of consumers and local workers. Using a mixed-method approach, quantitative results (from 710 ski tourists) highlight the influence of community-centric Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Orientation towards Sporting Events (OSE) on the...

Purpose This study aims to investigate the combinations of religiosity, cosmopolitanism and perceived destination image leading to satisfaction and loyalty amongst Muslim consumers within the Maldivian tourism and hospitality context. Design/methodology/approach Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study reveals that dive...

This study investigates the effects of influencing factors (community attachment, environmental and cultural attitudes, economic gain, and involvement) on residents’ perceptions of heritage tourism, and whether these effects differ between male and female residents. Data were collected from residents of the historic Iranian city of Tabriz, and anal...

Food waste remains a serious environmental and economic concern within the hospitality and tourism industry. This study therefore investigates how managers, chefs, and employees in all-inclusive hotels view the impact of food waste and extant waste reduction processes in their workplaces. It explores (1) why and how food waste occurs, (2) employees...

Purpose Recognising tourists’ increasing desire for authentic destination-specific experiences, the hospitality industry has responded by increasing provision of innovative culinary activities. This study aims to use the concepts of serious leisure and terroir to examine how knowledge, physical environment and service quality influence co-creation...

Framed by social exchange theory and Weber's theory of substantive and formal rationality, this study investigates the mediating role of residents' perceptions of tourism impacts. It examines whether community attachment, environmental and cultural attitudes, economic gain, and community involvement directly impact upon residents' support for touri...

In response to the increasing ubiquity of social media platforms, improved consumer choice, and technological progress, the importance of consumer-generated content (CGC) continues to grow for organizations marketing their destinations, products, and services to tourists. Yet, despite the importance tourists place on CGC and information shared via...

This paper draws upon Bourdieusian literature to examine how capitals are exchanged between stakeholders in volunteer tourism settings. Through exploratory interviews at schools in Cambodia and Kenya, we identify how volunteers and hosts cognise objectified cultural value for volunteer schools. However, due to the financial hardship associated with...

Underpinned by complexity theory, this study investigates whether the influence of social and physical servicescape on international travelers' dissatisfaction and misbehavior differs between two characteristically different international airports in Iran. Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) were employed to test the conceptu...

The success of cultural destinations often centres on whether consumers trust the provenance and integrity of the heritage assets, activities, and services therein. However, few studies examine whether this ‘perceived trust’ influences the authenticity, sincerity, and memorability of cultural heritage consumption. To investigate the relationships b...

It is broadly acknowledged that festivals are powerful, interactive venues that have the potential to stimulate feelings of nostalgia. Festivals and cultural events serve as one of the main cultural places where individuals engage in the process of ‘sense making’, ‘self-exploration’, ‘self-discovery’ and ‘yearning for a past’ through interactive so...

This study investigates whether the perceptions and attitudes of residents living within the vicinity of heritage tourism sites differ from those living further afield. It examines residents’ perceptions toward tourism development; community attachment; environment and culture attitudes; economic gain; and involvement, alongside the moderating role...

This research explores the interplay between brand image, communitas, volunteer work engagement and affective commitment to develop understanding of the importance of fostering communitas experiences within voluntary organisations and communicating these to volunteers. The research draws on a survey of 1248 active Scout volunteers in Scotland, stru...

Festivals provide opportunities for experiential consumption, attracting both first-time and repeat visitors. However, current understanding of the perceptual and behavioural differences between these groups remains incomplete. This study investigates how experiential purchase quality influences experience self-connection and braggart word-of-mouth...

Purpose This study examines the mediating effects of relationship quality (RQ) on the relationship between six antecedents and loyalty and the moderating effects of gender on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a convenience sample of 300 respondents as they exited well-known casual dining restaurants in Kuala...

Using data collected from 538 Iranian tourists undertaking the religious pilgrimage of Umrah (i.e. voluntary travel to the holy city of Mecca at any time throughout the year), this study investigates the concept of play and its relationship with self-expression and hedonism in an Islamic tourism context. By testing a theoretically derived structura...

Purpose This study aims to examine how comprehensive performance measurement systems (CPMS) influence entrepreneurial orientation, market-focussed learning (MFL) and employees’ perceptions of firm performance within a service-provision context. It also considers the moderating effect of low and high levels of perceived market-turbulence (low-turbu...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale for host sincerity. Design/methodology/approach The ten-item host sincerity scale was developed by following a multi-stage scale development procedure (Delphi technique, qualitative interviews and surveys). Findings The findings reveal that host sincerity is a second-order c...

Social media platforms and their associated user-generated content are of increasing significance to the perception of tourism brands amongst consumers. Online fan pages offer a unique opportunity for tourism managers to effect positive engagements between their brand and consumer base. By viewing these online environments in relation to Social Res...

This paper examines the influence of negotiation intention, recreational shopper identity, and social shopping orientation on both servicescape and visitors’ overall shopping value in the Istanbul Grand Bazaar, Turkey. We developed and tested a conceptual model using a sample of 300 international visitors to the Bazaar. The results demonstrate that...

Services reliant on revenue generated from tourism are often beholden to how authentic visitors perceive their offering to be. From a managerial perspective, this is exacerbated when they serve a dual-purpose, as both actively ingrained in local culture and showcased international tourist attractions. As such, this study contributes to Kolar and Ža...

Purpose Augmenting employees’ commitment is of important interest to hospitality managers, particularly in the branded restaurant industry where the workforce is often transient. This paper aims to identify and analyse if levels of personal motivation and flow are drivers of commitment, and if the relationship between the variables is moderated by...

Airports play a significant role in globalization, connecting cities and countries. According to Clarkson (2015), the 20 busiest airports in the world moved more than 700 million passengers in year 2014. By 2020, it’s estimated that aviation will contribute $53 billion to the country’s economy, representing 37.5 per cent of the GDP and supporting 7...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the key findings of a systematic literature review (SLR) on Lean for services and, in particular, Airport Services. Design/methodology/approach The authors have utilised a SLR methodology proposed by Denyer and Tranfield (2009). A total of 23 papers published in 18 scientific journals have been sys...

This paper examines the effects of negotiation intention, bargaining propensity, and discount satisfaction on word-of-mouth (WoM) behaviours for tourists visiting Tabriz bazaar, Iran. Data from 615-survey respondents highlight that tourists are motivated to conduct WoM behaviour when they are experientially satisfied with the opportunity to negotia...

Purpose- Customers play a key role in value creation. Not surprisingly, research has investigated customers' motivations to engage in the creation of value. However, the link between mood regulatory processes and customer participation in value creation has so far been neglected. Design/methodology- This study develops a model that relates mood reg...

Understanding the desire for visiting friends and relatives (VFR) has been examined in previous studies. Yet, research on the antecedences and consequences of social interaction between host and guest in VFR tourism has not received enough attention. Addressing this gap, this study introduces ceremonious politeness (CP) by tourists in consuming foo...

This paper examines the links between cosmopolitanism, self-identity, and a desire for social interaction perceived destination image and behavioural intentions. A model tested using a sample of 538 Iranian visitors to Mecca for the purpose of Umrah. The result from the structural model suggests that destination attributes influence perceived desti...

This paper explores the influence of the formative brand heritage construct on perceived authenticity at repaired/reconstructed heritage sites, understood in relation to the Japanese practice of kintsugi (金継ぎ), thereby extending Kolar and Zabkar's consumer-based model of authenticity. It notes that variations of kintsugi occur in architectural heri...

Purpose Enhancing consumer experience is of clear interest to industry professionals. A theoretical gap exists in the hospitality management literature, regarding the identification of spatial characteristics that enhance the consumption experience. By employing anthropological theory to explore the relationships between consumer motivations, their...

This study is a systematic review of the literature on eWOM in hotels. Previous reviews of eWOM specific to the hotel and hospitality context have documented the state of research in the field but can be considered outdated with the literature almost doubling since 2011. Emergent themes in the literature therefore need to be considered for us to id...

The paper examines the relationship between support, co-creation of value and students’ satisfaction, as well as moderating factors including mode of study and fee-status, via 979 survey responses from undergraduate students. Analysis using partial-least squares (PLS) found support to be important in determining co-creation of value and, in turn, s...

Volunteer organizations operate in a challenging environment and their management practices toward volunteers have become increasingly influenced by the private sector. This case study explores the impact of brand heritage on the experience of volunteering in such managed environments. We use data from the UK Scouts to show that brand heritage has...

Whilst much existing research explores the concept of heterotopia and its contemporary spatial variants, this study aims to better understand the consumer who enters the heterotopian space: in this case, visitors to the Tabriz Bazaar, Iran.

An essential text for accounting and finance students undertaking research for the first time. It demystifies the research process by providing the novice researcher with a must-have guide through all of the stages of the research process, from identifying a research topic to the finished project.

Although research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in tourism has seen increased attention, few studies have focused on CSR at the micro level. In addition, while stage models of CSR development have been extensively proposed these studies are rarely examined in actual organisations and, hence, lack empirical validity. This article explores...

Building on prior studies in environmental behaviour and employee micro level CSR, this paper examines the role of generativity, encompassing thoughts towards the well-being of future generations and contribution to future society, and specific environmental attitudes on environmental behaviour in the home and workplace. The paper examines the rela...

This updated and revised edition offers a comprehensive overview of key research methods and the main choices available when undertaking research in business and management. New to this edition is a comprehensive, practical guide on how to write your dissertation – invaluable to all.

This study addresses a lack of holistic understanding of experiential consumption by developing and empirically testing a conceptual model that investigates the process of experiential consumption – antecedents, the experience itself, and emotional responses. We explore Victor Turner’s anthropological concept of the liminoid to create an Experienti...

Materialism and Islamic religiosity have been studied in tourism, but the influence of these concepts on the emotional connections established during an actual religious experience has yet to be explored. This study develops a model that links Islamic religiosity and materialism with the religious experience, communitas, and emotional connection wi...

Although research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown steadily, little research has focused on CSR at the individual employee level within cultural heritage tourism. This article sheds light on the antecedents of employee environmental behaviour and the effects of a social marketing intervention in a tourism organisation using a mixe...