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The number of American college students studying abroad continues to climb every year. The increasing global market is making it necessary for an increase in foreign relations amongst college students. This study proposes a model of planned behavior to examine how students' attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control play in their decision to study abroad. The total of 448 surveys was collected from a university located in the southeast region of the United States. The study examines indirect and direct effects of each dimension on student's intent to study abroad. The survey results also indicate perceived benefits of and barriers to study abroad. Among the three dimensions of planned behavior, attitude is the pervasive predictor of study abroad participation. Implications and improvement opportunities conclude the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for estimating new direct tourism spending resulting from a new event in an existing destination. Design/methodology/approach – Intercept surveys were conducted on site at six of nine festival locations. Of the 308 festival participants approached at random and asked to participate, 264 agreed to participate (86 percent response rate). Upon further inquiry, only 47 percent of those agreeing to participate were found to be from zip codes outside of the Horry/Georgetown County "Grand Strand" tourist area. These 145 festival participants were administered surveys. Findings – Less than 30 percent of total tourist spending at the festival is attributable to new tourists – those who specifically traveled to the destination primarily for the event and have historically attended Myrtle Beach less than one time per year. Consequently, the economic impact of the festival, in terms of new spending, was relatively small compared to the total amount of tourist spending by all tourists at the festival. Originality/value – The study provides an example of an event for which new tourist spending could have been overestimated if all tourist spending had been considered to be new spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consider groups of partying college students failing to helpfully assist someone in life-threatening distress from alcoholic poisoning. Anecdotal evidence (Davis and DeBarros, 2006) supports the social-norming theory subfield of unresponsive bystander research by Latane and Darley (1970) and others (Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004). This article is a call for structurally transforming the dynamics of the unfolding dramas in natural groups where alcoholic poisoning leading to death occurs. The present article includes the proposal for a quasi-experiment of natural groups (members of fraternities and sororities) in naturally occurring contexts (party situations) using placebo, a standardized training for intervention programs for servers (TIPS) designed for peer intervention, and two versions of advanced TIPS designed to structurally introduce a designated interventionist (DI). The DI and DI training designs are crafted to overcome the unresponsive bystander effect. The proposal includes thought experiments to explain both short- and long-term dependent measures of program impact in such quasi-experiments that include immediate measures of alcohol drinking and intervention knowledge, the medium-term creation and assignment of a group DI position, and the long-term interventionist behavior of groups appointing persons holding DI appointments versus groups not making such appointments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for estimating new direct tourism spending resulting from a new event in an existing destination. Design/methodology/approach – Intercept surveys were conducted on site at six of nine festival locations. Of the 308 festival participants approached at random and asked to participate, 264 agreed to participate (86 percent response rate). On further inquiry, only 47 percent of those agreeing to participate were found to be from zip codes outside of the Horry/Georgetown County "Grand Strand" tourist area. These 145 festival participants were administered surveys. Findings – Less than 30 percent of total tourist spending at the festival is attributable to new tourists – those who specifically travelled to the destination primarily for the event and have historically attended Myrtle Beach less than one time per year. Consequently, the economic impact of the festival, in terms of new spending, was relatively small compared with the total amount of tourist spending by all tourists at the festival. Originality/value – The study provides an example of an event for which new tourist spending could have been overestimated if all tourist spending had been considered to be new spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances (i) propositions of consumer behaviour theory in tourism via storytelling theory and (ii) skills in decoding elements and subtle details that appear in ‘good stories’ versus not-so-good stories within travel contexts. The present paper presents a set of iconic story symbols for use in decoding stories and shows how to use these tools for decoding tourism-related narratives. Practice using these visual iconic symbols in decoding stories achieves effective storytelling learning via cognitive sculpting; that is, learning improves from moving and arranging (sculpting) potentially three-dimensional story or electronically movable icons while talking or writing narratives. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating visual narrative art (VNA) of stories that consumers and brands tell achieves several objectives. First, creating VNA revises and deepens sense making of the meaning of events in the story and what the complete story implies about oneself and others. Second, creating VNA surfaces unconscious thinking of the protagonist and other actors in the story as well as the storyteller (recognizing that in many presentations of stories an actor in the story is also the story teller); unconscious thinking in stories relating to consumer and brand experiences reflect one or more archetype (Jung, 1916/1968) fulfillments by the protagonist and the storyteller; given that almost all authors agree on a distinction between processes that are unconscious, rapid, automatic, and high capacity (System 1 processing) and those that are conscious, slow, and deliberative (System 2 processing; see Evans, 2008), VNA enables and enriches processing, particularly relating to System 1 processing—enabling more emotional versus rational processing. Third, creating VNA of stories is inherently and uniquely fulfilling/pleasurable/healing for the artist; using visual media allows artists to express emotions of the protagonist and/or audience member, to vent anger, or to report bliss about events and outcomes that words alone cannot communicate; VNA provides a tangible, emotional, and holistic (gestalt) experience that is uniquely satisfying and does so in a form that many audience members enjoy over and over again. This article elaborates on the rationales for its central proposition, briefly reviews relevant literature on VNA, and illustrates one mode of VNA for the complementary stories told by a consumer and brand. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on semiological research (i.e., the study of signs and symbols of all kinds) investigating the use of symbols in cinematic portrayals of travel behavior, this article describes a phase dynamics theory of epiphany travel behavior. Core propositions of the theory include (1) epiphany travel behavior and storytelling about such travel includes identifiable phases: prequel, awakening, journey, catharsis, and post-journey storytelling and reinterpreting; (2) world and personal blocks occur; (3) during the journey the protagonist recognizes the need for help and experiences help from key facilitators to reach desired physical locations and other goal objects; and (4) experiencing an archetypal force is an outcome of the journey. Such theory building provides a gestalt view and understanding of epiphany travel behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted among marketing students to assess perceptions of their own and others' plagiarism, likelihood of being caught, and appropriate sanctions for cheating. Students admitted to having plagiarized, though overwhelmingly they believed these activities were more common among classmates. Perceptions of peer behavior was positively related to cheating, while likelihood of being caught and punishment had a negative impact on cheating behavior involving paper writing; however, likelihood of being caught did not have an impact on cheating related to tests and homework. Prescriptions for marketing educators are provided addressing preventative policies/procedure, a culture of academic integrity, teaching techniques to reduce cheating, and sanctions that motivate students to be honest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides support for the better-than-average effect with respect to ethical decision-making, and the influence of personal contact on these perceptions. Using data from marketing students at two major universities over two time periods, the findings indicate that students believe their own behavior to be more ethical than either their friends' or advertising agency executives' behavior. Gender influenced perceptions of ethical decision-making for some types of questionable behavior, with women reporting higher ethical standards in these cases. Few changes were observed over time. Implications of these findings for teaching business students are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service is largely becoming self-service for the average consumer. Many full-service providers have begun to offer self-service options to their customers, or are replacing current offerings. Because of the potential for negative outcomes, including reduced customer loyalty and increased opportunities for competitors, managers need to understand what motivates individuals to choose between self- and full-service options. The results of the research indicate that gender-based differences in consumer perceptions of risk influence the self- versus full-service decision. Using the selectivity model of information processing, it is shown that men and women differ in the number and components of risk used to make a choice decision. Findings also suggest that components of risk associated with both self- and full-service options are evaluated prior to making the choice between self- and full-service modes of delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the connection between perceptions of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising based on where people live and shop. Urban consumers were found to be more skeptical of DTC advertising, but more likely to believe that physicians select pharmaceuticals based on the efficacy of the product. Those living in rural areas were more motivated to visit a doctor and more likely to feel an equal doctor-patient relationship after exposure to DTC advertising. Interaction effects among gender, income, and education were detected, as well as an interaction effects between location and income on views of DTC advertising.