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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒05‒16
ten papers chosen by Roberto Zanola Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” |
| By: | Parisa Amirmostofian (NONE); Simin Mozayeni (SUNY New Paltz) |
| Abstract: | Our research is motived by Boime [2005], a seminal research by the foremost art historian of our time for writing The Birth of Abstract Romanticism, Art for a New Humanity, exclusively dedicated to Khavarani’s paintings. Boime suggested that Khavarani’s painting has artistic characteristics that impart positive affects on individual’s mental state. We empirically investigate his proposition. Our data is comprised of 400 subjective surveys, carefully gathered in an art outreach in LA, in 2013. The questionnaire included both pictorial and open-ended questions. All participants visited Khavarani’s gallery, exclusively housing his paintings, and two random galleries of their choice, on the same day. The dependent variable measures the change in the viewer’s mood, comparing the mood after and before viewing objects in each gallery. The measure of mood is a six-point Likert scale, recording respondent’s affective ratings (degrees of sadness and joy) of each gallery. Our basic statistics illustrate a striking contrast between the affects of the two randomly selected galleries’ content and Khavarani’s. Viewers reported a neutral affect or degrees of negative affect for the other galleries. In contrast, 70%-92% of Khavarani’s cases reported maximum “joy.” Open-ended comments show many additional affects of his paintings. Our non-parametric models, include the Friedman [both general and pairwise post-hoc], and Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. In all iterations of the non-parametric tests, the Chi-squares statistics strongly reject the null hypotheses, at 95-100% levels. Therefore, we confirm the hypothesis that Khavarani’s paintings have positive affective properties. We illustrate with a variety of basic statistics and formal tests a striking contrast between the affects of the two randomly selected galleries’ content and Khavarani’s. Our tests are robust to all specifications. The size of our data enables us to treat it as parametric. Our histograms confirm that. For added rigor, we use a parametric model (GLS) for our estimations. Our results in all cases are highly stable to all our specifications. We conclude with confidence that viewers of Khavarani’s painting experienced a high degree of “joy,” in contrast to other cases. In this research we have considered related multidisciplinary literatures. Our study fills a threefold gap in those areas. Our research is also a vanguard empirical study of paintings to be housed in Khavarani’s museum in Beijing, China, late in 2015. |
| Keywords: | Empirical Study of Aesthetics; Survey Method and Design, Nonparametric Modeling, Abstract Romanticism, Aesthetic Affects of Khavarani's Painting |
| JEL: | C14 C83 Z11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003378&r=cul |
| By: | Biljana Lončarić (Tourist Bord of Slavonski Brod, Croatia) |
| Abstract: | The research problem – Despite the fact that the visual identity of Slavonski Brod is created in early 2011th, it is still not sufficiently recognizable among tourists. Research objectives – It is necessary to determine activities that have to be undertaken as components of an action plan for tourism development of Slavonski Brod within the branding strategy to make the city more recognizable in tourist markets. The purpose – The purpose of this paper is to support the thesis that tourist destinations branding is lengthy process that includes an evaluation of the image by the visitors, but also by the target market groups we aim at. Design – The special focus is given to review the issue of the process of determing the logo, slogan and visual identity of a destination. Methodology – The methodology of the research includes the examples of good practice, analysis of the existing strategic documents in the segment of tourist destinations branding and activities on branding Croatia and Slavonia, as well as Slavonski Brod as a tourist destination. It also includes primary research conducted by the Tourist Board of Slavonski Brod among the tourists and the locals, as well as the Tourist Board web visitors, city public institutions and tourism and hospitality sector. Approach – Synthesizing distinguishing elements on which one should build a long-term market recognition of Slavonski Brod, the Zagreb Institute for Tourism, during the development of tourism master plan, found that the tourist image of Slavonski Brod should be based on history and culture, friendly people, a characteristic atmosphere and natural features space. That was the starting point for the research of the Tourist Board of Slavonski Brod. Findings – In the past activities on the branding of the city of Slavonski Brod neither tourists nor the local population were dominated by negative associations. However, studies that were conducted among the various target groups during January and February 2014th showed that the practical application of the new visual identity of Slavonski Brod in tourism and hospitality sector was more or less absent, what is the reason why the city brand was not recognized by a sufficient number of tourists as well as users of services in this sector which resides outside the city. The originality – The paper defines the steps that should be undertaken to create the new logo and slogan in a tourist destination. The model of branding of the city of Slavonski Brod can be applied in surroundings. |
| Keywords: | Slavonski Brod, tourist brand, slogan, logo, visual identity, tourist destination |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section4-3&r=cul |
| By: | Jan Kreft (Jagiellonian University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of research is to suggest a concept of “new media coopetition” – a comprehensive relationship between active media users and media companies as well as between the companies themselves.Coopetition is a strategy bringing benefits to the parties involved by making them simultaneously compete and cooperate with the competitors (users). While in the traditional version coopetition only concerns relationship between the organizations, author propose that it embraces the form of “new media coopetition”, which would also take the relationship between users and media organizations into account.Co-creation of media contents by the users is a strategic challenge for media companies. Users who create texts, films or music recordings become competitors to the professional authors. Not only are users recipients and creators at the same time, but they are also competitors to media organizations. |
| Keywords: | new media strategy users, co-creation of media content |
| JEL: | L82 L10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003868&r=cul |
| By: | Peter Jordan (Institute of Urban and Regional Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria) |
| Abstract: | The purpose – Cultural and city tourism are intensively promoted by most Central and Southeast European countries. But frequently identity and historiography of the modern nation states is at odds with some periods of history and emphasizes others. This may result in a rather selective presentation of the cultural heritage also to tourists and in difficulties to define a tourism brand. Selective presentation refers also to the cultural heritage of minorities and Communism. Methodology, approach – The paper investigates into the attitudes of various Central and Southeast European countries in this respect. Methods applied are personal observations as well as surveys of websites of national and regional tourist boards. Findings – Political strive for national homogeneity is very often also extended to the field of tourism resulting in the neglect of certain tourist attractions or in not explicitly attributing them to their originators, especially as regards more recent periods of history. Most obvious cases in this respect are the disregard of the Hungarian cultural heritage in Romania, of the Ottoman cultural heritage in Serbia and of not attributing the German cultural heritage to their originators in Slovenia. On the other hand we witness a lot of openness in this respect. Best practices can be observed in Poland related to the Hanseatic/Prussian/German as well as Jewish and Kashubian cultural heritage, in Czechia related to the (supra-national) Austrian cultural heritage, in Slovakia related to the German and Rusyn cultural heritage and not the least in Croatia related to the Venetian and Austrian cultural heritage. This resulted already in significant success on the tourism market by prompting additional demand and attracting a quality segment. This research is original because it relates national and regional tourism branding to a wider historical-political background. An added value results also from the comparative view over rather divergent countries. |
| Keywords: | cultural tourism, cultural heritage, Central Europe, Southeast Europe, touristic branding, historical layers |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section8-2&r=cul |
| By: | Vesna Bedekovic (College for Management in Tourism and Informatics in Virovitica, Virovitica, Croatia); Irena Bosnić (College for Management in Tourism and Informatics in Virovitica); Božidar Jaković (College for Management in Tourism and Informatics in Virovitica) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – As one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors, cultural tourism increasingly pronouncedly expands the focus of its interest to the various aspects of culture while directing an offer toward the creation of a unique cultural tourist destination’s atmosphere, formed by the tourists, tourist workers, and local population. An encounter and cultural convergence in cultural tourism, based upon an idea of interculturalism as a connection between various cultures, centralize the issue of intercultural competence as a basis of intercultural communication during a tourist contact. Design/methodology – The paper provides for a theoretical survey of basic notions in the field of interculturalism relevant for the establishment of cultural tourism’s intercultural dimension based on an encounter, communication, and acceptance of various cultures. Approach – A theoretical analysis of the key terms in the field of interculturalism is directed to the deepening of intercultural competence’s comprehension, its crucial elements, and indicators, whereby attention is devoted to an importance of intercultural competence as a basis of an intercultural communication between the tourist workers, tourists, and local population. Findings – Starting from a reality that tourist destinations represent the intersections of various cultures, it is necessary to observe cultural tourism as an area of active application of interculturalism, wherein each participant in a tourist contact represents and offers a culture of his/her own. A tourist attention diversification centralizes the issue of structuralization of supply that could satisfy needs for an active acquaintance with other cultures, while the future cultural tourism’s challenges are reflected in the modernly structured contents and programs that would dispel the stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination in direct contacts between various cultures. Originality – The paper represents a theoretical contribution to an elucidation of personnel’s intercultural competence problematic in cultural tourism within a context of its adjustment to a culturally pluralistic perspective through an experience of diversity as a chance for an individual professional growth. |
| Keywords: | cultural tourism, interculturalism, culture encounter, intercultural competence, intercultural communication |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section8-1&r=cul |
| By: | Christian Stipanović (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, University of Rijeka, Croatia); Elena Rudan (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, University of Rijeka, Croatia) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – This paper explores the current condition and the possible development perspectives of creative tourism in the tourist destination of Kvarner. Design – The research starts with a broadened conceptual definition of creative tourism which denotes meeting the tourists’ needs within the development of a creative potential in the acquisition of knowledge and new experiences relating to the holiday destination. Based on the research of new creative tourism trends and the analysis of the current state of creative and cultural offer in the Kvarner destination, the paper aims to set the goals and define the means to innovate the operational strategies in order to reposition Kvarner as a creative tourism destination. Methodology – The research is based on an analysis of the current situation (surveys, focus groups, confronting attitudes of stakeholders) and the perception of the future, as well as the author's situational analysis and development scenario analysis. The subject has been insufficiently explored and represents a development of the Kvarner cultural tourism development concept and strategy. The main limitation of the research lies in the small sample of the surveyed management attitudes, due to a lack of creative tourism awareness, which in turn results in the lack of Kvarner creative tourism strategies and management. Findings – With the development of creative tourism, the Kvarner destination can become recognizable as a destination providing a new, differentiated offer on the market, based on authenticity and creativity all in accordance with the specific needs of contemporary tourists and new tourism market trends. Originality – The research both raises new questions and offers qualitative solutions with the goal of qualitative transformation of Kvarner tourism through a continuous improvement of all segments of creative tourism. It further raises the question of synergy of different microdestinations' offer in branding Kvarner as a destination of creative tourism. The originality of the work stems from theoretical determinants, the authors’ attitudes, and the results of tourists and management research. |
| Keywords: | cultural tourism, cultural heritage, Central Europe, Southeast Europe, touristic branding, historical layers |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section8-3&r=cul |
| By: | Olsson, Ola (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Paik, Christopher (NYU Abu Dhabi) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the long-run influence of the Neolithic Revolution on contemporary cultural norms and institutions as reflected in the imension of collectivism-individualism. We outline an agricultural origins-model of cultural divergence where we claim that the advent of farming in a core region was characterized by collectivist values and eventually triggered the out-migration of individualistic farmers towards more and more peripheral areas. This migration pattern caused the initial cultural divergence, which remained persistent over generations. The key mechanism is demonstrated in an extended Malthusian growth model that explicitly models cultural dynamics and a migration choice for individualistic farmers. Using detailed data on the date of adoption of Neolithic agriculture among Western regions and countries, the empirical findings show that the regions which adopted agriculture early also value obedience more and feel less in control of their lives. They have also had very little experience of democracy during the last century. The findings add to the literature by suggesting the possibility of extremely long lasting norms and beliefs influencing today's socioeconomic outcomes.<p> |
| Keywords: | Neolithic agriculture; comparative development; Western reversal |
| JEL: | N50 O43 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0620&r=cul |
| By: | Anjana Sukumary (Mahidol University International College) |
| Abstract: | The state of Kerala lies in the South- West of the Indian peninsula. Kerala has a rich history and folk culture. The stories of Yakshi, the blood sucking, man-eating seductress vampire is very popular among the older and younger generations of Keralites. This paper is an exploration into the legend of Yakshi and how it is demonstrated in the society and culture of Kerala. These legends have influenced Kerala’s art and literature significantly. Numerous stories were written and movies were made with Yakshis as subjects where they were given both sexual appeal and annihilating power. Visual media gave Yakshis a new lease of life by attributing more human characteristics to them. Yakshis are worshipped as deities in some parts of Kerala. The legend of Yakshi is a perfect example of how legends are intertwined with the religion and culture of a society, the reflections of which are manifested in the art and literature. |
| Keywords: | legends, Yakshi, Kerala, culture, art, literature, society |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1002970&r=cul |
| By: | Romão, João (Lusíada University) |
| Abstract: | Despite the close relationship between tourism and territory, the application of spatial analysis methods in tourism is not abundant in the literature. Nevertheless, the recent developments in the analysis of space-time models, the existence of geo-referenced information and the availability of suitable software tools has created new opportunities for studying the role of space in tourism activities. A space-time panel data model is developed in this work in order to analyse the relations between tourism demand and the existence of infrastructures, cultural assets and natural resources in European regions, including the analysis of spatial effects. The results reveal the positive impacts of the explanatory variables on tourism demand and the clear existence of spatial correlations, suggesting that regional tourism demand benefits from the dynamics registered in neighborhood regions. Policy implications - including the need for a multi-regional approach for planning and promotion of tourism - are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Space-time Model; Panel Data; Spatial Analysis; Tourism Demand |
| JEL: | C21 |
| Date: | 2015–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:cieodp:2015_003&r=cul |
| By: | Irina Petrovska (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality-Ohrid, University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bitola, Ohrid, Macedonia); Ivanka Nestoroska (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality-Ohrid, University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bitola, Ohrid, Macedonia) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – Viewing tourism as an intercultural activity, constructed within and through languages has become an interesting vantage in tourism research. The paper focuses on the objectives and benefits of a long lasting mutual cooperation between a group of American community colleges (CCID) and the University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, (UKLO) Macedonia. Design –The paper is designed into several sections including introduction, body of the paper and conclusion. Methodology – This paper deploys empirical material gained from an ethnographic research of the relationship between languages, intercultural communication and tourism carried out diachronically by the authors in the Ohrid tourist region, on the one hand, and intercultural initiatives of UKLO with community colleges, on the other hand. For the purpose of the paper and analytical method have been implemented in the research. A cross-cultural contrastive analyses has been also incorporated in the research of the paper. Approach – Diachronic approach has been implemented in order to stress the importance of nourishing initial cooperation, development and sustainability of CCID – UKLO contacts. Viewing tourism as a performative cultural communitas between human agents, a contrastive analyses of communicative speech acts has been implemented in order to stress the importance for successful intercultural communication. Findings – The findings highlight the crucial role of the benefits from successful intercultural and inter-educational cooperation. Training faculty staff (professors and teaching assistants) to get further outreach of intercultural communication with a special accent on American culture in tourism and hospitality industry, is an additional benefit for contribution towards internationalising the curricula in tourism studies. Originality of the research – Originality is viewed in the author’s long lasting research in this field. |
| Keywords: | intercultural cooperation, staff training, intercultural communication |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section7-4&r=cul |