Journal of the International Council for Small Business, 2024
Purpose: The presented paper aims at providing novel evidence on entrepreneurial intention and i... more Purpose: The presented paper aims at providing novel evidence on entrepreneurial intention and it’s antecedence from the perspective of theory of planned behavior and identity in the entrepreneurial university context. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a sample of 300 respondents obtained at a German university of applied sciences and consisting of students, scientific and non-scientific staff and alumni. The data was analyzed through IBM SPSS and Smart PLS to test the four hypotheses related to entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents. Findings: The study provides a critical perspective on the usefulness of the TPB framework extended with identity for predicting the entrepreneurial intention in the entrepreneurial university context. Based on the study results, it is hypothesized that entrepreneurial intention is best explain through a combination of entrepreneurial attitudes, social norms in relation to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial identity, while excluding behavioral control as the least important predictor with lowest relevance. This has implications both for TPB-based research as well as self-efficacy based research on entrepreneurial intention, as the two are considered to be related concepts. Research limitations and implications: Practical implications: Practical implications relate to demonstrating the usefulness of the TPB and identity for evaluating the entrepreneurial intention in terms of broad and diverse range of activities of an entrepreneurial university. Transfer managers, officers in incubators and accelerators can deploy and expand this approach to use it in diverse and mixed settings for comparing and mapping entrepreneurial intention among diverse set of stakeholders. Originality/value: The article empirically tests the combined theory of planned behavior and identity theory in a sample of diverse rspondents, beyond students to include also scientific and non-scientific staff of a university and alumni as important stakeholders in the entrepreneurial university. This is an important empirical and conceptual adition to existing literature with theoretial and practical implications.
Journal of Women's Entrepreneurship and Education, 2024
This study presents a gender-focused perspective of entrepreneurship education programs, aiming t... more This study presents a gender-focused perspective of entrepreneurship education programs, aiming to understand variations in entrepreneurial intention, reasoning on entrepreneurship, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial education preferences. The present research grounds on Entrepreneurial Event Theory to examine entrepreneurial intention, desirability, and feasibility in the context of entrepreneurship education. The research was conducted in Germany in 2021 and included a sample of 156 university students. The study deploys the Mann-Whitney U Test to examine gender differences among university students regarding entrepreneurship. The findings highlight a heightened perception of risk among female students, influencing their focus on positive/negative entrepreneurial events compared to male students. Moreover, the research reveals a greater inclination among females to engage in both curricular and extracurricular entrepreneurship education activities, corroborating previous studies suggesting greater benefits for female students in such programs. The study also underscores the importance of distinguishing between curricular and extracurricular offerings, indicating promising avenues for future entrepreneurship education research. Overall, this investigation contributes new insights and explanations regarding gender dynamics in entrepreneurship education, shedding light on potential areas for further exploration in the field.
This article deals with the under-researched phenomenon of rural health entrepreneurship and its ... more This article deals with the under-researched phenomenon of rural health entrepreneurship and its major characteristics. The purpose of this study is to explicate the process of providing health services in rural areas of a developing country and their relation to SDGs. The paper is based on six semi-structured interviews conducted with Serbian health entrepreneurs in rural areas (two private
practices, two policlinics, and two dental practices), a review of laws and strategies relevant to the field, and three sessions of discussions with eight experts (four authors and four additional experts). The research methodology follows an empirical, mixed-method case study research procedure. The results are presented in relation to the aspects of frugality, family orientation, and sustainabilityoriented innovation. The timeline of the six case studies demonstrates the increasing importance of health entrepreneurs in rural areas due to the aging population and, therefore, increased needs for quality healthcare in these areas. The financing instruments have also become more formal and substantial in recent years, enabling the growth of healthcare businesses in rural areas. However, a major obstacle to further sustainable development remains the non-refundability of services before the state-owned, obligatory health fund, creating major social inequalities, especially in rural areas.
Citizen participation is deemed to be crucial for sustainability and resilience planning. However... more Citizen participation is deemed to be crucial for sustainability and resilience planning. However, generational equity has been missing from recent academic discussions regarding sustainability and resilience. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to reintroduce the topic of the existence or absence of an intergenerational consensus on the example of a rural community and its perceived brand image attributes and development priorities. The research is based on primary data collected through an online survey, with a sample size of N = 808 respondents in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, Germany. The data were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test for the presence and/or absence of consensus among the five generations regarding brand image attributes and development priorities. The findings point to divergence between what the median values indicate as the most relevant brand image attributes and development priorities among the citizens and the areas where the Kruskal–Wallis test shows that an intergenerational consensus either does or does not exist. The results imply the need for new concepts and applied approaches to citizen participation for sustainability and resilience, where intergenerational dialogue and equity-building take center stage. In addition to the importance of the theory of citizen participation for sustainability and resilience, our results provide ample evidence for how sustainability and resilience planning documents could potentially benefit from deploying the concept of intergenerational equity. The present research provides sustainability and political science with new conceptual and methodological approaches for taking intergenerational equity into account in regional planning processes in rural and other areas.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that various types of business model extension... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that various types of business model extensions (hospitality and tourism, online sales platforms, and sustainability) have on the winery business. The research is based on company data and online observations of N = 886 German wineries and deploys a content analysis, netnography, and structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to test the hypothesis on business model extensions of wineries, which have been set forth in the previous literature. The findings indicate that business model extensions related to online sales platforms have a positive impact on winery business size. These results mean that developing online sales platforms enlarges the winery BM (business model) size and type (manager-run, state-owned, or cooperatives). The paper presents in detail the impact of winery BM extensions on winery BM model type and size, thereby contributing to the literature on business model innovation.
The research examines Generation Z’s (Gen Z’s) attitudes, behavior and awareness regarding sustai... more The research examines Generation Z’s (Gen Z’s) attitudes, behavior and awareness regarding sustainability-oriented products in two European countries, located in the region of Western Balkans, Bosnia–Herzegovina and Serbia. The research deploys generational cohort theory (GCT) and a quantitative analysis of primary data collected through an online questionnaire among 1338 primary, high school and university students, all belonging to Generation Z. It deploys a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) by running both Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedures, the latter being suitable for binary variables, which have been deployed in the study. The results of MLCFA provide evidence that there is a statistically significant and relatively strong relation between sustainability and circular economy attitudes (SCEA) and sustainability and circular economy behavior (SCEB), while there is a statistically insignificant and relatively weak relation between sustainability and circular economy behavior (SCEB) and circular economy awareness (CEW). The results of the BCFA, which is based on MCMC procedure, are similar to the results based on a rather commonly used MLCFA procedure. The results also confirm that Gen Z knows more about the companies which recycle products than it does about the CE as a concept, while the vast majority is concerned about the future of the planet and is motivated to learn more about the CE through CE and various awareness-raising measures.
Purpose-Both Hungary and Germany belong to the old-world wine-producing countries and have long w... more Purpose-Both Hungary and Germany belong to the old-world wine-producing countries and have long winemaking traditions. This paper aims at exploring and comparing online branding strategies of family SME (small and medium sized enterprises) wineries at Lake Balaton (Hungary) and Lake Constance (Germany), as two wine regions with similar geographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach-This paper, based on a total sample of 37 family wineries, 15 at Lake Balaton and 22 at Lake Constance, investigates the differences in brand identity on the website, brand image in social media and online communication channels deployed in both wine regions. The study applies a qualitative methodology using MaxQDA software for conducting content analysis of texts in websites and social media. Descriptive statistics and t-test were conducted to compare the usage of different communication channels and determine statistical significance. Findings-At Lake Balaton, the vineyard, the winery and the family, while at Lake Constance, the lake itself and the grape are highlighted regarding family winery brand identity. The customer-based brand image of Hungarian family wineries emphasizes wine, food and service, with the predominant use of Facebook. In the German family wineries, the focus of brand identity is on wine, friendliness and taste and includes more extensive usage of websites. Originality/value-The paper deploys a novel methodology, both in terms of tools used as well as geographic focus to uncover online branding patterns of family wineries, thereby providing implications for wine and tourism industries at lake regions. It compares the share of selected most-used words in the overall text in websites and in social media, and presents the key findings from this innovative approach.
The purpose of the study is to provide empirical evidence about the under-researched area of univ... more The purpose of the study is to provide empirical evidence about the under-researched area of university–government relations in building a culture of entrepreneurial initiatives inside the triple helix model in a rural region. The study deploys a qualitative case study research method based on the content analysis of project documentation and further internal documents both from universities and municipalities. The propositions in the research question are guided by the previous literature and were then analyzed through an “open coding” process to iteratively analyze, verify, and validate the results from the documents against the previous literature. Results presented in the case study are
related both to the project of a municipality–university innovation partnership, as well as the historic development of the university in its three missions, and, related to the important third mission, themes relevant for the project. In addition, a “toolkit” of relevant project activities is presented against the major identified themes, major project stakeholders, as well as relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities should look beyond a purely economic contribution and should augment all three missions (teaching, research, engagement) by considering social, environmental, and economic aspects of its activities. Instead of considering a government’s role solely as that of a regulator, a much more creative and purposeful cooperation between university and government is possible for creating a regional culture of entrepreneurial initiatives in a rural region.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 2021
This study set out to uncover brand positioning configurations by presenting state-of-the-art bra... more This study set out to uncover brand positioning configurations by presenting state-of-the-art brand management literature and applying a novel, mixed-methods approach to examine the under-researched wine industry transformation towards open innovation in branding. German winery brands were analyzed using a multimethod approach leaning on a novel netnographic methodology and multiple sources. The sample included 572 wineries from all 13 German wine regions with website text data and online review text data from each winery. The study identified nine prime words used to describe both brand identity as well as wine brand image. It revealed word–price clusters of brand identity and image. The results offer insights into communication and pricing opportunities for wine brand identity as well as image, thereby contributing to open brand innovation.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 2021
The article improves understanding on leveraging new technology for DT (digital transformation) o... more The article improves understanding on leveraging new technology for DT (digital transformation) of grape harvest in SME wineries. It provides evidence on technologies used and workplace types deployed in grape harvesting, as well as strategic paths in deploying new technology, thereby contributing to the literature on networked sensing and seizing capabilities in the wine industry 4.0. The research approach is explorative and qualitative drawing on 31 interviews with wine industry 4.0 experts and managers, mostly owners of SMEs: wineries, wine software and wine machinery enterprises. Resulting findings serve as a roadmap for digital transformation of grape harvest process in SME wineries explaining technologies and work roles necessary for DWT (digital workplace transformation), as well as strategic paths of deployment of novel grape harvest technology. Previous research on the wine industry 4.0 has focused on BMI, while this research expands the focus to include a wider concept of technology adoption strategy as well as DWT. The research identifies two types of factors impacting the strategic deployment of grape harvest technology: pull factors, also termed servitization factors, as well as push factors, termed also digital transformation factors.
The purpose of this study is to research the antecedents of the sustainable travel decision-makin... more The purpose of this study is to research the antecedents of the sustainable travel decision-making of European travelers and thereby identify important lessons for the transition towards sustainable travel and tourism. The study is based on data collected through a representative survey, conducted in five European countries, with a sample of n = 5024 respondents. The results of descriptive statistics, EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) and FA (Factor Analysis) are presented in order to explore sustainable travel decision-making through environmental (policy-related and personal) attitudes and travel mode decision priorities in the European context. Furthermore, the study provides new evidence regarding the under-researched phenomenon of the attitude–behavior gap by presenting a model for the sustainability-oriented decision-making of travelers, including attitudes and travel mode priorities as antecedents. The results confirm the existence of moral licensing in travel decision-making, thereby extending the relevance of this theory into travel and tourism, which has not been done before. The denial of environmental issues is also being researched as regards its interaction with positive environmental attitudes, environmental travel mode priorities and non-environmental travel priorities, thereby advancing our understanding of the interplay between these categories. The interplay between the four categories furthers our understanding of the perplexity of travelers in terms of sustainable travel decision-making.
The reported research examines the impact of product portfolio labeling strategies on
brand reput... more The reported research examines the impact of product portfolio labeling strategies on brand reputation and equity. A netnographic approach allowed to observe winery portfolio labeling approaches and create a typology of winery labeling strategies. Expert evaluation served to assess the dependent variable brand equity by deploying a regression analysis. For the observed wine industry, being part of the food industry, creating consistent and recognizable brands has a direct relevance for reducing (sustainability-related) food information overload and thereby building sustainable brand equity. The results uncover the relative importance of each of the six identified labeling strategies as well as their impact on reputation and brand equity creation. The results point to the need to establish a consistent strategically founded product communication. Such an approach with a positive effect on reputation building can serve to build sustainable brand equity. “Stuck in the middle”-type strategies apparently diminish winery brand equity exploitation. The findings contribute to the knowledge on food labels in product communication strategies and their impact on organizational brand equity, thereby having high relevance for the implementation of environmental certification initiatives in an organizational context. The article deploys a novel research approach in an under-researched area to provide new insights for further research as well as implications for practice.
Citation: Dressler, M.; Paunovic, I. A Typology of Winery SME Brand Strategies with Implications ... more Citation: Dressler, M.; Paunovic, I. A Typology of Winery SME Brand Strategies with Implications for Sustainability Communication and Co-Creation. Sustainability 2021, 13, 805. https://doi.
Based on the WEF Travel & Tourism Report data, this study deploys k-means cluster analysis to bui... more Based on the WEF Travel & Tourism Report data, this study deploys k-means cluster analysis to build a global typology of national destination governance. Previous studies have focused on case studies, while this chapter focuses on classification of different destination types, by deploying indicators a set of following relevant indicators: wastewater treatment, fixed broadband internet subscriptions, ground transport efficiency, quality of roads, quality of railroad infrastructure, reliability of police services, ease of finding skilled employees. The results present a four-cluster solution of national destination governance types, as well as their major characteristics. The chapter than provides and discusses important implication for theory and practice of destination governance.
This study advances the research and methodological approach to measuring and understanding natio... more This study advances the research and methodological approach to measuring and understanding national-level destination competitiveness, sustainability and governance, by creating a model that could be of use for both developing and developed destinations. The study gives a detailed overview of the research field of measuring destination competitiveness and sustainability. It also identifies major predictors of destination competitiveness and sustainability and thereby presents destination researchers and practitioners with a useful list of priority areas, both from a global perspective and from the perspective of other similar destinations. Finally, the study identifies two major types of destination governance with implications for research, policy and practice across the destination life-cycle. The research deals with the analysis of the secondary data from the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Index (WEF T&T). Major types of destination governance and predictors of belonging to either one of the types, as well as inside cluster predictors have been extracted through a two-step cluster analysis. The results support the notion that a meaningful model of national-level destination governance needs to take into account different development levels of different destinations. The main limitation of the study is its typology creation approach, as it inevitably leads to simplifications.
This article examines similarities and differences in the attitudes and social representations of... more This article examines similarities and differences in the attitudes and social representations of destination managers towards implementing sustainable tourism between the mountain regions of the Alps and the Dinarides. Bearing in mind the transnational impacts (i.e., environmental, economic and social) of the tourism industry the research methodology adopted an international perspective by sending a questionnaire to tourism organizations in fourteen different countries in the Alps and the Dinarides. The research is interdisciplinary in nature, because it integrates knowledge from sustainability and management science with tourism geography and social psychology. The findings confirm that social representations of sustainable tourism differ significantly in the two mountain regions.
International Journal of Wine Business Research, 2019
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into characteristics of visitor demand f... more Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into characteristics of visitor demand for a regionally oriented vinotheque (wine bar and shop) at a UNESCO world heritage destination in Germany. The research especially focuses on expected offer components for a wine bar and shop, including wine-related products and services, to test the theoretical notion of blurred division between product and service offerings. The literature review has revealed that implications of this conceptual notion on wine bar and shop offer creation could be profound as there are different types of wine bar and shops with different product–service combinations. Moreover, the offer creation needs to take into account the overall needs of wine bar and shop visitors and consider them as experience seekers and not necessarily utility-maximizing players. In this sense, the paper expands previous research on vinotheques that primarily took the wine retail perspective. Design/methodology/approach
The study deals with wine-related sales, offer design and the importance of tourism and hospitality for wine sales in a non-growing wine market. However, the concept of increasing wine sales through tourism and hospitality brings to the forefront the issues of creating integrated offerings of products and services. This is why, the study deploys the concepts of hybrid products and experience economy. The primary data have been collected via self-administered, paper-based questionnaire (Appendix 2) amongst visitors at the St. Goar/Loreley tourist destination. The goal has been to reveal the importance of a wine bar and shop as a wine sales channel, whether visitors are interested in visiting a wine bar and shop, what major expectations they have entering a vinotheque, as well as what major offer components of products and/or services are they interested in. Total sample size was N = 400. Major statistical procedure deployed was descriptive statistics, as well as PCA (principal component analysis) of expectations and offer analysis in regards to products and services. Findings
By deploying the PCA on the data regarding interest in buying wine-related products and services, three offer configurations have been extracted, out of which only one is purely related to products, whilst the other two are hybrid products, meaning a combination of wine-related products and services. Relevance of architectural design illustrates that visitors also seek experience. These findings confirm previously discussed theories on the importance of integrating products and services into hybrid products and creating experience with a suitable combination of products and services. Research limitations/implications
Data collection has taken place in a confined timeframe (two summer months). No active measures have been taken to ensure the validity of the sample through quotas or similar techniques. The research sample and location are somewhat limited for making conclusions in other geographical regions, but replicating the study in different contexts can add to the comparability of the results on the level of Germany, but also internationally. The empirical evidence for superior customer value of hybrid offerings and integrating services into product-centric offer design is of paramount importance for selling wine in a highly competitive market in absence of market growth. Wine bar and shop allows to differentiate the offer by creating wine-related experience through a combination of product (wine and wine-related products), hospitality/gastronomic services and tourism services. The insights also illustrate the idea of new market opportunities via connecting converging industries. Practical implications
The study contributes to close a gap identified in the literature review that German wineries lag wine-tourism activities. It provides advice in regards to offer design and hybrid offerings and an experiential experience supported by architectural design. Such an approach offers the potential to win market share in a non-growing market – an ambition of the players in the market but also an obvious challenge. Social implications
The findings contribute to regional development. Furthermore, arguments for cooperative behavior are provided. This should also help to minimize free ridership and its negative social implications. Originality/value
The paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the creation of wine bar and shop offer. The results point out that offerings should be created around a core wine tourism product – regional and cellar door offer – and be expanded by “food design” – components, attractive architectural elements, as well as web shop services, thereby creating an advanced wine-related experience. It confirms the importance of theoretical concepts such as experience economy, hybrid products and solution provision in the case of wine bar and shop, by testing these concepts on the group of visitors at a German wine and cultural destination.
What are the processes behind efforts for more sustainable mountain destinations in the German Al... more What are the processes behind efforts for more sustainable mountain destinations in the German Alps and what are the views of different tourism stakeholders on these processes? The research deals both with threats pushing the agenda of sustainable development (such as climate change and depletion of resources), indicators of sustainable tourism (to measure the scope of change), as well as cross-border cooperation and stakeholder engagement in the German Alps. The data was collected through 30 interviews with individuals dealing with tourism development and sustainable tourism development in the German Alps. The findings suggest that a holistic approach and collection and dissemination of data and knowledge on sustainability are the basis for developing sustainable mountain tourism. Implementation and monitoring should focus on specific flagship sustainable tourism products, as well as on a destination in a broader sense and the sustainable tourism market. Three themes emerged as important for implementation of sustainable tourism in the German Alps: indicators of sustainable tourism, cross-border cooperation and stakeholder engagement.
Современная политика устойчивого туризма города носит сложный и фрагментарный характер. Для форми... more Современная политика устойчивого туризма города носит сложный и фрагментарный характер. Для формирования и мониторинга подобной политики есть потребность в разработке методологии, которая бу-дет одновременно носить междисциплинарный характер (основы устойчивого развития) и будет легкодос-тупной для представителей территориального менеджмента (веб-инструмент бенчмаркинга). Предлагается комплексная и стратегическая основа для городского туризма, на основе значений устойчивого развития. До сих пор отсутствуют исследования по устойчивому развитию городского туризма в Сербии, и в глобальном масштабе существует дефицит научной литературы по вопросам устойчивого развития туристических тер-риторий. Автором предложен новый методологический подход к сбору и интерпретации данных по разви-тию туризма, который сочетает в себе показатели трех измерений устойчивого развития (экономическое, социально-культурное и экологическое) и бенчмаркинг в качестве инструмента стратегического управления. Исследование основано на сочетании первичного анализа рынка с использованием статистических данных (Статистическое бюро Республики Сербии) с целью создать теоретическую основу устойчивому туризму для сербских территорий. Ключевые слова: устойчивый туризм, городской туризм в Сербии, туристическая политика, менеджмент туристической территории, показатели устойчивого туризма.
The study is a contribution towards designing tourism marketing strategy based on hard data. Stat... more The study is a contribution towards designing tourism marketing strategy based on hard data. Statistical tests were performed in SPSS with a goal to differentiate groups of tourists both on the supply and demand side of the market, in order to gain deeper understanding of the Serbian tourist market. The study results and recommendations should be used as a contribution towards designing national and regional destination marketing strategies. The Serbian tourism market is very rich in small niches on both supply and demand side of the market. This study attempted to demonstrate the important differences these groups of tourists do exhibit in terms of key behavioral traits. Tourism policy should address the identified groups of tourists with specially designed marketing and communication strategies, appropriate to the tourist’s needs and attitudes.
Journal of the International Council for Small Business, 2024
Purpose: The presented paper aims at providing novel evidence on entrepreneurial intention and i... more Purpose: The presented paper aims at providing novel evidence on entrepreneurial intention and it’s antecedence from the perspective of theory of planned behavior and identity in the entrepreneurial university context. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a sample of 300 respondents obtained at a German university of applied sciences and consisting of students, scientific and non-scientific staff and alumni. The data was analyzed through IBM SPSS and Smart PLS to test the four hypotheses related to entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents. Findings: The study provides a critical perspective on the usefulness of the TPB framework extended with identity for predicting the entrepreneurial intention in the entrepreneurial university context. Based on the study results, it is hypothesized that entrepreneurial intention is best explain through a combination of entrepreneurial attitudes, social norms in relation to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial identity, while excluding behavioral control as the least important predictor with lowest relevance. This has implications both for TPB-based research as well as self-efficacy based research on entrepreneurial intention, as the two are considered to be related concepts. Research limitations and implications: Practical implications: Practical implications relate to demonstrating the usefulness of the TPB and identity for evaluating the entrepreneurial intention in terms of broad and diverse range of activities of an entrepreneurial university. Transfer managers, officers in incubators and accelerators can deploy and expand this approach to use it in diverse and mixed settings for comparing and mapping entrepreneurial intention among diverse set of stakeholders. Originality/value: The article empirically tests the combined theory of planned behavior and identity theory in a sample of diverse rspondents, beyond students to include also scientific and non-scientific staff of a university and alumni as important stakeholders in the entrepreneurial university. This is an important empirical and conceptual adition to existing literature with theoretial and practical implications.
Journal of Women's Entrepreneurship and Education, 2024
This study presents a gender-focused perspective of entrepreneurship education programs, aiming t... more This study presents a gender-focused perspective of entrepreneurship education programs, aiming to understand variations in entrepreneurial intention, reasoning on entrepreneurship, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial education preferences. The present research grounds on Entrepreneurial Event Theory to examine entrepreneurial intention, desirability, and feasibility in the context of entrepreneurship education. The research was conducted in Germany in 2021 and included a sample of 156 university students. The study deploys the Mann-Whitney U Test to examine gender differences among university students regarding entrepreneurship. The findings highlight a heightened perception of risk among female students, influencing their focus on positive/negative entrepreneurial events compared to male students. Moreover, the research reveals a greater inclination among females to engage in both curricular and extracurricular entrepreneurship education activities, corroborating previous studies suggesting greater benefits for female students in such programs. The study also underscores the importance of distinguishing between curricular and extracurricular offerings, indicating promising avenues for future entrepreneurship education research. Overall, this investigation contributes new insights and explanations regarding gender dynamics in entrepreneurship education, shedding light on potential areas for further exploration in the field.
This article deals with the under-researched phenomenon of rural health entrepreneurship and its ... more This article deals with the under-researched phenomenon of rural health entrepreneurship and its major characteristics. The purpose of this study is to explicate the process of providing health services in rural areas of a developing country and their relation to SDGs. The paper is based on six semi-structured interviews conducted with Serbian health entrepreneurs in rural areas (two private
practices, two policlinics, and two dental practices), a review of laws and strategies relevant to the field, and three sessions of discussions with eight experts (four authors and four additional experts). The research methodology follows an empirical, mixed-method case study research procedure. The results are presented in relation to the aspects of frugality, family orientation, and sustainabilityoriented innovation. The timeline of the six case studies demonstrates the increasing importance of health entrepreneurs in rural areas due to the aging population and, therefore, increased needs for quality healthcare in these areas. The financing instruments have also become more formal and substantial in recent years, enabling the growth of healthcare businesses in rural areas. However, a major obstacle to further sustainable development remains the non-refundability of services before the state-owned, obligatory health fund, creating major social inequalities, especially in rural areas.
Citizen participation is deemed to be crucial for sustainability and resilience planning. However... more Citizen participation is deemed to be crucial for sustainability and resilience planning. However, generational equity has been missing from recent academic discussions regarding sustainability and resilience. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to reintroduce the topic of the existence or absence of an intergenerational consensus on the example of a rural community and its perceived brand image attributes and development priorities. The research is based on primary data collected through an online survey, with a sample size of N = 808 respondents in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, Germany. The data were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test for the presence and/or absence of consensus among the five generations regarding brand image attributes and development priorities. The findings point to divergence between what the median values indicate as the most relevant brand image attributes and development priorities among the citizens and the areas where the Kruskal–Wallis test shows that an intergenerational consensus either does or does not exist. The results imply the need for new concepts and applied approaches to citizen participation for sustainability and resilience, where intergenerational dialogue and equity-building take center stage. In addition to the importance of the theory of citizen participation for sustainability and resilience, our results provide ample evidence for how sustainability and resilience planning documents could potentially benefit from deploying the concept of intergenerational equity. The present research provides sustainability and political science with new conceptual and methodological approaches for taking intergenerational equity into account in regional planning processes in rural and other areas.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that various types of business model extension... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that various types of business model extensions (hospitality and tourism, online sales platforms, and sustainability) have on the winery business. The research is based on company data and online observations of N = 886 German wineries and deploys a content analysis, netnography, and structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to test the hypothesis on business model extensions of wineries, which have been set forth in the previous literature. The findings indicate that business model extensions related to online sales platforms have a positive impact on winery business size. These results mean that developing online sales platforms enlarges the winery BM (business model) size and type (manager-run, state-owned, or cooperatives). The paper presents in detail the impact of winery BM extensions on winery BM model type and size, thereby contributing to the literature on business model innovation.
The research examines Generation Z’s (Gen Z’s) attitudes, behavior and awareness regarding sustai... more The research examines Generation Z’s (Gen Z’s) attitudes, behavior and awareness regarding sustainability-oriented products in two European countries, located in the region of Western Balkans, Bosnia–Herzegovina and Serbia. The research deploys generational cohort theory (GCT) and a quantitative analysis of primary data collected through an online questionnaire among 1338 primary, high school and university students, all belonging to Generation Z. It deploys a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) by running both Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedures, the latter being suitable for binary variables, which have been deployed in the study. The results of MLCFA provide evidence that there is a statistically significant and relatively strong relation between sustainability and circular economy attitudes (SCEA) and sustainability and circular economy behavior (SCEB), while there is a statistically insignificant and relatively weak relation between sustainability and circular economy behavior (SCEB) and circular economy awareness (CEW). The results of the BCFA, which is based on MCMC procedure, are similar to the results based on a rather commonly used MLCFA procedure. The results also confirm that Gen Z knows more about the companies which recycle products than it does about the CE as a concept, while the vast majority is concerned about the future of the planet and is motivated to learn more about the CE through CE and various awareness-raising measures.
Purpose-Both Hungary and Germany belong to the old-world wine-producing countries and have long w... more Purpose-Both Hungary and Germany belong to the old-world wine-producing countries and have long winemaking traditions. This paper aims at exploring and comparing online branding strategies of family SME (small and medium sized enterprises) wineries at Lake Balaton (Hungary) and Lake Constance (Germany), as two wine regions with similar geographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach-This paper, based on a total sample of 37 family wineries, 15 at Lake Balaton and 22 at Lake Constance, investigates the differences in brand identity on the website, brand image in social media and online communication channels deployed in both wine regions. The study applies a qualitative methodology using MaxQDA software for conducting content analysis of texts in websites and social media. Descriptive statistics and t-test were conducted to compare the usage of different communication channels and determine statistical significance. Findings-At Lake Balaton, the vineyard, the winery and the family, while at Lake Constance, the lake itself and the grape are highlighted regarding family winery brand identity. The customer-based brand image of Hungarian family wineries emphasizes wine, food and service, with the predominant use of Facebook. In the German family wineries, the focus of brand identity is on wine, friendliness and taste and includes more extensive usage of websites. Originality/value-The paper deploys a novel methodology, both in terms of tools used as well as geographic focus to uncover online branding patterns of family wineries, thereby providing implications for wine and tourism industries at lake regions. It compares the share of selected most-used words in the overall text in websites and in social media, and presents the key findings from this innovative approach.
The purpose of the study is to provide empirical evidence about the under-researched area of univ... more The purpose of the study is to provide empirical evidence about the under-researched area of university–government relations in building a culture of entrepreneurial initiatives inside the triple helix model in a rural region. The study deploys a qualitative case study research method based on the content analysis of project documentation and further internal documents both from universities and municipalities. The propositions in the research question are guided by the previous literature and were then analyzed through an “open coding” process to iteratively analyze, verify, and validate the results from the documents against the previous literature. Results presented in the case study are
related both to the project of a municipality–university innovation partnership, as well as the historic development of the university in its three missions, and, related to the important third mission, themes relevant for the project. In addition, a “toolkit” of relevant project activities is presented against the major identified themes, major project stakeholders, as well as relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities should look beyond a purely economic contribution and should augment all three missions (teaching, research, engagement) by considering social, environmental, and economic aspects of its activities. Instead of considering a government’s role solely as that of a regulator, a much more creative and purposeful cooperation between university and government is possible for creating a regional culture of entrepreneurial initiatives in a rural region.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 2021
This study set out to uncover brand positioning configurations by presenting state-of-the-art bra... more This study set out to uncover brand positioning configurations by presenting state-of-the-art brand management literature and applying a novel, mixed-methods approach to examine the under-researched wine industry transformation towards open innovation in branding. German winery brands were analyzed using a multimethod approach leaning on a novel netnographic methodology and multiple sources. The sample included 572 wineries from all 13 German wine regions with website text data and online review text data from each winery. The study identified nine prime words used to describe both brand identity as well as wine brand image. It revealed word–price clusters of brand identity and image. The results offer insights into communication and pricing opportunities for wine brand identity as well as image, thereby contributing to open brand innovation.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 2021
The article improves understanding on leveraging new technology for DT (digital transformation) o... more The article improves understanding on leveraging new technology for DT (digital transformation) of grape harvest in SME wineries. It provides evidence on technologies used and workplace types deployed in grape harvesting, as well as strategic paths in deploying new technology, thereby contributing to the literature on networked sensing and seizing capabilities in the wine industry 4.0. The research approach is explorative and qualitative drawing on 31 interviews with wine industry 4.0 experts and managers, mostly owners of SMEs: wineries, wine software and wine machinery enterprises. Resulting findings serve as a roadmap for digital transformation of grape harvest process in SME wineries explaining technologies and work roles necessary for DWT (digital workplace transformation), as well as strategic paths of deployment of novel grape harvest technology. Previous research on the wine industry 4.0 has focused on BMI, while this research expands the focus to include a wider concept of technology adoption strategy as well as DWT. The research identifies two types of factors impacting the strategic deployment of grape harvest technology: pull factors, also termed servitization factors, as well as push factors, termed also digital transformation factors.
The purpose of this study is to research the antecedents of the sustainable travel decision-makin... more The purpose of this study is to research the antecedents of the sustainable travel decision-making of European travelers and thereby identify important lessons for the transition towards sustainable travel and tourism. The study is based on data collected through a representative survey, conducted in five European countries, with a sample of n = 5024 respondents. The results of descriptive statistics, EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) and FA (Factor Analysis) are presented in order to explore sustainable travel decision-making through environmental (policy-related and personal) attitudes and travel mode decision priorities in the European context. Furthermore, the study provides new evidence regarding the under-researched phenomenon of the attitude–behavior gap by presenting a model for the sustainability-oriented decision-making of travelers, including attitudes and travel mode priorities as antecedents. The results confirm the existence of moral licensing in travel decision-making, thereby extending the relevance of this theory into travel and tourism, which has not been done before. The denial of environmental issues is also being researched as regards its interaction with positive environmental attitudes, environmental travel mode priorities and non-environmental travel priorities, thereby advancing our understanding of the interplay between these categories. The interplay between the four categories furthers our understanding of the perplexity of travelers in terms of sustainable travel decision-making.
The reported research examines the impact of product portfolio labeling strategies on
brand reput... more The reported research examines the impact of product portfolio labeling strategies on brand reputation and equity. A netnographic approach allowed to observe winery portfolio labeling approaches and create a typology of winery labeling strategies. Expert evaluation served to assess the dependent variable brand equity by deploying a regression analysis. For the observed wine industry, being part of the food industry, creating consistent and recognizable brands has a direct relevance for reducing (sustainability-related) food information overload and thereby building sustainable brand equity. The results uncover the relative importance of each of the six identified labeling strategies as well as their impact on reputation and brand equity creation. The results point to the need to establish a consistent strategically founded product communication. Such an approach with a positive effect on reputation building can serve to build sustainable brand equity. “Stuck in the middle”-type strategies apparently diminish winery brand equity exploitation. The findings contribute to the knowledge on food labels in product communication strategies and their impact on organizational brand equity, thereby having high relevance for the implementation of environmental certification initiatives in an organizational context. The article deploys a novel research approach in an under-researched area to provide new insights for further research as well as implications for practice.
Citation: Dressler, M.; Paunovic, I. A Typology of Winery SME Brand Strategies with Implications ... more Citation: Dressler, M.; Paunovic, I. A Typology of Winery SME Brand Strategies with Implications for Sustainability Communication and Co-Creation. Sustainability 2021, 13, 805. https://doi.
Based on the WEF Travel & Tourism Report data, this study deploys k-means cluster analysis to bui... more Based on the WEF Travel & Tourism Report data, this study deploys k-means cluster analysis to build a global typology of national destination governance. Previous studies have focused on case studies, while this chapter focuses on classification of different destination types, by deploying indicators a set of following relevant indicators: wastewater treatment, fixed broadband internet subscriptions, ground transport efficiency, quality of roads, quality of railroad infrastructure, reliability of police services, ease of finding skilled employees. The results present a four-cluster solution of national destination governance types, as well as their major characteristics. The chapter than provides and discusses important implication for theory and practice of destination governance.
This study advances the research and methodological approach to measuring and understanding natio... more This study advances the research and methodological approach to measuring and understanding national-level destination competitiveness, sustainability and governance, by creating a model that could be of use for both developing and developed destinations. The study gives a detailed overview of the research field of measuring destination competitiveness and sustainability. It also identifies major predictors of destination competitiveness and sustainability and thereby presents destination researchers and practitioners with a useful list of priority areas, both from a global perspective and from the perspective of other similar destinations. Finally, the study identifies two major types of destination governance with implications for research, policy and practice across the destination life-cycle. The research deals with the analysis of the secondary data from the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Index (WEF T&T). Major types of destination governance and predictors of belonging to either one of the types, as well as inside cluster predictors have been extracted through a two-step cluster analysis. The results support the notion that a meaningful model of national-level destination governance needs to take into account different development levels of different destinations. The main limitation of the study is its typology creation approach, as it inevitably leads to simplifications.
This article examines similarities and differences in the attitudes and social representations of... more This article examines similarities and differences in the attitudes and social representations of destination managers towards implementing sustainable tourism between the mountain regions of the Alps and the Dinarides. Bearing in mind the transnational impacts (i.e., environmental, economic and social) of the tourism industry the research methodology adopted an international perspective by sending a questionnaire to tourism organizations in fourteen different countries in the Alps and the Dinarides. The research is interdisciplinary in nature, because it integrates knowledge from sustainability and management science with tourism geography and social psychology. The findings confirm that social representations of sustainable tourism differ significantly in the two mountain regions.
International Journal of Wine Business Research, 2019
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into characteristics of visitor demand f... more Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into characteristics of visitor demand for a regionally oriented vinotheque (wine bar and shop) at a UNESCO world heritage destination in Germany. The research especially focuses on expected offer components for a wine bar and shop, including wine-related products and services, to test the theoretical notion of blurred division between product and service offerings. The literature review has revealed that implications of this conceptual notion on wine bar and shop offer creation could be profound as there are different types of wine bar and shops with different product–service combinations. Moreover, the offer creation needs to take into account the overall needs of wine bar and shop visitors and consider them as experience seekers and not necessarily utility-maximizing players. In this sense, the paper expands previous research on vinotheques that primarily took the wine retail perspective. Design/methodology/approach
The study deals with wine-related sales, offer design and the importance of tourism and hospitality for wine sales in a non-growing wine market. However, the concept of increasing wine sales through tourism and hospitality brings to the forefront the issues of creating integrated offerings of products and services. This is why, the study deploys the concepts of hybrid products and experience economy. The primary data have been collected via self-administered, paper-based questionnaire (Appendix 2) amongst visitors at the St. Goar/Loreley tourist destination. The goal has been to reveal the importance of a wine bar and shop as a wine sales channel, whether visitors are interested in visiting a wine bar and shop, what major expectations they have entering a vinotheque, as well as what major offer components of products and/or services are they interested in. Total sample size was N = 400. Major statistical procedure deployed was descriptive statistics, as well as PCA (principal component analysis) of expectations and offer analysis in regards to products and services. Findings
By deploying the PCA on the data regarding interest in buying wine-related products and services, three offer configurations have been extracted, out of which only one is purely related to products, whilst the other two are hybrid products, meaning a combination of wine-related products and services. Relevance of architectural design illustrates that visitors also seek experience. These findings confirm previously discussed theories on the importance of integrating products and services into hybrid products and creating experience with a suitable combination of products and services. Research limitations/implications
Data collection has taken place in a confined timeframe (two summer months). No active measures have been taken to ensure the validity of the sample through quotas or similar techniques. The research sample and location are somewhat limited for making conclusions in other geographical regions, but replicating the study in different contexts can add to the comparability of the results on the level of Germany, but also internationally. The empirical evidence for superior customer value of hybrid offerings and integrating services into product-centric offer design is of paramount importance for selling wine in a highly competitive market in absence of market growth. Wine bar and shop allows to differentiate the offer by creating wine-related experience through a combination of product (wine and wine-related products), hospitality/gastronomic services and tourism services. The insights also illustrate the idea of new market opportunities via connecting converging industries. Practical implications
The study contributes to close a gap identified in the literature review that German wineries lag wine-tourism activities. It provides advice in regards to offer design and hybrid offerings and an experiential experience supported by architectural design. Such an approach offers the potential to win market share in a non-growing market – an ambition of the players in the market but also an obvious challenge. Social implications
The findings contribute to regional development. Furthermore, arguments for cooperative behavior are provided. This should also help to minimize free ridership and its negative social implications. Originality/value
The paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the creation of wine bar and shop offer. The results point out that offerings should be created around a core wine tourism product – regional and cellar door offer – and be expanded by “food design” – components, attractive architectural elements, as well as web shop services, thereby creating an advanced wine-related experience. It confirms the importance of theoretical concepts such as experience economy, hybrid products and solution provision in the case of wine bar and shop, by testing these concepts on the group of visitors at a German wine and cultural destination.
What are the processes behind efforts for more sustainable mountain destinations in the German Al... more What are the processes behind efforts for more sustainable mountain destinations in the German Alps and what are the views of different tourism stakeholders on these processes? The research deals both with threats pushing the agenda of sustainable development (such as climate change and depletion of resources), indicators of sustainable tourism (to measure the scope of change), as well as cross-border cooperation and stakeholder engagement in the German Alps. The data was collected through 30 interviews with individuals dealing with tourism development and sustainable tourism development in the German Alps. The findings suggest that a holistic approach and collection and dissemination of data and knowledge on sustainability are the basis for developing sustainable mountain tourism. Implementation and monitoring should focus on specific flagship sustainable tourism products, as well as on a destination in a broader sense and the sustainable tourism market. Three themes emerged as important for implementation of sustainable tourism in the German Alps: indicators of sustainable tourism, cross-border cooperation and stakeholder engagement.
Современная политика устойчивого туризма города носит сложный и фрагментарный характер. Для форми... more Современная политика устойчивого туризма города носит сложный и фрагментарный характер. Для формирования и мониторинга подобной политики есть потребность в разработке методологии, которая бу-дет одновременно носить междисциплинарный характер (основы устойчивого развития) и будет легкодос-тупной для представителей территориального менеджмента (веб-инструмент бенчмаркинга). Предлагается комплексная и стратегическая основа для городского туризма, на основе значений устойчивого развития. До сих пор отсутствуют исследования по устойчивому развитию городского туризма в Сербии, и в глобальном масштабе существует дефицит научной литературы по вопросам устойчивого развития туристических тер-риторий. Автором предложен новый методологический подход к сбору и интерпретации данных по разви-тию туризма, который сочетает в себе показатели трех измерений устойчивого развития (экономическое, социально-культурное и экологическое) и бенчмаркинг в качестве инструмента стратегического управления. Исследование основано на сочетании первичного анализа рынка с использованием статистических данных (Статистическое бюро Республики Сербии) с целью создать теоретическую основу устойчивому туризму для сербских территорий. Ключевые слова: устойчивый туризм, городской туризм в Сербии, туристическая политика, менеджмент туристической территории, показатели устойчивого туризма.
The study is a contribution towards designing tourism marketing strategy based on hard data. Stat... more The study is a contribution towards designing tourism marketing strategy based on hard data. Statistical tests were performed in SPSS with a goal to differentiate groups of tourists both on the supply and demand side of the market, in order to gain deeper understanding of the Serbian tourist market. The study results and recommendations should be used as a contribution towards designing national and regional destination marketing strategies. The Serbian tourism market is very rich in small niches on both supply and demand side of the market. This study attempted to demonstrate the important differences these groups of tourists do exhibit in terms of key behavioral traits. Tourism policy should address the identified groups of tourists with specially designed marketing and communication strategies, appropriate to the tourist’s needs and attitudes.
Background: Tourist satisfaction literature, although rich in general, lacks the understanding of... more Background: Tourist satisfaction literature, although rich in general, lacks the understanding of tourist satisfaction components on the level of the destination. Researching and benchmarking various aspects of tourist satisfaction would help DMO’s improve the tourist satisfaction in certain targeted segments of offer.
Objectives: Identifying the components of tourist satisfaction on the level of destination using primary research data. Using secondary sources to identify related marketing concepts to tourist satisfaction: service quality, destination loyalty and image, and their relation to tourist satisfaction. Identifying major components of DMO service quality, tourist destination brand loyalty, and destination brand image.
Methodology: Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of primary research data on tourist satisfaction to extract major components influencing tourist satisfaction. Using secondary sources to identify concepts related to tourist satisfaction.
Results: Tourist satisfaction has cognitive and emotional aspects which cannot be easily measured. As evidenced in the tourism literature and our primary research, the essential part of the tourist satisfaction is always satisfaction with the human contact, and the perception of the people on the destination, where aspects like safety, hospitality, and professionalism are of major importance. Tourist satisfaction, although one of the most important benchmarks for destination competitiveness, should not be considered without consideration of other related marketing tools such as destination loyalty, destination image and service quality. Moreover, mediating role of tourist satisfaction between service quality and destination loyalty is well documented in the literature.
Purpose- Green economy concept set forth reduction of the seasonality of tourism demand as one of... more Purpose- Green economy concept set forth reduction of the seasonality of tourism demand as one of the main goals. Overreliance of mountain tourism on alpine ski tourism can be overcome through diversification of tourism offer and development of summer season. Design-The research was designed to compare the basic market and seasonality of demand indicators of Kopaonik and Zlatibor mountains, in order to give recommendations for product development. The tourist parameters compared were integrated into a coherent sustainable development indicators model. The primary data was collected through survey, which was conducted as a component of the EU financed project: “Support to implementation of the National Strategy for Tourism” 07SER01/23/11. Methodology- The research methodology used for comparing age, length of stay, level of daily spending, and satisfaction of tourists was independent samples t-test processed in SPSS, while methodology for image attributes, expense levels by categories and seasonality of demand was descriptive statistics. Approach- The research combines market indicators with seasonality of demand indicators in order to give recommendations for sustainable product development, through benchmarking of 2 major mountain destinations. Findings- The research showed that demographic segmentation is the single most important criteria for summer season mountain tourism market segmentation in the 2 mountain destinations in Serbia. Analysis of the image attributes expense categories showed that both mountain destinations (Zlatibor and Kopaonik) offer different value propositions to tourists and have different competitive advantages. Seasonality of demand analysis demonstrated highly unsustainable destination development on Kopaonik mountain. Originality of the research- The research combines market data with the seasonality of demand indicators in order to offer novel product development solutions that would support development of green, sustainable tourism.
Keywords: Green economy, Marketing Mountain Destinations, Destination Benchmarking, Benhmarking, Tourism Product Development, Sustainable Development Indicators
Prioritization of thematic tourism themes on the national level was conducted by combining the Pr... more Prioritization of thematic tourism themes on the national level was conducted by combining the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with tourist satisfaction results. It is a valuable tool for both academia and decision makers in Serbian tourism when creating thematic tourism products. The research revealed that there are different levels of tourist satisfaction among 7 thematic tourism groups: 1) Business, 2) Culture, 3) Sport and Adventure, 4) Health, 5) Fun and entertainment 6) Pleasure, and 7) Nature. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) focused on tourist’s perceptions of the destination regarding following factors: nature, culture, attractions, history, professionalism of service, hospitality of the population, customer orientation, safety/security and cleanliness, and transportation. The results of the presented research are especially interesting regarding the Fun and entertainment tourists and satisfaction with nightlife offer. They show the need to redesign that part of Serbia’s thematic tourism offer in order to be more compatible with other tourism products.
The study is a contribution towards designing tourism marketing strategy based on hard data. In t... more The study is a contribution towards designing tourism marketing strategy based on hard data. In that sense, the primary beneficiary of the study should be the National Tourism Organization of Serbia, as a government institution in charge for implementing the national level tourism marketing strategies. Statistical tests were performed in SPSS with a goal to differentiate groups of tourists both on the supply and demand side of the market, in order to gain deeper understanding of the Serbian tourist market. The study results and recommendations should be used as a contribution towards designing national and regional destination marketing strategies.
The Serbian tourism market is very rich in small niches on both supply and demand side of the market. This study attempted to demonstrate the important differences these groups of tourists do exhibit in terms of key behavioral traits. Tourism policy should address the identified groups of tourists with specially designed marketing and communication strategies, appropriate to the tourist’s needs and attitudes.
There are many factors influencing tourist behavior and brand loyalty. The presented study is an ... more There are many factors influencing tourist behavior and brand loyalty. The presented study is an attempt to analyze mutual relation between key personal and lifestyle factors (age, daily spending, length of stay), and their effect on the brand loyalty to Serbia as destination. Separate marketing strategies should be devised for different groups of tourists, regarding the loyalty level to the destination. Health tourists make the core loyalty base, while Culture and Business tourists, although very valuable segments of the market, are the least loyal tourists.
Uporedna analiza održivog razvoja planinskog turizma Alpske i Dinarske regije, 2017
The doctoral thesis deals with the role that sustainability plays in the modern practice of desti... more The doctoral thesis deals with the role that sustainability plays in the modern practice of destination governance in the alpine and dinaric mountain destinations. In that sense, a comparison is first made regrading the implementation of sustainability in the process of destination governance by destination management organizations (DMO) in the Alps and in the Dinarides. Through a questionnaire, quantitative data was collected that was used to analyze the differences in the two regions regarding the implementation of sustainability principles in planning the destination, leadership/management styles in the destination governance/management, destination development priorities, as well as the importance given to the different types of stakeholders. After that, a comparison is made regarding the two most developed mountain destinations in the Republic of Serbia, Kopaonik and Zlatibor, using the integrated framework for indicators of sustainable tourism. This way, shortcomings where identified, and suggestions were given for improvements in both destinations. Finally, using an interview methodology, a deeper research is made into the ways and available means for implementation of sustainable tourism in the German Alps, as an example of an alpine region whose experiences can be used in the development of the mountain tourism in the region of the Dinarides. We discussed the following subjects with the interviewees: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the destination; sustainability as well as projects initiatives and plans related to sustainability; the most important stakeholders of sustainable tourism, natural resources and their protection; indicators of sustainable development; and cross-border cooperation, while the subject of ecotourism spontaneously emerged as an important subject during the interviews.
International Thematic Monograph - Modern Management Tools and Economy of Tourism Sector in Present Era
Based on the WEF Travel & Tourism Report data, this study deploys k-means cluster analysis to bui... more Based on the WEF Travel & Tourism Report data, this study deploys k-means cluster analysis to build a global typology of national destination governance. Previous studies have focused on case studies, while this chapter focuses on classification of different destination types, by deploying indicators a set of following relevant indicators: wastewater treatment, fixed broadband internet subscriptions, ground transport efficiency, quality of roads, quality of railroad infrastructure, reliability of police services, ease of finding skilled employees. The results present a four-cluster solution of national destination governance types, as well as their major characteristics. The chapter than provides and discusses important implication for theory and practice of destination governance.
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Papers by Ivan Paunovic
Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a sample of 300 respondents obtained at a German university of applied sciences and consisting of students, scientific and non-scientific staff and alumni. The data was analyzed through IBM SPSS and Smart PLS to test the four hypotheses related to entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents.
Findings: The study provides a critical perspective on the usefulness of the TPB framework extended with identity for predicting the entrepreneurial intention in the entrepreneurial university context. Based on the study results, it is hypothesized that entrepreneurial intention is best explain through a combination of entrepreneurial attitudes, social norms in relation to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial identity, while excluding behavioral control as the least important predictor with lowest relevance. This has implications both for TPB-based research as well as self-efficacy based
research on entrepreneurial intention, as the two are considered to be related concepts.
Research limitations and implications: Practical implications: Practical implications relate to demonstrating the usefulness of the TPB and
identity for evaluating the entrepreneurial intention in terms of broad and diverse range of activities of an entrepreneurial university. Transfer managers, officers in incubators and accelerators can deploy and expand this approach to use it in diverse and mixed settings for comparing and mapping entrepreneurial intention among diverse set of stakeholders.
Originality/value: The article empirically tests the combined theory of planned behavior and identity theory in a sample of diverse rspondents, beyond students to include also scientific and non-scientific staff of a university and alumni as important stakeholders in the entrepreneurial university. This is an
important empirical and conceptual adition to existing literature with theoretial and practical implications.
practices, two policlinics, and two dental practices), a review of laws and strategies relevant to the field, and three sessions of discussions with eight experts (four authors and four additional experts). The research methodology follows an empirical, mixed-method case study research procedure. The results are presented in relation to the aspects of frugality, family orientation, and sustainabilityoriented innovation. The timeline of the six case studies demonstrates the increasing importance of health entrepreneurs in rural areas due to the aging population and, therefore, increased needs for quality healthcare in these areas. The financing instruments have also become more formal and substantial in recent years, enabling the growth of healthcare businesses in rural areas. However, a major obstacle to further sustainable development remains the non-refundability of services before the state-owned, obligatory health fund, creating major social inequalities, especially in rural areas.
and deploys a content analysis, netnography, and structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to test the hypothesis on business model extensions of wineries, which have been set forth in the previous literature. The findings indicate that business model extensions related to online sales platforms have a positive impact on winery business size. These results mean that developing online sales platforms enlarges the winery BM (business model) size and type (manager-run, state-owned, or cooperatives).
The paper presents in detail the impact of winery BM extensions on winery BM model type and size, thereby contributing to the literature on business model innovation.
related both to the project of a municipality–university innovation partnership, as well as the historic development of the university in its three missions, and, related to the important third mission, themes relevant for the project. In addition, a “toolkit” of relevant project activities is presented against the major identified themes, major project stakeholders, as well as relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities should look beyond a purely economic contribution and should augment all three missions (teaching, research, engagement) by considering social, environmental, and economic aspects of its activities. Instead of considering a government’s role solely as that of a regulator, a much more creative and purposeful cooperation between university and government is possible for creating a regional culture of entrepreneurial initiatives in a rural region.
brand reputation and equity. A netnographic approach allowed to observe winery portfolio labeling
approaches and create a typology of winery labeling strategies. Expert evaluation served to assess the
dependent variable brand equity by deploying a regression analysis. For the observed wine industry,
being part of the food industry, creating consistent and recognizable brands has a direct relevance for
reducing (sustainability-related) food information overload and thereby building sustainable brand
equity. The results uncover the relative importance of each of the six identified labeling strategies as
well as their impact on reputation and brand equity creation. The results point to the need to establish
a consistent strategically founded product communication. Such an approach with a positive effect on
reputation building can serve to build sustainable brand equity. “Stuck in the middle”-type strategies
apparently diminish winery brand equity exploitation. The findings contribute to the knowledge on
food labels in product communication strategies and their impact on organizational brand equity, thereby having high relevance for the implementation of environmental certification initiatives in an organizational context. The article deploys a novel research approach in an under-researched area to provide new insights for further research as well as implications for practice.
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into characteristics of visitor demand for a regionally oriented vinotheque (wine bar and shop) at a UNESCO world heritage destination in Germany. The research especially focuses on expected offer components for a wine bar and shop, including wine-related products and services, to test the theoretical notion of blurred division between product and service offerings. The literature review has revealed that implications of this conceptual notion on wine bar and shop offer creation could be profound as there are different types of wine bar and shops with different product–service combinations. Moreover, the offer creation needs to take into account the overall needs of wine bar and shop visitors and consider them as experience seekers and not necessarily utility-maximizing players. In this sense, the paper expands previous research on vinotheques that primarily took the wine retail perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The study deals with wine-related sales, offer design and the importance of tourism and hospitality for wine sales in a non-growing wine market. However, the concept of increasing wine sales through tourism and hospitality brings to the forefront the issues of creating integrated offerings of products and services. This is why, the study deploys the concepts of hybrid products and experience economy. The primary data have been collected via self-administered, paper-based questionnaire (Appendix 2) amongst visitors at the St. Goar/Loreley tourist destination. The goal has been to reveal the importance of a wine bar and shop as a wine sales channel, whether visitors are interested in visiting a wine bar and shop, what major expectations they have entering a vinotheque, as well as what major offer components of products and/or services are they interested in. Total sample size was N = 400. Major statistical procedure deployed was descriptive statistics, as well as PCA (principal component analysis) of expectations and offer analysis in regards to products and services.
Findings
By deploying the PCA on the data regarding interest in buying wine-related products and services, three offer configurations have been extracted, out of which only one is purely related to products, whilst the other two are hybrid products, meaning a combination of wine-related products and services. Relevance of architectural design illustrates that visitors also seek experience. These findings confirm previously discussed theories on the importance of integrating products and services into hybrid products and creating experience with a suitable combination of products and services.
Research limitations/implications
Data collection has taken place in a confined timeframe (two summer months). No active measures have been taken to ensure the validity of the sample through quotas or similar techniques. The research sample and location are somewhat limited for making conclusions in other geographical regions, but replicating the study in different contexts can add to the comparability of the results on the level of Germany, but also internationally. The empirical evidence for superior customer value of hybrid offerings and integrating services into product-centric offer design is of paramount importance for selling wine in a highly competitive market in absence of market growth. Wine bar and shop allows to differentiate the offer by creating wine-related experience through a combination of product (wine and wine-related products), hospitality/gastronomic services and tourism services. The insights also illustrate the idea of new market opportunities via connecting converging industries.
Practical implications
The study contributes to close a gap identified in the literature review that German wineries lag wine-tourism activities. It provides advice in regards to offer design and hybrid offerings and an experiential experience supported by architectural design. Such an approach offers the potential to win market share in a non-growing market – an ambition of the players in the market but also an obvious challenge.
Social implications
The findings contribute to regional development. Furthermore, arguments for cooperative behavior are provided. This should also help to minimize free ridership and its negative social implications.
Originality/value
The paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the creation of wine bar and shop offer. The results point out that offerings should be created around a core wine tourism product – regional and cellar door offer – and be expanded by “food design” – components, attractive architectural elements, as well as web shop services, thereby creating an advanced wine-related experience. It confirms the importance of theoretical concepts such as experience economy, hybrid products and solution provision in the case of wine bar and shop, by testing these concepts on the group of visitors at a German wine and cultural destination.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a sample of 300 respondents obtained at a German university of applied sciences and consisting of students, scientific and non-scientific staff and alumni. The data was analyzed through IBM SPSS and Smart PLS to test the four hypotheses related to entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents.
Findings: The study provides a critical perspective on the usefulness of the TPB framework extended with identity for predicting the entrepreneurial intention in the entrepreneurial university context. Based on the study results, it is hypothesized that entrepreneurial intention is best explain through a combination of entrepreneurial attitudes, social norms in relation to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial identity, while excluding behavioral control as the least important predictor with lowest relevance. This has implications both for TPB-based research as well as self-efficacy based
research on entrepreneurial intention, as the two are considered to be related concepts.
Research limitations and implications: Practical implications: Practical implications relate to demonstrating the usefulness of the TPB and
identity for evaluating the entrepreneurial intention in terms of broad and diverse range of activities of an entrepreneurial university. Transfer managers, officers in incubators and accelerators can deploy and expand this approach to use it in diverse and mixed settings for comparing and mapping entrepreneurial intention among diverse set of stakeholders.
Originality/value: The article empirically tests the combined theory of planned behavior and identity theory in a sample of diverse rspondents, beyond students to include also scientific and non-scientific staff of a university and alumni as important stakeholders in the entrepreneurial university. This is an
important empirical and conceptual adition to existing literature with theoretial and practical implications.
practices, two policlinics, and two dental practices), a review of laws and strategies relevant to the field, and three sessions of discussions with eight experts (four authors and four additional experts). The research methodology follows an empirical, mixed-method case study research procedure. The results are presented in relation to the aspects of frugality, family orientation, and sustainabilityoriented innovation. The timeline of the six case studies demonstrates the increasing importance of health entrepreneurs in rural areas due to the aging population and, therefore, increased needs for quality healthcare in these areas. The financing instruments have also become more formal and substantial in recent years, enabling the growth of healthcare businesses in rural areas. However, a major obstacle to further sustainable development remains the non-refundability of services before the state-owned, obligatory health fund, creating major social inequalities, especially in rural areas.
and deploys a content analysis, netnography, and structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to test the hypothesis on business model extensions of wineries, which have been set forth in the previous literature. The findings indicate that business model extensions related to online sales platforms have a positive impact on winery business size. These results mean that developing online sales platforms enlarges the winery BM (business model) size and type (manager-run, state-owned, or cooperatives).
The paper presents in detail the impact of winery BM extensions on winery BM model type and size, thereby contributing to the literature on business model innovation.
related both to the project of a municipality–university innovation partnership, as well as the historic development of the university in its three missions, and, related to the important third mission, themes relevant for the project. In addition, a “toolkit” of relevant project activities is presented against the major identified themes, major project stakeholders, as well as relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities should look beyond a purely economic contribution and should augment all three missions (teaching, research, engagement) by considering social, environmental, and economic aspects of its activities. Instead of considering a government’s role solely as that of a regulator, a much more creative and purposeful cooperation between university and government is possible for creating a regional culture of entrepreneurial initiatives in a rural region.
brand reputation and equity. A netnographic approach allowed to observe winery portfolio labeling
approaches and create a typology of winery labeling strategies. Expert evaluation served to assess the
dependent variable brand equity by deploying a regression analysis. For the observed wine industry,
being part of the food industry, creating consistent and recognizable brands has a direct relevance for
reducing (sustainability-related) food information overload and thereby building sustainable brand
equity. The results uncover the relative importance of each of the six identified labeling strategies as
well as their impact on reputation and brand equity creation. The results point to the need to establish
a consistent strategically founded product communication. Such an approach with a positive effect on
reputation building can serve to build sustainable brand equity. “Stuck in the middle”-type strategies
apparently diminish winery brand equity exploitation. The findings contribute to the knowledge on
food labels in product communication strategies and their impact on organizational brand equity, thereby having high relevance for the implementation of environmental certification initiatives in an organizational context. The article deploys a novel research approach in an under-researched area to provide new insights for further research as well as implications for practice.
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into characteristics of visitor demand for a regionally oriented vinotheque (wine bar and shop) at a UNESCO world heritage destination in Germany. The research especially focuses on expected offer components for a wine bar and shop, including wine-related products and services, to test the theoretical notion of blurred division between product and service offerings. The literature review has revealed that implications of this conceptual notion on wine bar and shop offer creation could be profound as there are different types of wine bar and shops with different product–service combinations. Moreover, the offer creation needs to take into account the overall needs of wine bar and shop visitors and consider them as experience seekers and not necessarily utility-maximizing players. In this sense, the paper expands previous research on vinotheques that primarily took the wine retail perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The study deals with wine-related sales, offer design and the importance of tourism and hospitality for wine sales in a non-growing wine market. However, the concept of increasing wine sales through tourism and hospitality brings to the forefront the issues of creating integrated offerings of products and services. This is why, the study deploys the concepts of hybrid products and experience economy. The primary data have been collected via self-administered, paper-based questionnaire (Appendix 2) amongst visitors at the St. Goar/Loreley tourist destination. The goal has been to reveal the importance of a wine bar and shop as a wine sales channel, whether visitors are interested in visiting a wine bar and shop, what major expectations they have entering a vinotheque, as well as what major offer components of products and/or services are they interested in. Total sample size was N = 400. Major statistical procedure deployed was descriptive statistics, as well as PCA (principal component analysis) of expectations and offer analysis in regards to products and services.
Findings
By deploying the PCA on the data regarding interest in buying wine-related products and services, three offer configurations have been extracted, out of which only one is purely related to products, whilst the other two are hybrid products, meaning a combination of wine-related products and services. Relevance of architectural design illustrates that visitors also seek experience. These findings confirm previously discussed theories on the importance of integrating products and services into hybrid products and creating experience with a suitable combination of products and services.
Research limitations/implications
Data collection has taken place in a confined timeframe (two summer months). No active measures have been taken to ensure the validity of the sample through quotas or similar techniques. The research sample and location are somewhat limited for making conclusions in other geographical regions, but replicating the study in different contexts can add to the comparability of the results on the level of Germany, but also internationally. The empirical evidence for superior customer value of hybrid offerings and integrating services into product-centric offer design is of paramount importance for selling wine in a highly competitive market in absence of market growth. Wine bar and shop allows to differentiate the offer by creating wine-related experience through a combination of product (wine and wine-related products), hospitality/gastronomic services and tourism services. The insights also illustrate the idea of new market opportunities via connecting converging industries.
Practical implications
The study contributes to close a gap identified in the literature review that German wineries lag wine-tourism activities. It provides advice in regards to offer design and hybrid offerings and an experiential experience supported by architectural design. Such an approach offers the potential to win market share in a non-growing market – an ambition of the players in the market but also an obvious challenge.
Social implications
The findings contribute to regional development. Furthermore, arguments for cooperative behavior are provided. This should also help to minimize free ridership and its negative social implications.
Originality/value
The paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the creation of wine bar and shop offer. The results point out that offerings should be created around a core wine tourism product – regional and cellar door offer – and be expanded by “food design” – components, attractive architectural elements, as well as web shop services, thereby creating an advanced wine-related experience. It confirms the importance of theoretical concepts such as experience economy, hybrid products and solution provision in the case of wine bar and shop, by testing these concepts on the group of visitors at a German wine and cultural destination.
Objectives: Identifying the components of tourist satisfaction on the level of destination using primary research data. Using secondary sources to identify related marketing concepts to tourist satisfaction: service quality, destination loyalty and image, and their relation to tourist satisfaction. Identifying major components of DMO service quality, tourist destination brand loyalty, and destination brand image.
Methodology: Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of primary research data on tourist satisfaction to extract major components influencing tourist satisfaction. Using secondary sources to identify concepts related to tourist satisfaction.
Results: Tourist satisfaction has cognitive and emotional aspects which cannot be easily measured. As evidenced in the tourism literature and our primary research, the essential part of the tourist satisfaction is always satisfaction with the human contact, and the perception of the people on the destination, where aspects like safety, hospitality, and professionalism are of major importance. Tourist satisfaction, although one of the most important benchmarks for destination competitiveness, should not be considered without consideration of other related marketing tools such as destination loyalty, destination image and service quality. Moreover, mediating role of tourist satisfaction between service quality and destination loyalty is well documented in the literature.
Design-The research was designed to compare the basic market and seasonality of demand indicators of Kopaonik and Zlatibor mountains, in order to give recommendations for product development. The tourist parameters compared were integrated into a coherent sustainable development indicators model. The primary data was collected through survey, which was conducted as a component of the EU financed project: “Support to implementation of the National Strategy for Tourism” 07SER01/23/11.
Methodology- The research methodology used for comparing age, length of stay, level of daily spending, and satisfaction of tourists was independent samples t-test processed in SPSS, while methodology for image attributes, expense levels by categories and seasonality of demand was descriptive statistics.
Approach- The research combines market indicators with seasonality of demand indicators in order to give recommendations for sustainable product development, through benchmarking of 2 major mountain destinations.
Findings- The research showed that demographic segmentation is the single most important criteria for summer season mountain tourism market segmentation in the 2 mountain destinations in Serbia. Analysis of the image attributes expense categories showed that both mountain destinations (Zlatibor and Kopaonik) offer different value propositions to tourists and have different competitive advantages. Seasonality of demand analysis demonstrated highly unsustainable destination development on Kopaonik mountain.
Originality of the research- The research combines market data with the seasonality of demand indicators in order to offer novel product development solutions that would support development of green, sustainable tourism.
Keywords: Green economy, Marketing Mountain Destinations, Destination Benchmarking, Benhmarking, Tourism Product Development, Sustainable Development Indicators
The research revealed that there are different levels of tourist satisfaction among 7 thematic tourism groups: 1) Business, 2) Culture, 3) Sport and Adventure, 4) Health, 5) Fun and entertainment 6) Pleasure, and 7) Nature.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) focused on tourist’s perceptions of the destination regarding following factors: nature, culture, attractions, history, professionalism of service, hospitality of the population, customer orientation, safety/security and cleanliness, and transportation.
The results of the presented research are especially interesting regarding the Fun and entertainment tourists and satisfaction with nightlife offer. They show the need to redesign that part of Serbia’s thematic tourism offer in order to be more compatible with other tourism products.
The Serbian tourism market is very rich in small niches on both supply and demand side of the market. This study attempted to demonstrate the important differences these groups of tourists do exhibit in terms of key behavioral traits. Tourism policy should address the identified groups of tourists with specially designed marketing and communication strategies, appropriate to the tourist’s needs and attitudes.