Online review sites provide increasingly important sources of information in tourism product purchases. We tested experimentally how source, content style, and peripheral credibility cues in online postings influence four consumer beliefs, and how those in turn influence attitudes and purchase intentions for an eco-resort. We compared tourists' posts to managers' posts, containing vague versus specific content, and with or without peripheral certification logos. First, we tested effects of tourists' beliefs about utility, trustworthiness, quality and corporate social responsibility on attitude toward the resort and purchase intentions. Second, we tested the role of source, content, and certification on the beliefs. The interactions are complex, but broadly tourists treat specific information posted by customers as most useful and trustworthy. Their purchase intentions are influenced principally by their overall attitude toward the resort and their beliefs in its corporate social responsibility.

This study aimed to develop a psychometrically sound measure of the construct of love and deep caring for nature as an expression of people's personal and explicitly emotional relationship with nature. Expert opinion and pre-pilot surveys were employed for refinement of the item pool, and a sample of 307 university students was used in a major pilot study aiming to further purify scale items. A field trial was conducted using a sample of 261 tourists at leisure with nature. The final 15-item Love and Care for Nature (LCN) scale is differentiated from established measures of similar constructs, and demonstrates high internal consistency and sound validity. This research extends the psychological frameworks of environmental altruism, and has also taken the philosophical concept of biophilia, as love for nature, into the operational realm by making it perceptible and measurable.

The adoption of digital communications, facilitated by Internet technology, has been among the most significant international business developments of the past 25 years. This article investigates the effect of these new technologies and the changing global business environment to understand how relational approaches to international market entry (IME) are changing in light of macro developments. Despite substantial resources in business practice dedicated to combining relational strategies in digital settings, this analysis of extant literature reveals that fewer than 3% of peer-reviewed research articles in the international marketing domain examine digital contexts. To address this gap, the authors assess 25 years of literature to provide (1) a description of the evolution of IME research; (2) a review and synthesis of pertinent literature that adopts relational, digital, and hybrid approaches to IME; (3) a taxonomy of IME strategies; and (4) directions for further research.

Closing the gap between theory and practice presents a major challenge for branding. However, a disconnect has formed between city branding research and practice. This paper argues the divergent evolutionary paths of city branding research and practice contribute to this disconnect. Specifically, we review the evolution of city branding research and practice through a macroscopic lens in order to delineate major shifts in the philosophies and assumptions shaping each trajectory. In terms of practice, we map the development of city brand management over five waves covering primitive attempts to adjust what cities mean to people, boosterish city promotion, entrepreneurial urban governance, formalised city marketing and, finally, a rhetorical city brand focus. We then identify four major waves in city branding research: (1) initial possibilities, (2) application and adaption of existing branding theory, (3) development of a critical lens and (4) progressive approaches that intersect with the co-creation branding paradigm. As well as providing a basis for mutual understanding and collaboration between researchers and practitioners, examination of both evolutionary paths indicates major research gaps in the city branding literature that appear particularly pertinent to bridging the city branding theory-practice gap.

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers whose valuable comments and suggestions have helped to improve the quality of this article.