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The paper introduces for the first time a totally dynamic two-stage approach to analyzing the hotel industry's technical efficiency at the sub-national level. The first stage uses data envelopment window analysis (DEWA) to assess regional hotel sectors' technical efficiency over time. Unlike previous studies, the second stage uses a dynamic Tobit model to investigate the impact of macro contextual factors on the hotel sector efficiency. The study chooses the Chinese hotel industry during the period 2001-2006 as its application setting. The findings of the investigation indicate that the Chinese hotel industry is approaching an efficient operation in general, recovering from a major dip in 2003 resulting from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak. In addition, the study introduces a novel two-dimensional efficiency-based matrix to assess the competitive advantage of different regions of the Chinese hotel sector. The paper presents strategic market implications for hoteliers, government decision-makers, and destination management organizations. The proposed methods are applicable for situations in which an exogenous event of a destabilizing impact (e.g., SARS) does occur.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to study the interrelationships among grocery store image, travel distance (TD), customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions (BI) in a college town setting. Design/methodology/approach -Surveys are given to undergraduate college student grocery shoppers in a Midwest college town. The 400 usable questionnaires are randomly divided into two parts: one subsample was used for exploratory factor analysis while the other (larger) subsample was used for confirmatory factor analysis and subsequently the structural path analysis. Findings -Grocery store image is identified as a second-order construct reflected by the three key components of merchandise attributes (MEA), store ambience and service (SAS), and marketing attractiveness (MGA). Although store image is an important driver of BI, its indirect effect through customer satisfaction is found to be substantially greater than its direct effect on BI. Interestingly, TD is positively related to satisfaction, which highlights the possibility for retailers to overcome the distance disadvantage. Originality/value -As few studies have attempted to characterize the US grocery market in terms of the reasons for their choice, this exploratory study is unique because it investigates grocery shopping behavior in a traditional American college town. Specifically, the distinctive market factors (e.g. the relative scarcity of grocery retailers, their distance from campus, and the mix of grocer types in or around the Midwest college town) add value and contribute to the retailing literature.

Purpose The impact of destination reputation on tourists’ behavior has not received sufficient attention in the tourism literature. Built upon the signaling theory and the well-documented stimulus-organism-response framework, the purpose of this paper is to propose and assess a theoretical model that captures relationships among destination reputation, place attachment, tourist satisfaction, and the search for alternative destinations. Design/methodology/approach Using the covariance-based structural equation modeling technique, this study empirically tested the conceptual model with a convenience sample of Chinese tourists who visited a popular coastal urban tourism destination in China. Findings Findings reveal that destination reputation positively impacts perceived place dependence, place identity, and tourist satisfaction. In addition, place dependence positively affects tourist satisfaction, but place identity has no significant impact on tourist satisfaction. As expected, tourist satisfaction negatively influences tourists’ search for alternative destinations; however, place identity positively influences tourists’ search for alternative destinations. Originality/value Few studies in the tourism literature explore the role of destination reputation in the tourist decision-making process. The present study’s unique contribution lies in its examination of destination reputation on tourists’ behavior. In addition, this study includes the search for alternative destinations as an important behavioral outcome into the proposed model. Some tourists explore alternative destinations even though they are willing to revisit and spread positive messages about the destination they already visited. Therefore, the continuous searching behavior is worthy of investigation in tourism studies.