Purpose
The pandemic has accelerated the use of virtual learning spaces and led to rethinking post-pandemic course delivery. However, it remains unclear whether students’ online engagement in e-servicescapes can influence attachment to a place, i.e. a physical servicescape. This study conducted an exploratory study to inform place attachment and actor engagement literature in an online service context.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative survey design was used and 98 usable responses were collected from undergraduate and postgraduate students at a major New Zealand university during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The questionnaire consisted of 23 items relating to three dimensions of online student engagement and 19 items referring to six dimensions of campus attachment.
Findings
Results of the exploratory study indicate that classmate community in online lectures, referring to student–student interactions, can positively influence five of the dimensions of campus attachment, including place identity, place dependence, affective attachment, social bonding and place memory, even though students are physically not on campus. However, it cannot influence place expectation. Moreover, instructor community (student–instructor interaction) and learning engagement (student–content interaction) in online lectures have insignificant impact on campus attachment.
Research limitations/implications
This study emphasises the social dimension when interacting in e-servicescapes. Person-based interactions are more influential than content-based interactions for student engagement. Educational service providers should integrate the e-servicescape and the physical servicescape by encouraging more student–student interactions to contribute to service ecosystem well-being at the micro, meso and macro levels.
Originality/value
This study indicates that customer-to-customer interaction serves to integrate customer engagement across the digital and physical realms for process-based services like education.
Sustainable practices are increasingly promoted in the restaurant industry. One significant aspect of sustainability in restaurants is the use of local supply chains, especially for food, which also serve as a means for restaurants to promote freshness of produce, sourcing, and quality. Considering the prevalence of locality in menu marketing, this study aims to explore the relationships between sustainability and locality at fine-dining restaurants. Michelin-starred restaurants are significant influencers in the restaurant industry, as well as food fashions overall, and may therefore serve to promote sustainability practices. This study examines the sustainability of 135 Michelin three-star restaurants by conducting website content analysis. By identifying restaurants’ sustainable practices during the processes of procurement, preparation, and presentation and analysing the official websites of 135 Michelin three-star restaurants, this study finds that although all sustainable practices are mentioned by less than half of the reviewed websites, most practices could be interpreted as being embedded in their locality, especially local food and restaurant history. This study suggests that promoting locality could therefore help sustain sustainability in the fine-dining restaurant industry. Although this study is limited to the website content of official websites for Michelin three-star restaurants, it provides potentially valuable insights on the promotion of sustainable restaurant practices.
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