Empirical evidence of tourist satisfaction and loyalty in the case of Bucharest—A partial least squares structural equation modelling approach

Tourist satisfaction (TS), tourist loyalty (TL), the decision to revisit a destination and the choice to recommend it to acquaintances can have a decisive influence on inbound tourist flows. These influencing factors are closely related to tourist behaviour. The main objective of this study was to investigate TS and loyalty of both foreign and Romanian tourists in Bucharest, by testing under-examined and new variables. The hypotheses and conceptual research model were based on the following antecedents and consequences of TS: tourists' expectations and travel motivations (TEM), destination authenticity and infrastructure quality, destination safety (DS), tourists' emotions (TE) and TL. The analysis was unique in testing the effect of novelty-seeking tourists' desire to extend their stay on their expectations and motivations. The mediating effect of TE on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty was also tested for the first time. Data were collected using a 24-item online questionnaire. The data were modelled with partial least squares structural equation modelling. Based on 122 valid responses processed with SmartPLS software, the results confirm most of the research hypotheses. The findings reveal that tourists' desire to extend the length of stay on their expectations and motivations has the highest statistical contribution to TEM. Furthermore, a statistically insignificant relationship between DS and TS was identified. The findings are useful for all stakeholders of tourism development in Bucharest.     

Tears,Bubbles and Disappointment—New Approaches for the Analysis of Affective-Discursive Practices: A Commentary on “Researching the Psychosocial”

This commentary welcomes the broadening of methods and theories in psychosocial studies evident in this special issue, “Researching the Psychosocial.” Three features are highlighted: the shift to synchronous investigation from the diachronic analysis of cultural sense-making, the focus on the intertwining of affect and discourse, and the opening of new routes to exploring participants’ investments and deep attachments. These new ways of working are briefly contrasted with the turn to affect in cultural studies, traditional psychobiological approaches, fine-grain discursive psychology, and psychoanalytic psychosocial research.     

The Oral History and Education Project of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies and the Gallup Institute for Global Well-Being: A Way to Honor Distinguished Researchers and to Preserve their Legacies—The Alex Michalos Interviews

The Oral History and Education Project of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies and the Gallup Institute for Global Well-Being is described along with specific, step-by-step procedures and guidelines for planning, conducting, and disseminating oral history and educational interviews with pre-eminent research scientists and exemplars of service to others. An illustrative “case” of interviews with the pre-eminent scholar, Alex Michalos, winner of Canada’s Gold Medal Award and president of Academy II of the Royal Society of Canada is presented. The Project’s goal is to produce oral histories and educational interviews with the top researchers in the fields of quality of life, well-being, social indicators, positive psychology and other sciences, in order to preserve their academic legacies, share their findings worldwide, and encourage a new generation of researchers, scientists, and oral historians. Those conducting these interviews may claim their interviews as publications in the fields of the history and teaching of psychology and sociology and oral history as long as these interviews remain available through a university, academic society, college textbook company, or university archivist. It is hoped that this article will inspire and guide others who may wish to emulate this work.