Interactions and networks in Australian tourism

There are many participants in the tourism network who have vested interests in tourism development. These organizations include hotels, associations of hotels and hotel owners, inbound travel agents, travel wholesalers, tourism industry associations, airlines, cruise lines, tourism promotional agencies, regional and local tourism authorities, SME tourism businesses, conference and convention centres and many more. Individuals in the tourism industry intermittently change employment. They often remain in the industry and can move between types of organizations. Their contacts, associations and personal networks remain useful and indeed are utilized. The Interactive Approach postulated by the IMP Group proposes that both suppliers and manufacturers are often involved in close, long-lasting adaptive relationships. Firms within relationships must work together, share objectives, share information and also communicate clearly and precisely using a common language. Here relationship partners should have a similar point of view on the meaning of marketing strategy and related concepts including market segmentation, differentiation and competitive positioning.

This paper seeks to assess the nature, perspectives and characteristics of interactions in the tourism network in Australia. There are two stages of this research. The first stage obtained the perspectives of network participants on the challenges facing tourism, key growth segments, brand and promotional strategies and customer insights and satisfaction levels. Participants were also asked to provide advice to the national marketing organization on a range of developmental topics. The second stage of this research assesses the interaction patterns among network participants Network picture, network position, resource constellations, interaction, resources and activities, interdependence, adaptation, actor bonds, strategy and change are also assessed. The relationships are political and consultative in nature. There is much interdependence and possible conflict between the network participants. The national tourism body has particular skills in tourism planning and tourism research. They also have significant resources and the ability to influence inbound tourism patterns. This paper seeks to assess and understand the interactions within this network.

Differences within and between travel preference, planned travel and choice behavior of Australians traveling to Asian and oversea destinations

This study seeks to examine differences in travel preference, travel intention and destination choice behavior of an aggregated set of Australian travelers. Additionally the study seeks to relate income, age, gender, life cycle and life style of Australians to the preference, planning and choice of Asian and overseas destinations. A large representative sample of 49,000 Australian respondents is utilized. Binomial regression is used to profile travelers to Asia and overseas in general. Specific significant variables and differences are highlighted. There are consistent relationships between travel preference, planning and choice and the set of independent variables of income, life cycle and life style. Age nor gender are not consistently related to travel planning or travel choice. It is apparent that a combination of demographics, e.g. age, income and life cycle, combined with life style will provide a more valuable basis for segmentation of Asian and overseas travel markets. The study aims to profile potential Australian tourists thereby making a contribution to tourism knowledge and market segmentation practice.

Choreographer-mathematician collaboration: developing machine segmentation techniques for motion capture analysis of dance

This paper/presentation focuses on the science of human movement, motion capture and cognition in action, and examines the necessity of choreographer-mathematician collaboration in developing appropriate analysis techniques.

Social ideological influences on food consumption and BMI

Social ideologies appeared to influence dietary behaviour, physical activity and BMI. These influences varied through different pathways in younger and older baby boomers. Studies provide insight into the segmentation of baby boomer population in relation to concrete social ideologies that could be used for policy development and effective health promotion.

Consumer concerns about food and health : examination of general and specific relationships with personal values and demographics

Purpose – Aims to investigate the relationships between consumers' food concerns and their personal values and demographic characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was administered in a cross sectional random population survey conducted among a sample of 1,000 adults in South Australia. The questionnaire elicited information about respondents' concerns about 20 food and health issues, the perceived importance of 23 values items derived from the Schwartz values inventory, and their demographic characteristics.

Findings – Principal components analyses derived four food concerns factors and six personal values factors. Respondents' safety concerns scores were positively associated with devout-tradition, order-discipline, and moderate-independent values. Their disease concerns score was positively linked to beauty-nature, devout-tradition, and order-discipline. Multiple regression and chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) analyses showed that individual values items were strong predictors of consumers; specific concerns such as food and heart disease, and, genetic modification of foods.

Research limitations/implications – The research was based on a cross sectional study. More refined indices of food concerns and personal values should be used in replications of this preliminary study.

Practical implications – The findings support the use of psychographic market segmentation approaches in communication programs about food and health issues.

Originality/value – The findings suggest that personal values, may be stronger predictors of consumers' concerns about food and health issues than demographics. They also show that measurement level of values and concerns influence the observed strength of their relationships.

Baby boomers' food shopping habits. Relationships with demographics and personal values

The purpose of this study was to examine baby boomers’ food shopping behaviours and to investigate their relationships with demographics and personal values. A questionnaire concerning food shopping behaviours, personal values and demographics was mailed to a random sample of 2975 people aged 40–70 years in Victoria, Australia. Usable questionnaires of 1031 were obtained. Structural equation modelling was employed for data analyses. The analyses revealed that demographics and personal values influenced shopping behaviours via different pathways among male and female baby boomers. For example, self-direction positively impacted on shopping planning for men but negatively influenced price minimization for women. Among women only, age was positively related to shopping planning and negatively to price minimization. Thus, both personal values and demographics influenced baby boomers’ shopping behaviours. Since values are more likely to be amenable to change than demographics, segmentation of the population via value orientations would facilitate targeted interventions to promote healthy food shopping.

Consumer motivation in a tourism context : continuing the work of Maslow, Rokeach, Vroom, Deci, Haley and others

This paper examines the literature on understanding and measuring consumer motivation and the application of these theories and procedures to understanding and researching tourist motivation. The application of consumer motivation theory to tourism is considered especially relevant, because motivation is considered a critical variable in the tourist decision-making process.

When understanding and predicting consumer and tourist behaviour, some measures are considered superior to others and this will be examined in this paper. Also many measures of motivation are often used as one of the segmentation bases for tourist and other consumer markets, thereby indicating a strong relationship between motivation and market segmentation, also to be discussed in this paper.

The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to investigate what standards or consensus for determining consumer motivation have emerged in the academic marketing literature, (2) to review the theoretical knowledge about approaches and procedures for determining and measuring consumer motivation in general and their application to understanding tourist motivation (3) to suggest implications for future research of consumer motivation in a tourism context.

Tourist benefits research : old and new issues and uses in a cultural tourism context

Benefits sought and gained by tourists are relevant to developing tourist markets for cultural attractions and experiences as this paper will demonstrate. The main objectives of this paper are to identify benefit variables commonly used in tourism marketing, their purpose of use, and associated issues by reviewing existing empirical research of tourism benefits and specifically examining the applications to date in cultural tourism contexts. For the benefits most commonly found in tourist benefit research and of relevance to tourists’ cultural experiences, a benefits typology from the allied area of leisure (Driver & Bruns, 1999) is applied to categorise these benefits and develop a conceptual typology for consideration. Research propositions for future research of tourists’ cultural experiences are also proposed including new uses for benefit variable dimensions.

Two novel missense mutations in hairy-and-enhancer-of-split-7 in a family with spondylocostal dysostosis

Spondylocostal dysostosis (SCD) is an inherited disorder with abnormal vertebral segmentation that results in extensive hemivertebrae, truncal shortening and abnormally aligned ribs. It arises during embryonic development by a disruption of formation of somites (the precursor tissue of the vertebrae, ribs and associated tendons and muscles). Four genes causing a subset of autosomal recessive forms of this disease have been identified: DLL3 (SCDO1: MIM 277300), MESP2 (SCDO2: MIM 608681), LFNG (SCDO3: MIM609813) and HES7 (SCDO4). These genes are all essential components of the Notch signalling pathway, which has multiple roles in development and disease. Previously, only a single SCD-causative missense mutation was described in HES7. In this study, we have identified two new missense mutations in the HES7 gene in a single family, with only individuals carrying both mutant alleles being affected by SCD. In vitro functional analysis revealed that one of the mutant HES7 proteins was unable to repress gene expression by DNA binding or protein heterodimerization.

Implementing the "GrabCut" segmentation technique as a plugin for the GIMP

Image segmentation requires a segmentation tool that is fast and easy to use. The GIMP has built in segmentation tools, but under some circumstances these tools perform badly. "GrabCut" is an innovative segmentation technique that uses both region and boundary information in order to perform segmentation. Several variations on the "GrabCut" algorithm have been implemented as a plugin for the GIMP. The results obtained using "GrabCut" are comparable, and often better than the results of all the other built in segmentation tools.

A further development in social marketing application of the MOA framework and behavioral implications

This social marketing study discusses the application of Rothschild’s MOA framework (Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability) in a land-use management context. The authors hypothesize that landholders with higher levels of MOA are positively associated with behavior that would result in the effective control of a vertebrate pest (the European rabbit). A random sample of 566 land managers in southeastern Australia was obtained. The development of scales associated with this study were the result of intensive qualitative research, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, and a thorough review of secondary resources. The scales were developed through a factor analytic process and were piloted and pre-tested before being used.

From the study it is ascertained that about one-third of land managers fall into the highest level of effective behavior, and for the remainder, social marketing interventions, using marketing, education, and the law, could be applied to changebehavior. The study provides evidence that Rothschild’s theoretical MOA framework can be applied to a social market and thus provides guidance on the types of interventions that may be effective in altering behavior. The MOA framework also provides a mechanism for segmentation that can be used to describe various markets and gives direction to the interventions that may be effective in altering behavior.

The role of labeling processes in elderly consumers' responses to age segmentation cues

This investigation explores labeling processes underlying age segmentation cue effects on discount usage intentions. Depth interviews regarding participants' experiences using senior-citizen-type discounts reveal three levels of responsiveness to consumer offerings promoted with age segmentation cues: rejecting senior citizen discounts to avoid self-devaluation, rejecting senior citizen discounts to avoid stigmatization, and assigning positive meanings to the status that promotes senior citizen discount usage. An experimental investigation, undertaken to assess the sequential ordering of these levels of responsiveness, reveals that self-devaluation and perceived stigma mediate age segmentation cue effects on discount usage intention only for younger-aged elderly. Results lend support for a stage model of consumers' progression through phases of responsiveness to "senior citizen" labeling.

All change RG and B loop

All Change RG & B Loop is a country & western instrumental featuring rhythm guitar and upright bass with a wooden barn echo.

Amazing drum and arp

Amazing Drum and Arp is a short instrumental featuring drum and synth.

A probabilistic framework for extracting narrative act boundaries and semantics in motion pictures

This work constitutes the first attempt to extract the important narrative structure, the 3-Act storytelling paradigm in film. Widely prevalent in the domain of film, it forms the foundation and framework in which a film can be made to function as an effective tool for story telling, and its extraction is a vital step in automatic content management for film data. The identification of act boundaries allows for structuralizing film at a level far higher than existing segmentation frameworks, which include shot detection and scene identification, and provides a basis for inferences about the semantic content of dramatic events in film. A novel act boundary likelihood function for Act 1 and 2 is derived using a Bayesian formulation under guidance from film grammar, tested under many configurations and the results are reported for experiments involving 25 full-length movies. The result proves to be a useful tool in both the automatic and semi-interactive setting for semantic analysis of film, with potential application to analogues occuring in many other domains, including news, training video, sitcoms.