Perceptions of residents of hosting the ���Guimar��es 2012 European Capital of Culture���: An ex-ante approach

The European Capital of Culture is an annual mega-event, which can provide a good forum though which to challenge and engage local citizens, thus generating feelings of common citizenship. In addition, it presents an ideal opportunity to promote the restructuring of the hosting urban space. However, the success of both the organization and the city that hosts the cultural event depends on the residents��� commitment towards it, the consistency of the tourism attractions and activities supplied, and the capacity of anticipating and monitoring the evolution of tourists��� preferences. The present study aims to assess the intention to participate and the impacts perceived by residents of Guimar��es from hosting one of the 2012 European Capitals of Culture (2012 ECOC) in the ex-ante period (2011). Through a convenience sample of 471 usable surveys applied to the local population, conducted between October and December 2011, we tried to identify some of these potential impacts. According to the results received, 40% of residents had a low or very low knowledge of the cultural program, although only 11% demonstrated no intention of attending any activity during the event. The comparison of the mean scores of the expected 2012 ECOC impacts by gender reveals that the most valued and least valued factors are common to female and male respondents. With regard to the differences between those that intended to attend the event and the ones that did not, expected participants rated positive and negative impact factors more than did the ones that did not intend to attend.

Perceptions of residents of hosting the ���Guimar��es 2012 European Capital of Culture���: an ex-ante approach

The European Capital of Culture is an annual mega-event, which can provide a good forum though which to challenge and engage local citizens, thus generating feelings of common citizenship. In addition, it presents an ideal opportunity to promote the restructuring of the hosting urban space. However, the success of both the organization and the city that hosts the cultural event depends on the residents��� commitment towards it, the consistency of the tourism attractions and activities supplied, and the capacity of anticipating and monitoring the evolution of tourists��� preferences. The present study aims to assess the intention to participate and the impacts perceived by residents of Guimar��es from hosting one of the 2012 European Capitals of Culture (2012 ECOC) in the ex-ante period (2011). Through a convenience sample of 471 usable surveys applied to the local population, conducted between October and December 2011, we tried to identify some of these potential impacts. According to the results received, 40% of residents had a low or very low knowledge of the cultural program, although only 11% demonstrated no intention of attending any activity during the event. The comparison of the mean scores of the expected 2012 ECOC impacts by gender reveals that the most valued and least valued factors are common to female and male respondents. With regard to the differences between those that intended to attend the event and the ones that did not, expected participants rated positive and negative impact factors more than did the ones that did not intend to attend.

Residents��� perceptions on impacts of hosting the ���Guimar��es 2012 European Capital of Culture���: comparisons of the pre-and post-2012 ECOC

Residents tend to have high expectations about the benefits of hosting a mega���event. So, it was not surprising that the nomination of Guimar��es, Portugal, as the 2012 European Capital of Culture (2012 ECOC) had raised great expectations in the local community towards its socio���economic and cultural benefits. The present research was designed to examine the Guimar��es residents��� perceptions on the impacts of hosting the 2012 ECOC approached in two different time schedules, the pre��� and the post���event, trying to capture the evolution of the residents` evaluation of its impacts. For getting the data, two surveys were applied to Guimar��es` residents, one in the pre���event phase, in 2011, and another in the post���event phase, in 2013. This approach is uncommonly applied to Portugal data and it is even the first time it was done to a Portuguese European Capital of Culture. After a factor analysis, the results of t���tests indicate that there were significant differences (p<0.05) between the samples from the pre��� and post���2012 ECOC on two positive impact factors (Community��� benefits and Residents��� benefits) and one negative impact factor (Economic, social and environmental costs). Respondents also showed a negative perception of the impacts in all dimensions, except Changes in habits of Guimar��es residents.

Ex-ante evaluation by the media of the Guimar��es 2012 European Capital of Culture

The nomination of Guimar��es to host the 2012 European Capital of Culture (ECC) has put on the agenda of the city the need of measuring the effects that the implementation of this mega event could have in it and in the municipality a whole. The balance of the benefits and costs and an extended community involvement tend to reduce negative impacts and enhance positive ones. This chapter analyzes the involvement of population and local associations in the planning and organization of the 2012 Guimar��es European Capital of Culture, using the coverage made during 2011 by local and national press of the mega event. A content analysis of the news published covering the period between January and December 2011 and using three newspapers was conducted. From those, two were local and weekly newspapers and one was a national daily one. Looking to data results, it can be concluded that it was poor the community involvement and, also, the one of the cultural associations in the organizations of the 2012 ECC. A strong negative reaction to the model choose to plan the mega event conducted by official organizers was found, which has cast doubts on the desirable participation of the residents and, consequently, on the success of the mega event, especially in a perspective of a medium and long term effects.

Residents��� perceptions on impacts of hosting the ���Guimar��es 2012 European Capital of Culture���: comparisons of the pre-and post-2012 ECOC

The nomination of Guimar��es, a small city located in the northwest of Portugal, as European capital of culture (ECOC) in 2012 raised great expectations in the local community towards its socio-economic and cultural benefits. As noted by various authors, namely Kim and Petrick (2005), Kim, Gursoy and Lee (2006) and Gursoy, Chi, Ai and Chen (2011), residents tend to have high expectations about the benefits of hosting a mega-event, although they tend to recognize that some costs will result from it. Therefore, the present research was designed to examine the Guimar��es residents��� perceptions on the impacts of the 2012 European capital of culture (2012 ECOC) on the city and the municipality of Guimar��es before and after the mega-event and the differences found between the two time periods.

Evaluating the Guimar��es 2012 European Capital of Culture: National and International Tourists��� Behaviors and Perceptions

In 2012, Guimar��es hosted the European Capital of Culture (ECOC). An evaluation of this event was needed because public, private, and community funds were involved. This analysis considers tourists as external and independent stakeholders who assessed the cultural activities developed during the event as well as the attributes of the city. The main objectives of the research conducted were to assess the visitors` motivations during the hosting of the Guimar��es ECOC 2012, their perceptions towards the city and if national and international visitors kept different perceptions of it. For two months, in the summer of 2012, a survey was applied to 390 visitors. The results revealed that hosting the 2012 ECOC was a major contribution towards attracting new visitors to the city (though many of the visitors stayed only for a short period of time). Based on tourists��� perceptions, the tangible heritage was clearly detached from the set of attributes associated to Guimar��es, whereas the intangible heritage was less noted. The Portuguese tourists seem to be more prone to value the tangible heritage than the foreign tourists. Overall, Guimar��es received a very positive evaluation relating to the city���s image and, as stated by tourists, visiting it was declared to be highly recommended. Following the obtained empirical results, the need for changing the city���s promoted image emerges, which has been too centered on its tangible heritage. In doing so, it is believed that there will be longer overnight stays by visitors.

Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) j�� �� uma escola de pensamento em marketing?

A d��cada de 1980 trouxe uma vis��o alternativa �� corrente positivista predominante no campo de pesquisa do consumidor: a Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), que assume uma orienta����o epistemol��gica baseada no interpretativismo e na pesquisa qualitativa. Diante do destaque alcan��ado pela CCT, levantou-se a seguinte quest��o: a CCT j�� pode ser considerada uma escola de pensamento em marketing aut��noma? Pautados em tr��s crit��rios fundamentais para a qualifica����o de uma escola de pensamento (reconhecimento acad��mico, corpo de conhecimento e contribui����es), foi realizada uma desk research, baseada em peri��dicos e artigos da ��rea e na constru����o de um corpus de pesquisa constru��do com base nas refer��ncias contidas no texto seminal Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): twenty years of research. A conclus��o �� de que a CCT atende aos crit��rios adotados na presente pesquisa, podendo ser considerada uma escola de pensamento a ut��noma dentro do campo de pesquisa do consumo.

Rice Culture of Divine Right

O texto pretende localizar os ritmos do com��rcio de Bengala durante as oito hegemonias sucessivas que dominaram a ��sia meridional e a ��sia do Sudeste entre 2000 BC e 1750 AD. Estas foram: 1) A transi����o inicial de tribalismo para Estados sob a orienta����o do Bramanismo; 2) Budismo; 3) Revivalismo br��mane (pur��nico) nos s��culos IX e X; 4) A revolu����o comercial no Golfo de Bengala no s��culo XI; 5) A ordem mongol; 6) A primeira rede isl��mica; 7) O sistema-mundo europeu do tipo portugu��s; 8) O sistema de Estados no s��culo XVI ��� um segundo sistema-mundo isl��mico. O texto sugere que Bengala manifestou fortes potencialidades comerciais nas fases 2,4 e 6. Esta for��a ficou reduzida no s��culo XVI devido a uma combina����o de factores: As liga����es com o ocidente desde o per��odo de Husain Shahi e continuadas nos tempos dos Mong��is, as liga����es riverinas oesteleste dos s��culos XVI ���XVIII, o decl��nio do com��rcio oriental, a retirada chinesa, a queda do Ara����o e o decl��nio do com��rcio portugu��s no Golfo de Bengala.

Culture Jamming: Precisamos dele?

A riqueza da cultura p��s-moderna, os seus estilos, modas, ideias, conceitos e filosofias variadas tornam a escolha e a novidade parte integrante do nosso quotidiano. No entanto, ser��o as nossas decis��es tomadas em consci��ncia? Ser�� que resultam da compreens��o da realidade circundante? Ou, perdidos numa massa de informa����o, ser�� que nos limitamos ao n��vel superficial da vida, seguindo os outros? O movimento de culture jamming (obstru����o cultural), um fen��meno s��ciocultural e pol��tico das duas ��ltimas d��cadas, permite-nos tomar conhecimento de modos conscientes de cria����o e participa����o na cultura p��s-moderna, particularmente na cultura de consumo. A compreens��o dos mecanismos da publicidade possibilita a oposi����o �� sua manipula����o, o que, por sua vez, pode facilitar a consolida����o da liberdade. Culture jamming consiste em ac����o tendo em vista a promo����o de conhecimento que resulta em mudan��a social e qualidade de vida.

A blockmodel study of managerial hierarchies, verbal networks, and organizational culture in four hospitals

This study demonstrates and applies a social network methodology for studying the dynamics of hierarchies in organizations. Social network (blockmodel) analysis of verbal networks in four hospitals contrasted hierarchical and structurally equivalent partitions of the sociomatrices of frequent ties and perceptions of organizational culture. It was found that the verbal networks in these organizations follow a center periphery pattern rather than a hierarchical logic and that perceptions of culture vary more by verbal network than by formal hierarchy. The perceptions of culture of central groups in one organization are much like those of peripheral groups in another. In all four hospitals, structurally equivalent social networks are more important in predicting subcultures than are hierarchical groupings and hierarchy has a limited impact on the development of verbal networks. These findings suggest the value of an amoeba rather than a pyramid metaphor in interpreting the cultures and relational structures of organizations.

Folk culture and political power: practices and representations of moliceiro culture in Portugal, cultural sociology

This article analyses the painted panels of the moliceiro boat, a traditional working boat of the Ria de Aveiro region of Portugal. The article examines how the painted panels have been invented and reinvented over time. The boat and its panels are contextualized both within the changing socio-economic conditions of the Ria de Aveiro region, and the changing socio-political conditions of Portugal throughout the 20th century and until the present day. The article historically analyses the social significance of ���moliceiro culture���, examining in particular the power relations it expresses and its ambiguous past and present relationships with the political and the economic powers of the Portuguese state. The article unpacks some of the complexity of the relations that have pertained between public and private, local and national, folk culture and ���art���, and popular and institutional in the Ria de Aveiro region in particular, and Portugal more generally.

Culture, politics and identity: critical readings on gender in southeast Asia

Indian Journal of Gender Studies October 2012 vol. 19 no. 3 437-467