: This paper investigates the relationship of information communication technology (ICT) and virtual reality (VR), and tourism, or specifically its interrelations and links to tourism sustainability. As a consumer technology, VR is still a relatively new concept, although it has been researched and used in the tourism industry for marketing purposes. The aim is to understand the different aspects of VR and ICTs and potentially link them to sustainability and perspectives on mass tourism, as well as to the potential future developments related to the ability of ICT and tourism to meet the tourists’ needs to a greater extent in the future. By use of the systematic mapping methodology, the insights into these concepts and their relations to each other are provided. The study reveals the evolution and links between the investigated concepts, the existing challenges and solutions, and the remaining gaps. The present findings indicate that VR as a trend in the tourism industry still needs significant work and improvement until it is ready to fully immerse itself into the tourism sector and especially involve itself into the issues concerning tourism and the potential of sustainability concept within the industry. Many of the concerns and conflicts still exist, but the potential of its right implementation is enormous.

This research focuses on analyzing residents' perception and attitude toward tourism development in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H). For the purpose of this research, the existing models on residents' perception and attitudes were modified and a new theoretical model of six constructs was tested applying Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The dimensions of the model, perception of tourism management, perception of economic, social and environmental impacts, residents' satisfaction, support for further tourism development, were formed as latent variables, accompanied with a set of three or four consonant questions. The model suggests that the support for tourism development is indirectly stipulated by the perception of tourism management, and by economic, social and environmental impacts. Analyses have shown that 6 out of the 7 suggested hypotheses have been confirmed. The findings indicate that the residents of the FB&H strongly support tourism development as they perceive it brings more positive impacts, which are greater than the actual governmental investment into the sector.

Abstract Despite numerous scholarly attempts, there is a lack of consensus regarding the relevance of various factors influencing consumer’s intention to purchase organic food. The purpose of this study is to asses the impact of subjective and personal norms on consumer attitude toward buying organic food. Moreover, this study aims to explore the moderating role of contextual factors - product knowledge and consumer scepticism on the norms- attitude link. Data were collected through an online survey on a sample of 212 organic food buyers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moderated regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized relations between the constructs of interest. Findings indicate the subjective and personal norms are positively and significantly related to consumer attitude toward organic food purchases. Also, our findings revealed that product knowledge strengthens the subjective norms-attitude relationship, while consumer scepticism toward organic food claims weakens the subjective norms-attitude link. This study informs producers, marketers, and policy-makers about the relative importance of norms, scepticism, and knowledge in the context of organic food consumption.

The problem of an ageing population has only recently gained attention in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). Adequate pension reforms cannot be expected if most citizens are unaware of the issues or even oppose the reforms necessary. The primary research is based on opinion survey data collected in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH) with a special focus on the fact that the ageing of the population might pose a problem for pension systems in the future. The results show that more than three quarters of the respondents are aware of this problem in FBIH. The logit regression model shows that pensioners, respondents who prefer the primary role of government, those with higher levels of education and reported living standard are more likely to recognise this issue. Improvements in the efficiency of pension funds, reduction in public spending and active measures aimed at the prevention of emigration from BIH are the solutions most widely recognised.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to obtain empirical understanding of organic food buyers in the context of emergent organic food market (i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina) by using a segmentation approach. Design/methodology/approach A self-administrated online survey was carried out among organic food buyers (n=202) using the snowball sampling technique. Measurement items were mainly adapted from the prior studies. Findings The authors analysed the heterogeneity of organic food buyers with latent class model. Four distinct latent classes (i.e. segments) of organic food buyers were identified. Those segments were named as enthusiastic social-seekers, enthusiastic moralists, hostile seldom shoppers, and hostile heavy shoppers. Originality/value Though the study was exploratory, the identified segments of organic food buyers can enhance our knowledge about differing characteristics of organic food buyers in the context of the country where the organic food industry is in the early stages of development. The findings of this study will give organic food producers and marketers a much better framework for making product, pricing, distribution and marketing communications decision. Moreover, the identification of organic food consumer profiles will provide an insight into how policymakers should tailor their public policy and strategies to expand the size of the organic food market.

A country image is a generic construct created by a wide range of factors as representative products, national characteristics, economic and political backgrounds, history and traditions. In times when environmental protection and performance have become two of the world’s most important priorities, such a general view of a particular country should include green dimensions as well. Literature review suggests a lack of literature on the coexistence of country image and green orientation. The goal of the chapter is to bridge the gap in the research literature about the green image of a country and to explore the level of awareness of its existence among tourists. Therefore, after secondary (desk) research, primary (field) research in two stages was conducted. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in both stages. Firstly, group interviews were conducted among tourists in the capital of Croatia. Then, a survey was carried out with 250 tourists

The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption of mobile Internet in a developing country. This paper presents an application of the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model. The model was adapted with a construct Quality of Technology (QT) represented by four variables. The aim of this study was to find out what impact QT has on the use of mobile Internet moderated by Gender, Age and Experience. The research was conducted in two phases: a pilot study and a quantitative survey. The pilot study aimed to test the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. The sample for the pilot study consisted of 80 respondents. The sample of 562 respondents was used for the quantitative survey. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) that includes confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, partial least squares analysis and modelling latent variables was used for the analysis. The results confirmed that QT has a significant impact on the use of mobile Internet. The analysis showed that older users are more sensitive to the use of mobile Internet. Furthermore, the research confirmed that gender does not have a significant impact on the relation between QT and the use of mobile Internet. The impact of QT on the use of mobile Internet is higher for more experienced users. This paper confirmed that the adapted UTAUT2 model extended with QT can be used for exploring the adoption of mobile Internet in a country in transition. It recommends the application of this extended model in other developing countries with the purpose of testing its relevance. The research will fill a gap in the theory of user acceptance of technology due to the fact that UTAUT2 has not been applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that the models of user acceptance of technology have not so far treated QT.

Recommended Citation Shultz, Clifford J.; Castilhos, Rodrigo; Fajardo, Andres Alberto Barrios; Grbac, Bruno; Chatzidakis, Andreas; Nill, Alexander; and Peštek, Almir. The FIFA World Cup: Analyses and Interpretations of the World’s Biggest Sporting Spectacle. Proceedings of the 40th Annual Macromarketing Conference, , : 303-305, 2015. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works,

The tourism industry is complex and hyper-dynamic, comprised of a highly fragmented value chain. It encompasses travel organizers, accommodation providers, tourist offices, visitor attractions, transport activities, and a litany of other support systems and direct and tertiary mechanisms for each of them. Sustainable initiatives across this chain moreover are becoming increasingly important, while competition intensifies, and consumer-tourists – now digitally connected and savvy – also are more demanding. These realities potentially help and hinder a country’s tourism industry, and the broader marketing system that both enables and benefits from it. Conventional wisdom commonly holds tourism and its related activities positively impact social and economic well-being. Therefore government leaders – in cities, cantons, regions, and countries -- businesspersons, NGOs and consumer-stakeholders would be well served to understand the hyper-dynamic macromarketing milieu that, part and parcel, is the tourism industry. This would seem to be particularly true in countries with numerous touristic assets, but perhaps still suffer or are beleaguered by socio-economic challenges that prove difficult to overcome, and might in fact be ameliorated by tourism development. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) would seem to be one of these countries, and thus is the focus of this research. More specifically, the purpose of this active study, in which data continue to be collected, is to identify the most pressing challenges and compelling touristic assets, posit sustainable competitive advantages, consider complementary and cooperative initiatives within BiH and among its neighboring countries and investor countries, and then discuss some solutions for tourism stakeholders, which could lead to sustainable tourism development, improved competitiveness and greater development and well-being of the state/country as a whole. To date, the research team has examined extant data and monitors data-trends; in 2013 members of the team began multi-method field research across BiH, with special emphasis on regions generally regarded to have the most or best tourism potential vis-à-vis desirable tourist-segments. Initial findings lead to hope, frustration, and again hope -- at least for those

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying dimensions of local cuisine image by identifying the key cuisine attributes tourists rely on in their evaluations of local cuisine; and to identify those dimensions of local cuisine image which have the strongest influence of tourist satisfaction with food experience. These issues are addressed within the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an emergent tourism market in Western Balkans. Design/methodology/approach – The research is exploratory. The city of Sarajevo was chosen as a study setting. Image of local cuisine was measured by using a multi-attribute approach in which several food attributes are specified and incorporated into the measurement instrument. Data from convenience sample of foreign tourists (n=402) were quantitatively analyzed using multivariate and descriptive statistics. Findings – Results suggest that the local cuisine image compromises four components (dimensions): “food uniqueness and cultural heritage”, “food quality ...