11370 research outputs found
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The ecosystem of fun for hotel mobile app users
No full textDespite increasing investments in mobile technologies by organizations in tourism and hospitality, challenges persist in effectively enhancing customer experiences. To address this, innovative promotional strategies are focusing on engagement through gaming and gamification, which are among the most popular trends. This research aims to expand on existing gamification studies by exploring a fun ecosystem within hotel gamified mobile applica-tions, examining the relationships between different user types. A study in-volving 495 hotel visitors with mobile app experience found that interactions within such a gamified ecosystem can significantly enhance the fun for us-ers. The proposed model suggests that the element of fun can be further am-plified when combined with other enjoyable elements
Breath, balance, and belonging: A holistic approach to preventing falls in later life
Full text linkFalls remain one of the most significant health risks for older adults worldwide. Each year, more than 684,000 people lose their lives due to falls, with over 80% of these individuals coming from low socio-economic backgrounds [1]. People aged 60 and above represent the most affected group, with approximately 37.3 million fall-related incidents requiring medical attention reported annually [2]. In the UK alone, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) estimates that falls cost the NHS over £2.3 billion annually [3].
Building on our previous findings that show the positive effects of multimodal interventions on balance and functional movement in adults over 65 [4], we sought to address a key gap: the need for accessible, socially engaging programmes that older adults can participate in from home or within their community. To this end, we combined expertise from the Arts and Humanities, Sport and Exercise, and Biomedical Science departments to co-design a novel intervention. This programme integrates dance-based movement with respiratory muscle training, providing both physical and social benefits for participants aged 60 and over. Within a few short weeks, we recruited over 30 older adults to join the initiative. Weekly sessions are now underway at the University of Derby’s Sports Hall and Dance Studio, delivering meaningful health and social outcomes in the local community. As the project continues to grow, we aim to contribute to national best practices in fall prevention through publication and knowledge sharing. Preliminary results from this intervention will be presented at the upcoming conference.
References
1. World Health Organization (2024). Ageing and health. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health (Accessed: 11 March 2025).
2. World Health Organization (2022). WHO's work on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030). Available at: https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing (Accessed: 11 March 2025).
3. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2020). Falls in older people: assessing risk and prevention (CG161). Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg161/chapter/introduction (Accessed: 11 March 2025).
4. Ferraro, F.V., Gavin, J.P., Wainwright, T., and Walsh, N.P. (2021). Association between inspiratory muscle function and balance ability in older people: a pooled data analysis before and after inspiratory muscle training. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 30(3), pp.421–433. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2020-035
Market sensing and qualitative research
No full textThis chapter provides an understanding of qualitative research and how researchers can seek an alternative approach to exploring a phenomenon. The chapter discusses a clear approach to a variety of stances of qualitative research and commences with philosophy, through to research design and strategy. It provides a good foundation for understanding the nature of qualitative research
Doing marketing research: alternative methods for market sensing
No full textTraditional research methods in marketing can be illuminating when used well, but all too often their results fail to provide the depth of understanding that organisations need to anticipate market needs.
Doing Marketing Research enables researchers to get greater depth and meaning from their research and organisations to make smarter strategic decisions. This unique book explains market sensing simply and practically and demonstrates how it can benefit researchers. It teaches non-mainstream and alternative research methods, which facilitate innovative research design and achieve deep insights into the mindsets of consumers. The methods explored in this book include sensory research using ZMET, discourse analysis, consumer ethnography, social media networks, narrative and storytelling and gamification. This second edition has been fully updated to include several new chapters covering newer methods and topics, including the Delphi method, archival research, visual methods and the decolonisation of research.
With a wealth of examples, diverse case studies and pedagogy, such as seminar activities to aid student learning, this textbook is recommended and core reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying marketing research, and business research methods more generally, as well as marketing practitioners.
Online resources include PowerPoint lecture slides
Loculi
No full textLoculi, 2025
Granite, basaltic dolerite, snail shells, steel c claps.
Loculi extends Sharples’s ongoing analysis into the material conditions and temporality of sculpture. Drawing on funereal architectures and necro-ecological systems, the work explores the containment of space through composite, exoskeletal forms. The gridded structure made references the architectural loculus – a burial compartment that houses a body – like that of a snail’s shell that encloses the organism within a protective geometry. Aside the shells, basaltic dolerite sourced from Lindisfarne locates the work in a specific geological and spiritual landscape. Through the meeting of the architectural–organismic, Loculi performs a speculative autopsy of space, analysing the relationality between interior and exterior, content and container. Steel c-clamps, suggestive of forensic procedures, provisionally secure the materials in place. The work continues Sharples’s focus on sculptural forms that hold together positive–negative space, informed by the premise of necro-ecology and the Duchampian infra-thin.
Show at Grand Union's Junction Works as part of Digbeth's First Friday, Birmingham
Power, choice, exposure, and fragility: reframing fairness in equity for the corporate and insolvency sphere
Full text linkWhere is the place of humanity in current corporate and insolvency frameworks and their theoretical underpinning? How can it be assured that the institutions that have been invented through human ingenuity and brilliance serves the collective human experience fully and equitably? Insolvency law has long been theoretically conceptualised on the basis of legal and contractual entitlements with the core purpose of maximising returns to the creditors owed by the debtor during its financial distress. With the onset and steady growth of the rescue culture with its acknowledgment of the broader impacts of insolvency on society and the economy, the simple creditor wealth maximisation approach does not provide equitable solutions for all of the stakeholder associated with the debtor company. In particular, involuntary, non-adjusting, and undiversified creditors, such as employees, tort creditors, and the environment, are often with little recourse and few opportunities for participation at the negotiation table. These stakeholders suffer from greater exposure and fragility in their corporate relationships with little power or choice on that relationship and its impact on them. If theories are devised with humans in mind, it may be possible to redress the inequity in fairness by changing the way we view financial distress and the broader purpose for resolving it. This article seeks to reframe the way fairness is assessed and applied to achieve equitable solutions in the corporate and insolvency sphere by examining it through a feminist jurisprudential lens, with a particular focus on Martha Fineman's Vulnerability Theory
Destination spas: an exploration of factors that contribute to memorable guest experiences
No full textA recent report from the Global Wellness Institute identified that the UK spa economy was ranked the sixth largest spa economy in the world, estimated it to be worth $2.04 billion (GWI, 2022). The industry’s significant economic contribution underscores the importance of understanding the spa consumer experience and concepts within the spa context. Further, the memorability of a customer experience has been identified as a value that consumers seek, which organisations should provide to differentiate their businesses in a competitive marketplace. Hence, this research explored factors that contribute to memorable guest experiences is UK destination spas. Fifty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with spa guests and managers, to gain both consumer and supplier perspectives. Themes that emerged from the data show that physical design and sensory elements, co-creation and experience values are all memorable. The findings particularly revealed that novelty, involvement and the element of surprise contribute to memorability
Vibrational resonance in nonlinear vibration isolation systems
Full text linkIn this study, we investigate vibrational resonance (VR) in a Duffing-type vibration isolation system using analytical and numerical approaches. Our results demonstrate that the response amplitude at low-frequency (LF) excitation can be enhanced by modulating system parameters, particularly dual-frequency excitation and nonlinear stiffness. The analytical and numerical results show strong agreement, validating the approaches. Additionally, we analyze the influence of system parameters on different resonance states. Notably, we demonstrate that the high-frequency (HF) input parameters, in conjunction with the nonlinear damping and stiffness coefficients, effectively suppress the system’s resonance dynamics. These findings highlight the potential of parameter modulation to suppress vibrations and tune resonance in a Vibration Isolation System (VIS), enabling applications in mechanical systems, signal processing, and energy harvesting systems
EXPERIENCES OF THE LACK OF ADVANCED PRACTICE REGULATION ON ADVANCED NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE URGENT TREATMENT CENTRE
Full text linkCurrently, advanced nursing practice is not regulated in the UK, which means there is no standardised agreement on what constitutes this type of role or which prior learning experiences and academic levels are necessary to undertake it. This thesis examines the experiences of Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) working in the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) setting without professional regulation. A qualitative methodology was chosen to gain insight into participants' lived experiences to gain first-hand accounts of their experiences. Previous research in this area has offered valuable data that highlights a variety of common issues regarding the lack of regulation in advanced nursing practice, including title and role inconsistencies and variations in academic preparation. This interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study provides a detailed and in-depth investigation to uncover and understand the sense-making perspectives impacting ANPs working in the UTC environment without any professional regulation and builds on existing knowledge. Interviews were conducted with twelve ANPs and transcripts were analysed in accordance with IPA procedures. Two superordinate themes were developed from the analysis, and seven subordinate themes were identified. The discussion focuses on understanding the impact on ANPs of working without regulation, the need for consistency in practice, and why regulation is essential, in line with superordinate themes of ‘The battle of belonging’ and ‘Survival – staying afloat’. Insight gathered from this study supports the need for ANP regulation based on the deeply personal accounts of ANPs and how they make sense – individually and collectively – of how the lack of regulation impacts their role
The protection of human trafficking victims in the UK: The role of Palermo Protocol and state obligations in the international law
No full textA prominent international law instrument that provides a legal structure on how to define, prevent, and prosecute human trafficking is the Palermo Protocol. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) created this instrument, which serves as a tool or mechanism to combat the scourge of human trafficking. Consequently, the question arises: why are victims of trafficking in human beings (THB) being prosecuted, when there are mechanisms in place to prevent prosecution? Unfulfilled state obligations have been determined to be one of the main reasons why victims of THB are prosecuted for their involvement in illegal activities. The key focus of this chapter is an assessment of the role state obligations play in international law to prevent prosecution of trafficking victims in the UK. This is against the backdrop of the impact of harmful traditional practices (HTPs) on the fight against the scourge of human trafficking in different parts of the world