Tuwhera Research Repository

The Tuwhera Research Repository provides sustainable open access and archiving to a broad range of AUT produced research - theses, research outputs and datasets.

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Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
Conservation Education at Zoos and Aquaria: Avoiding Long Distance Travel to Experience Wildlife
(Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2026-07-15) Fan, Rongting; Lück, Michael
Raising awareness of biodiversity loss is an important goal of conservation science. Tourism observing wildlife in the natural habitat has long been believed to be the best way to convey conservation messages to the public. However, the often required long-distance journeys to wildlife tourism destinations are unsustainable. In contrast, zoos and aquaria provide an alternative to observe and interact with wildlife in a local context. Many zoos and aquaria see themselves as avenues for conservation education. Research demonstrated that the provided conservation education often does not appear to be effective. To understand the potential and gaps of conservational education, qualitative research was conducted. Results show that interpretation may contribute to conservation education and the content can influence visitors’ post-visit opinions. The main gaps include different understandings of definitions of conservation; and conservation issues were not the dominant category of the interpretation. This research proposes a model for better conservation education design.
Access status: Open Access ,
Perceived Authenticity in Ethnic and Cultural Restaurants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
(Emerald, 2026-11-03) Wang, Forrest Haosen; Zhu, Dan; Kim, Chloe S; Kim, Peter B
Purpose This study aims to address fragmented evidence on perceived authenticity in restaurant contexts by developing an integrated understanding of its key antecedents and customer outcomes in ethnic and cultural dining settings. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review identified 100 studies, with 50 meeting the inclusion criteria for meta-analytic synthesis. Effect sizes were synthesized using random-effects models, and moderator analyses were performed to examine the roles of culture, age and gender. Findings Perceived authenticity is strongly shaped by tangible cues, particularly brand image and food quality. In turn, authenticity exerts robust positive effects on customer satisfaction, revisit intention and word of mouth. Moderator analyses further show that individualism strengthens the authenticity–positive emotion relationship, that older consumers place greater emphasis on authenticity in forming memorable dining experiences and that female customers are more sensitive to interpersonal cues. Practical implications The findings provide guidance for restaurant managers on developing and communicating authentic dining experiences in ways that support favorable customer responses. They also highlight the value of considering cultural and demographic differences when designing and delivering authenticity-related experiences. Originality/value This study clarifies how key antecedents differentially shape perceived authenticity and how authenticity influences customer outcomes. It also identifies boundary conditions across cultural and demographic contexts.
Access status: Open Access ,
Service Shitshows Delivery Prevention: Live-Action Role-Playing (LARP) Bad Service
(North American Business Press, 2026-10-16) Woodside, Arch G; De Villiers, Rouxelle; Mir-Bernal, Pedro
Frontline service workers and/or their supervisors delivering clearly inaccurate, bad, and/or unlawful service to customers or other “persons of interest” (POI) that causally precedes negative outcomes is one category of shitshow service-failure performance. The study presents both case studies and findings from national data showing that shitshow service enactments by performing professional public servants (PPSs) occur daily and more frequently in the U.S. than in other economically developed nations. Substantial case evidence supports the view that shitshow performances readily occur even when service protagonists have decades of job experience and/or have trained newly hired professional public servants. “Professional public servants” (PPS) includes employees working in various government agencies, departments, and branches (e.g., clerks in a branch of the U.S. Postal Service, a frontline service provider in a state department of motor vehicles, public libraries, and local/state/federal police officers). This study proposes “LARP” (i.e., live-action role-playing) by PPSs as actors with protagonists, POI (i.e., “person of interest”), and additional collaborative roles) in face-to-face enactments in recorded, actual shitshow performances (i.e., the psychological equivalent of a live virus immunization) provides the emotional heat needed to help prevent subsequent real-life shitshow reenactments.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Blue Economy: From Blindspot to a Promising Research Nexus for International Business and Policy Research
(Academy of International Business (AIB), 2026-07-02) Raskovic, Matt; Nagar, Swati; Wang, Chun-Hsiao
The blue economy, which relates to all economic activities linked to the world's oceans, is among the world's seven largest economies. Despite this, the international business discipline has engaged the least with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #14 (Life below water) compared to other SDGs. The purpose of this scene-setting perspective paper is thus to address the blue economy deficit within the international business literature and catalyze a new research agenda for international business scholarship, including IB policy and the transnational governance literatures. We first present the blue economy as both a frontier market and a transnational governance nexus. We then outline three key blue economy nexuses – namely: the (1) development-governance-politics nexus, the (2) multinational enterprise-government-civil society nexus and (3) the sustainability-social equity-justice nexus. In the end, we present a three-pronged research agenda for how international business scholars can not only engage with blue economy topics but also contribute to its development as a field of study. Each future research direction is supported by several guiding research questions, which can catalyze interest among both international business and international business scholars.
Access status: Open Access ,
Populist Politicians – Charismatic Political Strategists or Savvy Political Entrepreneurs? A Micro-Foundational Perspective on Institutional Change and Disruption
(Poznań University of Business and Economics, 2026-09-22) Raskovic, Matt; Singh, Smita
Framing populism as a type of political entrepreneurship, we integrate the political entrepreneurship and the institutional entrepreneurship literatures to conceptualize populist politicians as political entrepreneurs driving institutional change and disruption by way of leveraging uncertainty and volatility, as well through innovation and experimentation. In doing so, we explore populism’s micromechanisms and how do populist politicians drive institutional change and disruption as political entrepreneurs? We propose a process model of populist-driven institutional change and make three contributions to institutional theory. First, we provide an actor-centric understanding of institutional change. Second, we address the lack of theorizing populism’s micromechanisms and in the process deepen the theoretical understanding of institutional change processes more broadly. Third, we also touch on the potential pharmakon-type effects of populism in terms of institutional innovation and experimentation, which then leads to the emergence of so-called proto-institutions. These kinds of institutions can help us understand institutional origins not from a long-term evolutionary perspective but from short-term political strategy through influencing “the institutional matrix”.