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Item Customer experience in immersive virtual reality retail : exploring behaviors, emotions, and touchpoints across the shopping journey : a thesis with publications presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-08-01) Erensoy, AysuImmersive Virtual Reality (iVR) is transforming the retail landscape by merging sensory engagement with the personalization and convenience of digital platforms. As part of the rapidly evolving metaverse, iVR has the potential to redefine customer experience (CX) and create immersive, multisensory shopping environments. However, understanding how iVR shapes customer behaviors, emotions, and interactions across the shopping journey remains limited. These gaps hinder businesses from fully optimizing CX in this emerging domain. This research aims to address these challenges by exploring the influence of iVR retail touchpoints on CX and developing frameworks to advance theoretical and practical knowledge in iVR retail. This study employed a human-centered design methodology, integrating systematic literature reviews, semi-structured interviews with VR design experts, and iVR experiments with end-users. The literature review established a theoretical foundation, identifying challenges and opportunities in iVR retail. Semi-structured interviews with experts explored critical touchpoints, emotions, behaviors, and the design processes underlying iVR environments. Complementing these, VR experiments, card-sorting activities, and end-user interviews captured the behaviors and emotions of participants across the pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase stages of the shopping journey. This study offers significant theoretical advancements by extending the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to better capture the complexities of CX in immersive virtual environments. It provides a nuanced understanding of how sensory stimuli influence emotional responses and consumer behaviors, particularly within iVR retail contexts. This extension enables a more comprehensive analysis of the relationships between touchpoints, emotions, and shopping processes. Additionally, the study adapts the Double Diamond framework, tailoring it to meet the unique demands of iVR design. This refined framework supports designers in addressing the iterative nature of immersive retail experiences across discovery, definition, development, and delivery phases. Additionally, the key outcome of this research is developing a CX framework that detailed the iVR customer journey, illustrating how user interactions, emotional responses, and behaviors evolve across the pre-purchase, purchase, and post purchase stages. These findings not only highlight the underlying mechanics of creating positive CX in iVR environments but also identify the drivers of emotional connection and satisfaction, laying the groundwork for further exploration and application in this transformative retail medium. This research contributes to both theoretical and practical understanding of iVR retail environments. Theoretically, it advances models such as the S-O-R model and refines the Double Diamond framework, aligning them with the complexities of immersive technologies and offering tools for analyzing how iVR reshapes CX. Practically, the study provides actionable design guidelines to address key challenges in iVR retail, including improving usability with intuitive interfaces, enhancing accessibility through features like voice navigation, and fostering emotional engagement via sensory-rich experiences. These guidelines support the creation of inclusive, engaging, and effective iVR shopping environments that serve as a roadmap for future studies for exploring and validating emergent technological innovations in iVR retail.Item Place, provenance, protection : alignments, challenges, and opportunities for Māori future foods : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Food Technology at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, Massey University, Manawatū o Turitea, Palmerston North(Massey University, 2025-07-08) Wright, Summer RangimaarieThis thesis examines key alignments, challenges, and opportunities for Māori future foods, conceptualised as food production processes and outcomes that positively impact Māori and kinship networks. Beginning with a focus on plant-based future foods, a scoping interview study with Māori enterprise revealed strong alignment with Māori aspirations, including fulfilling kinship responsibilities, bringing together multiple forms of value, advancing collective wellbeing, and protecting and expressing Māori rights and interests - particularly in cultural and intellectual property. Participants identified place branding as a promising avenue to protect and develop cultural landscapes and enable future foods. The second study developed a content analysis protocol to explore the branding of Māori food and beverage packaging, with a focus on the prevalence and potential functions of place elements. Findings show that place branding is widely used by Māori enterprises, affirming its relevance to Māori future foods, while also highlighting a need to understand perceptions of Indigenous place elements. The third study used means-end chain laddering interviews to examine how critical consumers in Aotearoa New Zealand and Singapore perceive Māori place elements. It found a range of positive and negative perceptions across both contexts, which suggest viable approaches to place branding by Māori food enterprise. The thesis presents three key messages: plant-based future foods are relevant to Māori on multiple levels; Māori future foods can be enabled through place branding; and Māori place branding can support enterprise development and the protection of Māori rights and cultural property. These findings have implications for advancing Māori future foods and for growing the research and practice of decolonial Māori and Indigenous place branding. By exploring these interconnections, the thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of how Māori aspirations can shape and benefit from future food systems. It also critiques the ongoing appropriation of Māori culture by government and industry to advance broader agricultural and economic agendas. This research offers a transdisciplinary approach, addressing gaps at the intersection of Māori enterprise, future foods, Indigenous place branding, and consumption studies.Item Impacts of shocks and coping strategies of vegetable farm households in Sri Lanka during COVID-19 pandemic : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agriculture and Rural Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-11-22) Rathnayake, Sanduni Anuththara KumariOver time, smallholders in developing countries, including those in Sri Lanka, face a variety of shocks and develop coping strategies in response. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a novel shock to many farm households in developing countries, often negatively impacting their livelihoods. This exploratory qualitative case study provides a comprehensive study on the impact of the pandemic on Sri Lankan smallholder vegetable farm households and their coping strategies. Data were collected from vegetable farm households and key informants in Nuwaraeliya and Kandy districts, mainly using the interview method and data were analysed qualitatively. Vegetable farm households in Sri Lanka faced multiple, diverse shocks characterised by cumulative, consecutive, interrelated, and ongoing events during the pandemic. This mix of shocks resulted in various impacts on vegetable farm households, but the common outcome on all households was f inancial due, in the main, to increased household costs and decreased household income. Farm households that predominantly depended on income from vegetable selling and farm households that produced only specialised types of vegetables for specialised markets were more adversely affected than others. Smallholder vegetable farm households were diverse in circumstances, production and marketing systems, household capitals, reliance on vegetables as an income source and livelihood activity. At any point in time different strategies related to production, marketing and financial hardships were being used by farm households to respond to the impacts of shocks they experienced. However, there was no consistent mix of strategies. The poorest continued to borrow, while others relied on savings and assets and then started to borrow when resources were depleted. How similar strategies were implemented varied across households depending on the social networks of households. While acknowledging the benefit of diversification for farm households during shocks, this study also illustrates that diversification does not guarantee that it will support farm households in buffering the impacts during a wide-scale shock that extends over a long period. However, market diversification supports farm households to buffer the impacts of shocks with broad-scale impacts. This study also identified the significance of individual household members’ personal characteristics such as motivation and enthusiasm in developing strategies and argues for including this attribute in human capital in the sustainable livelihood framework. Research insights strongly suggest that interventions intended to support farm households in buffering the impacts of shocks need to focus on the household level, prioritising the poorest of the poor while remaining open to addressing the needs of other farm households who might be wealthier but adversely affected by shocks. Providing direct financial support and implementing different financial services to accommodate the varied circumstances of farm households will benefit them during shocks. Interventions to build household and local community resilience will safeguard farm households as it will exclude the risk of overreliance on external government support.Item Normative value of 'best buys' and the case of bans on alcohol marketing.(BMJ Publishing Group, 2024-08-05) Casswell S; Babor TF; Carah N; Jernigan DH; Petticrew M; Godlee FItem Conceptualising the solitude experience of solo female travellers : exploring the interplay of aloneness, social presence, and interactions : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023-11-30) Somasiri, SachithraRecent statistics in the travel and tourism industry show that the majority of the solo travel market is made up of solo female travellers (SFTs), the numbers of which are steadily increasing over time. Consequently, destination management organisations (DMOs) find SFTs as a flourishing market that creates many opportunities. In response, DMOs offer certain customised service amenities targeting SFTs, such as women-only hotels or floors. However, this research offers a deeper understanding of the multifaceted needs and experiences of SFTs in their travel discourse. Therefore, this study provides knowledge for DMOs to design more inclusive and diverse offerings when catering to this distinctive traveller segment. The existing literature is well-established in terms of the underlying needs of SFTs. Solitude is identified as one of the prime needs of SFTs and a key feature that defines present and future SFTs. Further, the various benefits of solo female travelling (for example, independence, relaxation, and self-learning) can be broadly linked with the benefits of solitude as a restorative experience. Even though existing literature identifies solitude as a need of SFTs, it is not informed about how solitude is experienced in the solo travel context. In their solo travel, SFTs encounter both solo and non-solo episodes that may shape one's solitude experience in a consumption context. Hence, the investigation of how solitude experiences of women in their solo travel discourse are shaped by their context, and the presence of and interaction with others, makes an original contribution to the literature. Focusing on the importance of solitude, this study argues that solitude as a travel need of SFTs may be influenced by the social presence of others and entail certain interpersonal dynamics (tourist-to-tourist interactions, tourist-to-service person interactions, and tourist-to-local interactions). Therefore, this research aimed to investigate how women experience and fulfil their need for solitude in their solo travel pursuits. To this end, a qualitative study was conducted. Thirty-four in-depth interviews were completed with SFTs who had travelled solo internationally. The narratives were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings emphasised the multiplicity of solitude as a travel need. Solitude was not a stand-alone experience. Instead, SFTs’ solitude experiences were multilayered, entailing differing levels of aloneness and interactions that were situational and context-bounded. SFTs found the presence of non-interactive others as a means of experiencing safe solitude. Further, the interactions within their desired levels and comfortable zones enhanced their solitude experience highlighting the possibilities of acceptable interactions within one’s solitude experience. Therefore, solitude in a bounded interactive sense can be understood in a way which is distinctive from the conventional solitude experience. On the other hand, the findings revealed certain interactive social presences of locals, other travellers, and service persons were beyond SFTs’ desires and were intrusive towards experiencing solitude. These intrusions contribute to the literature on the effects of social presence and territorial intrusions in distinctive consumption contexts. In responding towards intrusive experiences, SFTs used certain response strategies depending on the intruder. In the event of intrusions caused by locals and other travellers, SFTs mostly handled the incidents on their own. This study found complaining to be a novel response strategy of SFTs in the event of intrusive service persons, highlighting the non-complaining behaviour of SFTs with certain unique underlying reasons for suppressing complaints. Besides complaining as a novel response strategy in consumer territorial intrusion, reasons for non-complaining, also contribute to the wider literature on the complaining behaviour of solo female consumers, which could be applied in various other consumption contexts. These findings and the associated interpretations have implications for DMOs in designing solo female travelling-friendly servicescapes and offerings for women who travel with distinctive travel needs.Item Essays on investment in the Chinese art market : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Yuan, YueThe growing significance of investing in Chinese painting and calligraphy (hereinafter: Chinese art) has garnered widespread attention from scholars, investors, and collectors. This dissertation comprises three essays that delve into the Chinese art market. It first explores the price determinants and investment performance of Chinese art; second, the potential of art investment for portfolio diversification; and finally, the informational content of pre-sale estimates in terms of accuracy and uncertainty. Essay 1 examines the price determinants and investment performance of Chinese art. The study utilizes 165,847 lots sold executed by 533 Chinese artists between 2000 and 2017. Using hedonic regression, this study constructs the Chinese art price index, and finds that the artwork’s attributes, such as proof of authenticity, types of mounting, and large-scale auction months, have a significantly positive impact on prices. It also reveals two distinct art market booms in 2005 and 2011, with the latter reaching a record peak. Moreover, the average holding period for Chinese art is approximately 3 years, much shorter than the 10-year average in Western art markets. This indicates that the Chinese art market exists in speculative activity. This underscores the necessity for art market participants in China to be aware of the risk associated with art investment, as art is not necessarily for art’s sake. This study comprehensively analyses hedonic attributes’ impact on prices, offering valuable insights for constructing Chinese art-price indices and assessing respective returns. It is a key resource for those keen to deeply understand the Chinese art market. Essay 2 investigates the potential diversification benefits of investing in Chinese art based on a unique dataset of 4,840 repeat transaction pairs from 2003 to 2021. Using the repeat-sale regression, it finds a semiannual art return of 6.18%, which outperforms all other investment assets and has a lower standard deviation than equities. To assess the diversification role of Chinese art, correlation analysis, the capital asset pricing model, and downside beta are employed. The study finds that Chinese art exhibits a low or negative correlation with common financial assets and a negative market beta when the Shanghai composite stock index and Shenzhen composite stock index are used as market returns, indicating its efficacy as a diversification instrument. Additionally, Chinese art can act as a hedge against domestic stock market downturns in a diversified portfolio. Furthermore, the study adopts mean-variance portfolio optimization to assess the potential advantages of incorporating Chinese art into investment portfolios. The results show that the efficient frontier that includes Chinese art is superior to those without such an inclusion. Moreover, the inclusion of Chinese art enhances the overall utility of the portfolio across all degrees of risk aversion, as evidenced by the power utility optimization. Supplementary tests show that portfolios on the efficient frontier with Chinese art outperform the equal-weighted portfolio, and that the efficient frontier with Chinese art is superior to the efficient frontier without Chinese art during periods of underperformance in the domestic stock market. In conclusion, this study underscores the potential benefits of portfolio diversification through investing in Chinese art, thereby making a valuable contribution to the existing literature on art-related portfolio diversification strategies. Essay 3 investigates the impact of certain variables on the informational content of pre-sale estimates in terms of accuracy and uncertainty. Using a sample of 191,102 artwork executed by 533 Chinese artists from 2000 to 2021, the study reveals that factors, such as artists’ mentorship experience, the proof of authenticity, the large-scale auction months, and past-sale records, can either improve or diminish the accuracy and uncertainty of pre-sale estimates in predicting the hammer prices. This finding enriches the extant literature on the reliability of pre-sale price predictions in the art market. Moreover, it offers valuable insights for auction houses seeking to reduce prediction errors. The study further uncovers that the impact of these factors varies across price distributions, suggesting that auctioneers could utilize specific variables to enhance the accuracy of pre-sale estimates tailored to different price segments. Additionally, this study also finds that auction houses with artist-specific experience are more likely to offer precise pre-sale estimates, while they are less optimistic about reducing the uncertainty of pre-sale estimates. The study contributes to the literature on art economics by examining the extent to which auction houses can influence the outcomes of art auctions.Item China's Changing Alcohol Market and Need for an Enhanced Policy Response: A Narrative Review(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-05-11) Liu S; Huang F; Zhu X; Zhou S; Si X; Zhao Y; Liu Y; Zhang X; Casswell S; Tchounwou PBThis study describes trends in alcohol consumption in the context of an expanding commercial context, current policy responses, and flaws in relation to international best practice for alcohol control in China. We surveyed the literature and other documents in Chinese or English up to December 2020 on policy responses to alcohol consumption and harm, industry structure, and marketing practices in China. Databases searched included PubMed, China National Knowledge Internet, Wanfang Data, Web of Science, and Baidu Scholar. We also scanned the official websites of government organizations and gathered information using snowballing. We analyzed existing alcohol policy against evidence-based, cost-effective policies for reducing alcohol harm. Our findings show that although some restrictive policies have been enacted with potential impacts on alcohol harm, they are not comprehensive, and some are poorly executed. The long history of alcohol use remains an important element in alcohol consumption by the Chinese population. However, alcohol marketing and promotion, ease of access, and affordability have become increasingly prominent. The gaps identified in alcohol policy suggest improved strategies and measures to reduce the harmful use of alcohol are urgently needed in China.Item Effective alcohol policies and lifetime abstinence: An analysis of the International Alcohol Control policy index(John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs, 2023-03) Leung J; Casswell S; Parker K; Huckle T; Romeo J; Graydon-Guy T; Byron K; Callinan S; Chaiyasong S; Gordon R; Harker N; MacKintosh AM; Meier P; Paraje G; Parry CD; Pham C; Williams PP; Randerson S; Schelleman-Offermans K; Sengee G; Torun P; van Dalen WIntroduction Alcohol abstinence remains common among adults globally, although low and middle-income countries are experiencing declines in abstention. The effect of alcohol policies on lifetime abstinence is poorly understood. The International Alcohol Control (IAC) policy index was developed to benchmark and monitor the uptake of effective alcohol policies and has shown strong associations with alcohol per capita consumption and drinking patterns. Uniquely, the index incorporates both policy ‘stringency’ and ‘impact’, reflecting policy implementation and enforcement, across effective policies. Here we assessed the association of the IAC policy index with lifetime abstinence in a diverse sample of jurisdictions. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between the IAC policy index score, and its components, and lifetime abstinence among adults (15+ years) in 13 high and middle-income jurisdictions. We examined the correlations for each component of the index and stringency and impact separately. Results Overall, the total IAC policy index scores were positively correlated with lifetime abstinence (r = 0.76), as were both the stringency (r = 0.62) and impact (r = 0.82) scores. Marketing restrictions showed higher correlations with lifetime abstinence than other policy domains (r = 0.80), including restrictions on physical availability, pricing policies and drink-driving prevention. Discussion and Conclusion Our findings suggest that restricting alcohol marketing could be an important policy for the protection of alcohol abstention. The IAC policy index may be a useful tool to benchmark the performance of alcohol policy in supporting alcohol abstention in high and middle-income countries.Item Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Effective Alcohol Control Policies: A Scoping Review(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-06) Jankhotkaew J; Casswell S; Huckle T; Chaiyasong S; Phonsuk PImplementation of effective alcohol control policies is a global priority. However, at the global and national levels, implementing effective policies is still challenging, as it requires commitment from multiple stakeholders. This review provides a synthesis of barriers and facilitators to implementing effective alcohol control policies. We conducted a scoping review from two main databases: Scopus and Web of Science, and the grey literature from the World Health Organization’s website. We included any studies investigating barriers and facilitators to implementing four effective policies: Alcohol pricing and taxation, control of physical availability, alcohol marketing control, and drink-driving policy. Articles published between 2000 and 2021 were included. The search yielded 11,651 articles, which were reduced to 21 after the assessment of eligibility criteria. We found five main barriers: resource constraint; legal loopholes; lack of evidence to support policy implementation, particularly local evidence; low priority of policy implementation among responsible agencies; and insufficient skills of implementers. Facilitators, which were scarce, included establishing monitoring systems and local evidence to support policy implementation and early engagement of implementing agencies and communities. We recommend that national governments pay more attention to potential barriers and facilitators while designing alcohol control regulations and implementing effective policies.Item Quantitative tools and measurements for assessing the implementation of regulatory policies in reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms: A scoping review(John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs, 2023-01) Jankhotkaew J; Casswell S; Huckle T; Chaiyasong S; Phonsuk PIssues Implementation of alcohol control policy is a global priority as alcohol contributes to negative individual health and societal impacts. However, there are no available reviews that comprehensively provide tools and measurements for assessing the implementation of alcohol control policy. This study reviews tools and measurements for assessing alcohol policy implementation. Policies considered include alcohol pricing and taxation, alcohol marketing control, physical availability control and drink-driving policy. Approach We conducted a scoping review from Scopus, Web of Science and the World Health Organization's website. We included studies on policy implementation for the four most effective prevention policies published worldwide between 2000 and 2021. Key Findings The search yielded 11,654 articles and these were narrowed down to 39 included studies. Of these 39 studies, almost half assessed the implementation of a drink-driving policy (n = 19), followed multipolicy (n = 12) and physical availability control (n = 8). There was no single study assessing policy implementation of pricing and taxation or alcohol marketing control. The majority of the studies were conducted in high-income countries (n = 31). Globally, there is no standardised tool or guidelines for measuring the policy implementation of these four policies. The tools for measuring policy implementation mostly focused on a single policy, and few covered multiple policies. Implications We recommend developing standardised tools and measurements to monitor policy implementation across multiple policies at country levels. Conclusion This review highlighted a lack of comprehensive and standardised tools to assess policy implementation and the limited number of studies on alcohol policy implementation in low- and middle-income countries.