The effect of ethanol on cortisol metabolism in man : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biochemistry at Massey University.

Methods were developed for the estimation of human plasma cortisol by radioimmunoassay and urinary 6β-hydroxycortisol (6βOHF) by colorimetry after separation by thin layer chromatography (TLC). In addition profiles of urinary neutral steroids were obtained by gas chromatographic separation of methoxime-trimethylsilyl derivatives from urine extracts on a glass capillary column. This approach was found to be more sensitive and reproducible than profile studies based on TLC separation and colorimetric estimation. Pilot studies of the plasma cortisol levels of normal subjects showed a consistent rise in cortisol during alcohol loading under the conditions of the observations, but in hospital patients admitted with acute alcohol intoxication, variability in the experimental conditions masked any consistent changes. Large variations in method reproducibility as well as subject differences affected results from the measurement of 6βOHF and chloroform extractable 17-hydroxycorticosteroids in one normal and four alcoholic subjects, rendering apparent initial differences insignificant. The results suggest, but do not demonstrate, that alcohol ingestion may divert normal cortisol metabolism into a pathway leading to the production of 6βOHF. Urinary steroid profiles obtained from two normal subjects, one normal subject under conditions of alcohol load and one alcoholic subject suggest that any effects of alcohol on cortisol metabolism are subtle and would require study of a large number of cases to define them. This work has served to delineate the faults and potential of various approaches to the study of cortisol metabolism and the possible effects of alcohol thereon. It would seem that their application in carefully designed and well controlled experiments to a larger number of subjects is necessary to obtain the information desired

Consumer motivation in a tourism context : continuing the work of Maslow, Rokeach, Vroom, Deci, Haley and others

This paper examines the literature on understanding and measuring consumer motivation and the application of these theories and procedures to understanding and researching tourist motivation. The application of consumer motivation theory to tourism is considered especially relevant, because motivation is considered a critical variable in the tourist decision-making process.When understanding and predicting consumer and tourist behaviour, some measures are considered superior to others and this will be examined in this paper. Also many measures of motivation are often used as one of the segmentation bases for tourist and other consumer markets, thereby indicating a strong relationship between motivation and market segmentation, also to be discussed in this paper.The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to investigate what standards or consensus for determining consumer motivation have emerged in the academic marketing literature, (2) to review the theoretical knowledge about approaches and procedures for determining and measuring consumer motivation in general and their application to understanding tourist motivation (3) to suggest implications for future research of consumer motivation in a tourism context.<br /

Modelling dimensionality of cultural experience attitudes for international tourists

This empirical research of tourists&rsquo; cultural experiences aims to advance theory by developing a measurement model of attitudes towards attending cultural experiences for a sample of international tourists visiting Melbourne, Australia. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to cross-validate the underlying dimensionality structure of cultural experience attitudes in the model. A five-factor model was extracted from the EFA and some further modifications were required to establish discriminant validity. A four-factor model was retained in the CFA, which included three factors based on a liking for different types of cultural experiences and one factor indicating that social interaction was the most liked socio-psychological attitude towards attending cultural experiences. Although the sample were all English-speaking international tourists, cross-cultural validation of the model was also examined for factor configural and metric invariance of the measurement model as there were three different groups of international tourists within the sample: North Americans; New Zealanders; and tourists from United Kingdom and Ireland. This measurement structure was found to be relatively invariant for the factor loadings across the three groups of international tourists.<br /

Tourist benefits research : old and new issues and uses in a cultural tourism context

Benefits sought and gained by tourists are relevant to developing tourist markets for cultural attractions and experiences as this paper will demonstrate. The main objectives of this paper are to identify benefit variables commonly used in tourism marketing, their purpose of use, and associated issues by reviewing existing empirical research of tourism benefits and specifically examining the applications to date in cultural tourism contexts. For the benefits most commonly found in tourist benefit research and of relevance to tourists&rsquo; cultural experiences, a benefits typology from the allied area of leisure (Driver &amp; Bruns, 1999) is applied to categorise these benefits and develop a conceptual typology for consideration. Research propositions for future research of tourists&rsquo; cultural experiences are also proposed including new uses for benefit variable dimensions.<br /

Do they all speak the same language? A motivation-benefit model toward cultural experiences for English-speaking tourists

Understanding tourism behavior is fundamental to tourism marketing, and cross-cultural influences are particularly relevant. Therefore, in understanding of tourist motivation toward cultural experiences, this study offers an integrated motivational process model adapted from the leisure literature to extend the theoretical and empirical evidence of relevant constructs and relationships between them. From the tourism literature, a new motivation–benefit model of four psychological dispositions relevant to cultural experiences is proposed and tested: attitudes, motives, benefits sought, and benefits gained. Using four English-speaking tourist market samples from the psychically close Anglo cluster, the research model investigates relationships between the four constructs, applying a structural equation modeling approach. Cross-cultural differences are then tested for the geographic tourist markets as influences on the motivational process model. In the study context, these tourist markets take on an additional significance with one group of domestic tourists and three groups of international tourists. By applying a data set for tourists from the Anglo cluster using a repeat-measurement method, their previously identified psychic closeness is tested as well as further differences that could be expected between the domestic and the international tourists. The model is supported for these tourists, but with significantly weaker attitudes and motives for New Zealand tourists.</jats:p