title: Return on roller coasters: A model to guide investments in theme park attractions

authors: van Oest, Rutger

subjects: entertainment industry

abstract: Despite the economic significance of the theme park industry and the huge investments needed to set up new attractions, no marketing models exist to guide these investment decisions. This study addresses this gap in the literature by estimating a response model for theme park attendance. The model not only determines the contribution of each attraction to attendance, but also how this contribution is distributed within and across years. The model accommodates saturation effects, which imply that the impact of a new attraction is smaller if similar attractions are already present. It also captures reinforcement effects, meaning that a new attraction may reinforce the drawing power of similar extant attractions, especially when these were introduced recently. The model is calibrated on 25 years of weekly attendance data from the Efteling, a leading European theme park. Our return on investment calculations show that it is more profitable to invest in multiple smaller attractions than in one big one. This finding is in remarkable contrast with the current "arms race" in the industry. Furthermore, even though thrill rides tend to be more effective than theme rides, there are conditions under which one should consider to switch to the latter.

text: Return on roller coasters: A model to guide investments in theme park attractions Despite the economic significance of the theme park industry and the huge investments needed to set up new attractions, no marketing models exist to guide these investment decisions. This study addresses this gap in the literature by estimating a response model for theme park attendance. The model not only determines the contribution of each attraction to attendance, but also how this contribution is distributed within and across years. The model accommodates saturation effects, which imply that the impact of a new attraction is smaller if similar attractions are already present. It also captures reinforcement effects, meaning that a new attraction may reinforce the drawing power of similar extant attractions, especially when these were introduced recently. The model is calibrated on 25 years of weekly attendance data from the Efteling, a leading European theme park. Our return on investment calculations show that it is more profitable to invest in multiple smaller attractions than in one big one. This finding is in remarkable contrast with the current "arms race" in the industry. Furthermore, even though thrill rides tend to be more effective than theme rides, there are conditions under which one should consider to switch to the latter.

year: 2010

title: [Review of the book The moral foundations of parenthood, by Joseph Millum]

authors: van Zyl, Liezl

abstract: This article reviews the book "The moral foundations of parenthood" by Joseph Millum.

text: [Review of the book The moral foundations of parenthood, by Joseph Millum] This article reviews the book "The moral foundations of parenthood" by Joseph Millum.

year: 2018

title: Kia mate rā anō a Tama-nui-te-rā: reversing language shift in Kōhanga reo

authors: Skerrett White, Mere Ngāutauta

abstract: This thesis focuses on reversing language shift (RLS) efforts via the revernacularisation of te reo Māori (the Māori language) in Te Amokura Kōhanga Reo (Māori language nest). J. Fishman’s (2001a) graded intergenerational disruption scale (GIDS), and M. Durie’s (2001, 2003) discussions on Māori educational advancement provide conceptual frameworks for the meaning-making, cultural and symbolic relationships of language to culture and identity (Fishman, 1996). This qualitative case study involves three young children and their families who are committed to the intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori, the threatened indigenous heritage language of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Observational data was analysed illustrating these bilingual, biliterate, bicultural, bicognitive and bilateral children and their use of sophisticated language for increasingly complex purposes. This study identifies how children’s learning dispositions for shared reference with adults (who are active listeners and thoughtful speakers in meaningful activities [Carr, M., 2000, 2001]) are part of the deep structure of a unique cultural context successfully supporting language revernacularisation. In addition the study develops critical insights into how RLS can be viewed as the linguistic arm for furthering Māori aspirations of tino rangatiratanga (Bishop, R., 1997a; Bishop R., & Glynn, T., 1999) and has further implications for language planning, pedagogy and praxis in Kōhanga Reo.

text: Kia mate rā anō a Tama-nui-te-rā: reversing language shift in Kōhanga reo This thesis focuses on reversing language shift (RLS) efforts via the revernacularisation of te reo Māori (the Māori language) in Te Amokura Kōhanga Reo (Māori language nest). J. Fishman’s (2001a) graded intergenerational disruption scale (GIDS), and M. Durie’s (2001, 2003) discussions on Māori educational advancement provide conceptual frameworks for the meaning-making, cultural and symbolic relationships of language to culture and identity (Fishman, 1996). This qualitative case study involves three young children and their families who are committed to the intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori, the threatened indigenous heritage language of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Observational data was analysed illustrating these bilingual, biliterate, bicultural, bicognitive and bilateral children and their use of sophisticated language for increasingly complex purposes. This study identifies how children’s learning dispositions for shared reference with adults (who are active listeners and thoughtful speakers in meaningful activities [Carr, M., 2000, 2001]) are part of the deep structure of a unique cultural context successfully supporting language revernacularisation. In addition the study develops critical insights into how RLS can be viewed as the linguistic arm for furthering Māori aspirations of tino rangatiratanga (Bishop, R., 1997a; Bishop R., & Glynn, T., 1999) and has further implications for language planning, pedagogy and praxis in Kōhanga Reo.

year: 2003