PhD Studentship - Hospitality Services and Tackling Loneliness among the Elderly

3 years full-time fees will be paid by the University.

Bursary: £20,000 pa (with no inflation increase).

Deadline: The closing date for applications is 12:00 Thursday 19 November.

Interview date: Interviews will be held in week beginning 23 November 2015.

Start date:  January 2016

Eligibility: Home/EU or International

The Faculty of Business at Oxford Brookes University is offering this studentship to an exceptional candidate seeking to study for a full time PhD starting in starting in January 2016.

The full-time studentship, which includes a commitment of seminar teaching to undergraduate students, will be for 3 years subject to satisfactory progress. The bursary will be £20,000 per annum, plus student fees.

Applications are invited for the PhD Studentship in ‘Hospitality Services and Tackling Loneliness among the Elderly’. The supervisory team will be led by Professor Levent Altinay (laltinay@brookes.ac.uk).

Loneliness, defined as the ‘perceived absence of satisfying social relationships, accompanied by symptoms of psychological distress that are related to (the) perceived absence’ is one of the most serious societal issues among the elderly in the UK and European Union with economic and socio-cultural implications. A range of intervention activities have been developed with a view to preventing loneliness, with variable success in achieving these goals. These include social care, mentoring, and volunteering, as well as practical help with tasks like gardening, intergenerational activities and transport, and other ways of helping the elderly to tackle loneliness. However, to date, there seems to be no systematic study investigating the relationship between customer engagement with hospitality services, social connectedness and loneliness. This study will respond to this research gap by undertaking an interdisciplinary study and exploiting constructs from multiple disciplines, including customer engagement (management/marketing), social connectedness and loneliness (sociology, psychology, and health care). The study will seek to address the following research questions:

a)    Does customer engagement with hospitality services affect social connectedness and impact on the loneliness of elderly customers?

b)    How can small hospitality businesses facilitate the social connectedness of elderly and help them overcome their loneliness

References:

Kim, Y., Kang, J. and Kim, M. (2005) The Relationships Among Family and Social Interaction, Loneliness, Mall Shopping Motivation, and Mall Spending of Older Consumers, Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 12, pp. 995-1015.

Pettigrew, S. (2007). Reducing the experience of loneliness among older consumers. Journal of Research for Consumers, Vol. 12, pp. 1–4.

Vivek, D. S., Beatty, E. S. and Morgan, M. R. (2012) Customer Engagement: Exploring Customer Relationships Beyond Purchase, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 127-145.

For more information about the Faculty of Business visit: http://business.brookes.ac.uk/.

We are looking to recruit a candidate of the highest quality and who is capable of submitting a PhD thesis within 3 years and funding will cover the three year period subject to the candidate making satisfactory progress annually. Applicants are expected to hold a good undergraduate degree and a good Master’s degree at merit level or above in an area relevant to Business and Management or a related/cognate discipline. Applicants should also be able to demonstrate strong research capabilities and be fluent in spoken and written English.

How to apply: To request further details of how to apply, please email: business-research-office@brookes.ac.uk.

Please ensure you quote ‘Hospitality Services and Tackling Loneliness among the Elderly’ in the email title when applying.