Emotions in segmentation
Abstract This paper presents an empirical study into tourist segmentation based on consumption emotions evoked by the enjoyment of leisure and tourism services. The research was conducted with 400 tourists visiting attractions. Taking as a basis the bidimensional approach to emotions—pleasure and arousal dimensions—the results provide support for the suitability of emotions as a segmentation variable. Those experiencing greater pleasure and arousal showed an increased level of satisfaction as well as more favorable behavioral intentions, meaning loyalty and willingness to pay more. Among the recommendations directed towards service organizations is the incorporation of affective variables i…
DEVELOPMENT OF A BLENDED COURSE FOR ONLINE TEACHING: PROCESS AND OUTCOMES
In this study, we outline the different steps and strategies followed to develop an online formation program aimed to higher education teachers. The aim of this program is to provide with teaching competencies to face the challenges of the next decade’s classroom, with a special focus on the role of digital technology in learning environments, through a combination of a self-managed course with a guided on-site training with real cases. A multicultural, multidisciplinary team conceives this blended learning format, which applies a storytelling approach for content generation and communication. A detailed description of the different factors and stages followed to undertake the project is pr…
Emotions and visitors’ satisfaction at a museum
Purpose – This research aims to investigate whether emotions can be considered as a suitable variable to segment visitors at a museum. Furthermore, it seeks to analyse whether emotions influence visitor satisfaction and whether this depends on objective variables (such as age, gender and level of education) or not. Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was developed and data were collected at the National Museum of Archaeology “G.A. Sanna” in Sardinia (Italy) via 410 face-to-face interviews. Hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses and a series of chi-squared tests were run for the purpose of the study. Findings – Two segments were identified. The cluster with …
SERVQUAL Reliability and Validity in Travel Agencies
Web‐based national tourism promotion in the Mediterranean area
The purpose of this study is to analyze the promotion of the Mediterranean areas over the Internet. To meet this objective, the tourism board of each country is identified and Website indicators based on the assessment of seven “best practices” (WTO 1999) and e‐business for tourism strategies (WTO 2001) are analyzed. Content analysis reveals differences among countries. Managerial implications are developed.
Value co-creation among hotels and disabled customers: An exploratory study
This study examines how service supplier and buyer value co-creation influences buyers' attitudes toward service providers. Service-dominant logic is a prevalent concept in the services industry, providing an important marketing theory in which intangible resources, co-creation of value, and relationships are the keys to determining marketing exchanges. This research describes a model for analyzing value co-creation management in the hotel industry, focusing on the specific market segment of disabled customers. This framework helps foster value co-creation to increase the benefits for participants during each stage of their relationship. The paper also presents the managerial implications o…
Effects of the intensity of use of social media on brand equity: An empirical study in a tourist destination
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive research of the effects of the intensity of use of social media on destination brand equity. The authors use the schema theory and a multidimensional approach of brand equity to analyse how social media communication affects brand awareness, brand image, customer value, brand quality and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThe authors carried out a quantitative study through a personal survey with structured questionnaire. The study population were international tourists, over 18 years of age, who were visiting the city of Valencia, Spain. Respondents were asked to take the questionnaire upon arrival in Valencia, that is, before …
The role of variety seeking in short and long run revisit intentions in holiday destinations
PurposeThe main purpose of the present paper is to identify the differences in the antecedents of holiday destinations revisit intentions in the short and long run. Specifically, this work analyzes the influence of specific variety seeking, perceived value, destination image, satisfaction, switching costs and past switching behavior.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quantitative study and the authors collected data personal interviews at households using the random route sampling technique. The sample comprises 400 tourists who have been on holiday at least once in the last two years, excluding lodging in relatives' and friends' houses or their own secondary residence. The data is analyz…
The effects of message framing in CSR advertising on consumers’ emotions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions
While recent research on sustainability communication demonstrates the relevance of message framing, research on the effects of message framing on consumers' emotions is scant. Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (5-0-R) framework, this paper examines the impact of environmental advertisements (stimuli) on two discrete emotions - hope and guilt - (organism) and how these emotions influence consumers' behavioral intentions (responses). Relying on the prospect theory, this study focuses on positive (gain) and negative (loss) frames. Study 1 shows that, in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a gain message elicits hope while a loss-message triggers guilt. Study 2 shows that …
Explaining the willingness of consumers to bring their own reusable coffee cups under the condition of monetary incentives
An increasing number of hospitality firms attempt to foster sustainable practices among their customers. Amongst these, incentives for customers to bring their own reusable products stand out. In this study, we first analyse whether consumers are willing to bring a reusable coffee cup (RCC) under the condition of a monetary incentive (qualitative decision) and the minimum discount required for individuals to be willing to use an RCC (quantitative decision). Second, we analyse the explanatory factors impacting these two decisions. Several factors are proposed to explain an individual's willingness to bring an RCC including their environmental knowledge and involvement, and personal restricti…
The theme park experience: An analysis of pleasure, arousal and satisfaction
Abstract This article analyses how visitor emotions in a theme park environment influence satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Emotions consist of two independent dimensions, i.e. pleasure and arousal. Two competing models were tested. The first model is derived from the environmental psychology research stream as developed by (An Approach to Environmental Psychology, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1974), where the visitor's arousal generates pleasure and, in turn, approach/avoidance behaviour. This emotion-cognition model is supported by Zajonc and Markus (1984). The second model to be tested is based on Lazarus’ (Emotion and Adaptation, Oxford University Press, New York, 1991) cognitive theory…
The impact of cyberostracism on online complaint handling
Purpose – This research aims to examine how consumers react to being ignored by a company once they have complained about an online service failure. The authors seek to propose that automatic reply e-mails to customer complaints are considered a form of cyberostracism, thus having equally harmful effects on customer perceptions as a mere no reply. Design/methodology/approach – The authors first conducted a qualitative study to ensure that consumers feel ignored when companies fail to respond to their e-mails. This was followed by an experimental study that tested the research propositions. The experimental design was a 3 (ostracism) × 2 (severity of failure) factorial between-subjects desi…
Harnessing stakeholder input on Twitter: A case study of short breaks in Spanish tourist cities
Abstract Knowledge of how destination marketing organisations (DMOs) use Twitter is still limited. This study aimed to assess how DMOs' Twitter activity affects hotel occupancy in short-break holidays. Key dimensions of Twitter that may affect hotel occupancy in tourist destinations were first identified. A longitudinal study using data for 10 Spanish DMOs was conducted to forecast hotel occupancy. Twitter application programming interfaces were used to gather data on tweets by DMOs and retweets and likes by users. Text mining was used to analyse the tweets by DMOs, differentiating between tweets related to events, attractions, socialisation, and marketing. Data were analysed using artifici…
Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty
ABSTRACT First-time and repeat tourists engage in different tourism experience with a destination. Based on previous studies, the main purpose of this research is to investigate how tourists' previous experience with a tourist destination influences on the satisfaction evaluation, destination loyalty and destination attractiveness. An empirical study is carried out among 806 tourists visiting Calpe, a Spanish tourist destination, in the summer of 2000. Research findings evidence that the level of satisfaction and the number of past visits considerably influence tourists' intentions to make repeat visits.
Service-Dominant Logic and Value in Tourism Management: A Qualitative Study within Spanish Hotels Managers
<p><em>With the award-winning article of Vargo and Lusch (2004), a new concept was introduced, called Service-Dominant logic (S-D logic). This paper aims to apply S-D logic to the tourism sector by determining </em><em>if this new approach, by means of the importance of value co-creation, can affect the perceptions of value in the mind of the consumer and, thus, be used as a source of competitive advantage if adopted by tourism service providers. In this paper a conceptual framework is established through a literature review on both S-D logic and value in tourism. After a review of both topics, links between them are conceptually explored. With empirical research met…
Millenials’ intentions to book on Airbnb
The sharing economy has witnessed a significant growth in recent years, enhanced by the development of online platforms. In particular, Airbnb has witnessed a significant worldwide year-on-year growth. Given the importance and popularity of Airbnb, it is crucial to examine which factors affect intentions to book on this website. This study proposes and tests a model based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, to examine millennials’ determinants of intentions to book on Airbnb. Based on two online surveys targeting millennials from Germany and China, the results show that intentions to book on Airbnb is mostly influenced by subjective norm, desire for unique accommodation and variety, attitude …
Brand love is all around: loyalty behaviour, active and passive social media users
This study posits that the satisfaction derived from a visit to a theme park triggers positive emotions which, in turn, impact on revisit intention, word-of-mouth (WOM) and electronic WOM (eWOM), t...
How online reviews of destination responsibility influence tourists’ evaluations: an exploratory study of mountain tourism
This study examines how online reviews of the economic, sociocultural and environmental dimensions of tourism destination responsibility (TDR) influence tourists’ evaluations. The effects of these ...
@DMOs Promote Hotel Occupancy in Tourist Destinations: An Abstract
Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are aware of Twitter’s relevance, and they have now integrated Twitter into their own websites (Luna-Nevarez and Hyman 2012). Because of their growing practical importance, social media have become strong allies for tourism destinations. Social media are used by both tourists and providers (Leung et al. 2013), so research is needed to show social media’s direct contribution to the tourism sector. To improve our knowledge of the effect of social media in tourism, this study examines how DMOs’ use of Twitter affects hotel occupancy in tourist destinations. Our conceptual framework presents a model of the links between predictors of tourist occupancy …
A Latent Class Analysis of Spanish Travelers’ Mobile Internet Usage in Travel Planning and Execution
A study of 476 Spanish travelers found mixed interest and use for the many travel-related mobile internet services that are involved in planning and executing a trip. The findings indicate that these Spanish respondents can be classified into four segments based on the timing of using mobile apps for over a dozen activities involved in travel planning and execution: Savvies, Planners, Opportunists, and Low-techs. Each segment exhibits distinct patterns of mobile internet services usage. Savvies tend to be heavy mobile device users both before and during their trip, while Planners make heavy use of mobile devices in advance of but not during their trip. The Opportunists show a pattern oppos…
How Does the Perceived Retail Environment Influence Consumers' Emotional Experience? Evidence from Two Retail Settings.
This study examines the relationships that exist among shoppers? perceptions of a retail environment and their emotions, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions with respect to that shopping setting. A model of these relationships is developed and then tested in two distinct retail settings?shopping centres and traditional retailing areas. The results show that, in general, positive perceptions of a retail environment have a positive influence on positive emotions, on repatronage intentions, and on desire to remain longer in the shopping area in both retail settings. However, some interesting differences emerge between shopping centres and traditional retailing areas: (i) there is a strong…
Limitations of Cross-Cultural Customer Satisfaction Research and Recommending Alternative Methods
SUMMARY Cross-cultural research in tourism is receiving increasing attention from academics. Little, however, has been done with regard to the assessment of cultural differences in tourist satisfaction. Research in tourism marketing has recognized the need for further research in cross-cultural satisfaction research, and specifically, in equivalence issues regarding the measurement of tourist satisfaction. Consequently, the aim of this conceptual paper is to focus attention on the importance of exploring cross-cultural differences in customer satisfaction research. The principal contributions are three-fold: (1) to emphasize the significance of exploring cross-cultural differences while att…
Advances in tourism marketing research: introduction to a special issue on consumer behavior in tourism destinations
PurposeThe purpose of this editorial is to introduce the reader to six articles related to consumer behavior in tourism destinations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper introduces the papers in this special issue.FindingsTourists are part of the tourism production process. They engage with supply networks and interact with destinations.Originality/valueThe paper provides an introduction to six contributions that are particularly relevant for understanding and managing the content of the interaction between the network nodes, in particular business‐to‐consumer relationships.
Market Segmentation by Motivations to Travel
Abstract Knowledge about tourist motivations would enable tourism destination planners to better satisfy consumer needs. Recent studies evidence the heterogeneous nature of tourist motivations, and highlight the importance of motivations (e.g., Bansal & Eiselt, 2004). The context-dependency of motivations to specific destinations and tourist market emphasizes the need of further research. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, to explore the primary reasons influencing British tourists' decision making while taking a summer holiday in two resorts (Fethiye and Marmaris), located in Mugla (Turkey), and second, to identify customer segments, depending on their socio-demographic characte…
Reducing the fear of crime in a community as a complex service system: The case of London Borough of Sutton
How environmental gain messages affect cause involvement, attitude and behavioural intentions: the moderating effects of CSR scepticism and biospheric values
PurposeThis study examines the direct effect of outcome message frames (gain vs loss) on cause involvement and the moderating roles of consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) scepticism and biospheric values. Furthermore, the authors analyse (1) the effects of gain-framed messages on consumer attitudes towards an environmental cause (i.e. the use of reusable coffee cups) and towards the company promoting the cause (a coffee shop chain); (2) how consumer attitudes towards the cause affect their attitudes towards the company; and (3) how consumer attitudes towards both the cause and the company affect their behavioural intentions towards both the cause and the company.Design/methodol…
B2B services: IT adoption in travel agency supply chains
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine and test a model which integrates the antecedents and consequences of adopting information technology (IT) with suppliers (i.e. online communication and e‐procurement) in the context of the travel agency supply chain.Design/methodology/approachA mail survey was conducted among 101 managers of travel agencies. A structured questionnaire was developed to measure the informants' scores on a set of the model constructs (i.e. IT adoption, B2B interactions, environmental factors, sales performance, efficiency, and relationship development).FindingsThe findings confirm the influence of e‐communication on e‐procurement in supply chains. Regarding the a…
An analysis of e-business adoption and its impact on relational quality in travel agency–supplier relationships
Abstract This study analyzes how managers of retail travel agencies perceive the antecedents and consequences of adopting e-business in their supplier relationships. A comprehensive model integrating its antecedents and relational effects is developed and empirically tested using SEM. The study surveyed 101 travel agents in Spain. Research findings indicate that customer pressure has a strong influence on e-communication practices. E-communication with the travel agency's supplier and the pressure exerted by the sector are the main antecedents for e-procurement. Effects of e-business on relational quality are contradictory. E-procurement influences negatively on trust. Conversely, e-communi…
Effects of message appeal and service type in CSR communication strategies
Abstract Studies highlight the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for companies' stakeholders. Consumers, however, are often unaware of such initiatives. Understanding how to effectively communicate socially responsible initiatives is an important challenge for both researchers and managers, who invest considerable resources in CSR initiatives. This study examines consumers' responses to two types of CSR initiatives (environment-related and employee-based) using two types of message appeals (emotional and rational) across two service types (hedonic and utilitarian). Responses provide data on consumers' awareness of CSR initiatives, attitudes toward the company, perceived co…
An Importance-Performance Matrix Analysis of the Factors Influencing US Tourists to Use Airbnb
After 10 years of Airbnb and its significant growth, this research is conducted to identify which factors really matter to Airbnb users today. It provides an integrated approach, since it aggregates factors that other studies have considered separately. With a sample of 101 US respondents, the partial least squares structural equation modelling results evidence that the only factors that influence future intentions to use Airbnb are its unique and varied accommodations and satisfaction. Enjoyment was also found to have a positive effect on Satisfaction. The study further investigates these factors with an Importance Performance map, providing guidance for the prioritization of managerial ac…
Museum visitors’ heterogeneity and experience processing
Abstract This research examines the relationships between affective and cognitive antecedents and consequences of satisfaction under a market heterogeneity approach. It includes co-creation of preparatory activities. The sample consisted of 276 museum visitors in London. Two analysis have been conducted: structural equation model and latent class path analysis. The paper contributes to the development of a theoretical framework for further understanding of service experience in which co-creation plays an important role. Two segments were identified: 1) emotional (with lower degree of co-creation, equally distributed by age and nationality); 2) rational (higher degree of co-creation, younger…
Knowledge Sharing Among Tourists via Social Media: A Comparison Between Facebook and TripAdvisor
This paper examines tourists' knowledge sharing behavior in social media. Based on social capital theory, we aim to examine the effects of three dimensions of social capital—structural (social interaction ties), cognitive (shared vision) and relational (trust)—for two different types of social media: Facebook and TripAdvisor. We propose a structural model that connects an antecedent (homophily) and a consequence (knowledge sharing through posting) of these main dimensions of social capital. An online survey is conducted with 1200 Spanish consumers. Based on the full sample, our structural equation modeling supports most of the hypothesized paths, while trust does not affect either social in…
Negative online reviews and webcare strategies in social media: effects on hotel attitude and booking intentions
The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of different webcare strategies (defensive, accommodative, no action) across two different types of social media (TripAdvisor and Twitter) on hotel attitude and booking intentions. The results of an experimental design show that negative electronic word-of-mouth (NWOM) has a negative effect on attitudes and booking intention. Moreover, the benefits derived from the type of response vary depending on the social media type in which NWOM appears. The findings also suggest that no response is worse than either defensive or accommodative responses.
Generation Y Travelers’ Intentions to Book Airbnb Accommodation: An Abstract
Sharing economy is affecting the global economy with increasing scale, as customers can exchange commodities in an organized way under the help of an enormous number of online platforms (Balck and Cracau 2015). In the context of holiday accommodation, Airbnb’ s growth has been stunning as now it has more available rooms than hotel giants like Marriott and Hilton (Weed 2015). In fact, research has highlighted Airbnb’s potential to disrupt the traditional accommodation sector (Guttentag 2013). Given the importance of Airbnb, it is crucial to examine which factors affect intentions to book an accommodation on Airbnb. This study proposes an integrative model based on the theory of reasoned acti…
The impact of experiential consumption cognitions and emotions on behavioral intentions
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine cognitive and affective antecedents and consequences of satisfaction in the context of hedonic services.Design/methodology/approach – Two studies were conducted using hedonic services. The study sample was composed of 400 visitors to two types of leisure and tourism services (interactive museum, and theme park).Findings – The results indicate that the impact of satisfaction is not limited to loyalty; rather its effects extend to other behavioral responses such as consumers' willingness to pay more for the service. Moreover, exceeding pre‐purchase expectations amplifies consumers' on‐the‐spot behaviors such as souvenir purchases. The study fi…
The dark side of the sharing economy: Balancing value co-creation and value co-destruction
The sharing economy disrupts the marketplace and brings both benefits and disadvantages into service ecosystems. We discuss principles of the S-D logic and transformative service research and explore the processes of value co-creation and co-destruction of well-being within the ecosystem of the accommodation sharing economy. Following a brief period of euphoria, the dark side of the sharing economy emerges, defined as the socially, environmentally, or economically undesirable effects introduced by the sharing economy. Airbnb introduced new realities for visitors, neighborhoods, the accommodation industry, and city councils, whereby some stakeholders are frequently found to maximize their ow…
VIRTUAL CLASSROOM: TEACHER SKILLS TO PROMOTE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
The Virtual Classroom is the main tool for blended learning, since it allows the breaking of time and space barriers between the teacher and the student. In order to develop and put into practice a higher studies course through this tool, teachers need to have a series of skills related to the command of digital technologies and an understanding of students’ affective and behavioral states: and to then apply appropriate communication strategies to deliver course content and prepare students for this innovative learning approach. This study reviews educational research literature on virtual classrooms, teacher behavior and student engagement to establish a theoretical model that explains the…
Market orientation: an antecedent to the industrial manufacturer's power
This study looks at the relationships between the market orientation of the manufacturer and the sources of his or her power over the distributor. The effect these power bases have on the distributor's satisfaction with the relationship is also analysed. The aricle offers the results of a study, conducted in the ceramic tile sector in Spain, aimed at measuring the market orientation of manufacturers, their power bases as perceived by their distributors, and the latter's satisfaction with the relationship. The results show that manufacturers' market orientation has a positive effect on their reward power but not on their referent power, nor on their power of coercion. However, the reward, ex…
QUALITY MARKET ORIENTATION
This paper analyzes the effects of market orientation from two perspectives. First, its direct influences on tourist agencies' perceived performance, and its indirect ones on per- formance through the perceived value of market information. Second, direct effects on the perceived service quality offered by the firm and indirect influences derived from the utiliza- tion of quality measurement systems are analyzed. Hypothesized relationships are tested in an empirical study of tourist managers. Research findings confirm the proposed relationships, except the influence of using quality measurement systems on service. A positive direct influ- ence between perceived service quality and performanc…
Special Issue: Research perspectives in the management of complex service systems
IMPLEMENTING SERVICES IN PRICING DECISIONS TO ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP — A FRAMEWORK FOR PRICE SETTING
AbstractThis study develops a pricing framework that focuses on relationship-building — a factor that has been largely ignored in the pricing literature. First, a case-study method has been employed to better understand how a production-oriented company sets prices for its products. Then a framework has been developed which incorporates the service component in the pricing equation. The results of this research suggest that factoring in the price for services offered can enhance relationship management, thus having a positive impact on the company's business performance.
Effects of Message Appeal when Communicating CSR Initiatives
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as those business activities which take into account the public consequences of company decisions over and above the simple compliance with government regulations (Menguc and Ozanne, 2005; Sharma, 2000). Thus, the management of a company should go beyond the economic concerns, considering both the social and environmental issues as relevant (Clarkson, 1991). Previous research highlights the importance of CSR for firms’ stakeholders, yet researchers find low consumer awareness of socially responsible initiatives (Beckmann, 2007; Du et al., 2007; Pomering and Dolnicar, 2009). How to communicate socially responsible initiatives is an importa…
The impact of social media and offline influences on consumer behaviour. An analysis of the low-cost airline industry
This study analyses the impact of social media as well as offline environments upon tourist online purchase and recommendation behaviour of low-cost airline services. Drawing on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), this research considers the effect of offline social influences (interpersonal and external influences) and analyses online Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) information exchanges as a driver of customer attitude towards online purchases. We propose that these factors improve online repurchase intentions and positive word-of-mouth communication (WOM and e-WOM) in low-cost settings. Using structural equation modelling, the conceptual model is tested with a sample of 441 Spanish Internet …
Value co-creation among retailers and consumers: New insights into the furniture market
Abstract This paper aims to examine the applicability of a value co-creation framework that integrates the process view (customer, supplier and encounter value-creating processes), the actors’ view (the value facilitator and the value co-creator) and the role of customer knowledge in furniture retail stores using service-dominant (S-D) logic. We conducted multiple case studies to analyse retailers’ points of view and in-depth interviews to explore customers’ perspectives. Our research findings suggest that the proposed model can be effectively used to analyse value co-creation management in furniture firms, allowing researchers to identify the actions of retailers and customers and evaluate…