Tourist Behaviour

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UNIT 3 : TYPOLOGIES OF TOURIST BEHAVIOUR

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This unit covers :

1. Typologies and their critique.

2. Marketing application of typologies.

3. Market segmentation.

4. Tourist-specific market segmentation.

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Typology

• Group tourists together on the basis of shared characteristics.

• Methods of segmentation.

• Two type -

1. Academic typologies

2. Classic market segmentation techniques

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Importance of Typology

• Represent an attempt to increase our knowledge of consumer behaviour in tourism.

• Can help marketers make important decisions on product development, pricing, promotional media and distribution channels.

• May form the basis of market segmentation techniques.

• Might potentially, help to predict future trends in tourist behaviour.

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Academic typologies

(Sharpley, 1994)

• people are tourists or travellers.

• Tourist is someone who buys a package from a tour operator.

• The traveller is the person who makes their own independent arrangements for their vacation.

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Cohen (1972) • The organized mass tourist who buys a package

holiday to a popular destination and largely prefers to travel around with a large group of other tourists, following an inflexible predetermined itinerary.

In general such tourists tend not to stray far from the beach or their hotel.

• The individual mass tourist buys a looser package that allows more freedom,

for example, a fly-drive holiday © Aditya Ranjan

Cohen (1972)

• The explorer makes his or her own travel arrangements and sets out, consciously, to avoid contact with other tourists.

Explorers set out to meet local people but they will expect a certain level of comfort and security.

• The drifter tries to become accepted, albeit temporarily, as part of the local community. Drifters have no planned itinerary and choose destinations and accommodation on a whim.

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Cohen (1972)

• Cohen described two types of tourist as -

1. First two as Institutionalized tourists, and

2. the latter two as non-institutionalized

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Plog (1977)

• directly link personality traits with tourist behaviour.

• divided people into - 1. Psychocentrics - were less adventurous, inward-

looking people. They tend to prefer the familiar and have a preference for resorts which are already popular.

2. Allocentrics - are outward-looking people who like to take risks and seek more adventurous holidays.

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Plog (1977)

• suggested a number of intermediate categories such as

1. near-psychocentrics,

2. mod-centrics

3. near-allocentrics

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Perreault, Dorden and Dorden (1979)

1. Budget travellers, who had medium incomes, but sought low-cost vacations

2. Adventurous tourists, who were well educated and affluent and showed a preference for adventurous holidays

3. Homebody tourists, who were cautious people who took holidays but did not discuss their vacation with other people, and spent relatively little time planning it.

4. Vacationers, who were a small group who spent lots of time thinking about their next holiday and tended to be active people in lower paid jobs

5. Moderates, who had a high predisposition to travel but were not interested in weekend breaks or sports.

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Cohen (1979)

• The recreational tourist, for whom the emphasis is on physical recreation

• The diversionary tourist, who seeks ways of forgetting their everyday life at home

• The experiential tourist, who looks for authentic experiences

• The experimental tourist, whose the main desire is to be in contact with local people

• The existential tourist, who wants to become totally immerse in the culture and lifestyles of the vacation destination.

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Westvlaams Ekonomisch Studiebureau (1986) 1. Active sea lovers, who want to take a holiday by

the sea, with a beach close by

2. Contact-minded holiday-makers, who value making new friends on holiday and being hospitably received by local people

3. Nature viewers, who want to be well received by the host population while enjoying very beautiful landscapes

4. Rest-seekers, who want a chance to relax and rest while on holiday

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Westvlaams Ekonomisch Studiebureau (1986) 5. Discoverers, who like cultural holidays and

some adventure, but they also like to meet new people.

6. Family-orientated sun and sea lovers, who were the largest group and like to do things together as a family and seek ‘child-friendly’ activities.

7. Traditionalists, who value safety and security and try to avoid surprises by sticking with familiar destinations and types of holiday.

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Dalen (1989)

• Modern materialists want to get a tan to impress people when they get home. They like partying and are more concerned with drink than food. Hedonism is their main motivation.

• Modern idealists also seek excitement and entertainment but want both to be more intellectual than the modern materialists. They do not, however, want mass tourism or fixed itineraries.

• Traditional idealists demand quality, culture, heritage, famous places, peace and security.

• Traditional materialists always look for special offers and low prices, and have a strong concern with personal security.

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Gallup and American Express (1989) 1. Adventurers, who are independent and confident and

like to try new activities.

2. Worriers, who worry about the stress of travel and their safety and security while on holiday.

3. Dreamers, who are fascinated by the idea of travel and they read and talk a lot about their travel experiences and different destinations.

4. Economizers, who simply see travel as a routine opportunity for relaxation rather than as a special part of their life, and as such they want to enjoy holidays at the lowest possible price.

5. Indulgers, who want to be pampered when they are on holiday. © Aditya Ranjan

Smith (1989) 1. Explorers are a small group who travel almost as

anthropologists.

2. Elite tourists are experienced frequent travellers who like expensive tailor-made tours.

3. Off-beat tourists aim to get away from other tourists.

4. Unusual tourists make side trips from organized tours to experience local culture. © Aditya Ranjan

Smith (1989)

5. Incipient mass tourists travel to established destinations where tourism is not yet totally dominant.

6. Mass tourists expect the same things they are used to at home.

7. Charter tourists have little or no interest in the destination itself providing that the holiday gives them the entertainment and standards of food and accommodation they expect.

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comparison of typologies

• Most of the typologies attempt to group tourists together on the basis of :

1. Destinations

2. Activities while on holiday

3. Independent travel versus package holidays.

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Critique of typologies

1. ‘Broad brush’ typologies based on simplistic, stereotypes cannot hope to encompass the complex patterns of behaviour we see in the real world.

2. Almost all the typologies do not allow for the fact that individual consumers can move between types in response to the impact of different determinants over time, including changes in health, income, leisure time, and family and work commitments.

3. They also tend not to recognize that many holiday-makers do not have autonomy over their choice of holiday destination and vacation activities. The decision is often the result of a compromise between the tourist and the other members of the holiday party, whether they be friends or relatives. Therefore what someone does on holiday may not reflect their true desires or personality.

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Critique of typologies

5. Many of the most influential typologies are at least ten years old and therefore cannot represent the many changes in consumer behaviour which have taken place in recent years. They often predate newer developments such as mass long-haul holiday markets, budget cruises and the Internet, for example.

6. There is still a bias towards Europe and the USA in the vast majority of typologies. Far less has been published on the types of tourists found in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, for example, which might yield very different results.

7. On the other hand, some typologies are generally used as if they can be applied to people in all countries. They appear to ignore national and cultural differences, which surely weakens their validity.

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Critique of typologies 8. Researchers have sometimes attempted to develop generally

applicable typologies from surveys with small samples, which is, at best, questionable.

9. Many typologies are descriptive and, as such, do not greatly help us to increase our understanding of tourist behaviour.

10. They often ignore the fact that people may mature as tourists as they become more experienced as travellers. As Lowyck, Van Langenhave and Bollaert (1992) argue, it must be debatable whether it makes sense at all to divide people into different types without taking into account their full life spans’.

11. Too many typologies ignore the gap between professed preferences and actual behaviour, which is an important phenomenon in the tourism market. The gap can be caused by a number of factors, for example social conventions, ego and, even, self-delusion.

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The marketing applications of typologies

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The marketing applications of typologies

• Typologies - not developed with marketing in mind

• have a potential role to play in tourism marketing.

• contribute to decisions over the product development, price and distribution.

• Role in the field of promotion - particularly in the design of the messages which tourism organizations attach to their products, for different groups of potential customers

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The marketing applications of typologies

For example:

• ‘travellers’ want to be convinced that the holiday they may buy is not the type of ‘package’ bought by ‘tourists’

• Perreault, Dorden and Dorden’s ‘budget travellers’ need to be told that their prospective holiday package represents good value for money.

• Plog’s ‘allocentrics’ need to have the adventurous aspect of a product highlighted for them.

• Dalen’s ‘traditional idealists’ must be persuaded that their desired destination is safe. © Aditya Ranjan

Market Segmentation

Dibb et al. (2001)

“The process of dividing a total market into groups of people with relatively similar product needs, for the purpose of designing a marketing mix that precisely matches the needs of individuals in a segment.”

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Classic market segmentation criteria

1. Geographical segmentation

2. Demographic segmentation

3. Socioeconomic segmentation

4. Psychographic segmentation

5. Behaviouristic segmentation

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Geographical segmentation

• Based on geographical factors. • Widely used in tourism

1. Tour operators consider where their clients live when deciding

2. which departure airports to offer flights from. 3. Airlines develop their routes on the basis of

geographical patterns of demand. 4. An assumption is made that people from cool

northern climates will often show a preference for warmer southern climates when selecting their holiday destinations.

5. The desire of urban dwellers to visit rural locations for leisure, as a contrast with their everyday environment.

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Demographic segmentation

• Based on the demographic factors.

• Particularly popular in tourism.

1. Age – some tour operators, notably SAGA and Club 18–30 in the UK, segment their potential market, purely in terms of age.

2. Sex – many weekend break packages and conference partner programmes base their market on gendered stereotypes. For instance, golf is usually seen as a male activity while it is argued that women will prefer shopping.

3. Religion – this is clearly at the heart of the pilgrimage market. © Aditya Ranjan

Socioeconomic segmentation

• Based on socioeconomic variables.

• based on the JICNAR’s classification.

• For example, the case of the UK theme park market is an example of the latter, with museums and opera performances being typical of the former.

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Phsycographic Segmentation • Based on the idea that the lifestyles, attitudes, opinions

and personalities of people determine their behaviour as consumers.

• more modern approach than the other.

1. Health farms and spas target their marketing at consumers who aspire to lead a healthy lifestyle.

2. People who are environmentally aware and whose lifestyle is influenced by environmental concerns are a good target market for conservation holidays.

3. Hedonistic sun, sand, sea and sex holidays are usually targeted at extrovert people.

4. People who seek thrills are the target market for bungee-jumping or ‘white-knuckle rides’ at theme parks. © Aditya Ranjan

Behaviouristic segmentation

• Consumer - relationship with a particular product. 1. Airline frequent flyer programmes (FFPs) are

aimed at regular users to increase loyalty to the product and make people more enthusiastic purchasers of the product.

2. 2 Hotels and airlines stress the quality of their service.

3. 3 Budget tour operators, airlines and hotel chains promote services to consumers whose main ‘benefit sought’ is economy.

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A critique of Classical segmentation Three major criticisms of the application of the classic segmentation

1. Some of the techniques are dated and have not kept pace with changes in society; for example, the traditional family life-cycle looks increasingly inappropriate, with the rise of divorce and single parent families, non-related group household, and couples who choose not to have children.

2. Some techniques fail to recognize that tourist behaviour changes over time in response to changes in the circumstances of each tourist. Therefore, they will move between segments from time to time, as their income grows, their health deteriorates or they start using the Internet to gain tourist information.

3. Much of the market research in tourism is too poor and unreliable to allow us to accurately implement any of these methods. © Aditya Ranjan

Tourism-specific methods of segmentation

Middleton and Clarke (2001)

six ways of segmenting markets in travel and tourism

1. Purpose of travel.

2. Buyer needs, motivations, and benefits sought.

3. Buyer and user characteristics.

4. Demographic, economic and geographic characteristics.

5. Psychographic characteristics.

6. Price.

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Swarbrooke (1999)

• Three extra criteria in relation to the visitor attraction market :

1. Visitor party composition, including individual, family group or groups of friends

2. Visit type and purpose, such as educational trips and corporate hospitality

3. Method of travel to attractions, for instance, private car or public transport.

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Refrences : • John Swarbrooke and Susan Horner (1999). Elsevier

Ltd. 2nd ediition.

• Tourism Management (2009). Consumer Behaviour. Hotelmule.com

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Thank you Everyone

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