Le touriste consommateur : un caméléon…

Cet article s’attache à celui qui constitue la raison d’être de l’activité touristique, à savoir le “touriste consommateur”. Après avoir introduit les paradigmes envisageables pour étudier les comportements touristiques, nous analysons les processus de décision qui les sous-tendent et les variables (personnelles, interpersonnelles et environnementales) qui les influencent, avant de terminer par l’exposé d’une nouvelle typologie des vacanciers fondée sur leurs processus de prise de décision. L’article montre que le touriste consommateur actuel cause bien des soucis au gestionnaire et au “marketeur”. Loin de se comporter de manière rationnelle et prévisible, il échappe de plus en plus aux modèles et aux segmentations classiques. La transition de l’époque industrielle (moderne) à l’ère des services et de l’information (postmoderne) laisse des traces indélébiles sur les comportements, les valeurs et les styles de vie. Les deux dernières décennies ont ainsi marqué l’avènement d’un touriste caméléon et insatiable.This paper focuses on tourist consumers who lie at the core of the tourist industry. We first introduce the major paradigms that may be used to investigate tourist behaviors; we then analyse the decision processes which underlie them as well as the (personal, interpersonal and environmental) variables which influence them. Finally, we present a new typology of vacationers based on their decision-making processes. The paper indicates that managers and marketers may be embarrassed by contemporary tourist consumers. Far from being rational and predictable, these go beyond traditional models and segmentations. The transition from the industrial (modern) epoch to the (postmodern) era of information and services leaves indelible marks on behaviours, values and life styles. The last two decades have paved the way for the emergence of a chameleon insatiable tourist

The Role of System Trust and Risk Perception in Providing Assets for Collaborative Consumption Schemes

The emergence of the sharing economy has fueled the development of collaborative consumption (CC) schemes around the world. The promise of non-ownership particularly in the peer-to-peer environment makes it attractive for a plethora of users to engage in practices such as carsharing and the rental of private holiday accommodations or tool supply from their peers. Yet while financial and environmental benefits for both users and providers do exist, providers of private goods may be reluctant in many cases to offer their belongings for sharing. This study thus draws on social exchange theory to examine the key role of generalized, barterand money-balanced reciprocity as a pivotal scheme characteristic that predicts the intention of providers to participate in peer-to-peer CC schemes. As such, the findings from two empirical studies provide evidence that consumers are most eager to provide their personal assets against a reciprocal compensation where perceived risk functions as a mediator of the explained effect. Market mediation is also used to show that CC schemes are more attractive to consumers when facilitated by a non-profit market intermediary (vs. a for-profit intermediary), emphasizing the propensity of consumers to escape the market while sharing. A mechanism in which system trust mediates the proposed relationships is therefore suggested

Ecolodge Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets:A New Typology of Entrepreneurs; The Case of IRAN

This study aims to clarify how ecolodge entrepreneurship evolves from idea formation to ecolodge establishment in emerging markets. The related process affects authentic ecolodge development. The research employed grounded theory to explore this process and its implications to examine for the first time how individuals enter the ecolodge industry in an emerging market. The interaction of four constructs (namely drivers, motives, context, and idea sources) explains the costs and benefits that ecolodge entrepreneurs perceive in entering this industry. Moreover, we develop a new typology of tourism entrepreneurs in an ecolodge context based on the combined approach. Entrepreneurs are classified into three segments, including ecolodge lovers, cool job seekers, and young detached entrepreneurs. Although the ecolodge lovers were most in line with the principles of sustainable tourism and most likely to set up authentic ecolodges, most of the entrepreneurs belonged to the other two clusters. The explored process and typology highlight coordinated action in the development of ecolodges

Le touriste consommateur : un caméléon…

This paper focuses on tourist consumers who lie at the core of the tourist industry. We first introduce the major paradigms that may be used to investigate tourist behaviors; we then analyse the decision processes which underlie them as well as the (personal, interpersonal and environmental) variables which influence them. Finally, we present a new typology of vacationers based on their decision-making processes. The paper indicates that managers and marketers may be embarrassed by contemporary tourist consumers. Far from being rational and predictable, these go beyond traditional models and segmentations. The transition from the industrial (modern) epoch to the (postmodern) era of information and services leaves indelible marks on behaviours, values and life styles. The last two decades have paved the way for the emergence of a chameleon insatiable tourist