Data-driven Market Segmentation in Tourism – Approaches, Changes Over Two Decades and Development Potential

Market segmentation studies have become very common in tourism research. While the majority of studies follow an a priori segmentation approach by profiling certain subgroups of the tourism market that are defined in advance, the popularity of post-hoc, a posteriori or data-driven segmentation approaches has increased dramatically since its introduction into tourism research in the early Eighties. This paper aims at reviewing data-driven segmentation studies conducted in tourism research with respect to the constructs under study and the methodology used, investigating developments over the past 24 years since the introduction of data-driven segmentation into tourism and providing an outlook on directions of further development

The effect of funding changes on public sector non-profit organisations: the case of Bushcare NSW

Research into non-profit organisations abounds, but public sector non-profit organisations have been neglected. Recent funding incentives have led to significant changes in the market environment for such organisations. This study describes market changes and explores the reactions of one environmental public sector non-profit organisation, Bushcare NSW, to these changes. This paper contends that, within this institutional environment, non-profit organisations more successful in attracting large amounts of external funding have better administrative structures in place, whereas those less successful find themselves confronted with burdensome administrative duties. Neo-institutional theory provides a theoretical basis for this empirical investigation. Funding changes have had a major impact on Bushcare organisations, those more successful in attracting grants reporting significantly fewer recent administrative changes

Segmenting tourists based on satisfaction and satisfaction patterns

Market segmentation has a long history in empirical tourism research. So does satisfaction research. Yet, little work has been done at the cross-roads of these two areas. This chapter makes a step towards filling this gap by (1) reviewing prior work in data-driven market segmentation with a specific focus on satisfaction, (2) analysing managerial recommendations resulting from these studies, and (3) providing empirical examples of how commonsense and data-driven segmentation studies could be conducted using satisfaction as discriminating criterion between tourists

How to prevent tourists from canceling when a disaster hits the destination: promising measures, crisis-resistant target segment and leveraging peer-to-peer networks.

Natural disasters and terrorism that hit tourist destinations can negatively affect tourism demand. The drop in tourism demand following crises is specifically critical to tourism dependent economies. To reduce the negative effect of such events, preventative measures have to be implemented by tourist destinations. Using open-ended questions, the present study directly asks tourists what measures would prevent them from canceling in the event of an earthquake or a terrorist attack hitting their planned destination. From the wide range of reported preventative measures, several broad themes emerged, the two most frequent of which are: guarantee of safety and provision of up-to-date safety information. Certain markets, such as the Visiting Friends and Relatives Market, emerge as being more “immune” against cancellations in the aftermath of a natural disaster than other segments, making them particular suitable market segments to target during the destination recovery stage. The qualitative setting led to new avenues for destination recovery including involvement of residents in destination recovery using peer-to-peer networks

Cross-cultural differences in survey response patterns

The existence of variable response styles represents a major threat to the correct interpretation of market research findings. In international marketing this threat is further increased due to samples of respondents from different cultural backgrounds. In this paper we (1) extend the investigation of differences in cross-cultural response styles by studying full response patterns instead of extreme values, (2) quantify the extent of the potential mistake of not accounting for cross-cultural differences in response behaviour, and (3) present a simple way of testing whether or not data sets from various cultural backgrounds can be used without correcting for cross-cultural response styles

Answer format effects revisited

The effect of answer formats presented to respondents in written surveys are investigated for two constructs (attitudes and behavioral intentions) and three response scales (binary, ordinal and metric). Results indicate that (1) formats differ in their susceptibility to response styles but lead to the same results with respect to average values and underlying dimensions; (2) binary format is quicker to complete and perceived as quicker while all formats are perceived as equally simple, pleasant, and useful to express feelings; (3) an interaction between the construct measured and the answer format clearly exists which should be investigated more systematically in future research

Cultural Perceptions of Volunteering: Attracting Volunteers in an Increasingly Multicultural Society

Contributing 42 billion dollars to the Australian economy annually, volunteering has become an industry of major importance. The increasingly multicultural nature of Australia has presented new challenges for nonprofit marketers in terms of designing recruitment strategies that appeal to the extremely heterogeneous cultural groups that make up our society. While various studies have focused on the application of marketing techniques to the nonprofit sector, there has been a lack of research looking specifically at the nonprofit organisations competing within a particular marketplace, and whether the perceptions and image of these competitors differs between cultural groups. This empirical study seeks to address this issue by using qualitative methodology (structures in-depth interviews, phone interviews, focus groups, and short intercept interviews) to investigate the differences in perceptions of volunteering and volunteering organisations between key cultural minority groups within the Illawarra region of NSW, and to identify the implications of these differences for marketing managers. Clear differences with major managerial implications were revealed in the study: for instance, Macedonians and Greeks are looking to socialise with other people from their own culture, whereas others are looking for opportunities to mix with Australians and practice their English speaking skills. Perceptions vary widely as well, from a service to society over slavery and the appropriateness for men or women to engage in volunteering only

Residents open their homes to tourists when disaster strikes

Residents are key stakeholders of tourism destinations. Yet, to date, no study has investigated if and how residents can contribute to destination recovery when a disaster hits. The emergence of peer-to-peer networks offers an efficient platform for residents to open their homes to displaced tourists. Such help is particularly critical if key tourist infrastructure is severely damaged. But are residents willing to open their homes and help in other ways? The present study adopts a scenario-based survey research design, including Australians who live in tourism regions and Australian tourists. Results indicate that (1) segments of residents willing to support the tourism industry in disaster situations exist, and (2) tourists are willing to accept residents’ offers of support. The more immediate the emergency, the higher the willingness to help and accept help. These insights point to the potential of involving residents in destination recovery efforts

Empirical market segmentation: what you see is what you get

The aim of the chapter is to discuss and illustrate different approaches taken in the area of empirical market segmentation in tourism, and to raise conceptual, practical and methodological problems in this context. The chapter is limited to the discussion of empirical market segmentation, which means that an empirical data set (typically resulting from a tourist survey) represents the basis. Purely conceptual derivation of market segments or tourist typologies is not treated. Given this aim, the reader should be provided with an overview of empirical market segmentation in tourism and realize how much unexploited potential for improvement remains in this area