Examining Price Perceptions of State Parks' Dual-Pricing Practice with Prospect Theory

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of tourists’ reactions towards differential pricing practices in the tourism industry. Specifically, guided by prospect theory, the study examined how valence framing, a price-framing tactic, affected price-related perceptions (i.e., perceived price, perceived fairness and perceived value). Moreover, this study investigated the moderating roles of four factors (price magnitude, composite price, familiarity with price practices, and involvement) in the valence framing effects. Based on prospect theory, a conceptual framework was proposed for this study. A hypothetical scenario-based experiment approach was utilized to examine the proposed model. Three independent variables (i.e., valence framing, price magnitude, and composite price) were manipulated in scenarios, and familiarity and involvement were measured as covariates. A 2 (valence framing: positive framing vs. negative framing) by 2 (price magnitude: high vs. low) by 2 (composite price: high vs. low) experiment was conducted online. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the eight scenarios and a total of 351 participants were recruited from the Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The results revealed a significant main effect of valence framing on perceived fairness, a significant interaction effect on perceived price between valence framing and price magnitude, and a significant interaction effect on perceived value between valence framing and price magnitude. Although no interaction effect was found between valence framing and familiarity and involvement, main effects of familiarity and involvement were found on perceived price, perceived fairness and perceived quality. Results provide both theoretical and practical implications for public tourism organizations in terms of differential pricing strategies based on visitors’ residence

Examining Chinese Non-cruisers' Images and Constraints towards Cruising

This study examined Chinese non-cruisers’ images and constraints towards cruising. Seven hypotheses were proposed to explore the relationships among images of cruising, cruise constraints, desire, intention and socio-demographics. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were utilized. Based on the literature review, semi-structured interviews were first conducted to determine measurement items for constructs of interest. A convenience sample was then used to collect quantitative data for testing the proposed hypotheses. Factor analysis involved three scales including affective images of cruising, cognitive images of cruising and cruising constraints. Two factors, positive images and negative images, were found in the scale of cognitive images of cruising, and five factors – intrapersonal constraints, not an option, structural constraint, time constraints and psychological constraints – resulted from the scale of cruising constraints. However, no dimension resulted in the scale of affective images of cruising. Among the seven tested hypotheses, five of them were supported and two were rejected by the data. The results showed that: 1) images of cruising were negatively correlated with cruising constraints; 2) images of cruising had positive effects on desire to cruise; 3) cruising constraints had negative effects on both desire and intention; 4) demographics variables had no significant effects on either images of cruising or cruising constraints. Based on the results of this study, both theoretical and practical implications were suggested, and directions for future research were recommended

Mobile versus PC: Does Device Type Affect Online Survey Response Quality for Tourism Research?

The use of mobile devices to complete online surveys is trending upward and is likely to continue unabated for some time. With this growth, there is a growing interest in how to make mobile devices a viable way to administer self-report online surveys among researchers. Utilizing a large-scale online panel survey, the current study compares the quality and pattern of responses collected from mobile device respondents to those collected from PC/laptop respondents. It is found that although mobile respondents tended to provide shorter answers to open-ended questions than PC/laptop respondents, response quality was not significantly different between the two groups. Additionally, compared to PC/laptop respondents, mobile device respondents were younger, more likely to be female and with a higher income level. Practical implications related to our research findings are also discussed

The Impacts of Entrance Fee on National Park Visitors’ Post-Purchase Evaluations and On-site Behaviors

Public lands in the U.S. are under pressure to increase self-generated revenues due to the gradual budget reduction. Implementing entrance fees is considered an option, but its impact on visitation and revenue is controversial. This study aimed to examine the impacts of entrance fees on national park visitors’ post-purchase evaluations and on-site behaviors. Additionally, the framing effect for the free entrance was assessed. This research adopted a scenario-based experimental approach. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three entrance fee conditions: a fee condition, a free condition, and a discount-framing condition. The results showed that visitors perceived lower price value and lower intentions to revisit when there was an entrance fee. Moreover, it was found that visitors intended to spend more money when the free entrance was framed as discounted. This research suggested that public land managers should cautiously adopt entrance fees and strategically impose the free admission

Written Vignette Experiment versus Virtual Reality Experiment in Tourism Research: An Empirical Comparison

Tourism scholars call for more experimental research to further our understanding of the tourism phenomenon. Due to the difficulty of conducting field experiments, most experimental research in tourism has been laboratory experiments. The use of virtual reality (VR) in laboratory experiments has been discussed to overcome the external validity criticism of laboratory experiments. However, its validity has not been scientifically explored yet. This study conducted a written vignette experiment and a VR experiment with the same research design to examine if the two experiments provide comparable results. The results showed that the two experiments yielded different results from the same research design. Specifically, the VR experiment provided more valid results in behavioral outcomes (e.g., revisit intentions) than the written vignette experiment, while both experiments showed similar results in mentalistic outcomes (e.g., satisfaction, perceived price value). Several practical implications were suggested

Allocations of Government Funding for Public-owned Tourist Attractions in China: An Empirical Examination

For public tourist attractions, financial viability heavily depends upon sufficient government funding. However, research on government allocations has historically been quite rare. This study addressed this relevant gap by using a panel dataset of 171 public attractions in China from 2015 to 2018. Double-hurdle models and quantile regressions were employed to examine the determinants of government funding for public attractions. The findings suggested that attraction attributes played an influential role in the amount of government appropriations, but they were less impactful on the attractions’ likelihood of receiving government funding. Besides, it was revealed that attraction attributes exerted stronger impacts as attractions’ government funding level increased. The local economic condition was also a significant factor of both the possibility and the amount of government funding

Economic Empowerment in Rural Tourism Development

Although empowerment plays an essential role in sustainable tourism development, most empowerment research in the tourism literature has been focused on the non-economic dimensions. Building on the typology of power (i.e., Power over, Power to, Power within, and Power with), this study explored and accessed economic empowerment in the context of tourism development in rural communities. Specifically, we investigated how economic empowerment or disempowerment occurred among individuals and communities. The four dimensions of power were presented as a process of change that transformed the lives of rural community members through tourism development. The findings indicated that tourism development can facilitate/hinder the process whereby tourism stakeholders in rural communities are transformed from having limited access and power to experiencing economic advancement and enhanced power. Also, the findings revealed that collaboration within the community can facilitate attaining the power of community members in the economic domain. Discussion and implementation are also presented

The Effects of Virtual Reality on Nostalgia Evocation and Revisit Intention

It is important for destinations to retain repeat visitors, but it is relatively unknown how to manage revisit intention of past visitors. Based on the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study examines the effects of a sense of presence, facilitated by a virtual reality (VR) experience of a previously visited destination, on revisit intention by personal nostalgia mediation. A mixed research method is adopted. A qualitative study is embedded within a quantitative study. A VR laboratory experiment is conducted for the quantitative study. Using a 360-degree video about a visit to New York City as a research stimulus, a mixed experimental design involving a 2 (between-subject: a high vs. a low sense of presence) by 2 (within-subjects: personal nostalgia and revisit intention before vs. after a research stimulus) is adopted. For the qualitative study, a qualitative survey consisting of a series of open-ended questions is used to support the quantitative study results