The attributes of a cruise ship that influence the decision making of cruisers and potential cruisers

A never ending challenge for the cruise industry is to convert potential cruisers to cruisers. Grounded in Attribute Knowledge Theory and studies on novelty seeking, this study addressed this challenge by examining the different attributes of a cruise ship that influence the decision making of cruisers and potential cruisers. Using a sample of cruisers and potential cruisers with similar socio-demographics, this study found that they perceive seven dimensions of onboard attributes, but attach different importance to some of them. These results, consistent with the theoretical prediction, provide evidence that the cruise industry should develop different marketing strategies for cruisers and potential cruisers.     

Valuing shipscape influence to maximise cruise experience using a choice experiment

While many studies have identified the important aspects on the ship to cruisers, none has evaluated these attributes to determine cruisers’ willingness to pay for each attribute. This paper is the first to use a choice experiment to unbundle the overarching cruise price to explore the preferences of cruisers. The absence of a status quo effect suggests that cruise passengers are novelty lovers who welcome innovative offerings apart from those who cruise specifically to “get away”. Overall, males, Gen X-ers and first timers were willing to pay the most for a cabin with a view while the desire to be pampered influenced preferences for cabin comfort and shore excursion choice. Concern over value for money explained whether a respondent would be more prone to choosing the new options presented instead of remaining with the status quo.     

Potential Mainland Chinese Cruise Travelers’ Expectations,Motivations, and Intentions

The global cruise industry is the fastest growing sector in the entire leisure market. Due to the limited development of the Chinese cruise sector and government controls on outbound travel, the cruise, especially the outbound cruise, is a new concept in China. Few studies have addressed Chinese consumers’ perceptions of cruises. This study aimed to explore the preferences of potential Chinese cruisers and their expectations, motivations, and intentions in relation to taking an outbound cruise. This study also proposed and tested a conceptual framework: the Expectation, Motivation, and Intention (EMI) Model. Data were collected in Beijing and Shanghai; 242 valid responses were received. The results partially supported the proposed model. The theoretical and practical contributions of the study are discussed.     

Cruise ship dining experiencescape: The perspective of female cruise travelers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

The cruise dining experience is one of the core elements of the overall cruise travel experience as guests fulfill their cognitive and affective needs in this pleasant environment. Nonetheless, the cruise dining experience has been sparsely researched. There is also no holistic model conceptualizing the cruise ship dining experiencescape. This study explores how under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, cruise ship dining environment stimuli dimensions are evaluated by female cruise travelers. Female travelers are the major spenders and travel decision-makers. They are also the dominant customer group in the cruise sector. Their perception of cruise ship dining environment is leading to their positive emotional responses and approach behavior. More precisely, this study demonstrates the potency of the moderating role of a perceived health risk from COVID-19, which strengthens female travelers’ perceptions of the dining atmosphere and interaction with other guests by evoking positive emotions and influencing their approach behavior.     

Cruising in the 21st century: Who works while others play?

The cruise industry is growing in scale and importance annually. Influences such as multiculturalism, globalisation, the increase in numbers of mega-cruise ships and changing passenger demography, suggest that the work environment is not as it might once have been and yet there is very little research to reveal insights into this complex and seemingly unique world. This paper aims to find out what it is like to work and live on a modern cruise ship by examining the views of employees across a number of cruise brands.     

Perceptions of cruise travel during the COVID-19 pandemic: Market recovery strategies for cruise businesses in North America

The study aims to identify consumer perceptions of the cruise industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to provide market recovery strategies for cruise businesses. The relationship between perceptions among cruise experience and COVID-19 financial status groups were explored. The results of analyses of data from 759 respondents indicated that travel constraints negatively influence behavioral intention through negativity bias. Further, perceived crisis management positively affects behavioral intention through attitude-trust. New consumers’ behavioral intention is significantly affected by the negativity bias, and the perceived crisis management manipulates the trust of financial-affected consumers.     

Recollection of the Sea Cruise: The Role of Cruise Photos and Other Passengers on the Ship

This study examines (1) which cruise experience induces the recollection of the cruise trip, (2) the role of recollection in cruisers' future behaviors, and (3) the moderating roles of photo purchases and interactions with other cruisers in the formation of recollection. This study analyzed an empirical data collected from 300 luxury cruisers. The results indicate that four dimensions of cruise experiences (education, entertainment, aesthetics, and escapism) generated the cruiser's recollection. In addition, photo purchases and interactions with other cruisers had significant moderating effects on the relationship between education and recollection. Finally, a cruiser's recollection enhanced behavioral intentions.     

The effects of tipping policies on customer satisfaction: A test from the cruise industry

Many in the media have called for the abolition of the practice of tipping and at least some resorts, private clubs, hotels, and restaurants have replaced tipping with automatic service charges or service inclusive pricing. Particularly notable in this regard is the cruise industry, where several of the largest brands have switched to an automatic service charge system. Given the popularity of tipping and its perceived role as an incentive/reward for service, such moves to replace tipping with service charges seem likely to have negative effects on customer satisfaction. We test this expectation by examining the effects of Carnival Cruise Line's tipping policy change in the early 2000s on its customers’ evaluations of their cruise experience. After controlling for the effect of ship and review date, we found that Carnival Cruise Line's guests rated their cruise more positively when they sailed under a voluntary-tipping policy than when automatic service charges were added to their onboard bills. However, this effect was small and need not deter firms from replacing voluntary tipping with service charges. Discussion of this finding focuses on ways services marketers might be able to mitigate this modest negative effect of service charges.     

The cruise industry in China: Efforts,progress and challenges

The cruise industry has evolved considerably and in recent years emerged to become one of the most rapidly developing segments of the global tourism industry, with millions of passengers cruising each year. On a global basis, the cruising sector is overwhelmed by North America. During recent years above average growth rates are reported in emerging cruise markets in the Asia Pacific region. As one of the core elements of the Asian cruise market, China is undergoing rapid growth in terms of both cruise ship visits and cruise tourists. However, limited research has been undertaken in regard to growth of cruising industry in China. The purpose of this article is to report current development of the cruise industry in mainland China. First, we briefly provide an overview of the worldwide cruise industry. Then, we summarize the history and the growth of the cruising sector in China; report characteristics of Chinese cruise passengers and compare them with others; highlight information on geographical distribution, berthing capacity and cruise business performance of each cruise port along China's coastlines; and introduce various cruise policy documents issued by Chinese governments. Finally, we discuss some issues, challenges and relevant managerial implications for developing this niche form of tourism in this country.     

Testing the effects of congruity, travel constraints, and self-efficacy on travel intentions: An alternative decision-making model

Travel decision making has been extensively studied. Various models and theories have been proposed to explain tourist behavior. Taking a new approach, this study applied the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to explain travel intentions. The MOA model suggests that motivation, opportunity, and ability are major factors influencing travel intentions. This study explored the role of self-congruity, functional congruity, perceived travel constraints, constraint negotiation, and self-efficacy on travel intentions.The proposed model and hypotheses were tested in the context of cruise tourism. An online panel survey was conducted with cruisers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. All hypotheses except one were supported by the data. The proposed model also had an acceptable fit to the data.     

Schemes for enhancing Taiwanese cruise PAK relationships using the hybrid MADM model

Because of the emerging cruise travel market, major Taiwanese travel agencies have promptly formed PAK to distribute cruise sales nationwide. However, few studies have discussed this issue or proposed empirical schemes to help enhance relations inter-alliances. The purpose of this study is to address this problem within the theoretical framework of trust-commitment theory. The method of hybrid MADM (multiple attribute decision-making) is used to manage multi-variant problem and produce optimal enhancing models. The result shows that Trust and Commitment mediate the relation, as found in previous studies, but unveils that Antecedents can also directly influence Relational outcomes, such as from Opportunistic behavior to Propensity to leave. Notably, Trust and Commitment play the leading roles to reach the aspired relation. The findings are integrated into a useful scheme index for decision-makers to enforce the on-going relational exchange to reach the common goal of PAK.     

Selecting a cruise port of call location using the fuzzy-AHP method: A case study in East Asia

Increasing income levels and greater leisure time give people the opportunity to pursue new types of tourism ventures. As one of the fastest growing areas in the leisure travel industry, the cruise industry is increasing rapidly. Due to the benefits that cruise tourism brings to each port of call and the hinterland, it is necessary to be able to analyze the factors that affect cruise lines' port selections. The main objective of this paper is to identify the main factors motivating cruise lines to select specific ports of call and to provide information to port operators that will enable them both to improve their management strategies and to attract more cruise ships, thereby contributing to the revenues of the port and regional economy.     

Marketing decisions,customer reviews,and business performance: The use of the Toprural website by Spanish rural lodging establishments

Modern travelers often rely on reviews provided by other consumers online, or electronic word of mouth (eWOM), to choose their accommodations. This study considers the effects of marketing decisions by rural lodging establishment owners (i.e., price and advertising expenditures) on eWOM (i.e., ratings and number of reviews), as well as the effects of eWOM on business performance. The results rely on marketing data and customer reviews obtained from a leading rural tourism infomediary website, related to 202 Spanish rural lodging establishments. A complementary survey also provided information about the lodging establishments' performance. The study thus reveals that price and advertising expenditures affect eWOM; in turn, eWOM affects business performance. Moreover, owners' experience with the infomediary slightly moderates the link between eWOM and performance.     

Using Twitter Data for Cruise Tourism Marketing and Research

The need to understand how social media affect the hospitality and tourism field has increased. This paper discusses and demonstrates social media analytics using Twitter data referring to cruise travel. This research also includes an in-depth analysis of tweets by three types of user groups: commercial, news/blogs, and private. The results show that not only were words related to travel, destination, industry, and emotion most frequently used in composing tweets, but celebrities, professional bloggers, cruise lines, and travel agencies actually led major subgroups on cruise topics on Twitter. Based on such findings, this study provides feasible marketing strategies.     

A behavioral analysis of web sharers and browsers in Hong Kong using targeted association rule mining

With the widespread use of Internet technology, electronic word-of-mouth [eWOM] communication through online reviews of products and services has a strong influence on consumer behavior and preferences. Although prior research efforts have attempted to investigate the behavior of users regarding the sharing of personal experiences and browsing the experiences of others online, it remains a challenge for business managers to incorporate eWOM effects into their business planning and decision-making processes effectively. Applying a newly proposed association rule mining technique, this study investigates eWOM in the context of the tourism industry using an outbound domestic tourism data set that was recently collected in Hong Kong. The complete profiles and the relations of online experience sharers and travel website browsers are explored. The empirical results are useful in helping tourism managers to define new target customers and to plan more effective marketing strategies.     

Incentivized methods to generate electronic word-of-mouth: Implications for the resort industry

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) via social media and the internet is a popular channel through which consumers are communicating with other consumers. To increase eWOM effectiveness, some resorts have developed alternative methods to incentivize consumers to generate eWOM. These methods include: hiring reviewers, providing social currency to acquire products at a later date, or providing free product (stays at their resort). Under the theoretical framework of the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad and Wright, 1994), the impact of these methods on consumers’ perception of the resort’s image, moral judgments regarding the methods, and attitudes toward the resort was studied through an experiment. We found that the different methods to incentivize eWOM yielded significantly different moral judgments, which then predicted consumers’ attitudes toward the resort and the resort’s image. Additionally, different levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumers’ perception of industry practice norms also had effects on consumers’ moral judgments.     

Workplace bullying and presenteeism in the cruise industry: Evaluating the effect of social support

A cruise ship constitutes a unique research laboratory for the study of workplace bullying and presenteeism because of its manifestation of the phenomena and situations that traditionally characterize total institutions. This study analyzes the role of workplace bullying as a potential risk factor for presenteeism in the workplace and the moderating role of social support. Results confirmed that work-related bullying is positively connected to the phenomenon of presenteeism, whereas person-related bullying is negatively related. The findings also confirmed the role of social support, specifically supervisor support, as a moderating agent of this relationship. The supporting details are further elaborated, and the main implications for the future of the cruise industry are presented. The findings can facilitate cruise line companies in designing prevention plans and implementing well-targeted anti-bullying policies according to the type of workplace bullying experienced by workers that can substantially improve their effectiveness.     

Job demands–job resources (JD-R) model,work engagement,and well-being of cruise ship employees

This research aims to shed new light on peculiar on-board working conditions by adopting the widely recognized and well-established job demands–job resources theory and extending its model to the work engagement and well-being of cruise ship employees. Cross-sectional survey and partial least squares path modeling tool are used. Results confirm that job demands negatively affect cruise ship employees’ well-being. This finding is important because it demonstrates how the negative effect of job demands on work engagement is buffered by cruise ship employees’ individual strategies such as coping, recovery from work-related effort, and optimization and compensation. By contrast, job resources positively affect work engagement and well-being, and work engagement exerts a positive effect on well-being. This study successfully consolidates the literature on job demands, job resources, work engagement, and well-being to determine the complex essence of the work engagement and well-being of cruise ship employees.     

An overview of cruise tourism research through comparison of cruise studies published in English and Chinese

The concept of cruise tourism should be examined given the rapid growth of this segment of travel worldwide. Rapid increases in cruise tourists and port construction have been observed in China, but systematic research on cruise tourism in China remains unavailable. Hence, this study conducts a thorough review of cruising studies published in top English tourism and hospitality journals and eminent Chinese journals. A content analysis of 62 cruising studies in English and 26 cruising-related articles in Chinese identifies trends in research and methodology and the differences between English and Chinese cruise tourism literature. Significant research topics and methodology trends are discussed and future research directions are also presented.     

Impacts of cruise service quality and price on vacationers’ cruise experience: Moderating role of price sensitivity

In view of the increased interest in cruise vacations and limited study on cruises, the purpose of this study was to shed light on an understanding of cruise vacationers’ evaluations of onboard experiences with cruise lines in North America and their loyalty-formation process. The empirical results revealed that interactional quality and outcome quality were significantly and positively associated with novelty and perceived value which in turn, affected satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, perceived price was a significant and negative predictor of perceived value. The moderating function of price sensitivity showed that novelty was more effective in inducing satisfaction in the low price sensitivity group and it was more effective in enhancing perceived value in the high price sensitivity group. Overall, these results help cruise line operators who observe that cruise vacationers have become more demanding on service quality, price, and value. Practical and theoretical contributions are discussed.