How Cultural Differences Cause Dimensions of Tourism Satisfaction

Abstract

This paper develops a conceptual model of the relationship between different cultural values and how they influence consumer satisfaction in the tourism industry. It is hypothesized that cultural differences manifest themselves in different levels of importance being placed upon different aspects of service, and the differences between the levels of importance and the actual service received cause differences in the levels of satisfaction. These hypotheses are tested using 269 independent samples of levels of importance and 411 independent samples of satisfaction of tourists from four cultural groups (Australian, USA/Canadian, Japanese, Mandarin speakers) who visited Melbourne, Australia in the period May-September, 1996. The analysis develops dimensions of importance and satisfaction separately for each cultural grouping, and uses structural equation modeling (Amos 3.6) to develop the causal model measuring the way in which importance of service dimensions cause dimensions of satisfaction. Conclusions from the analysis show little evidence of a causal relationship between importance of service quality attributes and satisfaction. However, significant differences are found between cultures for different levels of satisfaction resulting indirectly from differences in the importance and actual levels of service received.

The implications for cultural differences affecting tourism satisfaction are discussed.     

City Image and Perceived Tourism Impact: Evidence from Port Louis,Mauritius

Research suggests that the images residents hold about their community influence the political support for tourism. Yet, few researchers have investigated the image that local residents have of their own area. Borrowing from the existing literature on place image and residents' perceptions of tourism impacts, a theoretical model incorporating these two lines of research is developed and tested using data collected from residents of the city of Port Louis, Mauritius. It proposes four city image attributes as the independent constructs influencing residents' perceptions toward the overall impact of tourism development. These include social attributes, transport attributes, government services attributes, and shopping attributes. Overall impact of tourism development is considered to be a determinant of the level of support for the industry. Results of the structural equation modeling analysis indicate that residents' perceived levels of shopping attributes, transport attributes, and social attributes of the city influence their level of support for the tourism industry. The hypothesis relating transport attributes to overall impacts of tourism was not supported. The study provides some important considerations for local planners attempting to make tourism more supportive in the city.     

页岩的地震属性分析综述

在最近几年里,非常规页岩气和页岩油勘探已经进入公众的视线里,引起大家的注意。这些新的成藏是地球物理学许多新发展的催化剂,尤其是新地震属性的应用。近来,三维地震数据和地震属性技术已经在断层、裂缝方位和密度、储层富集带,可能的水力压裂障碍,孔隙压力,岩石力学以及增产的有效性和优化提供信息。下面介绍的是从三维地面地震资料中获得的信息,这些信息是怎样影响非常规页岩发展的。     

China's Generation Y's Expectation on Outbound Group Package Tour

This paper aims to identify China's Generation Y's (Gen Y) preference toward joining group package tour (GPT) when traveling abroad and explore their expectations on a number of service attributes. Six service attribute dimensions were identified through factor analysis, including: group leader/local guide(s), optional tour and shopping arrangement, safety, cleanness, and comfortableness, accommodation, activities, and shopping length and frequency. This study confirmed the importance of group leader/local guide(s) with a special emphasis on their honesty. It is found that current group and non-group travelers of Gen Y shared similar expectations on six service feature dimensions, while having different expectations on four service attributes: food hygiene, tour leader's emergency handle ability, Chinese food offering, and park as attraction choice. Results also showed that potential group travelers had higher concern over the factor of group leader/local guide(s) than non-group travelers.     

Far East Asia tourist market segmentation by push attributes

The purpose of this study is to segment the Far East Asia tourist market by using push attributes and to delineate related implications. Literature regarding these related studies and market segmentation processes was reviewed. This study utilized push attribute data collected from those people who would most likely travel to the Far East Asia in the early part of the twenty‐first century. A factor‐cluster approach was employed to find and explore the market characteristics. Seven factors and six clusters were extracted from the data analyses. Cluster scores were significantly different by destination, by country of origin, and by themselves. Clusters have unique characteristics in terms of push attributes. Thus, there is a need to cater each cluster by considering the market preferences separately. Further research is recommended to further the understanding of the Far East Asian tourist market.     

Importance Performance Competitor Analysis (IPCA): A study of hospitality companies

Although Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) is a popularly used method in many research areas, academics mainly criticise it because of its relative structure and lack of consideration of competitors. In the present study, the author proposes an extended version of IPA, which is called Importance Performance Competitor Analysis (IPCA), to address these shortcomings. The proposed method considers the GAP score, which is obtained by the comparison of an attribute’s importance and the focal company’s performance in the same attribute. Moreover, it uses focal and competing companies’ performance differences score. IPCA offers different strategies for each attribute depending on the quadrant that it is positioned in. Absolute structure and consideration of competitors are the advantages of IPCA. Another characteristic of the IPCA is its simplicity, like IPA, there is no necessity to have advanced level statistical knowledge.     

Engineering Hedonic Attributes to Generate Perceptions of Luxury: Consumer Perception of an Everyday Sound

For the last twenty years, the perception of hedonic attributes has been a problematic matter in consumer research. We argue that the perception of a hedonic product attribute should not be considered as an irreducible holistic experience, but rather as a complex set of sensory experiences, the components of which are identifiable and quantifiable. We provide evidence for this position by proposing a reliable method linking the features of product-related sound stimuli to consumer perception of hedonic attributes. To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind offering a detailed investigation of consumer perception of everyday sounds (as opposed to music). We discuss managerial and consumer-level implications of the findings and provide an agenda for future research.     

从资产属性与测度成本看巴泽尔的产权理论

产权理论试图通过研究产权结构和交易成本对经济行为的影响来推动经济学的发展。在微观层面的研究中,巴泽尔的工作发展了产权理论和交易成本理论,使人们对于产权界定、交易成本、交易的组织和方式有了更为深入的认知。他提出资产属性和测度成本的概念,进一步澄清了交易的本质,并应用它们解读现实社会中各种经济现象,说明了公共领域存在的意义、合同以及交易组织差异性的原因。     

利用少量标签训练集的半监督OLTV算法的设计

目前,大多数半监督学习算法都要使用大量的带标签训练样例集,当只有一个带标签训练样例时许多方法便不再适用。因此,基于两个充分视图工作的OLTV算法被提出来了。本文实现了此算法,并对充分视图的构建进行了讨论。对于特定的数据集,首先对它进行属性划分,得到两个充分视图;然后再执行OLTV算法,这样由一个初始标签训练样例便可以得到两个新的标签样例。最后在公共数据集上的实验验证了所提出算法的有效性。