Information source usage among motive-based segments of travelers to newly emerging tourist destinations

As a part of their travel planning, potential tourists engage in information search that assists them in decision-making. Though several studies have been conducted in relation to information sources, yet, much of these seem to be in relation to relatively well-known destinations. This note primarily aims at reporting the use of information sources among various motivation-based segments of travelers to the newly emerging tourist destinations of India's North-East. This is a region with tremendous tourism potential that has not been aggressively marketed so far. Analysis of primary data through a survey of visitors to the region using a factor-cluster segmentation approach resulted in three motive-based segments: Nature-loving Explorers, Nature-loving Vacationers and Change Seekers. These segments were found to exhibit differences in information source usage. The results hold implications for destination marketers of the region and would hopefully contribute towards better marketing strategies for its various destinations.     

The Hare and the Tortoise: Do Earlier Adopters of Online Channels Purchase More?

Earlier adopters of a product or service tend to be more valuable than later adopters. Does this empirical generalization equally apply to earlier adopters of a multichannel retailer's new online channel too? This study segments customers on the basis of their responses to a new online channel and investigates the effects of their online channel adoption on purchase volumes across segments. The data cover 12.5 years of purchase history and individual transactions at a large multichannel French retailer of natural health products. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not innovators or early adopters, but rather the late majority segment that purchases more than the other segments, both before and after online adoption. Adoption of the firm's new online channel does not influence purchase volumes of heavy shopper segments (late majority and innovators), whereas light shopper segments tend to increase their purchases after adopting this new channel.     

Airport ground access and private car use: a segmentation analysis

The increasing scale of, and demand for, civil air transport world-wide has resulted in a greater volume of people travelling to and from airports. The vast majority of these journeys are made by private cars, which has led to traffic congestion and raised levels of air pollution in and around airports. Subsequently, airports are re-evaluating their approach to ground access mode choice and considering how to reduce the reliance on private cars. Based on a survey of passengers at Manchester Airport in the UK, attitude statements pertaining to psychological constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Norm-Activation Theory, combined with key factors relating to the passenger’s trip, are used to identify eight behaviourally distinct groups of passengers with varying potential to reduce their private car use. Two of these groups, described as the Conflicted Greens and the Pessimistic Lift Seekers, are identified as having the greatest potential to reduce private car use to airports. Analysis reveals the need for decision makers to address the existing attitude–behaviour ‘gap’ that can prevent positive environmental attitudes being translated into the use of more sustainable modes, as well as tackling the perceived difficulty some passengers associate with using these modes.     

An empirical analysis of factors that influence retail website visit types

Consumers may have a variety of reasons for using a retail brand's website, including browsing, purchasing, or browsing followed by purchasing. In this study we examine visits to three different retail websites to develop a typology of website visit behaviors and reveal factors that are associated with each visit type. We find four visit types that are consistent across all brands, which we label “touching base,” “search/deliberation,” “goal-directed,” and online shopping “cart-only” visits. One of the brands has an additional visit type we term “considered visits.” The type of visit a consumer makes is influenced by a combination of marketing channels, and their visit and purchase history with the brand. For example, shoppers that are directed to a retailer's website by clicking on a search engine link (paid or organic) are more likely to make visits that are associated with a purchase goal, while visits generated by an email are more likely to be just touching base. These findings provide marketers with a more refined understanding of the different ways consumers use their websites, and the factors associated with these visit behaviors.     

Time use patterns of Spanish people at weekends: in search of what,who and when

Previous research has suggested the existence of both observed and unobserved heterogeneity in time allocation modelling. Surprisingly few empirical studies have addressed this issue in leisure research. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to identify and describe the time use patterns of people at weekends. The sample consisted of 2118 individuals/diaries from the Time Use Survey collected by the Spanish National Statistics Institute from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2010. The results obtained reveal the existence of nine clusters (people who pursue domestic activities, sleepyheads and couch potatoes, weekend workers, book and radio/music lovers during leisure time, DIY handy-people, art lovers with quite a lot of leisure time, people committed to caring for relatives, eclectics, and people who mix leisure time and studies). These groups are different, not only as regards their propensity to engage in each activity and the average time allocated to this (what), but also as regards their socio-demographic profiles (who) and the activity rhythms (when). This study may have implications for policy-makers and leisure businesses in Spain at a time when there is considerable amount of debate regarding the need to rationalise schedules and standardise them with those of other European Union countries.     

Technology and Optimal Segment Size

Increasingly, there is greater appreciation of the impact of technology on marketing practice. Many strategies like mass customization, relationship marketing, interactive marketing, etc., have gained increased attention, in part, from advancements in manufacturing and information technology. In this paper, we formally examine how technology has made such strategies economically feasible through its impact on optimal segment size. We build on Lancaster's model of product differentiation to derive an equation that exposes the invisible hand of technology. This equation shows how technology influences marketing practice through its effect on optimal segment size. In addition, the equation provides a formal explanation for the apparent paradox of mass customization; that customized products can be mass-produced profitably, without the benefit of large production volumes. We then use this equation to gain a more insightful view of the history of segmentation.Madison S. Wigginton Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Service Marketing     

劳动力市场是分割的吗?——"劳动力市场分割"经验研究文献综述

系统介绍国外在检验劳动力市场分割时所采用的各种经验方法,以及针对不同发达国家和发展中国家进行经验研究。这些经验研究所使用的数据既有横截面数据,也有时间序列和综列数据。综合这些研究,得到两个对于国内研究者具有现实指导意义的基本结论:一是在目前,总体来看,关于"劳动力市场是否是分割"这一经验问题并没有明确的答案;二是"二元理论"并未得到经验证据的有力支持。     

The four faces of the Hispanic consumer: An acculturation-based segmentation

This article develops and tests a segmentation scheme for the U.S. Hispanic market based on the extent and nature of acculturation. Acculturation is conceptualized as driven by language preferences and two dimensions of cultural identification, Hispanic and American. Structural equation modeling develops and assesses the proposed scales, and a latent class clustering procedure (latent discriminant analysis) tests propositions on a sample of 403 U.S. Hispanics. Consistent with theory, four clusters of U.S. Hispanics emerge: retainers, biculturals, assimilators, and non-identifiers that vary according to language preference and cultural identification.     

Behavioral changes of multichannel customers: Their persistence and influencing factors

This study addresses how behavioral changes following a new channel's adoption persist over time, and how their patterns vary among customers. We verify the roles of individual behavioral traits reflecting self-selection, marketing exposure, and loyalty in explaining these differences. Based on the elaboration likelihood model and attitude commitment theory, we develop hypotheses to predict these traits' effects on customers' membership in a particular segment with a unique post-adoption behavioral pattern. A latent class model is developed to empirically identify various customer segments and connect behavioral traits to the probability of segment membership. The results reveal that only 25% of the sample exhibits permanent behavioral changes, and most of these tend to buy from numerous stores with intense cross-buying. Approximately 43% of customers who temporarily changed their behaviors were strongly inclined to use multiple shopping channels and spend substantial amounts on hedonic products. The remaining 32% who did not change their purchases appear to be frequent buyers. We also discuss the work's implications for managing multichannel customers.     

基于高维聚类技术的中文关键词提取算法

关键词提取是中文信息处理技术研究中的热点和难点,基于统计信息的方法是其中一个重要分支。本文针对基于统计信息关键词提取方法准确率低的问题,提出基于高维聚类技术的中文关键词提取算法。算法通过依据小词典的快速分词、二次分词、高维聚类和关键词甄选4个步骤实现关键词的提取。理论分析和实验显示,基于高维聚类技术的中文关键词提取方法具备更好的稳定性、更高的效率和更准确的结果。