Cross-Cultural Segments in International Student Travel: An Analysis of British and Chinese Market

Abstract

this article uses a global-centric approach to identify clusters of segments that cross national and cultural boundaries in the student travel market in the UK and China, a relatively underresearched area. Based on students' motivations of travel, the article uses cluster analysis on 523 questionnaires from students in the two countries. the results indicated five cross-national segments in the student travel market, namely; the conservatives, the enthusiasts, the adventurers, the fun seekers, and the learners. Significant differences among the five segments, in terms of their driven motivation and traveling preferences, were identified. the results suggested that underneath the superficial differences, British and Chinese students can be segmented into similar clusters. the results of the study provide an important understanding of the student market, contributing to focus the marketing efforts differently when attempting to target different segments cross national.

A content analysis of cross-cultural motivational studies in tourism relating to nationalities

“…Several studies were undertaken in relation to students' motivation factors for travelling and their behavioural patterns (Chen, 2006;Dejtisak et al, 2009;Kim and Jogaratnam, 2003;Reisinger and Mavondo, 2004;Walker, 2008, 2010;Xiao et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2009Xu et al, , 2011. Xu et al (2009) compared the travel motivation, behaviour and attitudes of undergraduate students from the United Kingdom and China.…”

Use of the pathfinder network scaling to measure online customer reviews: A theme park study

“…In conclude, the tourist experiences can be included as outward driven (attribute based), inward driven (emotional based), and interaction (social cultural interaction) driven. However, limited research has implied this with different segments (Xu et al, ), whether a particular group will pay attention to any certain aspect of inward, outward, or interaction driven factors in unclear.…”

“…However, previous studies on experiences have mainly focused on a homogeneous market, which tends to be generic and ignores the difference in segments. Particularly in tourism related studies, there is an urge on focusing on individual tourist experiences and emphasis on different segments in experiential marketing (Williams, ; Xu et al, ). Meanwhile, in the tourism studies, there is a trend of shifting from traditional survey based or interview‐based studies to big data analytics, which benefits from unconventional dataset, massive amount of information and real time reflection.…”

“…In the field of marketing, over the years, researchers have become increasingly aware of the significance of understanding customer segments (Rau, Gao, & Ding, ). Segmentation plays an important role in marketing as different groups of customers will have different needs, motivation and behavior, therefore, shaping different experiences (Xu, Morgan, & Moital, ). How to identify these experiences that can be shared by a certain group becomes critical to marketing.…”

Travel Experiences and Aspirations: A Case Study from Chinese Youth<i> </i>

“…However, the open door policy since 1978 has had a great influence on the values of Chinese people in understanding capitalism and materialism (Sofield & Li, 2011). Young generations, particularly those born after the 1980s, are greatly influenced by modern western culture and media (Xu, Morgan, & Moital, 2011). This combination and evolution of 'modern' and 'traditional' values may influence individual travelling behavior in complex and subtle ways (Kwek & Lee, 2010).…”