Lifestyle segmentation of tourists seeking nature-based experiences: the role of cultural values and travel motives

Abstract

The increasing globalization of markets and the criticality of reaching the right lifestyle segments make the relationship between personal motives and cultural values an important area for academic research and managerial practice. The authors seek to provide an understanding of this relationship in a tourism context, specifically in terms of the links between travel motivations and a set of cultural values -materialism, uncertainty avoidance, horizontal and vertical individualism, and horizontal and vertical collectivism. The study examined whether the importance ratings of cultural values differ across segments of tourists grouped on the basis of their travel motives. An Internet survey was used and the sample included 1546 potential tourists visiting the nature-based destination Fjord Norway. Results showed that travel motives and cultural values can serve as discriminators between lifestyle segments. The three motive segments were the nature and novelty, the status, and the relaxation segment. The segments evaluate the destination differently and vary in behavioral intentions.

Chinese venturers to Pacific Small Island Developing States: Travel and lifestyle

“…This study considered travel motivations, demographics, travel behaviors, information channels, and payment preferences of Chinese tourists to Pacific SIDS. Building on the concept of cultural determinism adopted by Steigerwald (2005) and Cohen (2011), travel motivation is an internal driving force that critically determines an individual's preferred lifestyle and travel behaviors (Iversen et al, 2016;Zhou & Huang, 2016). where Asian visitors who are interested in exploring different cultures and experiencing the local way of life while trying to shop even in local markets, store or malls.…”

“…Specifically, a person's values, attitudes, and orientation are determined by their lifestyle (Cohen, 2011). A recent study by Iversen, Hem, and Mehmetoglu (2016) on nature-based travelers to Norway found that travel motives and cultural values could differ between different lifestyles. This study looks at what attractions and activities would motivate Chinese tourists to visit and participate in travel experiences.…”

Editorial

“…Over time, lifestyle has received increasing attention in the marketing domain for its functions in the prediction, explanation, and reflection of consumer behavior. Lifestyle is also a key factor in market segmentation and strategy development; it can provide rich information about customers compared to sociodemographic variables (Iversen et al, 2016).…”

Segmenting the Latin American travel market to South Africa

“…Fodness (1994) mentions that motivation is the driving force behind all behaviour, while Crompton and McKay (1997) also indicate that motives are the starting points that launch decision processes. It is, however, important to note that motivation differs from person to person and can be greatly influenced by the type and nature of a destination (Sung, Chang & Sung 2016;Iversen, Hem & Mehmetoglu 2016). Applying a segmentation technique aimed at identifying market segments provides several advantages, including: (1) effectively determining market niches based on similarities, (2) classifying groups of tourists, (3) establishing theories related to tourist groups and (4) testing whether the tourist groups are present in the market (Cross, Belich & Rudelius 2015;Dibb & Simkin 2016;Kotler et al 2015;Mazanec 2015).…”