The formation of the tourist's loyalty to the tourism distribution channel: how does it affect price discounts?

Abstract

Given that distribution agents who wish to maximize long-term business profits should not only attract new consumers but also keep them loyal, this study analyses the variables that determine the consumer's loyalty to distribution agents for tourism. Although retailers in the service industry employ price discounts on products to motivate short-term sales, they often establish promotional policies without considering their effect on the long-term business results. This paper presents an empirical study of the effect of price promotions on tourists who travelled with a package tour. The results indicate that price discounts do not erode consumer loyalty directly, and that the key to obtaining loyal consumers is to offer package tours that customers perceive as providing high-quality service.

Corporate image, loyalty, and commitment in the consumer travel industry

“…To project a consistent and Downloaded by [University of Guelph] at 06:22 08 October 2012 positive corporate image, employees should be trained and motivated (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Thus it is important for the practitioners to emphasise the quality of the service delivery and the professionalism of the employees to reflect a strong and consistent brand image and to reinforce the positive association (Bitner, 1992;Campo & Yagüe, 2007).…”

Paradise for who? Segmenting visitors' satisfaction with cognitive image and predicting behavioural loyalty

“…Yet, this relationship is dependent on how loyalty is defined and measured. In the tourism literature, the terms ‘destination loyalty’ (Oppermann, 2000; Alegre and Juaneda, 2006), ‘brand loyalty’ (Back and Parks, 2003) and ‘tourist loyalty’ (Campo and Yague, 2007) have been used interchangeably to describe tourists repeated visits and positive attitudes toward a destination. In the marketing literature, loyalty has been defined as ‘a deeply held commitment to re‐buy or re‐patronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same‐brand or same brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviour’ (Oliver, 1999, p. 34).…”

“…The cognitive component refers to the willingness to choose an alternative because it is perceived as better than others, and the affective component refers to a positive impression of the brand derived from satisfaction with the purchase. The conative component has been described as the intention to return to buy the product (Laroche et al , 2001; Campo and Yague, 2007).…”

Price Interactions between Theme Park and Tour Operator

“…This strategy is popular with tourism product/service suppliers in the tourism industry (Campo and Yagüe, 2007).…”

“…Quantity discount, as a traditional market strategy in practice, stems from the fact that product/service supplier discount offers can influence buyers' purchasing behaviour by providing economic incentives (Shin and Benton, 2007). This strategy is popular with tourism product/service suppliers in the tourism industry (Campo and Yagüe, 2007).…”