Daniel L. Spears

Who buys that? Who does what? Analysis of cross-cultural consumption behaviours among tourists in Hawaii:

The purpose of this paper is to investigate planned product and service consumption patterns among US, Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, South Korean and Australian/New Zealand tourists in Hawaii. Using multiple analyses of variance, the first study empirically explores the influence of a tourists residential country of origin on planned product and service consumption. The second study explores the planned consumption differences between, and among, American and Japanese first-time and repeat visitors to Hawaii. The results reveal significant cross-cultural differences in consumption patterns among international tourists to Hawaii.

An Exploration of Spending Behaviors among Japanese Tourists

This article provides a two-part, exploratory analysis of planned spending on shopping, dining, and other recreational activities among Japanese tourists in Hawaii. The empirical findings from the first study reveal that Japanese tourists primarily plan to engage in duty-free shopping during their stay in Hawaii. In contrast, American tourists plan to engage in cultural activities and fine dining opportunities during their Hawaiian vacation. A second study was used to explore the propensity of Japanese tourists in Hawaii to shop at both high-end boutiques and discounted retail outlets. The results of a two-step cluster analysis reveal that Japanese tourists may be classified into two exclusive groups, shopping enthusiasts and nonshoppers. The data support the conclusion that shopping enthusiasts plan to patronize three types of retail outlets in Hawaii: duty-free stores, factory outlets, and designer boutiques. Managerial implications and directives for future theoretical development are provided.

Who buys what? Who does that? The case of Golden Week in Hawaii

The purpose of this case study is to explore demographic, motivation, and consumption behaviours among Japanese tourists during Golden Week. Data for this study came from questionnaires collected from ‘non-Golden’ and ‘Golden’ Japanese tourists who were vacationing in Waikiki (Honolulu, Hawaii). The results reveal that Golden Week Japanese tourists spend about

Segmenting Taiwanese Travelers on Cruises in North America: Comparing the Involvement and Cluster Approach

900 on gifts during their stay. This dollar figure is nearly

Marketing cultural and heritage tourism: the Marshall Islands

300 more than average spending among non-Golden Week tourists. In addition, Golden Week tourists are employed, well-educated, and primarily interested in vacationing and leisure activities. Overall, the results of this case study are useful to both academics and to marketing/tourism planners.

Using group comparisons in AMOS to explore shopping as a travel driver

The cruise industry is the fastest growing category within the leisure market. Asia is a large market and a potential growth area for the cruise industry. Within Asia, the Taiwanese cruise market has grown substantially since 1997. The involvement construct is an important psychographic facet of consumer behavior. Involvement is defined as a persons perceived relevance of the object based on inherent needs, values, and interests. Past research has linked the level of involvement to travel motivation for leisure choices, including travel. Cluster analysis is a classic market segmentation approach that has been extensively used in the tourism literature. The cluster approach has been used to understand travel motivations, satisfaction, dining choices, etc. However, no studies have presented a comparison of the two methods. There are only a few research studies on cruise vacations. Furthermore, no studies have identified the involvement levels of Taiwanese cruisers and segmented the Taiwanese cruise market to offer valuable marketing insights. This study aims at filling these gaps in the literature. Data were collected from 352 Taiwanese cruisers. The questionnaire was developed in English and translated into Chinese. This study found only two distinct categories of high and medium involvement cruisers. The cluster segmentation approach resulted in two distinct clusters, each with its own characteristics. Analysis showed that cluster segmentation provided a more nuanced definition of the segments in the context of Taiwanese cruisers.

Using structural equation modeling to understand the impact of Bollywood movies on destination image, tourist activity, and purchasing behavior of Indians:

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on evaluating what cultural, heritage, and historical resources exist in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and how these resources can advance tourism development and marketing.Design/methodology/approach – This study bases its approach on tourism development field research conducted in the RMI, first in 1989‐1990 for the entire nation and in 2002 for Bikini and Rongelap Atolls. Current literature sources provide an expansion of the previous studies.Findings – Tourism in the RMI sees only a few thousand visitors annually, with many participating in diving and sport‐fishing. Significant potential exists to attract cultural heritage visitors, but to date few such efforts exist. Construction and sailing of traditional outrigger canoes and rediscovery of ancient Micronesian way‐finding techniques represent two important culture resources for potential tourism marketing.Research limitations/implications – Field research includes only the atolls of Majuro (the nationa...

A practical learning environment for sustainability and sustainable tourism: The case of student engagement at the sustainability house (SH)

Purpose – This study seeks to achieve two objectives: first, to expand on Fodnesss five‐dimensional travel motivation scale by empirically demonstrating that a sixth driving force – shopping – encourages tourists to visit particular destinations; and second, to provide a clear demonstration for using AMOS structural equation modeling to analyze group comparisons, which researchers could employ in future studies.Design/methodology/approach – The study offers and evaluates a proposed higher‐order travel motivation structural model using confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. It also explores a tourists country of origin (the USA or Japan) as a moderator. The empirical study is supported through data from a convenient sample of 1,042 tourists (521 American and Japanese tourists, respectively) who were vacationing in Honolulu, Hawaii.Findings – The findings demonstrate that five of the six motivational forces encourage US and Japanese tourists to vacation in Honolulu. In addition, the results revea...

Legalization of gambling in Hawaii: an empirical re-inquiry.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of Bollywood movies on destination image, tourist activity, and purchasing behaviors of Indian viewers. Surveys were administered in a face-to-face format in New Delhi, India, to a convenience sample of over 600 respondents. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to test the hypotheses and explore causal relationships. Findings identified a profile of Bollywood movies viewers, sources of information used to determine destination choice, and the level of involvement among viewers in foreign travel. Additionally, this study explored the relationships between Bollywood movies and tourist motivations and the propensity to participate in activities featured. Findings indicated that engagement in Bollywood movies has a positive impact on both hedonic and utilitarian involvement factors and that utilitarian involvement positively impacts destination awareness. Furthermore, destination awareness has a positive impact on tourist activity but not consumption behaviors at a destination. However, activity behavior does positively influence tourist consumption behavior.

Understanding Ethnic Chinese Travelers on North American Cruise Tours: Motivations, Perceptions, and Satisfaction of Cruisers

This paper aims to review the current joint master’s program between two international institutions in the USA and Costa Rica; to identify students’ perceptions and experiences with the sustainability house (SH); and to apply these experiences in an effort to improve the practical learning environment for future students.,In an effort to understand student outcomes provided by the SH, an in-depth literature review on practical learning environments and interview methods were applied. The following open-ended questions were asked in an effort to gather and consolidate student experiences with the SH. What are your experiences in/with SH? Please tell us briefly about your experiences. The language has been adjusted and interviewers answered questions and made clarifications if asked to. Master’s in international sustainable tourism (MIST) program students were selected for this study. Participants’ responses were recorded using the computer-assisted personal interviewing technique.,The most important characteristic students recognized about the SH is that it “provided us a safe place to fail”. One student described SH as “[…] a safe space where students can gain experiences of learning new processes firsthand without external pressures (e.g., on-the-job training, eventuation, and financial analysis)”. The safety attribute of the SH environment is considered as a comfortable place to learn from other classmates or visitors (mostly volunteers and interns). It is a “real” hospitality and tourism business-learning center, which is a great benefit to the students not only because of its environment but also because of the diversity among student’s educational and professional backgrounds.,The primary limitations of this study need to be addressed. The number of interviews was very limited with one year data which could affect the generalizability of this study. In addition, it was not clearly explained to the student what rubrics and standardized metrics were used during interview process; after interview, students were asked to provide a better way to improve the research outcomes. For further studies, it is strongly recommended to provide the direction to make sure it applies to the conditions that are prevalent in the existing site to be examined.,Both strategies that link the SH to this MIST program have significant merit. Students implementing best practices in the courses have clearly identified the challenges of implementation, but all agree that there is tremendous value in the experiences they have received during their studies. Furthermore, using the SH as an engagement tool has motivated students to consciously interactive and collaborative in a more proactive manner.,This unique experience and operational competency at the SH provides participants with an in-depth understanding of the context and challenges of sustainability but needs to be detailed and promoted more in the future. The SH is facilitating a learning environment among not only students but also faculty and staff. The results clearly indicated that the SH has influenced sustainable behaviors by promoting interactive engagement.