Francisco J. Más

Heckit modelling of tourist expenditure: evidence from Spain

Purpose – This study intends to decompose the tourist choice process into two stages (decision to take a holiday and tourist expenditure), and to propose and test various expectations on the dimensions which explain the above decisions.Design/methodology/approach – In order to simultaneously model the two decisions, we use a system of equations based on the Heckit model.Findings – The dimensions affecting the decision to go on holiday are income, household size, education, size of the city of origin and opinion of going on holiday. The determinant factors influencing the level of expenditure are distance between origin and destination, type of accommodation, income, household size, age, marital status and length of stay. An important finding of this analysis is the differentiated effect of a given dimension on each decision.Research limitations/implications – The lack of information on some explanatory dimensions. Joint modelling. The spending decision should be modelled jointly with the decision to go on...

Simultaneous analysis of whether and how long to go on holidays

This article assumes that the decision to go on holiday and the length of stay are nested and non-independent, thus the objective of this study is to propose a two-stage choice process: going on holiday and length of stay. To do this, we rely on the random-parameter logit model, which accounts for the unobserved heterogeneity of individuals and allows representation of different correlation patterns among non-independent alternatives. We propose hypotheses on the effect on the above decisions of individuals characteristics relating to the destination, personal restrictions and socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics. The empirical application, which is carried out in Spain on a sample of 3781 individuals, evidences the proposed two-stage choice process, and that these decisions also explained by individual tourist characteristics.

Foreign diversification vs concentration strategies and firm performance

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the impact on firm performance of foreign concentration vs diversification strategies, as well as the moderating role played by market, product and firm characteristics.Design/methodology/approach – Moderated regression analysis is used.Findings – Distribution and cultural distance (CU) moderate the relationship between foreign concentration‐diversification and stock market performance; while the non‐repetitive character of product purchase moderates the relationship at an accounting performance level.Research limitations/implications – First, the lack of information prevented us from examining other groups of determining factors. Second, the possible existence of bias in the results due to the selection of stock market quoted firms.Practical implications – Managers must realise that CU, distribution channel, and the product factor of non‐repeat purchase, play an important role in the choice of a concentration vs diversification strategy when explaining bu...

Detecting Free Riders in Collective Brands through a Hierarchical Choice Process

Free-riding behaviors exist in tourism and they should be analyzed from a comprehensive perspective; while the literature has mainly focused on free riders operating in a destination, the destinations themselves might also free ride when they are under the umbrella of a collective brand. The objective of this article is to detect potential free-riding destinations by estimating the contribution of the different individual destinations to their collective brands, from the point of view of consumer perception. We argue that these individual contributions can be better understood by reflecting the various stages that tourists follow to reach their final decision. A hierarchical choice process is proposed in which the following choices are nested (not independent): “whether to buy,” “what collective brand to buy,” and “what individual brand to buy.” A Mixed Logit model confirms this sequence, which permits estimation of individual contributions and detection of free riders.