Profiling consumer behaviour in cross-border tourism destinations

Tourism is a phenomenon that moves millions of people around the world, taking as a major driver of the global economy. Such relevance is reflected in the proliferation of studies in the overall area known as tourism, under various perspectives and backgrounds. In the light of such multitude of insights our study aims at gaining a deeper understanding of customer profiling and behavior in cross-border tourism destinations. Previous studies conducted in such contexts suggest that cross-border regions (CBRs) are an attractive and desirable idea, yet requiring further theoretical and empirical research. The new configuration of many CBRs calls for a debate on issues concerning its development, raising up important dimensions, such as, organization and planning of common tourism destinations. There is still a gap in the understanding of destination management in CBRs and the customer profile and motivations. Overall this research aims at attaining a deeper understanding of the profile and behavior of consumers in tourism settings, addressing the predisposition for the destination. The study addresses the following research question: “What factors influence customer behavior and attitudes in a CBRs tourism destination?” To address our question we will take an interdisciplinary perspective bringing together inputs from marketing, tourism and local economics. When addressing consumer behavior in tourism previous studies considered the following constructs: involvement, place attachment, satisfaction and destination loyalty. In order to establish the causal relationships in our theoretical model, we intend to develop a predominant quantitative design, yet we plan to conduct exploratory interviews. In the analysis and discussion of results, we intend to use Structural Equation Modeling. It will further allow understanding how the constructs in the research model relate to each other in the specified context. Results are also expected to have managerial implications. Consequently our results may assist decision makers in developing their local policies.

Consumer behavior and profile in cross border tourism destinations

Tourism is a phenomenon that moves millions of people around the world, taking as a major driver of the global economy. Such relevance is reflected in the proliferation of studies in the overall area known as tourism, under various perspectives and backgrounds. In the light of such multitude of insights our study aims at gaining a deeper understanding of customer profiling and behavior in cross-border tourism destinations. Previous studies conducted in such contexts suggest that cross-border regions (CBRs) are an attractive and desirable idea, yet requiring further theoretical and empirical research. The new configuration of many CBRs calls for a debate on issues concerning its development, raising up important dimensions, such as, organization and planning of common tourism destinations. There is still a gap in the understanding of destination management in CBRs and the customer profile and motivations. Overall this research aims at attaining a deeper understanding of the profile and behavior of consumers in tourism settings, addressing the predisposition for the destination. The study addresses the following research question: “What factors influence customer behavior and attitudes in a CBRs tourism destination?” To address our question we will take an interdisciplinary perspective bringing together inputs from marketing, tourism and local economics. When addressing consumer behavior in tourism previous studies considered the following constructs: involvement, place attachment, satisfaction and destination loyalty. In order to establish the causal relationships in our theoretical model, we intend to develop a predominant quantitative design, yet we plan to conduct exploratory interviews. In the analysis and discussion of results, we intend to use Structural Equation Modeling. It will further allow understanding how the constructs in the research model relate to each other in the specified context. Results are also expected to have managerial implications. Consequently our results may assist decision makers in developing their local policies.

An approach on place attachment, involvement and behavioural intentions in cross-border tourist regions

This study aims at gaining a deeper understanding of customer profiling and behaviour in cross-border tourism destinations. The study is developed under a niche marketing perspective. It is our view that niche marketing is not confined to the limits of national markets. Previous studies suggest that cross-border regions are an attractive notion, yet they require further theoretical and empirical research. There is still a gap in the understanding of destination management in cross-border regions and the customer profile and motivations. Overall this research attempts to produce a deeper understanding of the profile and behaviour of consumers in tourism settings, addressing the predisposition for the destination in specific contexts (cross-border tourism regions).

Destinos turísticos transfronteiriços: uma abordagem ao consumidor

Tourism activities are among the most relevant drivers for economical growth and development in various economies. Every year, competition increases tourist destinations (Farhangmehr & Simões, 1999), making it an increasingly complex and geographically diverse range of activities (Pearce, 1991).Such relevance is reflected in the proliferation of studies in the overall area known as tourism, under various perspectives and backgrounds. Previous studies conducted in such contexts suggest that cross-border regions are an attractive and desirable idea, yet requiring further theoretical and empirical research (Studzieniecki & Mazurek, 2007). The new configuration of many cross-border regions calls for a debate on issues concerning its development, raising up important dimensions, such as, organization and planning of common tourism destinations. In particular, there is still a gap in the understanding of destination management in cross-border regions and the customer profile and motivations. Overall this research aims at attaining a deeper understanding of the profile and behavior of consumers in tourism settings, addressing the predisposition for the destination. To address our question we will take an interdisciplinary perspective bringing together inputs from areas, such as, marketing, tourism and local/regional economics. We developed a theoretical model entailing the following constructs: involvement, place attachment, destination satisfaction and loyalty. We then establish potential the relationships among these variables. We suggest that involvement has a positive and direct effect in the two dimensions of place attachment, as well as indirectly, through the construct of satisfaction. Additionally, satisfaction has a direct effect on destination loyalty. Implications for future research are presented.

The use of quantitative performance information by local elected politicians in top managers’ performance evaluation: case studies

This paper studies the use of results oriented performance information (outputs and outcomes) by local elected politicians (aldermen) in top managers’ performance evaluation. The main goal is to understand the top managers’ performance evaluation process conducted by Portuguese aldermen and to identify the dominant evaluation style. In line with Bogt (2001), an exploratory field research was developed in three large municipalities: Porto, Braga and Matosinhos. We intend to answer the following research questions: to what extent are local politicians (aldermen) 1 using results information (about outputs and outcomes) to evaluate top managers’ performance? Do aldermen give any importance to quantitative output information and report them on current planning and control documents? Will the output performance information be used on performance evaluation in a different way concerning policy field (task orientation)? Based on the Hopwood evaluation styles (adapted from the private to the public sector by Bogt, 2001), we have found that the performance evaluation process of top managers is more featured by the ‘operations-conscious styles’ (or ‘implicit style’). Portuguese aldermen recognize the importance to quantify outputs and outcomes, but these days they focus on the information about activities and the realized operations when they evaluate performance. We haven´t found significant differences between different tasks (some exceptions for culture and environment areas). However, the municipality of Matosinhos paid more attention on quantitative performance information. This finding is reinforced by the quality of quantitative data on outputs reported on its management report. Generally speaking, aldermen are aware that more attention should be paid to quantitative information about results and performance, taking into account recent reforms introduced in Portuguese municipalities (PLG) on this field, but the ‘implicit’ style is dominant.