Abstract
Distribution channels are the paths by which tourism organizations can execute the communication and sales of their products and services. To varying degrees, all tourism product suppliers depend on these channels for the distribution of their products. Tourism destination organizations and individual businesses often find themselves making decisions concerning the development and distribution of their products, without having a full understanding of how the channel operators perceive and react to these strategic actions. If the proper distribution channels are developed, they can go a long way towards determining the patterns of destination use, penetrating target markets, and creating economic impact, as it is important to have an awareness of, and access to, effective distribution intermediaries. The specific objectives of this study were to compare the importance that international and domestic tourists attribute to various forms of information, both at tourism destinations and in the pre – trip context, and to carry out an analysis of their information sourcing behaviour, based on internal and external information sources, including the use of the Internet. Research in the province of Arcadia, in the form of a longitudinal study, offers an appreciation of not only what channels of distribution might best match the needs of a particular tourism destination, but also what product development and marketing actions would help the channel operators to draw visitors to it.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alba J, Hutchinson JW (1987) Dimensions of consumer expertise. J Consum Res 13(4):411–453
Andereck KL, Caldwell LL (1994) Variable selection in tourism market segmentation models. J Travel Res 33(2):40–46
Assael H (1984) Consumer behavior and marketing action. Kent, Boston
Baloglu S (1999) A path analytic model of visitation intention involving information sources, socio-psychological motivations, and destination image. J Travel Tour Mark 8(3):81–91
Bettman JR (1979) An information processing theory of choice. Addison-Wesley, Reading
Bettman JR, Sujan M (1987) Research in consumer information processing. In: Houston MJ (ed) Review of marketing. American Marketing Association, Chicago, pp 197–235
Bieger T, Laesser C (2002) Market segmentation by motivation. J Travel Res 41(1):68–76
Bieger T, Laesser C (2004) Information sources for travel decisions: toward a source process model. J Travel Res 42(2):357–371
Bitner J, Booms BH (1982) Trends in travel and tourism marketing: the changing structure of distribution channels. J Travel Res 20(4):39–44
Bonn MA, Furr HL, Hausman A (2001) Using internet technology to request travel information and purchase travel services: a comparison of X’ers, boomers and mature market segments visiting Florida. In: Mazanec JA, Crouch GI, Brent JR, Woodside AG (eds) Consumer, psychology of tourism, hospitality and leisure, vol 2. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs/New York
Brucks M (1985) The effects of product class knowledge on information search behavior. J Consum Res 12(1):1–6
Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future. Tour Manage 21:97–116
Buhalis D (2000b) Relationships in the distribution channels of tourism: conflicts between hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region. Int J Hosp Tour Adm 1(1):113–139
Buhalis D, Law R (2008) Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet – the state of eTourism research. Tour Manage 29:609–623
Buhalis D, Zoge M (2007) The strategic impact of the internet on the tourism industry. In: Information and communication technologies in tourism 2007, Proceedings of the international conference in Ljubljana, Springer eBook
Calantone RJ, Mazenec JA (1991) Marketing management and tourism. Ann Tour Res 18:101–119
Cha S, McCleary KW, Uysal M (1995) Travel motivations of Japanese overseas travellers: a factor-cluster segmentation approach. J Travel Res 34(2):33–39
Correia A (2002) How do tourists choose? Tourism 50(1):21–29
Crompton J (1992) Structure of vacation destination choice sets. Ann Tour Res 19(2):420–434
Crotts JC (1998) Consumer decision-making and prepurchase information search. In: Pizam A, Mansfeld Y (eds) Consumer behavior in travel and tourism. Haworth, New York
Dawar N (1993) A cross-cultural study of interpersonal information seeking and giving behaviour (Working paper no 93/01). INSEAD, Fontainebleau
Duke CR, Persia MA (1993) Effects of distribution channel level on tour purchasing attributes and information sources. J Travel Tour Mark 2(2/3):37–55
Etzel MJ, Wahlers RG (1985) The use of requested promotional material by pleasure travelers. J Travel Res 23(4):2–6
Fodness D, Murray B (1997) Tourist information search. Ann Tour Res 24(3):503–523
Frochot I (2005) A benefit segmentation of tourists in rural areas: a Scottish perspective. Tour Manage 26:335–346
Gee CY, Makens JC, Choy DJL (1989) The travel industry, 2nd edn. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York
Gitelson RJ, Kerstetter DL (1990) The relationship between socio-demographic variables, benefit sought and subsequent vacation behavior: a case study. J Travel Res 28(3):24–29
Gretzel U, Fesenmaier DR, O’Leary JT (2006) Searching for the future: challenges facing destination marketing organizations. J Travel Res 45(2):116–126
Gursoy D, McLeary KW (2003) An integrative model of tourists’ information search behavior. Ann Tour Res 31(2):353–373
Haukeland JV (1995) Tourism marketing through the distribution channel. Tour Rev 2:18–24
Havitz ME, Dimanche F (1990) Propositions for guiding the empirical testing of the involvement construct in recreational and tourist context. Leis Sci 12(2):24–31
Hawkins DI, Best RJ, Coney KA (1998) Consumer behaviour; building marketing strategy. McGraw Hill, New York
Hirschman E, Wallendorf M (1982) Motives underlying marketing information acquisition and knowledge transfer. J Advert 11(3):25–31
Hoc J (1988) The cognitive psychology of planning. Academic, New York
Holloway JC, Plant RW (1988) Marketing for tourism. Pitman, London
Hsieh S, O’Leary JT (1993) Communication channels to segment pleasure travelers. J Travel Tour Mark 2(2–3):57–75
Hsieh S, O’Leary JT, Morrison AM (1992) Segmenting the international travel market by activity. Tour Manage 13(2):209–223
Hsu T, Tsai Y, Wu H (2009) The preference analysis for tourist choice of destination: a case study of Taiwan. Tour Manage 30:288–297
Hugstad P, Taylor JW (1987) The effects of social class and perceived risk on consumer information search. J Serv Mark 1(1):47–52
Jun HS, Vogt AC, Mackay JK (2007) Relationships between travel information search and travel product purchase in pretrip contexts. J Travel Res 45(3):266–274
Kastenholz E, Davis D, Paul G (1999) Segmenting tourism in rural areas: the case of North and Central Portugal. J Travel Res 37:353–363
Katsoni V (2011) Policies for tourism development: marketing management and new technologies. Ph.D. thesis (in Greek). Panteion University, Athens
Katsoni V (2011b) The role of ICTs in regional tourist development. Reg Sci Inq J 3(2):95–113
Kim H, Cheng K, O’Leary JT (2007) Understanding participation patterns and trends in tourism cultural attractions. Tour Manage 28:366–371
Kotler P (1998) Marketing management: analysis, planning, implementation, and control, 9th edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Lambert DM (1998) Information economics research: points of departure. Inf Econ Policy 10(3):325–330
Lee M, Cunningham LF (2001) A cost/benefit approach to understanding service loyalty. J Serv Mark 15(2):113–130
Leiper N (1990) Tourist attraction systems. Ann Tour Res 17(3):367–384
Lepp A, Gibson H (2008) Sensation seeking and tourism: tourist role, perception of risk and destination choice. Tour Manage 29:32–41
Lovelock CH, Wright C (1999) Principles of service marketing and management. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Lutz RJ, Reilly PJ (1973) An exploration of the effects of perceived social and performance risk on consumer information acquisition. In: Ward S, Wright P (eds) Advances in consumer research, vol 1. Association for Consumer Research, New York
Madrigal R, Kahle LR (1994) Predicting vacation activity preferences on the basis of value-system segmentation. J Travel Res 33(3):22–28
Mansfeld Y (1992) From motivation to actual travel. Ann Tour Res 19(2):399–419
March R, Woodside A (2005) Testing theory of planned versus realized behavior. Ann Tour Res 32(4):905–924
Mazanec J (1992) Classifying tourists into market segments: a neural network approach. J Travel Tour Mark 1(1):39–60
Michie DA, Sullivan GL (1990) The role(s) of the international travel agent in the travel decision process of client families. J Travel Res 29(2):30–38
Middleton VT (1994) Marketing in travel and tourism, 2nd edn. Bath Press, Avon
Mitra K, Reiss MC, Capella LM (1999) An examination of perceived risk, information search and behavioral intentions in search, experience and credence services. J Serv Mark 13(3):208–228
Mo C, Havitz M, Howard D (1994) Segmenting travel markets with the international tourism role (ITR) scale. J Travel Res 33(2):24–30
Morrison AM (1996) Hospitality and travel marketing, 2nd edn. Delmar, Albany
Morrison AM, Hsieh S, O’Leary JT (1994) Segmenting the Australian domestic travel market by holiday activity participation. J Tour Stud 5(1):39–56
Moscardo G, Morrison AM, Pearce PL, Lang CT, O’Leary JT (1996) Understanding vacation destination choice through travel motivation and activities. J Vacat Mark 2(2):109–122
Moutinho L (1987) Consumer behavior in tourism. Eur J Mark 21(10):5–44
Murray KB (1991) A test of services marketing theory: consumer information acquisition activities. J Mark 55(1):10–25
Normann R (1996) Service management: strategy and leadership in service business, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
Opperman M (1999) Predicting destination choice – a discussion of destination loyalty. J Vacat Mark 5(1):51–65
Pan B, Fesenmaier D (2003) Travel information search on the internet: a preliminary analysis. In: Frew A, Hitz M, O’Connor P (eds) Information and communication technology in tourism 2003: the proceedings of the international conference of ENTER 2003, Helsinki, 29–31 Jan 2003
Pearce GD, Schott C (2005) Tourism distribution channels: the visitors’ perspective. J Travel Res 44(2):50–63
Perdue RR (1985) Segmenting state information inquirers by timing of destination decision and previous experience. J Travel Res 5:830–835
Peter JP, Olson JC (1996) Consumer behavior and marketing strategy, 4th edn. Richard D. Irwin, Chicago
Peterson RA, Merino MC (2003) Consumer information search behavior and the internet. Psychol Mark 20(2):99–121
Porter ME (1985) Competitive advantage. Free Press, New York
Prentice RC, Witt SF, Hamer C (1998) Tourism as experience: the case of heritage parks. Ann Tour Res 25(1):1–24
Ramkissoon H, Uysal M, Brown K (2011) Relationship between destination image and behavioral intentions of tourists to consume cultural attractions. J Hosp Mark Manage 20(5):575–595
Ryan C (1991) Tourism and marketing-a symbolic relationship? Tour Manage 12(2):101–111
Schiffmann LG (1972) Perceived risk in new product trial by elderly consumers. J Mark Res 9(1):106–108
Schmidt JB, Spreng RA (1996) A proposed model of external consumer information search. J Acad Mark Sci 24(3):246–256
Schonland AM, Williams R (1996) Using the internet for travel and tourism survey research: experiences from the net traveler survey. J Travel Res 35(4):81–87
Schul P, Crompton JL (1983) Search behavior of international vacationers: search and travel product purchase in pretrip contexts. J Travel Res 45:266–274
Shoemaker S (1989) Segmentation of the senior pleasure travel market. J Travel Res 28(3):14–21
Shoemaker S (1994) Segmenting the U.S. travel market according to benefits realized. J Travel Res 33(3):8–21
Sigala M, Airey D, Jones P, Lockwood A (2004) ICT paradox lost? A stepwise DEA methodology to evaluate technology investments in tourism settings. J Travel Res 43(2):180–192
Snepenger D, Snepenger M (1993) Information search by pleasure travelers. In: Kahn MA, Olsen MD, Var T (eds) Encyclopedia of hospitality and tourism. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp 830–835
Snepenger D, Meged K, Snelling M, Worall K (1990) Information search strategies by destinative tourists. J Travel Res 29(1):13–16
Soloman MR, Surprenant CF, Czepial JA, Gutman E (1985) A role theory perspective on dyadic interactions: the service encounter. J Mark 49:99–111
Sorensen L (1993) The special-interest travel market. Cornell H R A Q 34:24–30
Srinivasan N (1990) Pre-purchase external information search for information. In: Zeithaml VE (ed) Review of marketing. American Marketing Association, Chicago, pp 152–189
Sung HH, Morrison MA, Hong G, O’Leary TJ (2001) The effects of household and trip characteristics on trip types: a consumer behavioral approach for segmenting the U.S. domestic leisure travel market. J Hosp Tour Res 23:25–46
Teare R (1992) An exploration of the consumer decision process for hospitality services. In: Teare R, Moutinho L, Morgan N (eds) Managing and marketing services in the 1990s. Cassell Educational, London, pp 233–248
Um S, Crompton J (1990) Attitude determinants in tourism destination choice. Ann Tour Res 17(3):432–448
Uysal M, Fesenmaier DR (eds) (1993) Communications and channel systems in tourism marketing. Haworth, London
Van Raaij WF (1986) Consumer research on tourism: mental and behavioural constructs. Ann Tour Res 13:1–9
Vogt CA, Fesenmaier DR (1998) Expanding the functional information search model. Ann Tour Res 25(3):551–578
Wight PA (1996) North American ecotourism markets: motivations, preferences, and destinations. J Travel Res 35(1):3–10
Wilkie WL, Dickson PR (1985) Shopping for appliances: consumers’ strategies and patterns of information search. Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA
Woodside A, MacDonald R (1994) General system framework of customer choice processes of tourism services. In: Gasser R, Weiermair K (eds) Spoilt for choice. Decision making process and preference changes of tourists: intertemporal and intercountry perspectives. The proceedings of the institute of tourism and service economics international conference, Kulturverlag
Woodside A, Lysonski S (1989) A general model of traveler destination choice. J Travel Res 27(1):8–14
Woodside AG, Ronkainen IA (1980) Vacation planning segments: self planning vs. users of motor clubs and travel agents. Ann Tour Res 7(3):385–393
Xiang Z, Weber K, Fesenmaier DR (2008) Representation of the online tourism domain in search engines. J Travel Res 47(2):137–150
Yuan S, McDonald C (1990) Motivational determinants of international pleasure time. J Travel Res 27(2):7–13
Zins AH (2009) Deconstructing travel decision making and information search activities. In: Information and communication technologies in tourism 2009. Springer, Amsterdam
Zins A, Teichmann K (2006) Source credibility in the tourist information search behaviour: comparing the pre- and post-consumption stage. In: TTRA 2006 annual conference proceedings. Travel and Tourism Research Association, Dublin
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Katsoni, V., Giaoutzi, M., Nijkamp, P. (2013). Market Segmentation in Tourism: An Operational Assessment Framework. In: Matias, Á., Nijkamp, P., Sarmento, M. (eds) Quantitative Methods in Tourism Economics. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2879-5_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2879-5_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Physica, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-2878-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-2879-5
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)