Explorers versus planners: A Study of Turkish Tourists

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 319–338, 2006� 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/$32.00
doi:10.1016/j.annals.2005.12.001www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures

EXPLORERS VERSUS PLANNERSA Study of Turkish Tourists

Maria AlvarezGulden Asugman

Bogazici University, Turkey

Abstract: This study explores a segmentation design to differentiate tourists according totheir perceptions of online and offline information sources in the Turkish context. Further,it aims to describe the segments identified in terms of their personal traits and the character-istics of their chosen vacations. Using cluster analysis, two groups are identified: spontaneousexplorers and risk-averse planners. Explorers show a more negative view towards informationsources, are less concerned with risk, and exhibit a higher degree of involvement and explor-atory tourism behavior. More females are present among the risk-averse planners, who alsousually travel via package tours and stay in four- or five-star hotels. Keywords: informationsearch, internet, exploratory behavior, risk-taking, segmentation. � 2006 Elsevier Ltd. Allrights reserved.

Resume: Explorateurs compares aux planificateurs: une etude de touristes turcs. Cetteetude examine un plan de segmentation pour differencier les touristes selon leurs percep-tions des sources d’informations en ligne et traditionnelles dans le contexte turc. On essaieaussi de decrire les differents segments selon leurs traits de caractere et les caracteristiquesdes vacances elues. En utilisant l’analyse de groupement, on identifie deux groupes: les explo-rateurs spontanes et les planificateurs ayant de l’aversion pour les risques. Les explorateursmontrent une opinion plus negative des sources de renseignements, s’inquietent moins durisque et ont un plus haut niveau d’engagement et de comportement touristique d’explora-tion. Il y a plus de femmes parmi les planificateurs n’aimant pas le risque, faisant d’habitudedes voyages organises et logeant dans des hotels a quatre ou cinq etoiles. Mots-cles: recherched’informations, internet, comportement d’exploration, prise de risques, segmenta-tion. � 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Differentiating tourists and classifying them into groups has beenfound useful to understand the individuals’ behavior (Cohen 1972;Wickens 2002) and to determine the appropriate products and com-munication strategies to address the various segments. Furthermore,tourist segmentation can also help destinations manage their resourcesand design policies (Becken and Gnoth 2004; McMinn and Cater1998). As different types of individuals have diverse requirements,

Maria Alvarez is Assistant Professor of marketing at the Department of TourismAdministration of Bogazici University (Hisar Kampus, Bebek 34342, Istanbul, Turkey. Email<[email protected]>). She is interested in the topics of tourist behavior, e-marketing,and destination marketing. Gulden Asugman is Professor of marketing at the Department ofManagement of the same university. Her research interests include interpersonal commu-nication, services marketing, and consumer behavior.

319

320 EXPLORERS VS. PLANNERS

understanding the characteristics of the tourists will help local author-ities evaluate the competitiveness of the destination to meet theirneeds. Accordingly, decisions related to infrastructure, resource alloca-tion, and planning for transportation and accommodation in a locality,are dependent on the types of individuals visiting a destination (Bec-ken and Gnoth 2004). In this respect, linking the segments to specificproducts is important for professionals and managers. However, the lit-erature points to the gap observed between theoretical preferencesand actual destination and vacation choice, and suggests that decision-making variables and individual information search differences couldbe used as a basis to better discriminate among types of tourists (Biegerand Laesser 2001; Decrop and Snelders 2005).

Segmenting the leisure market on the basis of the individual’s infor-mation search is especially appropriate in tourism, due to the relianceof this industry on information. Moreover, one’s awareness, selectionand choice of tourism and hospitality products depend heavily onthe information provided and used by the tourist (Bieger and Laesser2001). Therefore, it is important to understand how persons differregarding their information seeking and planning styles. This needto comprehend the individuals’ information search behavior is becom-ing more significant as new online sources are appearing. The Internethas especially influenced the industry as according to statistics (TIA2004), 64 million individuals used this medium to plan their trips in2003. Thus, organizations and destinations are faced with the chal-lenge of comprehending how individuals perceive and use these onlinesources, in addition to the previously existing ones, and whether theInternet has changed their information searching and planningbehavior.

Although several researchers have examined the Internet in relationto tourism information search (Gursoy and Umbreit 2004; Money andCrotts 2003), these studies have mainly concentrated on determiningthe use of online sources, rather than on establishing the perceptionsof individuals related to them. As consumers are faced with a pre-pur-chase decision that generates a need for external information, theyevaluate the sources to be used based on their attitudes and beliefs to-wards these sources (Jarvis 1998). Therefore, the present study aims tobetter understand how individuals differ in relation to their percep-tions of different sources for planning their vacations. Moreover, theresearch seeks to determine whether tourists can be segmented accord-ing to these perceptions, and to describe these groups in terms of theirpersonal characteristics and their holiday choices. Thus, the practicalrelevance of the investigation is increased as the segments identifiedcan be linked to specific tourism products and diverse strategies forthe different groups.

According to Decrop and Snelders (2005), one of the limitations ofcurrently available typologies of tourists is that these are presented asuniversal, without taking cultural environments into account. As mostsegmentation and information search studies have been concernedwith North American or Western European individuals, there is a lackof research related to the behavior of tourists from other emerging,

ALVAREZ AND ASUGMAN 321

demand-generating markets. The present study is carried out in thecontext of Turkish tourists, both in relation to domestic and outbounddemand.

Although Turkey is not one of the main demand-generating coun-tries, it is an emerging market with a high potential for growth. In thisregard, the tourism expenditures of Turkish nationals have reachedUS$17.8 billion, representing 7.9% of the total consumption (WTTC2005), and this figure is expected to rise considerably in the near fu-ture. When considering trends in relation to Turkey’s per capita spend-ing, urbanization, education, and human development, Koc (2003)argues that tourism expenditures of Turkish individuals are due to in-crease dramatically within the next few years. This forecast is also sup-ported by other sources (WTTC 2005), which estimate an increase of70% in average spending in Turkey between 2005 and 2015. Its largepopulation of 68 million (State Institute of Statistics 2000) and its sta-tus as a European Union candidate are other reasons why organiza-tions need to study this emerging market. Thus, here the aim is tosegment Turkish tourists according to their perceptions of differentonline and offline information sources to plan for vacations, and toinvestigate the personal characteristics and product choices of thegroups identified. This analysis will help tourism and destination pro-fessionals improve the efficiency of their communications, and selectthe appropriate strategies for the various segments. Moreover, distin-guishing tourists visiting a destination and their vacation choices maybe instrumental to a better planning and allocation of resources toincrease competitiveness.

SEGMENTATION OF TURKISH TOURISTS

This study seeks to segment Turkish tourists according to their per-ceptions of different information sources for planning vacations.Although segmentation is a technique that has been widely used inthe industry, as markets evolve there is a continuous opportunity forcreating new ones to meet environmental changes that create new cus-tomer needs (Doyle 1994). The tourism environment and the tourist’sinformation search process have been revolutionized by the emergenceof the Internet as a medium that increases the quantity and quality ofthe information available (Kulviwat, Guo and Engchanil 2004; Petersonand Merino 2003). Therefore, different segments may be identifiedbased on the individual’s perceptions of online sources, as opposedto pre-existing traditional ones, such as brochures, printed guides, ortravel sales agents.

Previous studies recognize the importance of the consumer informa-tion search as affecting one’s purchase decision (Money and Crotts2003). In this regard, several attempts have been made to classify tour-ists according to their search behavior (Fodness and Murray 1997,1998; Schul and Crompton 1983; Snepenger 1987). In an early study,Schul and Crompton (1983) conclude that they could be grouped intoactive or passive planners, according to the length of time during


which the vacation planning activity occurred and the number of rele-vant organizations consulted. Cohen (1972) also identifies four typesof tourists based on their preference for familiarity and need for nov-elty: the organized mass, the individual mass, the explorer, and thedrifter. His typology has been adapted by Snepenger (1987) who distin-guishes three different categories that differ significantly with respectto when they plan their trips and the information utilized in planning.Fodness and Murray (1997) also determine that insights into behaviorcan be derived by segmenting individuals according to their degree ofsearch.

The above typologies according to their information seeking activi-ties (Fodness and Murray 1997; 1998; Schul and Crompton 1983; Snep-enger 1987) are mostly concerned with one’s use of various sourcesrather than perceptual considerations. A greater understanding ofthe tourists’ perceptions of different sources is necessary to clarifythe processes by which consumers make choices among these. Jarvis(1998) has proposed that external information search behavior canbe conceptualized as a decisionmaking process, to provide insights intowhy they select among alternative sources. Moreover, when a prepur-chase decision problem arises, it generates a desire for external infor-mation, and consumers evaluate the sources to use based on theirenduring beliefs about these sources, learned through experienceand socialization (Jarvis 1998). It is thus relevant to understand howindividuals perceive different sources used for planning, and to deter-mine whether these perceptions can be related to their personal char-acteristics and holiday choices.

The link between information search and the characteristics of thetourists has been investigated in previous studies (Chen and Gursoy2000; Fodness and Murray 1999; Gursoy and Umbreit 2004; Hyde2000; Money and Crotts 2003; Uysal, McDonald and Reid 1990). Hyde(2000) proposes that demographic variables and the tourist’s level ofinvolvement affect the amount of information searching and vacationplanning. Differences in planning behavior have also been foundamong individuals belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds (Chenand Gursoy 2000; Gursoy and Umbreit 2004; Money and Crotts 2003;Uysal et al 1990). Moreover, information search strategies are thoughtto be affected by certain characteristics of the tourist, such as socioeco-nomic status, level of previous experience, and stage in the family life-cycle (Fodness and Murray 1999). In addition to these, perceived riskand involvement have been used in the literature in relation to choicebehavior and information search. According to Lepp and Gibson(2003), tourists seeking familiarity in their destination choice perceivehigher levels of risk than those looking for novelty. Vogt and Fesenma-ier (1998) include involvement in the information search processes asaffecting the use of different types of sources.

In trying to understand the tourists’ search behavior, previous re-search has also noted that some individuals enjoy traveling from placeto place, while being relatively unaware of what the destination has tooffer. For them, an integral part of the holiday is the enjoyment of theexperiences from not planning the details of the vacation, and the


meeting of the unknown and unexpected (Hyde 2000). The literaturehas mainly used sensation seeking, defined as the requirement for var-ied, novel, and complex sensations, and the willingness to take risks forthe sake of such experience (Zuckerman 1979), to describe the tour-ists’ need for exploration. Sensation seeking has also been related todifferent aspects of recreation, such as the preference for high-risk nat-ural activities (Cronin 1991), the inclination for adventure tourism(Gilchrist, Povey, Dickinson and Povey 1995), and the tourists’ expec-tations about facilities at recreational parks (Galloway 2002). Someresearchers have also investigated hedonic motivations as influencingthe search for information and the sources used. For example, Vogtand Fesenmaier (1998) recognize that individuals have differentknowledge needs, including functional and hedonic, which influencethe nature of the search.

In accordance with the above literature, the present study proposesthat tourists may be differentiated with respect to their attitudes to-wards information search. Specifically, the research aims at determin-ing whether the Turkish population could be segmented accordingto its perceptions of the usefulness of different sources for planningvacations. The study includes both offline and online sources, since amajor aim is to understand how Turkish tourists perceive Internet-based sources, as well as traditional ones. Moreover, linking the individ-uals’ perceptions of the sources with their personal characteristics,involvement level, perceived risk and vacation choices is an importantobjective. Therefore, the study also seeks to describe the segments interms of the tourists’ personal factors, their degree of perceived riskand involvement level associated with the vacation, and the character-istics of the holidays chosen by them.

Study Methods

The research used a structured questionnaire to collect data relatedto the Turkish tourists’ perceived usefulness of information sources toplan for vacations. An important aim was to understand their percep-tions of sources, including those Internet-based, in order to establishwhether tourists can be segmented according to these views. In linewith these objectives, the population was based on Turkish individualswho have access to the Internet and who travel for leisure purposes atleast once a year. The study was limited to tourists who could connectto the Internet, in order to understand the attitude of the respondentstowards different online and offline sources of information, given theiraccess to the medium. The questionnaire included several screeningquestions to establish these requirements.

The respondents were chosen among those working in Istanbul,through the use of purposive sampling. A probabilistic sampling meth-odology could not be applied to the study, since the hit rate of respon-dents fulfilling the requirements of accessing to the Internet andtraveling for leisure at least once a year would have been too low andwould have required a prohibitive amount of resources. According to


the last population census, the population was 68 million, with over 10million in Istanbul (State Institute of Statistics 2000). In relation toInternet penetration, there are 6 million users in the country (ITU2004). Although the residents of Istanbul represent around 15% ofthe total population (State Institute of Statistics 2000), 50% of all Inter-net users are reported to be in this city (Medya.Net 2003). Moreover,according to the State Institute of Statistics (1999), Istanbul, as the larg-est metropolitan area, supplies the major market for outbound anddomestic tourism (Koc 2003). These facts suggest that residents of thiscity constitute a logical choice for the research.

A study of trends (TUS_IAD 1999) established that two main factorsthat increase the level of involvement in the tourism activity amongnationals are a higher level of education and belonging to the workingpopulation entitled to annual paid leave (Koc 2003). Therefore, therespondents were purposively selected among those working in Istan-bul. In Turkey, there are an estimated 24 million gainfully employed,of which three million are located in Istanbul (State Institute of Statis-tics 2003). In order to distribute the questionnaires, the researchersused a list of Istanbul-based companies obtained from the Chamberof Commerce, to select a total of 25 organizations from different indus-tries. These were purposively chosen to be diverse in terms of size, sec-tor, domestic versus foreign capital-based, and public versus privatelyowned, in order to increase the diversity of the sample. The choice ofthe companies was also based on the need to obtain maximum varietywith a minimum number of organizations, in order to limit the costof data collection. Of the chosen companies, 32% were foreign, 20%public, and 24% small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 50employees. In total, 14 different industries were represented. In eachorganization, permission to distribute the questionnaires was obtainedand a contact person, knowledgeable about the human resources as-pects of the company, was identified and briefed about the purposeand the requirements of the research. These individuals led theresearchers to the employees within the organization that were ableto access the Internet as part of their job, to maximize the number ofvalid responses obtained. The researchers distributed the surveys atemployment places and waited to collect the completed questionnaires.

According to recent statistics, 77% of the working population in Tur-key is under 45 (State Institute of Statistics 2003). Therefore, in orderto access older individuals, under-represented in the workplace, theresearchers utilized a different sampling procedure. Questionnaireswere distributed to graduate and undergraduate students for their par-ents. These students comprised individuals from two different schools,including five departments, of a major public university in Istanbul,under the assumption that there would be a PC and Internet connec-tion at home. Students who lived in Istanbul with their parents wereidentified and their class schedules were obtained. The researchersgained permission from the students’ instructors to address them inclass. Following a briefing about the purpose of the research, they wereinstructed to take the surveys home and bring them back after havingthem filled by their mother or father. A total of 807 questionnaires


were distributed between January and March 2003, of which 595 werehanded out to working individuals and 212 to students. Those com-pleted by persons who indicated in the prescreening questions thatthey did not have access to the Internet or did not travel for leisureonce a year, were considered invalid and eliminated from the sample.Overall 503 valid questionnaires were obtained, establishing a responserate of over 62%.

In spite of the efforts made to include older individuals in the sam-ple, the number of invalid questionnaires increased considerably as el-der persons were accessed. This was due to the fact that many of theserespondents did not fulfill the requirements of having access to theInternet and traveling once a year for leisure purposes. Therefore,the study’s sample is skewed since only 13.8% are over 45 (Table 1).

Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents (N = 503)

Demographic Variables Frequency Percentagea

GenderMale 231 46.1Female 270 53.9AgeLess than 25 95 19.026–35 254 50.836–45 82 16.446–55 51 10.2More than 55 18 3.6Marital statusSingle 273 43.3Married 199 51.3Widower/Divorced 27 5.4EducationHigh school or less 66 13.2University 344 68.7Postgraduate degree 91 18.2OccupationClerical/Blue collar 23 4.8Expert/Lower management 132 27.8Middle management 180 37.9Top management 24 5.1Teacher/Academician 26 5.5Housewife/Retired 28 5.9Student 33 6.9Professional/ Business owner 29 6.1Net annual family incomeb

US$6,500 or less 84 18.46,501–17,000 180 39.517,001–35,000 108 23.735,001–53,000 44 9.653,000 or more 40 8.8

a Percentages have been calculated after excluding the missing values. b Turkish Liras havebeen converted to US Dollars.


Similarly, 68.7% of the sample includes university graduates. Statisticsregarding the profile of Turkish Internet users support this tendencyand establish that 76% of users are employed, and 66% are universitygraduates. Moreover, 79% of the users are between 18 and 40, whileanother 12% are between 41 and 50 (Superonline 2003). Althoughthe study’s sample is not representative of the general population inTurkey as portrayed by the latest census, it corresponds to the Internetuser and tourist profile that is described in recent research as includingyounger and well-educated individuals, entitled to annual paid leave,and living in the main urban areas (Koc 2003; Medya.Net 2003; Super-online 2003; TUS_IAD 1999). Therefore, the sample was deemed appro-priate for the purpose of this study.

Questionnaire Development. The variables included in the survey instru-ment were derived from the literature related to tourism informationsearch (Fodness and Murray 1997, 1998, 1999; Hyde 2000; Moneyand Crotts 2003; Schul and Crompton 1983; Vogt and Fesenmaier1998), and the results of a preliminary qualitative study involving twofocus groups and six indepth interviews. The focus group participantswere purposively selected to represent the typical Turkish tourist andInternet user, as reflected in recent studies (Koc 2003; Medya.Net2003; Superonline 2003; TUS_IAD 1999): young, well educated, andfrom higher socioeconomic levels. To obtain insights from personsnot included in the focus groups sample, three indepth interviews werecarried out with lower middle class individuals, employed in clericaljobs. Another three were conducted with persons aged more than55. The respondents were prescreened to ensure that they fulfilledthe requirements of having access to the Internet and traveling for lei-sure at least once a year. The participants were interviewed in relationto their vacation planning habits and their usage and perceptions oftourism information sources, including the Internet. These weretape-recorded and the transcripts were analyzed using both contentanalysis and ethnographic summary.

The findings of the qualitative study were first of all useful in orderto determine the main sources of information used by Turkish touristswhen planning for vacations. Previous studies have established severalclassifications of sources. For example, Chen and Gursoy (2000) main-tain that tourists use four broad external information sources whenplanning their trips: family and friends, destination specific literature,media, and travel trade consultants. In a recent study, Money andCrotts (2003) also include the Internet, classifying the sources usedby tourists as nonmarketer dominated (personal advice, professionaltourist guide, and channel member) and marketer dominated (adver-tisements, travel agencies, the web, and tourism offices). Bieger andLaesser (2004) provide an extensive list of 17 possible tourism sources,including tradeshows, printed material, different types of media, andinformation orally provided by various parties.

Given the extensive number of information sources described in therecent tourism literature (Bieger and Laesser 2004; Chen and Gursoy


2000; Money and Crotts 2003), it became necessary to use the discus-sions of the participants during the preliminary qualitative researchin order to identify the main sources used by Turkish tourists. There-fore, the questionnaire included the following nine sources recognizedas important: recommendations from friends and family, websites oftourism offices and nonprofit organizations, travel books and printedguides, websites of tourism companies (online travel agencies, hotels,and airlines), travel sales agents, travel agencies’ catalogues and bro-chures, Internet forums and newsgroups, tourism offices and consul-ates, and television, radio and print advertisements. The perceivedusefulness of these sources was measured using a 4-point scale in orderto avoid indecisive answers. The reliability of the nine-item scale (Cron-bach’s alpha) obtained was 0.823. Furthermore, the tourists’ actual useof different sources in planning their last vacation was also included asa separate question in the survey.

The qualitative study established that the perceived risk of the desti-nation and involvement are important determinants affecting theamount of search carried out before the vacation. Respondents main-tained that they performed thorough searches when traveling to newor more exotic destinations, or to countries that are dangerous in someway or lacking in infrastructure. This finding is consistent with the lit-erature related to perceived risk and information search (Dowling andStaelin 1994; Lepp and Gibson 2003). Furthermore, some participantsstated that they considerably enjoyed the planning of their vacationsand were observed to exhibit a high degree of involvement related totheir holidays.

In line with the above findings, the survey also included questions todetermine individual factors, characteristics of the last vacation of therespondent and situational variables such as involvement and per-ceived risk. The situational involvement measure used in the question-naire was adapted from the studies of Zaichkowsky (1985) andLichenstein, Netemeyer and Burton (1990), while perceived risk wasmeasured according to the scale used by Murray and Schlachter(1990). The reliability figures obtained for these scales were 0.813and 0.822, respectively.

The analysis of the focus group and indepth interviews revealed theexistence of two types of individuals differing in relation to their atti-tudes to vacation planning and the need for information. Someclaimed that they only felt comfortable after having obtained all theavailable knowledge related to the destination beforehand, using sev-eral sources to collect large amounts of data before leaving. On theother hand, another group maintained that they preferred their vaca-tions to be an adventure, and that they did not even feel the need toreserve a hotel or to collect information related to the destination inadvance. The literature suggests that tourists can be distinguishedaccording to their being active or passive planners (Schul and Cromp-ton 1983) and their preference for familiarity or need for novelty(Cohen 1972). Moreover, Hyde (2000) proposes that some may enjoynot planning their holidays and derive pleasure from the experience offacing the unknown and unexpected.


Therefore, the present study included a scale to measure the behav-ior of the respondents in relation to planning beforehand, the collec-tion of information prior to the vacation, as well as the need forexploration and variety in the destinations. This measure, here named‘‘exploratory tourism behavior’’, was developed by the authors follow-ing Churchill’s (1979) procedure for developing better scales. Sampleitems were generated from the existing literature (Cronin 1991; Gallo-way 2002; Gilchrist et al 1995; Hyde 2000; Snepenger 1987; Zuckerman1979) and from the discussions derived from the preliminary qualita-tive research. The scale was pre-tested in a pilot study administeredto 36 Turks employed in a firm based in Istanbul.

An exploratory factor analysis using the principal components meth-od was performed to determine the dimensions of the construct (Table2). The results show that exploratory tourism behavior is multidimen-sional, with heterogeneous facets, where all parts together form thewhole (Peter 1979). Thus, the scale is formative in nature, as each of

Table 2. Factor Analysis for the Exploratory Tourism Behavior Scalea

Items Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4

Attitude to tourism as a new experienceWhen I travel I like it to be an adventure 0.727When I travel, I am looking to gain

new experiences0.694

When I travel, I prefer to go to places that Ihave not seen before

0.662

Risk takingI would never go on vacation without

having a hotel reservationb0.781

I prefer to travel independently ratherthan with a package tour

0.672

I prefer to pay more for a vacation in orderto reduce the risk of something going wrongb

0.591

I do not enjoy traveling with a fixed itinerary 0.522Variety seekingI prefer to travel to familiar destinations,

rather than to exotic and strange onesb0.761

I usually travel to places where I have beenbefore or that have been recommendedto me by my friendsb

0.752

Attitude towards planning beforehandCollecting too much information before

a holiday, may reduce its pleasure0.852

I like to know everything related tothe destination before I travelb

0.753

Eigenvalues 2.646 1.744 1.243 1.212Percentage of Variance Explained (Cumulative) 24.05% 39.91% 51.21% 62.22%

a Varimax rotation was used; Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.678; Barlett’s Test of Sphericity—Significance = 0.000. Factor loadings smaller than 0.5 are not included.b Reverse coded.


the indicators presents unique aspects of the construct (Homburg,Hoyer and Fassnacht 2002). One of the characteristics of these forma-tive scales is that the different items included are not interchangeable,but need to be used together in order to describe the construct (Bollenand Lennox 1991; Diamantopoulos and Winklhofer 2001; Peter 1979).Four main dimensions of exploratory behavior are captured: attitudeto tourism as a new experience, risk taking, variety seeking, and atti-tude towards planning beforehand. Individuals with high levels ofexploratory behavior view their trips as an experience and are moreprone to taking risks. Variety seeking and a tendency not to plan theirholidays in advance are also other characteristics of those showing ahigh level of this behavior.

The exploratory behavior scale, being formative in nature, does notlend itself to reliability assessment procedures as explained in the liter-ature (Bollen and Lennox 1991; Diamantopoulos and Winklhofer 2001;Homburg et al 2002), and thus its reliability was not evaluated. In theirseminal article on this issue, Bollen and Lennox (1991) argue that forconstructs that are multidimensional, with heterogeneous facets, itemcorrelations, and reliability estimates are difficult to rationalize sincethese are based on the interchangeability of the different items.

Study Findings

A cluster analysis was performed to determine the possible existenceof different types of individuals in relation to their perceptions of theusefulness of various sources of information. As a first step, a hierarchi-cal cluster analysis determined the existence of two distinct groups.Therefore, as a second phase, a two-cluster K-means cluster analysiswas carried out. The ANOVA table obtained indicated that the variableperceived usefulness of recommendations from friends and family isnot significant, and thus it does not discriminate between the twogroups. Therefore, this variable was eliminated and a K-means clusteranalysis was again performed with the rest. The analysis produced asolution according to which 147 respondents belonged to clusterone and 275 to cluster two (81 questionnaires containing missing vari-ables were excluded).

The data related to the final cluster centers show that the two groupscould be distinguished in relation to their more negative or positiveperceptions of the sources of information. Respondents in the firstor negative cluster view all of the sources, including those online, asless useful than the individuals in the second or positive. Regardingthe actual use of different sources, the analysis reveals that there aremore users of the various sources among the tourists belonging to thispositive cluster, except for personal recommendations. While 65.1% inthe first cluster used recommendations from friends and family whenplanning their last holiday, only 50.5% in the second employed thissource. In contrast, travel sales agents and travel agencies’ cataloguesand brochures were used by 20% and 28% of the positives, respectively,as opposed to 3.4% and 6.8% of tourists in cluster one. Furthermore,


there are more users of online sources in the positive cluster, as can beseen by the fact that websites of tourism offices were employed by29.8% of individuals in this and 17.8% in the other cluster. Similarly,websites of companies and Internet forums were used by 22.9% and8% of positives, respectively, as compared to 15.1% and 4.8% in clusterone. There are also more users of tourism offices, advertisements andprinted guides among tourists in the second cluster, as opposed totheir counterparts.

As the final step in the analysis, the two clusters were described vialogistic regression using the stepwise Wald method. Only metric vari-ables pertaining to personal and situational factors were entered.The results of the logistic regression provide the variables that signifi-cantly predict membership in one of the clusters (Table 3): exploratorybehavior, number of sources used, perceived risk, and situationalinvolvement. The model was found to be significant (v2 = 44.617;p < 0.001), with an overall predictive value of 70% (�2 Log Likeli-hood = 352.739; Nagelkerke R-Square = 0.188). The Hosmer and Lem-eshow test illustrates the goodness of fit by showing a nonsignificantdifference between the observed and predicted classifications(v2 = 1.867; p = 0.986). An examination of the means of the differentvariables for each cluster (Table 3), show that members of clusterone exhibit a more exploratory behavior, use a lower number ofsources to plan their holidays, are less concerned with risk, and aremore involved with their vacations than the individuals in the other.

To determine a possible relationship between the demographic vari-ables, the attributes of the destination and the characteristics of the

Table 3. Logistic Regression of Membership to each Cluster

Variables Included in the Model B S.E. Wald Significance Mean for eachCluster

Exploratory tourism behaviora �1.586 0.524 9.175 0.002 Cluster 1 2.29Cluster 2 2.34

Total 2.32

Number of sources used 0.359 0.090 16.077 0.000 Cluster 1 1.49Cluster 2 2.07

Total 1.86

Perceived riska �0.573 0.237 5.823 0.016 Cluster 1 3.27Cluster 2 3.09

Total 3.15

Situational Involvementb 0.561 0.279 4.047 0.044 Cluster 1 1.44Cluster 2 1.53

Total 1.50

Constant 1.230 1.197 1.056 0.304

a Measured on a 4-point Likert-type scale: 1 highest level, 4 lowest level.b Measured on a 4-point semantic differential scale: 1 highest involvement level, 4 lowestinvolvement level.


vacation, and membership in one of the clusters, chi-square tests werecarried out. The only demographic characteristic found to be signifi-cant was gender (v2 = 9.542; p < 0.01). While only 43.5% are femalesin cluster one, the other includes 59.3%. Moreover, the research find-ings indicate a significant difference between clusters in relation to vis-iting a known destination (v2 = 5.747; p < 0.05). While 54.8% fromcluster one traveled to a destination they had previously visited, only42.5% of the other journeyed to a known place. A significant relation-ship was also found between cluster membership and traveling viapackage tours (v2 = 20.367; p < 0.01) and type of accommodation(v2 = 16.308; p < 0.05). A higher percentage of people from clustertwo traveled on package tours and stayed in four- or five-star hotels,as opposed to their counterparts.

CONCLUSION

The study determines the existence of two groups of Turkish tourists,who can be distinguished according to their perceptions of usefulnessof online and offline information sources. Individuals in the first exhi-bit a more negative attitude towards the various sources, except per-sonal recommendations. This group can be named ‘‘spontaneousexplorers’’, and described as predominantly male, exhibiting anexploratory behavior, less concerned with risk, more involved withtheir vacations, and using a limited number of sources to plan theirtrips. Moreover, these individuals are less likely to purchase packagetours, and they tend to return to the same destinations and to stay indifferent types of accommodation other than four or five-star hotels.

Individuals in the second cluster are ‘‘risk-averse planners’’ sincethey are more concerned with risk and less likely to involve themselvesin exploratory tourism behavior. They exhibit a more positive attitudetowards different sources and use a greater number of them to plantheir holidays. There are more females in this cluster and they aremore likely to travel on a package tour and stay at four or five-star ho-tels. At the same time, these individuals are less involved with their hol-idays and have a lower tendency to return to the same destinations. Inthis regard, risk-averse planners bear a resemblance to the institution-alized tourists (including organized and individual mass tourists) inCohen’s typology (1972), who usually travel via package tours and re-main in an environmental bubble where risk and uncertainties havebeen taken out. Moreover, these institutionalized tourists may visit var-ied destinations, as countries become interchangeable in the tourist’smind, and it becomes relatively unimportant when looking for goodbeaches or old historical cities where these are located.

The results of the cluster segmentation of Turkish tourists also showa link between the typology of tourists, differentiated according totheir perceptions of information sources, and perceived risk. This con-nection has been determined in a previous study (Lepp and Gibson2003) that examines the relationship between Cohen’s tourist roletypology and perceived risk. Lepp and Gibson (2003) conclude that


explorers and drifters exhibit lower levels of perceived risk as opposedto organized and independent mass tourists. Similarly, the presentstudy carried out in the context of Turkish tourists, establishes thatrisk-averse planners are more concerned with risk, while they have amore positive perception of the different sources of information thatmay help reduce it.

Implications

This study provides implications for tourism service providers to tar-get and communicate with individuals, who can be differentiatedaccording to their vacation planning and perceptions of informationsources. The research is especially of practical use for organizationsseeking to penetrate the emerging Turkish domestic and outboundtourism market, as it provides knowledge related to the Turkish tourists’perceptions of information sources, including those Internet-based,and relates these views to specific individual characteristics and productchoices. Moreover, as destination management organizations (national,regional, and local authorities) are able to distinguish among the typesof tourists visiting the place, they may use this knowledge to determinewhich products would be most suitable for the region. This in turn willresult in the identification of potential impacts and the establishment ofspecific policies for the destination. Moreover, local authorities canbase decisions related to planning and allocation of resources on thedemand for specific products and attractions at the destination.

First of all, the research can offer suggestions to companies on howto reach different segments of tourists. Businesses that provide infor-mation in order to sell their products, such as travel agencies, are morelikely to be in contact with risk-averse planners since they use a greaternumber of sources, while they also tend to purchase package tours.However, companies may consider different ways of reaching the spon-taneous explorers, who would normally not be interested in usingthese sources or in purchasing preplanned vacations. Since these indi-viduals value personal recommendations from friends or relatives only,organizations may need to find ways to create positive word of mouthfor their products. This personal exchange of information may beencouraged by providing individuals with ways to share their vacationexperiences with others. Destination and company websites may alsodifferentiate the information provided for each of the groups. Informa-tion related to tourism products, package tours, and activities at thedestination may be addressed to the risk-averse planners. For the spon-taneous explorers websites may emphasize content and testimonialsprovided by other tourists through the use of bulletin and discussionboards or Internet forums.

The study also determined that spontaneous explorers are less likelyto purchase package tours, and that they exhibit a higher exploratorybehavior. Therefore, companies may offer this group very targetedproducts that emphasize experience and exploration aspects of thevacation. Since these individuals are risk-takers, they may provide a


good market for adventure tourism and high-risk recreation services.At the destination level, natural resources in the region can be man-aged to provide exciting products such as climbing, trekking, rafting,or parachuting. In terms of infrastructure, these tourists do not neces-sarily require expensive accommodation options or high-quality trans-portation. Therefore, destinations catering to these tourists maychoose to provide products that have a lower negative impact on theplace, such as ecotourism. Pensions and smaller accommodation facil-ities, as well as minor country roads, may be used to support this type inthe locality. Moreover, spontaneous explorers are a desirable segment,since they tend to return to the destination, hence providing a loyalcustomer base. In this sense, destination management organizationsshould use the local resources to provide memorable tourist experi-ences that may result in endearment to the place.

In contrast, the research concluded that risk-averse planners requiremore information and are more concerned with risk. Therefore, tour-ism organizations need to fulfill this segment’s need for planning andrisk reduction by providing extensive information related to the vaca-tion and the destination. Different sources, both online and offline,can be used to reach this group. Destination management organiza-tions may also want to emphasize safety and security issues in their web-sites and brochures. Moreover, destination websites may also offer linksto various hotels and attractions to help risk-averse planners fulfill theirneed for planning.

Expensive preplanned vacation options may also be offered to risk-averse planners, who are more likely to purchase packages and stayin four- or five-star hotels. Destinations wishing to access this segmentneed to develop their infrastructure to provide high-quality accommo-dation facilities and safe and comfortable transportation modes. Theservice level offered to these tourists needs to be above a minimumstandard. This in turn requires qualified human resources, both atthe managerial and at the employee level. Therefore, destinationscatering to the risk-averse planners need to establish a long-term planfor attracting, educating, and training individuals to work in thelocality. The quality of the tourism products should be emphasizedand satisfaction guarantees may be offered for upscale services. Supple-mentary products aimed at reducing risk, such as travel insurance, maybe offered to these individuals.

According to the study, more females are present among the risk-averse planners. Therefore, sources of information and preplannedvacations may need to be more particularly targeted to women. Desti-nation-specific literature included in websites, catalogues, brochures,and printed guides may emphasize activities, such as shopping, whichare in general more appreciated by women. In this sense, cities that po-sition themselves as shopping destinations, such as New York, Paris, orLondon, may reach their target markets by using a variety of informa-tion sources, including the Internet. Such places also need to managetheir resources and plan their infrastructure to provide high-qualityaccommodation, transportation and shopping facilities, required bytourists belonging to the risk-averse segment.


Directions for Further Research

The present study contributes to the identification of a new segmen-tation method based on the perceptions of usefulness of various onlineand offline information sources used for planning vacations. The typol-ogy of Turkish tourists identified is related to the individual’s personalcharacteristics, vacation choices, and other factors related to the holi-day situation. Thus, this study identifies a combination of variables thatare used to classify Turkish tourists in two distinct groups: spontaneousexplorers and risk-averse planners.

The research determines that exploratory behavior distinguishes be-tween the two clusters of Turkish tourists, and a measure is proposed.The scale points to four different aspects of the construct: attitude totourism as a new experience, risk taking, variety seeking, and attitudetowards planning beforehand. However, these four factors identifiedexplain just over 62% of the variation, so that future research needsto explore other dimensions that are likely to tap all the domain of thisconstruct.

According to this study’s findings, spontaneous explorers use lessinformation sources to plan their holidays, and they value the explora-tion and experiential aspects of their vacations. In contrast, risk-averseplanners show a greater use of sources and are less concerned withexploration. This finding points towards the possible use of the hedo-nic and utilitarian consumption literature to explain these differencesin planning and tourism behavior. Hirschman and Holbrook definehedonic consumption as ‘‘those facets of consumer behavior that re-late to the multi-sensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of one’s experi-ence with products’’ (1982:92). The experience of emotional arousalis a major motivation in the purchase of many products such as novels,plays, and sports (Hirschman and Holbrook 1982).

Recent literature has started to pay some attention to the hedonicand emotional aspects of the consumption of tourism products (Bigneand Andreu 2004; Hyde 2000). For example, Hyde (2000) indicatesthat some consumers avoid vacation planning because experiencingthe unknown may be key to the hedonic experiences sought when trav-eling. Thus, this study points towards the need for further research toestablish a possible link between spontaneous explorers and hedonicconsumption, and risk-averse planners and utilitarian tourism con-sumption. The research shows that the spontaneous explorers exhibita higher level of involvement with the vacation. This finding supportsthe distinction of these two groups according to their hedonic or util-itarian behavior, since involvement has been related to emotional con-sumption in the literature (Hirschman and Holbrook 1982; Mano andOliver 1993; Swinyard 1993). This argument needs to be empiricallytested in future research.

Furthermore, the study has established that spontaneous explorers,who value the experiential aspects of the holiday, are more likely to re-turn to previously visited destinations. An explanation for this behaviormay be related to a possible emotional attachment experienced bythem to the destinations that they have visited, due to the value that


they assign to the holiday experiences. The relationship betweenemotional attachment and increased tendency to return has beeninvestigated and related to the role of affect and emotions in the con-sumption behavior (Golden and Zimmer 1986; Meoli, Feinberg andWestgate 1991). Similarly, the positive experiences associated withthe destination of the spontaneous explorers in the present research,may be explained as emotional attachment that results in a tendencyto revisit the same place. Further research may explore whether spon-taneous explorers are more prone to emotional attachment to thedestinations.

The research is limited by the fact that it is restricted to the Turkishcontext. Several studies have pointed to the influence of cultural valueson the tourist’s information search process and the use of differentinformation sources (Alvarez and Asugman 2002; Gursoy and Umbreit2004; Money and Crotts 2003). Moreover, Decrop and Snelders (2005)also argue that typologies of tourists should not be considered as uni-versal and that the influence of the cultural environment should betaken into account. Therefore, research is needed to understand theattitude towards information sources and their use in other cultures.

REFERENCES

Alvarez, M., and G. Asugman2002 Internet as an Information Source for Planning Leisure Travel. In

Proceedings of the 2002 Multicultural Marketing Conference, E. Bigne, V.Johar and S. Hassan, eds., pp. 355–367. Spain: Academy of Marketing Science.

Becken, S., and J. Gnoth2004 Tourist Consumption Systems among Overseas Visitors: Reporting on

American, German and Australian Visitors to New Zealand. TourismManagement 25:375–385.

Bieger, T., and C. Laesser2001 Segmenting Travel on the Sourcing of Information. In A. Woodside, G.

Crouch, J. Manzanec, M. Oppermann and M. Sakai, eds. ConsumerPsychology of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure (Vol. 2). Wallingford: CABI.

2004 Information Sources for Travel Decisions: Toward a Source ProcessModel. Journal of Travel Research 42:357–371.

Bigne, E., and L. Andreu2004 Emotions in Segmentation: An Empirical Study. Annals of Tourism

Research 31:682–696.Bollen, K., and R. Lennox

1991 Conventional Wisdom on Measurement: A Structural Equation Perspec-tive. Psychological Bulletin 110:305–314.

Chen, J., and D. Gursoy2000 Cross-cultural Comparison of the Information Sources used by First-time

and Repeat Travelers and its Marketing Implications. International Journal ofHospitality Management 19:191–203.

Churchill, G.1979 A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs.

Journal of Marketing Research 16:64–73.Cohen, E.

1972 Towards a Sociology of International Tourism. Social Research39:164–182.

Cronin, C.1991 Sensation Seeking among Mountain Climbers. Personality and Indivi-

dual Differences 12:653–654.


Decrop, A., and D. Snelders2005 A Grounded Typology of Vacation Decision-Making. Tourism Manage-

ment 26:121–130.Diamantopoulos, A., and H. Winklhofer

2001 Index Construction with Formative Indicators: An Alternative to ScaleDevelopment. Journal of Marketing Research 38:269–277.

Dowling, G., and R. Staelin1994 A Model of Perceived Risk and Intended Risk-Handling Activity. Journal

of Consumer Research 21:119–134.Doyle, P.

1994 Marketing Management and Strategy (2nd). Hertfordshire: PrenticeHall.

Fodness, D., and B. Murray1997 Tourist Information Search. Annals of Tourism Research 24:503–523.1998 A Typology of Tourist Information Search Strategies. Journal of Travel

Research 37(2):108–119.1999 A Model of Tourist Information Search Behavior. Journal of Travel

Research 37(1):220–230.Galloway, G.

2002 Psychographic Segmentation of Park Visitor Markets: Evidence for theUtility of Sensation Seeking. Tourism Management 23:581–596.

Gilchrist, H., R. Povey, A. Dickinson, and R. Povey1995 The Sensation Seeking Scale: Its Use in a Study of the Characteristics of

People Choosing Adventure Holidays. Personality and Individual Differences19:513–516.

Golden, L., and M. Zimmer1986 Relationships between Affect, Patronage Frequency and Amount of

Money Spent with a Comment on Affect Scaling and Measurement. Advancesin Consumer Research 13:53–57.

Gursoy, D., and W. Umbreit2004 Tourist Information Search Behavior: Cross-Cultural Comparison of

European Union Member States. International Journal of HospitalityManagement 23:55–70.

Hirschman, E., and M. Holbrook1982 Hedonic Consumption: Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions.

Journal of Marketing 46(3):92–101.Homburg, C., W. Hoyer, and M. Fassnacht

2002 Service Orientation of a Retailer’s Business Strategy: Dimensions,Antecedents, and Performance Outcomes. Journal of Marketing66(4):86–101.

Hyde, K.2000 A Hedonic Perspective on Independent Vacation Planning, Decision-

Making and Behavior. In A. Woodside, G. Crouch, J. Manzanec, M. Oppermannand M. Sakai, eds. Consumer Psychology of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure(Vol. 1). Wallingford: CABI.

ITU2004 Country Statistics. International Telecommunications Union Æhttp://

www.itu.intæ.Jarvis, C.

1998 An Exploratory Investigation of Consumers’ Evaluation of ExternalInformation Sources in Prepurchase Search. Advances in Consumer Research25:446–452.

Koc, E.2003 An Analysis of Consumer Behaviour in the Turkish Domestic Tourism

Market. Dogus� Universitesi Dergisi 4:89–106.Kulviwat, S., C. Guo, and N. Engchanil

2004 Determinants of Online Information Search: A Critical Review andAssessment. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy14:245–253.

http://www.itu.int

http://www.itu.int


Lepp, A., and H. Gibson2003 Tourist Roles, Perceived Risk and International Tourism. Annals of

Tourism Research 30:606–624.Lichenstein, D., R. Netemeyer, and S. Burton

1990 Distinguishing Coupon Proneness from Value Consciousness: AnAcquisition-Transaction Utility Theory Perspective. Journal of Marketing54(3):54–67.

Mano, H., and R. Oliver1993 Assessing the Dimensionality and Structure of the Consumption Expe-

rience: Evaluation, Feeling, and Satisfaction. Journal of Consumer Research20:451–466.

McMinn, S., and E. Cater1998 Tourist Typology: Observations from Belize. Annals of Tourism Research

25:675–699.Medya.Net

2003 Users’ Profiles. Medya.Net Æhttp://www.medya.net.netæ.Meoli, J., R. Feinberg, and L. Westgate

1991 A Reinforcement-Affect Model of Mall Patronage. Advances in ConsumerResearch 18:441–444.

Money, R., and J. Crotts2003 The Effect of Uncertainty Avoidance on Information Search, Planning

and Purchases of International Travel Vacations. Tourism Management24:191–202.

Murray, K., and J. Schlachter1990 The Impact of Services versus Goods on Consumers’ Assessment of

Perceived Risk and Variability. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science18(1):51–65.

Peter, J.1979 Reliability: A Review of Psychometric Basics and Recent Marketing

Practices. Journal of Marketing Research 26:6–17.Peterson, R., and M. Merino

2003 Consumer Information Search Behavior and the Internet. Psychologyand Marketing 20(2):99–121.

Schul, P., and J. Crompton1983 Search Behavior of International Vacationers: Travel-Specific Lifestyle

and Sociodemographic Variables. Journal of Travel Research 22(4):25–30.Snepenger, D.

1987 Segmenting the Vacation Market by Novelty-Seeking Role. Journal ofTravel Research 26(2):8–14.

State Institute of Statistics1999 Tourism Statistics 1975–1999. Prime Ministry, Republic of Turkey.

Ankara: Prime Ministry.2000 General Census. Prime Ministry, Republic of Turkey Æhttp://

www.die.gov.træ.2003 Labor Force Database. Prime Ministry, Republic of Turkey Æhttp://

www.die.gov.træ.Superonline

2003 Turkiye’nin Internet Kullanıcı Profili. Internet Superonline Dergisi(September 3):4.

Swinyard, W.1993 The Effects of Mood, Involvement and Quality of Store Experience on

Shopping Intentions. Journal of Consumer Research 20:271–280.TIA

2004 Travelers’ Use of the Internet: 2004 Edition. Travel Industry Associationof America. Washington DC: Travel Industry Association of America.

TUS_IAD1999 Turkiye’nin Fırsat Penceresi: Demografik Donus�um ve Izdus�umleri.

Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association. Istanbul: TUS_IADYayınları.

http://www.medya.net.net

http://www.die.gov.tr





Uysal, M., C. McDonald, and L. Reid1990 Sources of Information Used by International Visitors to US parks and

Natural Areas. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration 8:51–59.Vogt, C., and D. Fesenmaier

1998 Expanding the Functional Information Search Model. Annals ofTourism Research 25:551–578.

Wickens, E.2002 The Sacred and the Profane: A Tourist Typology. Annals of Tourism

Research 29:834–851.WTTC

2005 Turkey: Sowing the Seeds of Growth. The 2005 Travel and TourismEconomic Research. World Travel and Tourism Council <http://www.wttc.org/2005tsa/pdf/Turkey.pdf>.

Zaichkowsky, J.1985 Measuring the Involvement Construct. Journal of Consumer Research

12:341–352.Zuckerman, M.

1979 Sensation Seeking: Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal. Hillsdale:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Submitted 9 April 2004. Resubmitted 1 December 2004. Resubmitted 23 March 2005.Resubmitted 17 May 2005. Final version 21 June 2005. Accepted 9 August 2005. Refereedanonymously. Coordinating Editor: Dogan Gursoy

http://www.wttc.org/2005tsa/pdf/Turkey.pdf

http://www.wttc.org/2005tsa/pdf/Turkey.pdf

Explorers versus planners: A Study of Turkish Tourists

Documents

Transcript of Explorers versus planners: A Study of Turkish Tourists