Developing and Using Psychographics in Tourism Research

1. Developing and Using Psychographics in Tourism Research Chapter 18 Research Methodologies

2. Introduction • Psychographics has an important place in travel and tourism research • It can increase the effectiveness of a promotional campaign by: • Targeting the appropriate audience • Focusing the message on their needs • Selecting the appropriate media

3. The Uses and Demands of Psychographic Research • Destination development – clarifying the concept of new, planned resort; the markets to be served; the services and amenities to be provided; etc. • Product Positioning – focusing the primary message on the needs and psychology of the target audience • Destination Positioning – refocusing the positioning of an existing destination to attract new customers

4. The Uses and Demands of Psychographic Research • Development of supporting services – determining which services are essential and which are optional for a travel related company • Advertising and Promotion – focusing the message on the appropriate group of travelers • Packaging – making certain that you have the right products and services, and it is packaged appropriately • Master Planning – developing a mater plan that protects the beauty and attractiveness of a destination while still meeting the needs of the traveler

5. A Focused Review • Typical Approach: • Employing factor analysis to determine the primary factors • Clarifying the cutting points between these factors by means if cluster analysis or discriminant function analysis • Utilizing regression statistics to determine which consumer behaviors can be predicted by each psychographic personality characteristic and to what degree

6. How to do Psychographic Research • Two basic approaches: • Inductive method – derives from believing that two groups of people differ in their behavior, the researcher develops a large list of questions and administers them to each group • Deductive Method – postulate a personality dimension and then write questions to test that postulate

7. The Source of Psychographic and Life-style dimensions • A list developed by Henry Murray; and example of the dimensions: • Need for achievement – the desire to get ahead • Need for affiliation – the desire for friendship • Need for Intraception – the desire to understand others • Need for succorance – the desire to be cared for

8. The Common Dimensions of Psychographic/Personality • Venturesomeness – the type of individual who is more seeking and exploring • Pleasure –seeking – the type of person who desires luxury and comfort • Impulsivity – the tendency to want to do something now • Self-confidence – a willingness to different and unique things • Planfulness – systematic planful characteristics, and plan their trip well in advance • Masculinity action oriented who seeks the outdoors

9. The Common Dimensions of Psychographic/Personality • Intellectualism – refers to that type of person who posesses high brow interests • People orientation – a desire to get close to people through travel and to experience the many different cultures of the world

10. Conclusion • Psychographics answers many important questions about the how, what, and why of travel, allowing the travel marketers and developers to become more focused and effective in their efforts • Travel and leisure groups are attempting to become more adept at positioning their product and segmenting their markets to appeal to the right kinds of travelers