Consumer Behavior in the U.S. Pleasure Travel Marketplace: An Analysis of Senior and Nonsenior Travelers

Abstract

Recently, the consumer behavior of the senior market has become an increasingly important area of interest to various public policy makers and travel marketers. This article focuses on understanding the consumer behavior of seniors and nonseniors in the U.S. pleasure travel marketplace. Specifically, the study determines the types of pleasure trips taken and the differences that exist between the groups in the use of package trips, travel agents, and other travel-related characteristics. Demographic profiles of senior and nonsenior pleasure travelers are also delineated. The study findings are used as the bases for suggesting a number of implications for travel marketers.Travel and tourism marketers face a highly competitive environment brought on by the changing demographics of the U.S. population, the most significant change being the growth in size of the older segment of the population. Consumers aged 55 and over represent one of the fastest growing segments of the population (Shoemaker 1989;Waldrop 1989). This demographic market segment has been variously labeled as the &dquo;older market,&dquo; the &dquo;mature market,&dquo; and the &dquo;senior market&dquo; (Shoemaker 1989;Lazer 1985;Allan 1981).The term used in this study is &dquo;senior market&dquo; because the term appears to be preferred by most of those who comprise this market (Shoemaker 1989).Regardless of the terminology used, consumers aged 55 and older are a demographic &dquo;discovery,&dquo; the importance of which will extend through the 1990s and beyond for two reasons -market size and market potential. In terms of market size, an estimated 59 million people in this country will be aged 55 and over by the year 2000 (Hawes 1988; Technology and Aging in America 1985). Currently, within this consumer group, the number of people 65 years old and older constitute 28 million, or 11.9% of the population. This 65 and over age group has been growing at twice the rate of the population as a whole and is projected to reach 64.6 million by the year 2030 (Lumpkin and Hunt 1989). Waldrop (1989) notes that the &dquo;household boom and bust will continue in the 1990s -look for rapid growth in the 45-to-50 age group and a decline in the number of households headed by 25-to-34-year olds.&dquo; The number of households headed by people aged 35-44 grew 38% between 1980 and 1988 as the baby boom generation entered this age bracket, making it the fastest growing segment.In terms of market potential, the senior market of persons aged 55 and older possesses a relatively large share of all discretionary dollars because this market segment traditionally has fewer major bills -investments in home and family have been made and their children no longer depend Ra¡shekhar G Javalgl, Edward G Thomas, and S R Rao are faculty members In the Department of Marketmg at the James J Nance College of Business Administration at Cleveland State Unlverslty In OhIo entirely upon them (Blazey 1987;Anderson and Langmeyer 1982). England (1987) notes that &dquo;Americans over 65 are the s...

Determinant factors of senior tourists’ length of stay

“…In particular, it was concluded that the length of stay at the destination is positively related to age, 'VFR' motivation, the 'climate' attribute of the destination, staying in a holiday apartment, staying in a second home, travelling alone, travelling with IMSERSO, and carrying out activities at the destination such as shopping, organised day trips, and physical/sports activities. The heterogeneity of seniors' behaviour in their role as consumers of goods and services was thus confirmed, as noted by Javalgi et al (1992), Schröder and Widmann (2007) and Wu (2003).…”

“…There was also a tendency to travel independently, demystifying the relevance of package holidays and organised trips referred to by authors such as Javalgi et al (1992). It was also seen that most of the time was spent visiting places of historic/artistic interest and the least time was spent in doing physical activities.…”

“…The second part is comprised of issues related to travel purpose (push factors)-holidays, visits to family and/or friends, health and work-and those about the destination (pull factors) based on the studies of Bai et al (1999), Baloglu and Uysal (1996), Blazey (1992), Chen (2009), Huang and Tsai (2003), Jang et al (2003), Jang and Wu (2006), Lawson (1991), Norman et al (2001), Sangpikul (2008), Wang (2005), Wang et al (2008) and Wu (2003). Finally, issues to do with the trip's characteristics-destination, type of accommodation used, mode (individual/group), type of trip, length of trip and activities carried out at the destination-are almost totally based on the studies by Bai et al (1999), Bai et al (2001), Batra (2009), Javalgi et al (1992, Lawson (1991), Patterson (2006, Wang et al (2008) and Wu (2003).…”

“…In the Spanish senior tourism market, the most popular are basically: independent travel, package holidays and the trips organised by a public organisation, basically the IMSERSO (Institute for the Elderly and Social Services). Javalgi et al (1992) indicated that package holidays are the seniors' preferred modality as opposed to the non-seniors. According to Patterson (2006), this is due to questions of convenience and security, and they are an alternative to independent travel, especially for those elderly who are single, widowed or divorced.…”

Development of a trip profile for elderly American casino visitors

“…Some of the categories and terms used by researchers include, ' Older Americans ' , 6 ' Older Seniors and Younger Seniors ' , 7 ' Seniors ' , 8,10 ' Senior Adults ' , 10 ' Young Old, Old-Old, Oldest-Old ' , 11 ' Senior Market ' , 12 ' Elderly ' 4 and ' The World War II Generation ' . 13 This clear lack of agreement on a uniform label for this cohort makes comparison across existing studies about the elderly diffi cult.…”