Demand Determinants of Cruise Tourists in Competitive Markets: Motivation, Preference and Intention

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and estimate an integrated structural path model of the determinants of cruise demand based on the nexus of motivation, preference and intention of cruise tourists. The paper identifies the drivers of this demand in competitive markets. The model results show that different cruise motives have a significant effect (positive or negative) on specific cruise preferences and intentions, while some significant relationships between cruise preferences and intentions could also be found. Based on this structural path model, the authors apply an ANOVA approach to compare the differences of cruise motivations and cruise preferences in Asian markets in order to trace the instrumental determinants of cruise passengers, leading to a new understanding of the commonalities and differences of cruise competitiveness in different regional markets.

Travel Motivations of Seniors: A Review and a Meta-Analytical Assessment

“…An intriguing question is also: why is senior tourism a topic of particular interest with regard to Asia? The latter question does not only stem from many Asian studies on senior tourism, but also from the fact that cruise tourism in Asia is a rapidly growing market segment for seniors (see, e.g., Chen et al 2015).…”

Interpretation of cruise industry in a two-sided market context: An exploration on Japan

“…In recent research by Chen et al (2016a), the authors have argued that cruise passengers are not conventional tourists, as they are characterized by a specific demand for ship-based products and services and port-based shore itineraries. So, cruise lines play dual roles as hybrid platforms, being suppliers of ship-based products and services and also serving as cruise ports' itineraries.…”

A regional analysis of willingness-to-pay in Asian cruise markets

“…In order to not over fit the LCA model, some of the non-significant variables in the censored regression models were not included, namely gender, cruise intention, cruise partner and cruise motivation. Since age and cruise experience are both vital factors in the previous research (Chen et al, 2016), they are remained for further clustering, though non-significant. In our LCA model, we focus on nine variables: regions, age, income, education, family structure, occupation, cruise experience, cruise duration and cruise preferences.…”

“…Considering the significant growth of cruise tourism in Asia, it has attracted a large number of cruise tourists with diverse motivations (Hung and Petrick, 2011) and preferences (Xie et al, 2012). It is worth to note that Chen et al (2016) have applied principal components analysis (PCA) to explore the components of cruise motivations and cruise preferences in the Asian markets. With regard to their results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the various constructs of the two variables, there is sufficient evidence of internal consistency (Cronbach's a > 0.6), convergent validity (AVE > 0.5) and composite reliability (CR > 0.7) of all the constructs.…”

“…With regard to their results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the various constructs of the two variables, there is sufficient evidence of internal consistency (Cronbach's a > 0.6), convergent validity (AVE > 0.5) and composite reliability (CR > 0.7) of all the constructs. So, the results of cruise motivation and preference tested through PCA and CFA by Chen et al (2016) are used as two independent variables in our research: We refer cruise motivation to four constructs, namely selfesteem (increasing self-worth, impressing others, deriving accomplishment), escaping (escaping from routines, being free, mental relaxation), learning (gaining knowledge, enjoying a thrill, experience of other cultures) and bonding (joining friends/family, interacting with friends/family); and cruise preference refers to seven constructs, including basic facilities (restaurants, cabin facilities, room service, food), entertainment (night club, casino, social gathering/party), sports provision (running track, sports area, climbing wall, miniature golf), recreation possibilities (spa, beauty salon, swimming pool/hot tubs, fitness), children facilities (babysitting service, children centre), ports (consumption level, natural landscapes, cultural landscapes, city landscapes, tour options, infrastructure, friendly residents) and a particular Asian features (teahouse).…”