Exploring the crowding-satisfaction relationship of skiers: the role of social behavior and experiences

Abstract

Previous research has shown that crowding represents an essential factor in driving overtourism and highlighted the negative effects of crowding. However, there is limited knowledge of how crowding affects skiers' experiences and what variables drive the crowding-satisfaction relationship. Our findings show that individual skill levels and the behavior of other skiers moderate this relationship. These findings are supported by a set of interviews, which focus on skiers' crowding experiences. Our contribution provides a refined understanding of crowding in the ski context through highlighting the importance of tourist-to-tourist encounters to better understand the effects of crowding and suggests visitor management techniques.

Exploring the Role of Tourists: Responsible Behavior Triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…To balance these tourism impacts, responsible and sustainable tourism is of wide-ranging relevance both in tourism practice and in academic research [3][4][5]. Even though the current COVID-19 pandemic has placed tourism on hold, discussions around negative tourism impacts will continue to be relevant in the future [6], for instance in the context of past debates regarding over-tourism [7].…”

User Satisfaction and Crowding at Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

“…However, other research in different settings also found that crowding has a negative effect on satisfaction [22,62,74,75]. This relationship can be affected by skill levels and social behaviors of other users [76]. A study suggested that delivering appropriate messages at the right time and place can improve the control of visitor flow and crowding, so visitors may be more aware of the number of encounters and avoid crowding if they are more sensitive to large groups of people [77].…”

Crowding and vaccination: Tourist's two-sided perception on crowding and the moderating effect of vaccination status during COVID-19 pandemic

“…In most relevant studies, researchers have used stimulus overload theory and social interference theory to discuss the psychological effects of crowding environment stimulus ( Andereck & Becker, 1993 ; Schmidt & Keating, 1979 ; Stokols, 1972 ). In these studies, crowding perception always leads to negative outcomes, such as making the destination less attractive, increasing personal stress, and negatively impacting tourist experience, satisfaction, and loyalty ( Brown, Kappes, & Marks, 2013 ; Li et al, 2017 ; Pikkemaat et al, 2020 ; Yin et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In tourism research, the negative effects of crowding have been widely discussed and confirmed. Various studies have shown that crowding negatively impacts tourists’ experience, satisfaction, and loyalty ( Li, Zhang, Nian, & Zhang, 2017 ; Pikkemaat, Bichler, & Peters, 2020 ; Sharp, Sharp, & Miller, 2015 ; Yin, Cheng, Bi, & Ni, 2020 ; Yoon, Kyle, Hsu, & Absher, 2021 ). Since the outbreak of COVID-19, researchers have generally believed that these negative effects will be magnified.…”