Service providers’ perspective on the luxury tourist experience as a product

Abstract

This study explores service providers' perceptions of the luxury tourist experience as a product and its challenges in Finland. To examine the essence of this product, eleven narrative interviews with service providers were analyzed. The findings indicate that service providers facilitate prerequisites for a luxury experience based on the customer's needs and motivations which may add meaningfulness. The aim is to make the customer feel special by recognizing the different value expectations of the customer. The Finnish luxury tourist experience aims to provide hedonic or eudaimonic wellbeing experiences, in which activities in nature and encounters with people create intrinsic customer value, and the customer's active participation leads to experiential value. Furthermore, as the context of the experience is a noncommercial one where commercial aspects of the luxury product are combined with the experience, the possibility to gain prudential value may be present. The study suggests that the contemporary luxury tourist experience product can be based on different experiential value elements than those experiences enjoyed in traditional luxury destinations. Furthermore, the study supports the view that luxury services should be seen as a continuum.

Comparing the motivations behind wellness tourism in three source markets

“…Bočkus et al, 2021; which may explain the quest for luxury among the Finnish respondents. Nevertheless, as tourists increasingly perceive luxury not as a materialistic concept but as a concept of self-actualization and fulfilment (Iloranta & Komppula, 2021) the meaning of luxury may also differ between the source markets. In the case of Lithuania and Russia, due to long traditions in medical tourism and partial governmental subsidization of therapeutic recreation services (Smith & Puczkó, 2014), wellness trips may not be associated with luxury, as visiting spas and sanatoriums has historically been available to the masses.…”

“Net” value co-creation: The effect of interactions on consumer citizenship behavior in online travel communities

“…For consumers with symbolic motivation, business can create more opportunities for them to express themselves (e.g., special cultural event and regular voting for the popular post) and reward them with the premium titles. It is also worth providing this group of consumers with sense of superiority and accomplishment from the community interaction ( Shukla and Rosendo-Rios, 2021 ; Iloranta and Komppula, 2022 ).…”

“…Since tourism was regarded as “luxury consumption” to some of the population, consumer with symbolic motivation wants to express their personality, social status, and self-image through the interaction in the online travel community. They focus more on their social status rather than the functional value ( Shukla and Rosendo-Rios, 2021 ; Iloranta and Komppula, 2022 ). Therefore, symbolic motivation enhances the relationship between interaction and self-identity.…”

“…For example, community can forecast members' participation motivations through their usage records. For consumers with symbolic motivation, community can provide special platforms or incentives for them to express Guan et al 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.991009 their self-images so that to enhance their self-identities (Shukla and Rosendo-Rios, 2021;Iloranta and Komppula, 2022). For consumers with utilitarian motivation, community can create convenient pathways for them to seek for the functional value, such as recommending related posts or topics for them to participant.…”

“…As a result, consumers are prone to conduct the citizenship behaviors such as recommendation, helping others, and providing feedback in the online travel communities ( Hsu et al, 2015 ; Deng et al, 2021 ). Moreover, based on the theory of motivation, symbolic motivation can positively moderate the relationship between consumer interactions and their identification of the self-image, while utilitarian motivation positively moderates the effect of consumer interactions on their perception of social support ( Dabbous and Barakat, 2020 ; Akram et al, 2021 ; Shukla and Rosendo-Rios, 2021 ; Iloranta and Komppula, 2022 ).…”