Tourists’ Risk Perception and the Use of Mobile Devices in Beach Tourism Destinations

Abstract

Abstract:The perceived risk of tourists' use of smartphones is a key issue in shaping the tourist experience in terms of sustainability, as it can affect the behaviour of tourists and influence their satisfaction with that experience. However, little empirical research exists on the relationship between tourists' risk perception and the perceived value of mobile device usage. This paper measures the association between tourists' perceived risk of mobile device usage and several variables that demonstrate the perceived usefulness of mobile devices: utility, hedonic value and future intention of use. A survey on tourists' use of smartphones was conducted in 2016 and, by means of a cluster analysis, four groups of tourists were identified with significant differences in their perception of the risk and use value of smartphones. Differences between tourists suggest that a single digital tourist profile does not exist and that tourism destinations and smart tourism DMOs (destination marketing organisations) should include risk perception in their management agenda. This will allow them to achieve a better understanding of tourist behaviour and to adapt the commercialisation of tourism products and services to a wide range of tourism needs. In addition, four regression models were applied to measure the association between the risk and perceived usefulness of mobile devices. On the one hand, dependence on mobile devices was associated positively with the perceived usefulness of mobile devices. On the other hand, the tourists surveyed saw privacy risk as having a major negative impact on the tourist experience, although it did not affect their perceived utility value and future use of mobile devices. Smart tourism destination managers should bear in mind that privacy risk issues related to the use of mobile devices must be integrated into an ethical perspective when marketing a destination.

Towards a conceptualisation of smart tourists and their role within the smart destination scenario

“…With the purpose of addressing this need, a thorough review of the current literature on smart tourism destinations, technology and tourist behaviour, and their interplay with the broader smart tourism paradigm was performed, seeking to identify the gaps in the relationship between the tourist and the smart destination. The critical revision of the existing literature has given rise to the identification of key, but under-researched factors that are central for the conceptualisation of smart tourists and their role within SDs: Gretzel, Reino, et al, 2015;Gretzel, Sigala, et al, 2015;Gretzel, Werthner, et al, 2015;Huang, Goo, Nam, & Yoo, 2017;Xiang & Fesenmaier, 2017 2) Acceptance and use of smart technologies Buonincontri & Micera, 2016;González-Reverté et al, 2018;Gretzel, 2011;Gretzel, Reino, et al, 2015;Gretzel, Sigala, et al, 2015;Gretzel, Werthner, et al, 2015;Liberato, et al, 2018 3) Perception of interaction and cocreation with stakeholders through smart technologies Boes et al, 2015Boes et al, , 2016Buhalis & Amaranggana, 2014Buonincontri & Micera, 2016;Choe & Fesenmaier, 2017;Gretzel, Werthner, et al, 2015;Micera et al, 2013;Xiang et al, 2015 Although it is acknowledged that other factors may be influential, they have been discarded for not being exclusively related to the smart paradigm and for not implying distinctive, unique tourist attitudes and behaviours other than those required in non-smart contexts,…”

“…The privacy concern, deemed as critical for smartness by previous contributions in the field (e.g. Buhalis & Amaranggana, 2014González-Reverté et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2017;Xiang & Fesenmaier, 2017) has been explored, and its impact over the rest of the functioning of the system has been emphasised. Privacy plays a particularly relevant role in smart destinations across many issues, such as the use of location-based services (Anuar & Gretzel, 2011), which combined with smartphones are core technologies for the new functioning of destinations.…”

Transforming Communication Channels to the Co-Creation and Diffusion of Intangible Heritage in Smart Tourism Destination: Creation and Testing in Ceutí (Spain)

“…Because of that new vision of the destinations, the visitors' smartphone is placed in the spotlight of the cities and destination marketing organizations as the device is capable of allowing a new type of communication among territories and visitors/residents, as well as representing a new method for understanding the needs and requirements of users [36]. This trend has resulted in the emergence of the mobile tourism concept [37], which transforms the city services in apps, Web-Apps, platforms, and social network profiles to allow the user to interact via smartphones and tablets to, for example, buy tickets [38].…”

Understanding Travelers’ Behavior for Sustainable Smart Tourism: A Technology Readiness Perspective

“…On the other hand, the risks from the use of smart devices in tourism have not been fully discussed. Only a few studies have argued that there are negative factors in the use of smart devices for tourism [35]. Wang and Wang [31] showed that technological effort and perceived risks can affect the perceived value and usage intentions of online hotel reservations.…”