Tourism Management of Russian Behavioral Intention toward Thailand

Sankrusme, Sinee

Tourism Management of Russian Behavioral Intention toward Thailand

by Associate Professor Dr. Sinee Sankrusme (Author)

Summary

Tourism is identified as one of the major potential industries of Thai economy. Tourism is considered to be a top priority for the following reasons: Firstly, it is an industry requiring much labor, thus it provides many jobs for city residents, by which it helps to solve unemployment for society. Secondly, it is an industry which brings with it many important benefits, improving the social-economic situation, and enhancing income for people. Thirdly, it can promote peace, enhancing common understanding and building a unified and sustainable country.
In the last years, Thailand’s tourism industry has made significant progress and contributed significantly to the economic development and social progress of the nation. In the context of international integration, the Thailand government has focused on developing the tourism industry even further, enhancing service quality, and expanding operations scale. As a result, the number of tourists coming to Thailand has increased significantly between 2009 and 2015.
This study investigates the perceived value, satisfaction and revisit of Russian tourists who visit Thailand on the basis of selected tourism destinations in Bangkok, Thailand.

Excerpt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Sinee Sankrusme is currently an associate professor of International Business at

Department of International Business, Faculty of Business Administration, Ramkhamhaeng

University, Thailand. She held position as head department of international business. She has

authored almost one hundred articles and several books related to international business

communication, international business and trade documents, international business and

effects on changes, organizational behavior and management, agribusiness, agricultural

marketing, agricultural business, management and human resource management, etc.

Especially, her textbook entitled International Business Correspondence was published in

Germany. Most of her research focuses on international business, marketing, human resource,

business, organization and management, etc. She is widely recognized for numerous

publications in the international business journals and also joined the international business

conferences as below:

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS JOURNAL

1. An Analysis of Business Leaders in Thailand. The Business Review: Cambridge, Vol. 8, No 1,

Summer 2007, pp. 114-120.

2. Analysis of Colored Local Liquor Marketing Strategies among Companies before Liquor

Liberalization. The Business Review: Cambridge, Vol. 8, No 1, Summer 2007, pp. 114-120.

3. Competitive 4P's Strategy Analysis before Liquor Liberalization. The Journal of American

Academy of Business, Cambridge, Vol. 17, No. 1, September 2011, pp. 94-103.

4. Analysis of ASEAN Economic Change, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Trends and International

Trade with NAFTA. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Vol. 17, No. 2, March

2012, ISSN 1540-1200, pp. 50-57.

5. Marketing Strategy Competition among Beer Companies before Liquor Liberalization. Journal of

Marketing Development and Competitiveness Vol. 5(6), 2011, pp. 65-82.

6. Development Strategies on Taking Thailand's Health Healing Related Tourism Business into the

Global Market. Review of European Studies, Vol. 5, No. 5, December 2013, pp. 220-232. ISSN

199918-7173 (Print), ISSN 1918-7181 (Online).

7. Development Strategies on Taking Thailand's Health Promotion Related Tourism Business into the

Global Market. International Business Research Journal, Vol. 5, No. 11 November 2012, pp. 83-94.

ISSN 1913-9004 (Print), ISSN 1913-9012 (Online).

8. Potential Development Strategies on Cultural Tourism. Social Science Research Network (SSRN),

2017.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE

1. Analysis of Alcoholic Beverage Marketing History in Thailand. International Conference on

Business. The 6

Hawaii International Business Conference, May 24-28, 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii,

USA.

2. The Changing Nature of Marketing in Japan. International Conference on Business. The 6

Hawaii

International Business Conference, May 24-28, 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

3. An Analysis of Business Leaders in Thailand. International Business Conference. The Global

Business & Finance Research Conference, July 11-14, 2007, London, England.

4. A Study of the Beer Market Leader, Challenger and Niche Strategies. The 2008 International Joint

Conference on e-Commerce, e-Administration, e-Society, and e-Education (e-CASE 2008), March

27-29, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Organized by International Business Academics Consortium

(IBAC), Knowledge Association of Taiwan (KAT), Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy,

Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

5.Whisky Marketing Strategy Analysis among Market Leader, Challenger and Niches. International

Conference on Business and Information, September 24-26, 2008, Heidelberg, Germany.

6. Case Study Analysis of Wine Marketing Strategies. International Business Research Conference,

December 2-4, 2009, Sydney, Australia.

7. Comparison of the Marketing Environment before and after Thailand's Economic Crisis: Case

Study of Alcoholic Beverages. International Business Research Conference, December 2-4, 2009,

Sydney, Australia.

8. Case Study of the C.V.S Syndicate Company: Marketing Strategy before Liquor Liberalization.

International Conference on Business and Economic Sciences, January 25-27, 2011, Dubai, United

Arab Emirates.

9. Case Study of TIS Worldwide Marketing (1997) Company: Marketing Strategy before Liquor

Liberalization. International Conference on Business and Economic Sciences, January 25-27, 2011,

Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

10. Relationship among Public Management, Service Quality, and Overall Attractiveness that Affects

Foreigners' Perception Regarding the Potential of the Thai Medical Tourism Industry. 21

Annual

World Business Congress, July 4-8, 2012, Helsinki, Finland.

11. Marketing Strategy Analysis of Boon Rawd Brewery Company. International Conference on

Business, Management and Economics, July 30-31, 2013, Zurich, Switzerland.

12. Marketing Strategy Analysis of Thai Asia Pacifica Brewery Company. International Conference

on Business, Management and Economics, July 30-31, 2013, Zurich, Switzerland.

13. Marketing Strategy of Seagram (Thailand) Limited. 2

Global Conference on Business,

Economics, Management & Tourism, October 30-3,1 2014, Prague, Czech Republic.

Market Leader of Beer Chang. Entrepreneurship, Responsible Management, and Economic

Development, March 14-18, 2016, Cairo, Egypt.

vii

CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LIST OF TABLES ix

LIST OF FIGURES

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Problem

Segmenting Revisit

Purpose of the Study

Scope of the Study

Hypotheses

Organization of the Presentation

Definition of Terms

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Perceived Value

Satisfaction

Revisit Intention

Relationships among Perceived Value, Satisfaction, and Revisit

Perceived Value and Satisfaction Relationships

Perceived Value and Revisit Relationships

Satisfaction and Revisit Relationships

The Conceptual Model

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Sample and population

Instruments of the Study

Perceived Value

viii

Overall Satisfaction

Intention to Revisit

Demographic Information

Reliability

Data Collection

Data Analysis

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS OF THE STUDY

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Tourist Opinion

Model Fit

Hypothesis Testing

Quality of Measurement

Convergent Validity

Discriminant Validity

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary and Conclusions

Discussion

Recommendations

Implications

Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1.1 International Tourist

1.2 Number of European Tourists

1.3 Rank of European Tourists in Thailand

1.4 Tourism Receipt from Russian Tourist Arrivals (2015)

1.5 Average Expenditure of Russian Tourist (2015)

1.6 Tourism from Russian Tourists (2015)

2.1 The Items of the Questionnaire Used in the Structure Model

3.1 Behavior Measurement, Number of Questions, and Sources

3.2 The Reliability of the Items

3.3 Reliability of Hospitality

3.4 Reliability of Attractions

3.5 Reliability of Transport

3.6 Reliability of Amenity

3.7 Reliability of Destination Image

3.8 Reliability of Functional Value

3.9 Reliability of Emotional Value

3.10 Reliability of Satisfaction

3.11 Reliability of Revisit

3.12 A 5 Point Likert Scale

4.1

Profile of Respondents

4.2 Opinions of Russian Tourists

4.3

Indices and Statistics Value to Investigate the Proposal Model

4.4 The Direct and Indirect Influence of the Model

4.5 Summary of Hypothesis Testing Results

4.6 The Hypothesis Testing

4.7 Convergent Validity and Reliability of the Scales

4.8 Discriminant Validity of Scales

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

2.1

The Conceptual Framework of the Study

4.1

Structural Equation Model of Factors Influence Intention to Revisit

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Tourism is identified as one of the most potential industries of Thai economy.

Tourism is considered to be a top priority for the following reasons. Firstly, it is the industry

requiring more labor, thus it provides more jobs for city residents, by which it helps to solve

unemployment for society. Secondly, it is the industry bringing to many important benefits,

improving social-economic situation, enhancing income for people. Thirdly, it can promote

peace, enhancing understanding together and building a unified and sustainable country.

Although Thailand's tourism industry has made progressed and contributed significantly to

economic development and social progress of the nation. In the context of international

integration, the Thailand government has focused on developing for tourism industry,

enhancing service quality, expanding operations scale. The numbers of tourists to Thailand

have increased significantly compare in 2009, 14,149,841 tourists and in 2015, 29,881,091

tourists (Table 1.1 and Table 1 in Appendix B).

Table 1

International Tourist

Year

International Tourist

2009

14,149,841

2010

15,936,400

2011

19,230,470

2012

22,353,903

2013

26,546,725

2014

24,809,683

2015

29,881,091

Source

: Immigration Bureau, Police

Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that the number of European tourists to

Thailand have increased. Specially, there were 3,188,069 tourists in 2009 which increased to

5,629,122 tourists in 2015 (Table 1.2). Among them, the majority in 2015 were from United

Kingdom and Russia (Table 1.2 and Table 1.3). However, Russian is the first rank during

2011-2014. (Table 1.2 and 1.3). Towards the tourism industry of Thailand, to survive in

fierce international environment and complete with the tourism development in the region

and the world, the authorities and government need to do many things. Firstly, they have been

establishing the strength based on improving sustainable competitive advantages national.

Secondly, they have been seeking many solution overcome disadvantages of industry and

trying to keep up with the development speed of nations which has more progressive in

tourism. Therefore, what motivate tourists visit/revisit Thailand. The tourism industry needs

to understand tourists preferences and motives for choosing Thailand as their visit alternative.

What are their main motivation for visiting Thailand and how do they evaluate Thailand as a

tourist destination? For the tourism industry, it is also important to know if they intend to

return or revisit Thailand and if they recommend this destination to others.

Table 1

Number of European Tourists

Country

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Europe

3,188,069

3,400,547

5,101,406

5,650,619

6,305,945

6,161,893

5,629,122

Austria

74,391

76,898

89,242

94,667

106,278

100,968

97,806

Belgium

61,110

61,268

82,610

94,896

101,109

99,729

106,100

Denmark

105,960

111,122

164,096

167,499

163,186

160,977

159,425

Finland

86,699

79,368

157,046

154,919

141,692

142,425

134,731

France

346,729

366,583

515,572

576,106

611,582

635,073

681,097

Germany

482,449

500,811

619,133

682,419

737,658

715,240

760,604

Ireland

53,675

45,893

58,945

60,305

63,522

63,038

64,716

Italy

143,063

135,693

185,869

200,703

207,192

219,875

246,066

Netherlands

174,929

164,821

198,891

208,122

218,765

211,524

221,657

Norway

86,203

101,336

136,931

148,796

154,049

145,207

135,347

Russia

272,982

467,971

1,054,187

1,316,564

1,746,565

1,606,430

877,120

Spain

65,280

57,992

95,383

113,141

123,084

116,983

150,940

Sweden

197,360

205,073

373,856

364,681

341,398

324,865

321,663

Switzerland

116,920

122,919

170,044

191,147

199,923

201,271

206,454

United Kingdom

682,493

639,855

844,972

873,053

905,024

907,877

946,919

East Europe

157,394

183,794

240,886

280,976

346,230

370,726

364,967

Others

80,432

79,150

113,743

122,625

138,688

139,685

146,545

Source

: Immigration Bureau, Police Départment.

Top five of European countries visited Thailand in 2015 from the most were

)United Kingdom, (2

) Russia, (3

) German, (4

) France, and (5

) East Europe (Table

1.3). However, Russian tourists visited Thailand were the fourth and third rank in 2009 and

2010, respectively. However Russian tourists were top one during 2011-2014, they were

much more and became the top one among European tourists. The 2

rank were German in

2009-2010, United Kingdom in 2011-2014, Russia in 2015, (3

) France in 2009, Russia in

2010, Germany in 2011-2015, (4

) Russia in 2009, France in 2010-2015 , and (5

) Sweden

in 2009-2012, East Europe in 2013 -2015 (Table 1.3).

Table 1

Rank of European Tourists in Thailand

Rank

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

United

Kingdom

United

Kingdom

Russia

United

Kingdom

Germany

United

Kingdom

United

Kingdom

United

Kingdom

United

Kingdom

Russia

France

Russia

Germany

Russia

France

Sweden

East

Europe

East

Europe

East

Europe

Netherlands

East

Europe

East

Europe

East

Europe

Sweden

East

Europe

Netherlands

Italy

Netherlands

Switzerland

Denmark

Finland

Norway

Finland

Norway

Spain

Norway

Finland

Norway

Finland

Norway

Austria

Spain

Finland

Spain

Belgium

Austria

Belgium

Austria

Belgium

Spain

Belgium

Austria

Belgium

Austria

Ireland

Source:

Immigration Bureau, Police Département.

Regarding tourism receipt from Russian tourist arrival indiçâtes in Table 1.4, 1.6 and

Table 5-7 in Appendix B. In 2015, there were 877,120 Russian tourist visit Thailand. Most of

them (628,501 persons, 72 %) visit Thailand by non package tour while by package tour,

(248,619 persons, 28% ). Average stay was 17 days, spending 133.93 US$/day, and revenue

2,005.22 Million US$ (Table 1.4 and Table 1.6). On the other hand, expenditure of Russian

tourist arrival was shown in Table 1.5, 1.6 and Table 2-4 in Appendix B. Expenditure of

Russian tourists in 2015 was 4, 587 baht/day classified by shopping 993.38 baht,

entertainment 513.93 baht, sightseeing 173.22 baht, accommodation 1,366.94 baht, food and

beverage 1,037.78 baht, local transport 457.20 baht, and miscellaneous 44.55 baht (Table

1.5).

Table 1.4

Tourism Receipts From Russian Tourist Arrivals

(2015)

Country

No of

Arrival

Days

Baht/Day

US$/Day

Million

Baht

Mil. US$

Tourist Arrivals

877,120

17.07

4,587.00

133.93

68,678.73

2,005.22

Package tour

248,619

13.04

4,538.76

132.52

14,71.614

429.62

Non Package Tour

628,501

18.66

4,601.37

134.35

53,954.12

1,575.59

Source: Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police

Table 1.5

Average Expenditure of Russian Tourist

(2015)

Unit: Baht/Person/Day

Country of

Residence

Total

Shopping

Enter-

tainment

Sight-

seeing

Accom-

modation

Food &

Beverage

Local

Transport

Miscel-

laneous

Tourist

Arrivals

4 ,587.00

9 93.38

513.93

1 73.22

1,366.94

1,037.78

4 57.20

4 4.55

Group Tour

4,538.76

959.20

402.40

230.41

1,279.75

1,083.37

480.48

103.15

Non Package

Tour

4,601.37

1,003.06

544.88

157.45

1,391.35

1,025.41

450.87

28.35

Source: Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police

During the past few decades, recovery of the domestic economy has a long history in

Russia is gradually improving as people begin to open eyes open mouth. They have to spend

more. When the Russians began to gratify his own happiness for themselves and their

families with travel and business travel as covert funding to reduce the cost of travel. It is also

only a short distance to the destination. In the CIS, including Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia,

Armenia, RA Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, even when Russian people are starting to spend more.

Travel patterns will change as a step farther each continent. The most popular destination for

Russians in the world, including Turkey, followed by China and then Egypt and Finland. But

Asia is still ranked first in Turkey. Followed by mainland China followed by the Middle East

and the United States. In 1992, Russian from the earth polar bear expedition to travel abroad

only 4.15 million people, but three years later the Russians out travel increased to 21.33

million, a leap up. 72.58 per cent and reduce the rate of increase would be reversed by the

global economic crisis on the Russian Federation. However, in recent years, it would be the

perception of the world. The growing economy of Russia it rose to 6.7 percent which would

be the result of policy stimulus to the middle class people are earning more and more

employment. Contributes to rising domestic consumption coupled with Russia. Escalating

strengthened the economy from the export of crude oil and raw materials from abroad

(https://prezi.com/ufxmcehfzqdq/copy-of). However, top European tourists in Thailand were

Russian. Russian tourists, length of stay, per-capita spending, tourism receipts were as

follows:

Table 1.6

Tourism from Russian Tourists (2015)

Russian Tourists

No. of Arrival

877,120

(Persons)

Length of Stay

17.07

(Days)

Per Capita Spending

4,587.00

(Baht/Day)

133.93

(US$/Day)

Tourism Receipts

68,678.73

(Million Baht

2,005.22

(Million US$)

Source: Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police

Note: Exchange rate 1 US$ = 34.25 Baht

The importance of Russian tourists towards Thai tourism Russian Federation is one

of new target markets with high potential for Thai tourism due to higher level of purchasing

power of Russian tourists from their average income of USD 4,100 per person in 2003 to be

USD 5,340 per person in 2004 due to good effect of high level of oil price remained from

2004 (Russian Federal is ranked as the second rank of the world's largest oil producers and

exporters). In addition, Russia also has a large number of populations that is over than 143

million people with higher tendency of overseas traveling after transforming their

administrative system to be democracy in 1992. With such potential of Russian tourists

incorporate with the fact that Thailand is 1 of 20 countries preferred by Russian for travelling

causing over 93,000 Russian tourists visit Thailand per year during 2002 2004 (increased

by 31% per year) with the average travel duration of 12 days, Thailand can earn 3,800 million

baht per year from Russian tourists. As a result, it is considered as an opportunity of

Thailand to support the expansion of Russian tourists (https://prezi.com/ufxmcehfzqdq/copy-

of/). Russian tourists are considered as the market with rapid growth and it tends to be more

important. In 2015, Russian tourists market was able to generate income to Thailand in the

approximate amount of 68,678.73 Mil Baht (2,005.22 Mil US$) (Table 1.6 and Table 5 in

Appendix B)

Behavior of Russian Tourists. They prefer family travel style by purchasing the tour

packages from the tour agents. Most Russian tourists are female with the age ranged from 25-

39 years and they were mostly single. Most of them are businessmen and preferred visiting

Thailand during November February. They mostly spend 1-2 weeks for travelling in

Thailand (https://prezi.com/th0abfdyez02/presentation/) and they have good taste on traveling

as well as glad to pay for convenience, comfort, and quality. As a result, they prefer staying

in some luxurious resorts and hotels with complete facilities. They prefer expensive fine

dining and good quality products. Russian tourists are considered as the tourists with high

spending for tourism ranked as the 9

rank of the world. For attractions, since Russian

Federation's climate is frozen with landlocked landscape, most tourists preferred travelling to

some attractions with warm weather, especially beaches and coasts. For tourism activities,

activities that can attract Russian tourists, especially who stay in the big city and investors

with high income, are niche activities responding to specific interests, for example, golf,

diving, health activities, and spa. Moreover, participating in some fair trades and seminars are

other activities interested by Russian tourists and its number is clearly increasing upon the

economic expansion. This tourist group spends more money for purchasing products than

other tourist groups (https://prezi.com/ufxmcehfzqdq/copy-of/).

Background of the Problem

Tourism industry is an important source of income for many countries, it has been

considered the second important industry of the 21

century. For this reason it is necessary to

find reasonable ways and a disciplined plan to achieve more shares in world market. Tourism

is among the few businesses in which evidences of production and service in plans related to

attraction, maintenance and extension are easily observable. In those countries which rely

much on tourism industry, it stands at the top of all other industries as a green and non-

polluting industry because it fits cultural, sociological, political and environmental conditions

of these countries and has high returns. Although the concept of destination has attracted the

attention of many researches working in the fields of marketing and tourism management,

academic and disciplined researches on this subject are relatively dew . Some articles written

about destination brand have not gone beyond conceptual researches. Measuring the

effectiveness of such brands is of high importance and can be determined using customer-

based studies. The global tourism industry has evolved into an area of fierce competition, and

a fundamental challenge for marketers is to comprehend the distinguishing characteristics of

tourist experiences (Perdue, 2002). In the era of globalization almost every company is facing

fierce competition. Perceived value and satisfaction are an important tool to capture

competitive advantage. As markets have become increasingly competitive, tourists have

become more demanding, expecting increasingly to satisfy their needs. Customer perceived

value has been examined in marketing literature for almost two decades (Holbrook, 1999,

Brady & Robertson, 1999). This reflects the centrality of goods and services in everyday life,

and the importance of value decisions within the buying process. Perceived value is

defined as ``the consumer's overall assessment of the utility of a product (or service)

based on perceptions of what is received and what is given (Zeithaml,1988). Yet the

crux of customer-perceived value has not yet been clearly identified, nor have the relative

relationships between price, quality, sacrifice and satisfaction been fully explored. Greater

convenience, competitive prices and time saving there are inevitably implications for how

consumers evaluate perceived value. However satisfaction play an important role in tourism

business. Satisfaction refers to the perceived discrepancy between prior expectation and

perceived

performance

after

consumption when p e r f o r m a n c e

d i f f e r s

f r o m

e x p e c t a t i o n , d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n o c c u r s (Oliver, 1980). It can be defined as the degree

to which one believes that an experience evokes positive feelings (Rust & Oliver,1994). In

t o u r i s m c o n t e x t , s a t i s f a c t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y r e f e r r e d t o a s a f u n c t i o n

o f pre-travel expectations and post-travel experiences. When experiences compared to

expectations result in feelings of gratification, the tourist is satisfied. In tourism research,

similar approach is adopted and tourist loyalty intention is represented in terms of the

intention to revisit the destination and the willingness to recommend it to friends and relatives

(Bigné et al., 2001; Chen & Gusoy, 2001; Niininen et al., 2004). The research investigated

the relationship among customer perceived value, satisfaction and revisit. The link between

customer satisfaction and company success has historically been a matter of faith, and

numerous satisfaction studies have also supported the case (Hill & Alexander, 2000).

Customer satisfaction has always been considered an essential business goal because it was

assumed that satisfied customers would buy more. However, many companies have started to

notice a high customer defection despite high satisfaction ratings (Taylor, 1998). This

phenomenon has prompted a number of scholars (Reichheld & Teal , 1996; Oliver 1999) to

criticize the mere satisfaction studies and call for a paradigm shift to the quest of loyalty as a

strategic business goal. As a result, satisfaction measurement has recently been displaced by

the concept of customer loyalty, primarily because loyalty is seen as a better predictor of

actual behavior. Two of the three measures making up most Customer Loyalty Indices (CLIs)

are behavior-based, such as "likelihood to repurchase the product or service" and "likelihood

to recommend a product or service to others". The third element of a CLI is usually "overall

satisfaction" itself (Taylor, 1998). The move to measure loyalty is based on a desire to better

understand retention, which has a direct link to a company's bottom line. Studies have

documented that a 5% increase in customer retention can generate a profit growth of 25

95% across a range of industries (Reichheld & Sasser, 1990). In addition, retaining existing

customers usually has a much lower associated costs than winning new ones (Fornell &

Wernerfelt, 1987), so a larger proportion of the gross profit counts towards the bottom line.

Furthermore, loyal customers are more likely to act as free word-of-mouth (WOM)

advertising agents that informally bring networks of friends, relatives and other potential

consumers to a product/service (Shoemaker & Lewis, 1999). In fact, WOM referrals account

for up to 60% of sales to new customers (Reicheld & Sasser, 1990). With such exceptional

returns, loyalty becomes a fundamental strategic component for organizations. However, in

the context of travel and tourism, a review of literature reveals an abundance of studies on

tourist satisfaction; and destination loyalty has not been thoroughly investigated (Oppermann,

2000). Therefore, it is time for practitioners and academics to conduct more studies of loyalty

in order to have greater knowledge of this concept, to understand the role of customer

satisfaction in developing loyalty, other non- satisfaction determinants of customer loyalty,

and their interrelationships. Understanding the determinants of customer loyalty will allow

management to concentrate on the major influencing factors that lead to customer retention.

A number of studies have examined the antecedents or causes of repeat purchase intensions

(Cronin et al., 2000). Results of this body of research have shown that satisfaction,

quality/performance and different other variables are good predictors of customer intended

loyalty. The more satisfied the customers are, the more likely they are to repurchase the

product/service and to encourage others to become customers. In order to retain customers,

organizations must seek to satisfy them, but a further objective must be to establish customer

loyalty. In a tourism context, satisfaction with travel experiences contributes to destination

loyalty (Bramwell 1998; Pritchard & Howard 1997). The degree of tourists' loyalty to a

destination is reflected in their intentions to revisit the destination and in their willingness to

recommend it (Oppermann 2000). Tourists' positive experiences of service, products, and

other resources provided by tourism destinations could produce repeat visits as well as

positive word-of-mouth effects to friends and/or relatives. Recommendations by previous

visits can be taken as the most reliable information sources for potential tourists.

Recommendations to other people (word-of mouth) are also one of the most often sought

types of information for people interested in traveling. Given the vital role of customer

satisfaction, one should not be surprised that a great deal of research has been devoted to

investigating the antecedents of satisfaction. Previous satisfaction research has focused

predominantly on the following antecedents to consumer satisfaction (Oliver & DeSarbo,

1988), disconfirmation of expectations (Oliver 1980), performance (Churcuill & Suprenant,

1982), affect (Mano & Oliver, 1993), and equity (Tse & Wilton, 1988). Customer satisfaction

/ dissatisfaction appears to be influenced independently or in combination by these

antecedents. Most early research work focused on satisfaction at the global level (Oliver

1980). Until recently, there emerges an attribute-level conceptualization of the antecedents of

satisfaction (Oliver 1993). Under an attribute-level approach, overall satisfaction is a function

of attribute-level evaluations. These evaluations typically capture a significant amount of

variation in overall satisfaction (Bolton & Drew 1991). It is important in tourism to

distinguish overall satisfaction from satisfaction with individual attributes. The particular

characteristics of tourism have a no effect on tourist satisfaction (Seaton & Bennett, 1996).

Beyond the generic characteristics that distinguish services from goods, such as intangibility,

inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability (Zeithaml et al., 1985), there are some further

differences between tourism and other services. For example, Middleton and Clarke (2001)

highlighted interdependence - sub-sector inter-linkage of tourism products. Tourists

experience a medley of services such as hotels, restaurants, shops, attractions, etc.; and they

may evaluate each service element separately. Satisfaction with various components of the

destination leads to overall satisfaction (Kozak & Rimmington 2000). Therefore, overall

satisfaction and attribute satisfaction are distinct, though related, constructs (Oliver 1993).

This study focused on overall evaluation, attributes satisfaction, and the relationship between

the two. Furthermore, it has been widely acknowledged that destination image affects

tourists' subjective perception, consequent behavior and destination choice (Milman &

Pizam, 1995). Tourists' behavior is expected to be partly conditioned by the image that they

have of destinations. Image will influence tourists in the process of choosing a destination,

the subsequent evaluation of the trip and in their future intentions. Destination image

exercises a positive influence on perceived quality and satisfaction. A positive image deriving

from positive travel experiences would result in a positive evaluation of a destination. Tourist

satisfaction would improve if the destination has a positive image. Destination image also

affects tourists' behavioral intentions. More favorable image will lead to higher likelihood to

return to the same destination. To sum up, the following sequence could be established:

destination image, tourist satisfaction, destination loyalty. Destination image is an antecedent

of satisfaction. Satisfaction in turn has a positive influence on destination loyalty. In an

increasingly saturated marketplace, the success of marketing destinations should be guided by

a thorough analysis of destination loyalty and its interplay with tourist satisfaction and

destination image. Nevertheless, the tourism studies to date have addressed and examined the

constructs of image, satisfaction and loyalty independently (Bigne et al. 2001), lacking are

studies discussing the causal relationships among destination image, tourist satisfaction, and

destination loyalty. To bridge the gap in the destination loyalty literature, one of the main

purposes of this study was to offer an integrated approach to understanding destination

loyalty and examines the theoretical and empirical evidence on the causal relationships

among destination image, tourist satisfaction, and destination loyalty. A research model was

proposed and tested. The model investigated the relevant relationships among the constructs

by using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The primary aim of SEM is to

explain the pattern of a series of interrelated dependence relationships simultaneously

between a set of latent (unobserved) constructs, each measured by one or more manifest

(observed) variables (Reisinger & Turner, 2003).

Segmenting Revisit

In recent years, hospitality and tourism scholars has shown increasing interests in

different market segments based on tourists' demographic profiles and travel characteristics

(Mykletum, et al., 2001; Hsu, 2000). The purposes are to help destination managers develop

better understanding of the specific groups of consumers in order to accommodate their

distinct needs and wants, and establish efficient and effective marketing and promotion

strategies. It has been widely acknowledged that there is a need for market segmentation in

order to plan a consumer-oriented marketing strategy and cope with the large diversity of

vacation behavior (Veen & Verhallen, 1986). Segmentation is often based on social-

demographics, psychographics, behavioral characteristics, trip characteristics, or other

variables of interests. One of the most common approaches is to first assign consumers to

groups by using demographic and trip characteristics; and then the similarities and

differences between the matching groups are analyzed. Since many attractions and tourist

destinations rely heavily on the repeat visitor segment, researchers and practitioners find it

meaningful to examine the differences between first-time and repeat visitors, and the impact

of previous visitation experience on tourists' image perception and future behavior. For

example, Milman and Pizam (1995) empirically tested the impact of previous visitations on

consumer's destination image. They found that higher number of visits with a destination

result in more positive image of the destination, and higher interests and likelihood to revisit

it. A number of empirical works revealed that the number of visits to and the length of stay at

a destination influence the perceived image (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001, Chon, 1991).

Previous studies also indicated a close relationship between past experiences and consumer

satisfaction and loyalty. Past experiences of visiting a destination have increased tourists'

intention to travel there again. For instance, Petrick and Sirakaya's empirical study (2004)

suggested that repeat visitors are more satisfied with their travelexperiences, and are more

likely to return and spread positive WOM. Juaneda (1996) and Gyte and Phelps (1989)

confirmed that repeat tourists are more likely than first-timers to return to the same

destination. Oppermann (2000) found a significant relationship between previous experience

and future tourist visitation behavior. Sonmez and Graefe (1998) showed that past travel

experiences have a powerful influence on behavioral intentions. Chen (2008) stated that past

trip experiences often influence tourists' choice behaviors directly and/or indirectly. A few

empirical studies (Juaneda, 1996; Kozak & Rimmington, 2000) investigated the influences

of satisfaction and previous visits on the revisit probability - both previous visits and

satisfaction were found to be determinants of the revisit intentions, although Kozak (2001)

found that future intentions were influenced more by satisfaction than by past experience.

Other researchers (McAlexander et al., 2003) found that customer satisfaction affected

customer loyalty depending on consumption experience. Satisfaction had a significant

influence on loyalty for less experienced group, but its effect in the more experienced group

was not significant, and other determinants replaced satisfaction as drivers of loyalty. They

concluded that satisfaction was most effective for developing loyalty among less experienced

customers.

Purpose of the Study

1.To study Russian tourist characteristics

2.To analyze causal relationships among tourist perceived value, tourists' satisfaction

and revisit

3.To study tourism economic development strategies

Scope of the Study

The study investigates Russian tourists' perceived value, satisfaction and revisit who

visiting Thailand by selecting the famous tourism destinations in Bangkok, Thailand.

Hypotheses

Hypotheses came from the literature review in Chapter 2. Hypotheses have been used

to test this presumption:

Hypothesis 1: Perceived value has direct effects on satisfaction

Hypothesis 2: Perceived value has direct effects on revisit

Hypothesis 3: Satisfaction has direct effects on revisit

Organization of the Presentation

The study consists of five parts. The first chapter is the introduction, background of

the study, purpose of the study, scope of the study, organization of the presentation, and

definition of terms will be introduced. Chapter 2 will represent the literature review and

conceptual framework which explains the concepts of some variable in customer perceived

valued, tourists' satisfaction and intention to revisit and their relationships. Methodology will

be in chapter 3 which describes research design, sample and population, data collection, and

data analysis. Chapter 4 is the results from empirical survey will be analyzed and chapter 5 is

the conclusion, discussion and recommendation.

Definition of Terms

Perceived value

. It is the value that a customer perceives to obtain by buying a

product. It is the difference between the total obtained benefits according to the customer

perception and the cost that he had to pay for that. The customer will buy the same product

again only if he perceives to be getting some value out of the product. Hence delivering this

value becomes the motto of marketers. See also according perceived value.

Perceived Value = Total Perceived Benefits Total Perceived Costs

Perceived value is a marketing and branding related concept that points out that

success of a product is largely based on whether customers believe it can satisfy their needs

(http://smallbusiness.chron.com/customer-perceived-value-23692.html). Perceived value is

the difference between the prospective customer's evaluation of all the benefits and all the

costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives (http://www.marketing91.com/customer-

perceived-value-cpv/).

Satisfaction. Customer level of approval when comparing a product's perceived

performance with his or her expectations. Also could refer to discharge, extinguishment, or

retirement of an obligation to the acceptance of obligor, or fulfillment of a claim. While

satisfaction is sometimes equated with performance, it implies compensation or substitution

whereas performance denotes doing what was actually promised. See also accord and

satisfaction (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/satisfaction.html). A happy or

pleased feeling because of something that you did or something that happened to you. The act

of providing what is needed or desired: the act of satisfying a need or desire

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satisfaction).

Behavior Intention or Revisit

. Revisit is to visit again (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/revisit). Revisit is to visit a place or situation that you have been in

before http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/revisit). Revisit is to come

back to or visit again (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/revisit).

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Tourists' motivation to visit or revisit a tourist destination is often influenced by 3

factors namely - destination image, perceived quality, perceived value and satisfaction (Chen

& Chen, 2010, Bigne et al., 2001; Pike, 2002). Kozak and Rimmington stated that customer

satisfaction has significant effects on tourists' choice of destination, consumption of product

and services, and decision to revisit (Kozak & Rimmington, 2000). It also plays a vital role in

the continuity and future of tourism products and services, hence, many studies in hospitality

and tourism field are focused on customer satisfaction (Gursoy et al., 2003). Many researches

propose that perception of service quality and value affects satisfaction which subsequently

affects loyalty and post-behaviors (Tam, 2000, Anderson & Sullivan, 1993; Chen,

2008, Cronin & Taylor, 1992; De Rojas & Camarero, 2008; Choi &Chu 2001;

Fornell, 1992; Oliver, 1980). This study focuses on the identification of perceived value and

satisfaction which influences revisit. Thus, a comprehensive study on the impact of

satisfaction and perceived value on customer behavioral intentions was carried out in the

course of this study.

Perceived Value

Perceived value has become an object of heightened recognition which is viewed

from different perspectives such as customer utility, perceived benefits relative to sacrifice,

psychological price, worth and quality; thus, there is no definite or generally accepted

definition of perceived value (Zeithaml, 1988, Woodruff, 1997). Again, perception of value is

dependent on types of products or services offered (e.g., manufactured products or tourism

products) and the personal characteristics of customers (Zeithaml, 1988). Compared to

quality and customer satisfaction, the effect of perceived value on customer behavior has

received less attention. This is probably because of inadequacy of concept measures that

define perceived value (Petrick, 2004; Tam, 2000). The definition of perceived value given

by Zeithaml (1988) is commonly used to describe perceived value. Zeithaml (1988)

establishes four aspects of value in an investigative study: (1) low price, (2) whatever I want

in a product, (3) the quality I get for the price I pay, and (4) what I get for what I give.

Zeithaml (1988) goes a step further to merge the four aspects of customer value into a

comprehensive concept: "perceived value is the consumer's overall assessment of the utility

Details

Pages
Type of Edition: Erstausgabe
Year: 2017
ISBN (PDF): 9783960676522
ISBN (Softcover): 9783960671527
File size: 2.9 MB
Language: English
Institution / College: Ramkhamhaeng University
Publication date: 2017 (June)
Keywords: Ecotourism Thai Thai economy Tourism industry Russian tourism Russian tourist Bangkok Satisfaction Perceived value Phuket Revisit Travel behavior Tourist approval

Author

Associate Professor Dr. Sinee Sankrusme (Author)

Tourism Management of Russian Behavioral Intention toward Thailand

Summary

Excerpt

Table Of Contents

Details

Author

Associate Professor Dr. Sinee Sankrusme (Author)