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Article
Publication date: 18 May 2020

Sara Dolnicar

This paper aims to provide a snapshot of key learnings about paid online peer-to-peer accommodation trading, as it relates to tourism and hospitality, and to identify future…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a snapshot of key learnings about paid online peer-to-peer accommodation trading, as it relates to tourism and hospitality, and to identify future research questions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper paints a picture and discusses research conducted in the past, which relates to paid online peer-to-peer accommodation, in brief. It also lists a number of specific research questions which should be investigated in future.

Findings

Some of the key topics, such as the business model of facilitators of peer-to-peer trading and the necessary regularly responses, have been extensively studied. The focus should now turn on how peer-to-peer trading of travel-related services can best be leveraged to the benefit of economies, communities and people.

Originality/value

The main value of this perspective paper lies in offering a succinct overview of research into paid online peer-to-peer accommodation and pointing to key questions for future research.

Article
Publication date: 29 October 2019

Homa Hajibaba, Bettina Grün and Sara Dolnicar

Data-driven market segmentation is heavily used by academic tourism and hospitality researchers to create knowledge and by data analysts in tourism industry to generate market…

2514

Abstract

Purpose

Data-driven market segmentation is heavily used by academic tourism and hospitality researchers to create knowledge and by data analysts in tourism industry to generate market insights. The stability of market segmentation solutions across repeated calculations is a key quality indicator of a segmentation solution. Yet, stability is typically ignored, risking that the segmentation solution arrived at is random. This study aims to offer an overview of market segmentation analysis and propose a new procedure to increase the stability of market segmentation solutions derived from binary data.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a new method – based on two independently proposed algorithms – to increase the stability of market segmentation solutions. They demonstrate the superior performance of the new method using empirical data.

Findings

The proposed approach uses k-means as base algorithm and combines the variable selection method proposed by Brusco (2004) with the global stability analysis introduced by Dolnicar and Leisch (2010). This new approach increases the stability of segmentation solutions by simultaneously selecting variables and numbers of segments.

Practical implications

The new approach can be adopted immediately by academic researchers and industry data analysts alike to improve the quality of market segmentation solutions derived from empirical tourist data. Higher quality market segmentation solutions translate into competitive advantage and increased business or destination performance.

Originality/value

The proposed approach is newly developed in this study. It helps industry data analysts and academic researchers to reduce the risk of deriving random segmentation solutions by analyzing the data in a systematic way, then selecting the most stable solution using the segmentation variables contributing to this most stable solution only.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2023

Sara Dolnicar and Csilla Demeter

Recent reviews of field experiments aiming to entice tourists to behave in more environmentally sustainable ways conclude that attitudes – while the primary target – do not…

Abstract

Purpose

Recent reviews of field experiments aiming to entice tourists to behave in more environmentally sustainable ways conclude that attitudes – while the primary target – do not perform as well as expected. The purpose of this study is to analyse in detail when attitudes have or have not been successful as behavioural change targets and propose a conceptual framework of possible explanations. In so doing, this study represents the first theoretical – rather than empirical – challenge to the currently dominant theoretical understanding of environmentally significant tourist behaviours and offers alternative theoretical constructs tourism researchers aiming to make tourists behave in more sustainable ways could investigate in future.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigate in detail experiments where attitude-based behavioural change approaches failed. Based on the insights from this analysis, the authors propose a conceptual framework offering five potential explanations. This study also discusses alternative theoretical constructs that could be used for behavioural change interventions.

Findings

The authors derive five potential explanations for why attitudes often fail to trigger behavioural change in the context of environmentally sustainable tourist behaviour: tourists do not notice messages attempting to change their attitudes; tourists are unwilling to cognitively process behavioural change messages; tourists develop reactance to behavioural change requests; attempts to alter attitudes do not influence habits; and attempts to alter attitudes do not reduce the effort associated with displaying the desired behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

This study broadens research attention to alternative theoretical constructs that may be more effective in making tourists behave in more sustainable ways and opens opportunities for new measures tourism businesses and destinations can implement to influence tourist behaviour.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first theoretical investigation of possible reasons why attitudes have performed poorly as targets of behavioural change interventions aiming to trigger environmentally sustainable tourist behaviours.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 December 2022

Sara Dolnicar

The purpose of this perspective paper is to draw attention to how the tourism industry can take action to contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 by nudging…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this perspective paper is to draw attention to how the tourism industry can take action to contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 by nudging tourists to behave in more environmentally sustainable ways. Many of the available practical approaches are easy and cheap to implement and therefore can be deployed easily by small and medium-sized tourism businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This perspective paper reviews past contributions to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 and calls for more future research that develops and empirically test effective behavioural change interventions.

Findings

Future research must focus on two directions: the development and empirical testing in the field of new behavioural change interventions that entice tourists to behave in more environmentally sustainable ways, and the development and large-scale deployment of affordable instrumentation to automatically and continuously measure the environmental performance of tourism businesses.

Originality/value

This perspective paper synthesizes literature and point to important new future research directions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first synthesis of past tourism research that has developed and empirically tested tangible approaches the tourism industry can deploy to contribute to SGD 12.

目的

这份前瞻性报告回顾了过去对联合国可持续发展之第十二目标有贡献的文章, 并呼吁未来应当开展更多有关于开发和实证检验有效行为改变的研究。

设计/方法论/方针

这份报告的目的是吸引更多关注在于旅游业如何采取行动, 通过促使游客以更环保的方式行事, 为联合国可持续发展之第十二目标作出贡献。其中的许多方法易于实施且成本低廉, 中小型旅游企业也可以轻松推广应用。

研究结果

未来的研究必须集中在两个方向:(1) 开发和在实地中实证检验新的行为改变干预措施, 以吸引游客以更环保的方式行事, 以及(2) 开发和大规模推广负担得起的仪器, 以自动和持续测量旅游企业的环境绩效。

原创性/价值

这份报告综合了文献, 并指出了未来重要的新研究方向。这是对过去旅游研究的首次综合, 这些研究开发并实证检验了旅游业可以推广应用的具体方法, 以促进联合国可持续发展之第十二目标的发展。

Objetivo

El objectivo de este documento de perspectiva es llamar la atención sobre cómo la industria del turismo puede tomar las medidas necesarias para contribuir al Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 12 de las Naciones Unidas al alentar a los turistas comportarse de una manera ambientalemente sostenible. La mayoría de las medidas prácticas disponibles son fáciles y económicas de implementar por las pequeñas y medianas empresas turísticas.

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

Este documento de perspectiva revisa las pasadas contribuciones al Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 12 de las Naciones Unidas y pide más investigaciones futuras que desarrollen y prueben empíricamente intervenciones efectivas para cambiar los comportamientos.

Resultados

La investigación futura debe centrarse en dos direcciones: (1) el desarrollo y las pruebas empíricas en el campo de nuevas intervenciones de cambio de comportamiento que atraigan a los turistas a comportarse de una manera ambientalmente sostenible, y (2) el desarrollo y despliegue a gran escala de instrumentación asequible para medir de forma automática y continua el desempeño ambiental de las empresas turísticas.

Originalidad/valor

Este documento de perspectiva sintetiza la literatura y señala puntos importantes para futuras investigaciones. Es la primera síntesis de investigaciones turísticas pasadas que ha desarrollado y probado empíricamente enfoques tangibles que la industria del turismo puede implementar para contribuir al SGD 12.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 78 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 June 2019

Sara Dolnicar

This paper discusses the dos and don'ts of market segmentation analysis. Market segmentation analysis is younger than the journal Tourism Review, but nevertheless has a rich…

3109

Abstract

Purpose

This paper discusses the dos and don'ts of market segmentation analysis. Market segmentation analysis is younger than the journal Tourism Review, but nevertheless has a rich history in tourism research and continues to be extensively used by both tourism researchers and industry.

Design/methodology/approach

After a brief overview of the origins of market segmentation analysis and its uptake in tourism, a number of key considerations are discussed, which are critical to ensuring that practically useful and reliable market segments emerge from the analysis.

Findings

Do accept that market segmentation is exploratory. Do spend a lot of time ensuring you collect high-quality data. Don’t use ordinal data. Don’t use correlated variables. Do ensure your sample size is large enough. Don’t use factor-cluster analysis. Do conduct data structure analysis. Don’t complicate things.

Originality/value

This is a perspective study; it offers a concise discussion of key issues in market segmentation analysis and directs the interested reader to resources where they can learn more about each of these issues.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 75 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2019

Sara Dolnicar

This paper aims to discuss issues relating to survey research in tourism.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss issues relating to survey research in tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

This brief perspective paper discusses the routine approach of survey research that has developed over many years (as tourism researchers adopted the most promising approaches to survey research fields), discusses the dangers associated with following this (or any) routine approach, and offers a small set of questions for researchers to consider before embarking on their next survey study.

Findings

A default approach to survey research has developed. It can undermine the validity of conclusions. The key to high-quality survey research is to thoughtfully design the survey study considering the specific research question at hand, and to carefully pre-test the questionnaire.

Originality/value

This is a perspective paper offering a brief overview of the topic of survey research in tourism.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 75 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 April 2020

Sara Dolnicar

Plate waste is uneaten food left behind on the plate after a meal. Plate waste – like all food waste – burdens the environment. Plate waste – in contrast to other types of food…

1086

Abstract

Purpose

Plate waste is uneaten food left behind on the plate after a meal. Plate waste – like all food waste – burdens the environment. Plate waste – in contrast to other types of food waste – is absolutely unnecessary and almost entirely preventable. This study aims to synthesize past research on plate waste and outline a future research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

Past research into plate waste is discussed, and the need for specific directions of future research is pointed out. A systematics of measures for the prevention of plate waste is offered which uses the following as criteria: the suitability of measures to the hospitality context; and whether the measure has been scientifically proven to be effective.

Findings

Plate waste research has a very short history. To date, efforts have been focusing on quantifying the extent of the problem. More theoretical work is needed to identify drivers of place waste and develop and experimentally test theory-based practical interventions to reduce the amount of plate waste generated.

Originality/value

The key contribution of this perspective paper is to synthesize prior work on plate waste and offer a future research agenda.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 76 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 September 2018

Sara Dolnicar

Survey research has developed to become the default empirical approach to answering research questions in the field of hospitality (and many other fields of research within the…

1180

Abstract

Purpose

Survey research has developed to become the default empirical approach to answering research questions in the field of hospitality (and many other fields of research within the social sciences). This paper aims to reflect on the use of survey research in hospitality and offers recommendations for improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

First, known dangers to validity associated with survey research are discussed. Next, a sample of studies recently published in leading hospitality journals is assessed in view of these known dangers. Finally, recommendations are offered for editors, reviewers, readers and authors to mitigate the risk of drawing invalid conclusions based on survey research.

Findings

Survey research is very common in hospitality research and is used to investigate a wide range of research questions and constructs under study. The nature of constructs studied, the answer scales used and the nature of the samples point to a substantial risk to the validity of conclusions drawn.

Practical implications

A number of risk mitigation measures are proposed that can help authors minimise the risks to validity arising from known dangers associated with survey research. These same risk mitigation measures can be used by editors and reviewers in the assessment of manuscripts and by readers to evaluate the validity of conclusions drawn in already published work.

Originality/value

The value of this study lies in reflecting from a distance on how the survey research is conducted in the social sciences in general and in hospitality research in specific. The paper reveals that some routine approaches particularly prone to undermining the validity of conclusions may have been adopted and offers a few suggestions how this risk can be mitigated.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 30 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2012

Sara Dolnicar and Friedrich Leisch

Academic researchers love multi‐category answer formats, especially five‐ and seven‐point formats. More than a decade ago Josef Mazanec concluded that these formats may not the…

Abstract

Purpose

Academic researchers love multi‐category answer formats, especially five‐ and seven‐point formats. More than a decade ago Josef Mazanec concluded that these formats may not the best choice, and that simple binary‐answer options are preferable in some empirical survey contexts. The purpose of the present study is to investigate empirically Mazanec's hypothesis in the context of the measurement of evaluative beliefs relating to fast‐food restaurants.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted an online experiment that asked respondents to assess evaluative beliefs relating to fast‐food brands using either a forced binary (n=100) or a seven‐point answer format (n=100). The authors also measured preferences for each of the fast‐food restaurants, user friendliness, and recorded the actual completion times for the survey.

Findings

The results indicate that the full binary answer format outperforms the popular seven‐point multi‐category format with respect to stability, concurrent validity, and speed of completion.

Practical implications

Given the demonstrated strengths of full binary measures, they should be used more by both practitioners and academics when measuring evaluative beliefs.

Originality/value

This study provides empirical evidence of the strong performance of the forced binary‐answer format for the measurement of evaluative beliefs, and thus challenges current measurement practice among academics and practitioners.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2016

Pietro Beritelli, Sara Dolnicar, David Ermen and Christian Laesser

This paper aims to identify means and ways to reduce redundancies and increase relevance in tourism research in a culturally diverse and globalised world.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify means and ways to reduce redundancies and increase relevance in tourism research in a culturally diverse and globalised world.

Design/methodology/approach

The content of this paper is based on minutes of an extensive discussion (panel as well as townhall-type of discussion) at the 2015 AIEST conference in Lijiang, PR China.

Findings

Challenges in today’s tourism research world are identified and ways of how to deal with them are shown. Some of those solutions might provoke change in certain domains. This is why ideas are provided for the AIEST to support and facilitate this change.

Researchlimitations/implications

Limitations come from the research settings of this contribution, which is essentially based on records of a panel and a townhall-type discussion.

Originality/value

We try to provide food for thought, in order to provoke one or the other discussion. This is why we are happy to receive feeback.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 71 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

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