EXPECTATIONS AND MARKET SEGMENTATION RESULTS OF THE ONLINE SURVEY Klaus Ehrlich José Manuel Ortega Egea* *University of Almería (Spain)

Theoretical Framework SERVQUAL (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1985, 1988) & SERVPERF (Cronin y Taylor, 1992): Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Security Empathy. SERVQUAL & SERVPERF have been adapted to the rural tourism sector (Román, Recio & Martín, 2000) : Standard of rooms and equipment Surroundings and location Leisure choice and services Personal ambience and treat Easy and secure booking process

Main purposes Validation and reliability analysis of service quality dimensions in rural tourism Segmentation of European customers, based on IService Quality Factors Characterization of segments, based on: Country Age Income Education level Domestic or International Survey Preferred Booking Methods and Information Sources on R.T. Importance of Quality Ratings & Certifications Experience with R.T. in Home Country / Abroad

Research methodology Questionnaire development Service quality expectations in rural tourism Five-point likert scales 4266 valid reponses to web survey Confidence level 95% Period July 2007 – September 2008 Results biased by inequal absolute number of reponses from differente websites – corrected in evaluation Factor analysis (SPSS v14.0) Segmentation: Latent class Cluster analysis ( Latent Gold v4.0)

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDUREWEB SURVEY SAMPLE SIZE4266 valid responses SAMPLING ERROR1.5% (P = Q = 0.5) CONFIDENCE LEVEL95% DATESJUNE 2007 – SEPT 2008 Sample

Results – Descriptive Statistics CONCEPTS ASSOCIATED WITH RURAL TOURISM

Results – Descriptive Statistics ¿EXPERIENCE ABROAD?

Results – Descriptive Statistics PREFERRED BOOKING METHODS

Results – Descriptive Statistics PREFERRED BOOKING METHODS

Results – Descriptive Statistics INFORMATION SOURCES

Results – Descriptive Statistics INFORMATION SOURCES

Results – Descriptive Statistics IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY RATINGS & LABELS

Results – Factor Analysis  Factor 1: Basic Benefit (Attractiveness and Reliability of Service)  Factor 2: Modern services  Factor 3: Personal/Local Contact  Factor 4: Leisure choice and services Labeling of Service Quality Factors:

Results - Segmentation Optimal solution: Three segments or clusters. Cluster sizes: Cluster 1 = 58%; Cluster 2 = 38.5%; Cluster 3 = 3.5%

Results - Segmentation Difference between Segment 1 and 2: largest segments.

Results - Segmentation COUNTRY DIFFERENCES

Results - Segmentation DIFFERENCES IN BOOKING METHODS

Results - Segmentation DIFFERENCES IN INFORMATION SOURCES

Results - Segmentation RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY RATINGS IN SEGMENTS

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Conclusions The results yield four factors of Perceived Service Quality among surveyed European rural tourists: Basic Benefits Modern Services Personal / Local Contact Leisure choices Three segments have been identified: Clusters 1 & 2 account for aprox. 96% of repondents. Different Expectations about most of the factors (except for Leisure Choice). Providers of R.T. services should account for the specific characteristics of each of these two segments. Cluster 3: much smaller group. Homogeneous demographic profiles across segments; more differences based on tourism-related perceptions (eg, booking preferences). Quality Rating > Specific Certifications > Brand labels

Conclusions -2 Problems and outlook Source data do not reflect adequately the total rural tourism market (overweight of Farm-Tourism based replies) More appropriate research designs needed to account for differences between domestic and international destinations Farm-Tourism versus more generic “Rural” Tourism Differences between source markets and their understanding Conjoint research designs (latent class choice statistical methodology) Identification of more different segments Analysis of respondents “trade-offs” in more realistic purchase situations.