Consumer waiting behaviour: priority passes in tourism services

• Autores: Gilda Hernández Maskivker
• Directores de la Tesis: Gerard Ryan (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat Rovira i Virgili ( España ) en 2015
• Idioma: español
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Juan Luis Nicolau Gonzálbez (presid.), Salvador Antón Clavé (secret.), María Belen Guercio (voc.)
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
• Resumen

  • Waiting times are a common phenomenon in tourism contexts. Numerous examples and daily occurrences, such as waiting to check-in at a hotel, for a table at a restaurant, or to board a flight, demonstrate some of ways consumers spend their time wiating for a tourism and hospitality services- Correct management of waiting times is crucial to maintaining positive tourist experiences. Any event, such as waiting times, may influence the service process that impacts directly on tourist satisfaction. Because of the relative importance of the tourist's perception of their experiences, different strategies and tools have implemented to solve the issue of waiting times. One example of this is the express pass, which many theme parks around the world have already implemented. In spite of more tha thirty years of research on waiting, little is known about those who are willing to pay extra to avoid waits and those who don't in a theme park context.

    This thesis examines factors that influence on the purchase decision of an express pass in a natural setting. The logit model with both internal and external factors shows a better explanatory capacity to classify individuals over other models. Variables such as visit day, how customers find out about the express pass, number of people in the party, culture, attitude toward the express pass, attitude toward waiting times, prior experiences purchasing an express pass, prior experience visiting theme parks, expectation of average waiting time, perception of waits shorter than expected and visit motivation (thrill and leisure) appear as significant variables that allow to characterize both groups. In this manner, not all consumers interpret waiting times and the systems to avoid them in the same way and, consequently, they should be addressed in different ways. Understanding how customers act allow companies to rethink priority systems and marketing strategies to manage waits.