Perceptions-Based Analysis of Tourism Products and Service Providers

Behavioral constructs such as image, attitude, or (perceived) service quality used in explanatory models of tourist behavior are based on perceptual variables. In contemporary latent-variable-multiple-indicator models perceptions serve as observables linking a theoretical term such as image to the language of measurement. In tourism research image is the most widespread construct and destination is the most frequent object it refers to. Images are thought to be made up of perceived attributes (Gartner 1989, 1993). Tourism image researchers have classified perceptions depending on the kind of attributes considered. Perceptions based on the tourist's own experience or on indirect sources lead to the well-known distinction between organic and induced images (Gunn 1988). Similar to what behavioral scientists claim to be components of attitudes, destination images are also constructed by means of cognitive, affective, and conative perceptions (Pike and Ryan 2004). The under-representation of perceptions based on emotional response (affect) compared to supply attributes is sometimes deplored (Silvestre and Correia 2005). According to the Echtner and Ritchie (1991, 1993) cat-egorization there are four types of attributes making up a destination image: individual, holistic, functional, and psychological. Each of these dimensions requires several measurement items. In their system of dimensions governing the construction of destination images Beerli and Martin (2004) list nine domains of attributes each consisting of four or more groups of attributes. The number of perceptual items adopted for destination image measurement becomes even larger if one decides to follow Son and Pearce (2005) who suggest to include multi-sensory (olfactory, auditory, tactile) representations. Attempts to squeeze more and more building blocks into the image construct have been made and continue to be made by psychologists (Perceptions-based analysis is a general framework for analyzing tourist choice alternatives involving large sets of perceived attributes. Its development in tourism research was encouraged as tourism is characterized by multifaceted choice alternatives such as destinations and other experien-tial " products " that the tourists cannot succinctly evaluate with a small number of attributes. PBA differentiates between the generic perceptions of a class of choice alternatives (destinations, product/service providers; e.g., " metropolitan city " ; " tour operator "), the perceptual profiles of a specific choice alternative (" San Francisco " ; " Thomas Cook "), and the profiles of the choice alternatives preferred or actually selected. It condenses the attribute profiles into distinguished perceptual positions and analyzes their competitive relationships by diagnosing the perceptual strengths and weaknesses …