The Contribution of Green Marketing in the Development of a Sustainable Destination through Advanced Clustering Methods

Abstract

Against the backdrop of increasing concern for the environment, tourism activities have had a mixed impact. For example, in the field of marketing communications, the last few years have seen many companies promoting “green” tourism. In this context, this article aims to identify the group(s) focused on green tourism or sustainable development in order to predict their future trends. To achieve this objective, quantitative research was conducted based on an online survey distributed through social media. Several objectives were considered in the research, focusing on the behavior of the respondents, the decisive elements in choosing a destination, the analysis of socio-demographic characteristics, and the identification of groups oriented to the practice of green tourism. Univariate analysis was applied to the collected data (to identify the most appropriate variables for clustering) and multivariate analysis (using three types of methods: Ward, Centroid, and Two-Step Cluster). The following results emerged from the research analysis: characteristics of each segment in relation to question nine and profiles of all segments, of which the most representative (two, five, and six) stand out. The segments extracted with Ward’s method were created by the authors to highlight the most important characteristics: Smilers, Ecologists, Villagers, Relaxed, Luxury, Ecotourists, and Jobless. The research results contribute to a deeper understanding of Romanian customers’ needs when choosing a green destination, but also support the business community by providing economic actors with access to data to segment their solutions and services offered to customers, as well as the possibility to develop tailored products/services. The study represents a new approach to tourism and ‘green marketing’ in Romania by being the only one that shows to interested parties the seven specific consumer segments for the green tourism market in Romania, one that approaches the two fields in close connection. The results represent a significant theoretical advance for travel and tourism studies and provide valuable insights into the green tourism sector.