Visitor Expectations Research Articles

Enrichment for Giant Pacific Octopuses: Happy as a Clam?

What is environmental enrichment? During the last several decades, zoos and aquariums have come to realize (perhaps belatedly) that animals kept in captivity need environmental enrichment for their well-being (Seidensticher & Forthman, 1998). Early zoos and aquariums tried to show as many animals as possible; hence, their exhibits were frequently small and bare to permit easy viewing, cleaning, and sterilization. Now, all have come to realize that captive animals need environmental enrichment for their health and for the education and increased expectations of visitors to zoos and aquariums.

Customer Satisfaction and Behavioural Intentions in a Rural Community Museum Environment

This paper examines a cornerstone concept of mainstream marketing theory relating to the importance of customer satisfaction as an influence on future behavioural intentions. The underlying premise is that visitors to a tourist attraction whose expectations are met or exceeded will be satisfied with their experience, and that the degree of perceived satisfaction will positively correlate with their stated intention to repeat purchase and to recommend the experience to others. This paper reports an exploratory project to test the above proposition within a tourism industry context, specifically with reference to the museum sector. The study measures visitor satisfaction levels and future intentions to revisit or recommend the Matakohe Kauri museum in Northland, New Zealand-a rurally isolated tourist attraction which is heavily dependent on referrals to support its continued existence. Research was undertaken by means of a two part structured interview technique, conducted on site with 141 respondents on six separate days in September and October 1996. Visitor expectations were established by questioning prior to entry, whilst a subsequent exit interview captured respondents' perceived degree of satisfaction with their visit. The second interview included a measure of stated intention to return and to recommend the museum to others. Provisional indications are that perceived levels of satisfaction have little bearing on the visitor's stated intention to return to the attraction; however, a significant relationship exists between perceived satisfaction and intention to recommend to others. The results of this research will prove valuable as a foundation for a recommended programme of further research to more rigorously assess the performance of customer satisfaction theory within a rural folk museum environment.

The museum environment and the visitor experience

Since the advent of the contract culture, the reduction in museum budgets, and the implementation of performance measures based on customer satisfaction management, museums have faced increasing pressure to attract wider audiences. This requires an understanding of visitor expectations, and experiences, of visiting a museum. However, for the most part, public museums have concentrated their research efforts into obtaining statistical data which measure through‐put and provide demographic profiles, ignoring in the process the nature of the experience itself. This paper looks at research derived primarily from academics working in the field of visitor studies. It outlines three approaches; the social, the cognitive, and the environmental perspective, which have been applied to studies of museum visitor behaviour. The paper then presents the findings from an observational study of visitors to a city museum. These findings are recast in the light of the three approaches described, in order to offer an integrated framework of customer behaviour which has implications for the management of the service encounter in museums.

Visitor and nurse satisfaction with a visitation policy change in critical care units.

Studies have addressed the visitation needs of visitors and patients and the impact of visitation policies on nurses, but few studies compare the level of satisfaction between visitors and nurses when visitation policies change. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether a more liberal intensive care unit visitation policy satisfactorily met the needs and expectations of visitors and nurses.

Visitor and exhibitor expectations and outcomes at trade exhibitions

Examines the relationship between visitor expectations and exhibitor objectives at trade exhibitions. Drawing on both UK and US research, as well as original research conducted at four UK exhibitions, the author provides evidence that exhibitors and visitors not only have differing expectations of exhibitions and trade fairs, but that these differing expectations are incompatible in many cases. Comparisons are made between frequent exhibitors and infrequent exhibitors, and also between those who commit a large proportion of their marketing budgets to exhibiting and those who do not, in terms of their objectives and expectations for the exhibition; the conclusion is that even those exhibitors who exhibit frequently or commit large sums to the activity take scant account of visitor needs. Concludes with a set of recommendations for practitioners.

Exploring and Enhancing the Psychological Value of a Fine Arts Museum

Abstract Museums have a vested interest in attracting and retaining loyal audiences to their galleries and special events, be they residents or tourists. However, there is very little evidence as to what visitors are seeking in their museum experiences (Harrison, 1997). This study employed a relatively new survey methodology designed to identify the underlying reasons for visitors' patronage behaviors. More specifically, the laddering technique was used to better understand what motivates people to visit a particular museum, what do they think about while visiting a museum, and how do they evaluate a museum as compared to its closest competitors. Such an understanding can assist management in satisfying visitor expectations. It can also assist an organization in defining its image to be projected in promotional campaigns.

Innovations in a technology museum

The rapid progress of technology presents challenges to museums, science centers, and the entertainment industry. Keeping up with technical advances, coupled with the increasing sophistication and expectation of visitors, often strains limited resources. The rise of the Internet is rapidly driving innovation and competition. What will the museum of the future look like! What role will technology play! What are the technical, commercial, and ethical challenges in implementing some or all of this vision! What is the feasibility? While all the answers are not yet known, many industries throughout the world are developing elements of this vision. One place in particular, The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, actively pursues research in making much of this vision possible. A team of over 30 engineers, technicians, and students in the Engineering Department is working to overcome the challenges and explore the limits. This vision of future museums describes a high-tech facility that is striving to push the boundaries of traditional museums. Innovations include the application of control systems, network architecture, and microcomputer technology.

Disneyland and Disney World: Designing and Prescribing the Recreational Experience

Disneyland and Walt Disney World are two of the best known and most highly visited tourism destinations in the world. With this visibility and audience reach, the action of the Disney Company extends well beyond the boundaries of their theme parks. That is, the standards that Disney sets in the management of its park environments have the potential to become the standards against which all environments are judged. Similarly, the visitor expectations and experiences that Disney constructs can become models to which visitors would have all recreation managers aspire. Disney is often acknowledged as the premier visitor services organization, and it is partly this excellence that gives it stature and impact. As recreational visitors are increasingly being treated as customers, natural resource managers should consider the appropriateness of Disney's approach to designing and prescribing the visitor experience.

Tourism marketing — A question of perception

Potential tourist destinations wishing to market themselves domestically and inter nationally need to create and maintain an appropriate image in the minds of possible visitors. This paper examines methods of measuring current perception using a case- study destination in Northern France and applies this to traditional response hierarchy theory. The application and results of percep tion measurement tests in the UK and France are discussed in a broad context together with general implications for the development of communication and marketing strategies to change perceptions of potential tourists. The need for destinations to meet potential visitor expectations is considered together with the possible effects of inappropriate product and communication strategies.

Exploring and Enhancing the Psychological Value of a Fine Arts Museum

Museums have a vested interest in attracting and retaining loyal audience to their galleries and special events, be they residents or tourists. However, there is very little evidence as to what visitors are seeking in their museum experiences (Harrison 1997). This study employed a relatively new survey methodology designed to identify the underlying reasons for visitors' patronage behaviours. More specifically, the laddering technique was used to better understand what motivates people to visit a particular museum, what do they think about while visiting a museum, and how do they evaluate a museum as compared to its closest competitors. Such an understanding can assist management in satisfying visitor expectations. It can also assist an organization in defining its image to be projected in promotional campaigns.

Sustaining the Physical and Social Dimensions of Wilderness Tourism: The Perceptual Approach to Wilderness Management in New Zealand

The dynamics of the tourism industry are well illustrated by the case of New Zealand's tourism development over the last decade. The number of international tourists visiting New Zealand has doubled in the last ten years to approximately 1.5 million annual visitors. Associated with this growth has been a significant shift in patterns of tourist demand. No longer do most tourists simply comply with established tourist routes linking the high profile scenic attractions. Rather tourists have demonstrated a preference for more independent and dispersed patterns of travel, including an increase in demand for settings that offer subjective qualities of wilderness experience. This poses a complex but intriguing management challenge. If wilderness recreation involves pristine natural settings in the complete absence of facility development and visitor management, then these resources are more prone to degradation so than any other natural tourism resources. This paper suggests that an understanding of tourist perceptions of wilderness is crucial to the management of wilderness tourism, and considers the application of the perceptual approach to wilderness tourism as a means of sustaining wilderness values while promoting the satisfaction of visitor expectations.

The Role of Expectations and Heterogeneous Preferences for Congestion in the Valuation of Recreation Benefits

Studies of recreation congestion generally utilize nonmarket valuation techniques to determine the use level and entrance price that maximize aggregate recreation benefits for a specific recreation area. This paper improves upon these previous studies by relaxing the assumption of homogeneous preferences among visitors of the same recreation area and accounting for visitor expectations of congestion. The results indicate that failing to account for heterogeneous preferences for congestion by time of visit leads to overestimates of the benefits of relieving peak-time congestion, while accounting for expectations raises questions about the validity of the standard optimal use model.

Analysing the Promotion, Product and Visitor Expectations of Urban Tourism: Auckland, New Zealand as a Case Study

Urban tourism is generally not recognized as a concept. There appears to be a lack of understanding by many tourism operators that tourists visit urban destinations primarily because they are multifunctional and offer a wide variety of activities. This study reports the findings of an analysis of 160 tourism brochures by 120 different Auckland-based operators and a survey of 170 tourists. The results indicate that there appears to be a mismatch between supply and demand with tourists undertaking urban activities while the industry is primarily offering outdoor and adventure type activities. The challenge for the future is to reformulate and promote an image which is consistent with the supply attributes.

Hotel service quality in Hong Kong: A study of tourists' expectations

The study aims to measure travellers' capectations of service quality for Hong Kong hotels and to compare the service expectations of business and leisure visitors. A total of 200 travellers were surveyed. The instrument used was LODGSERV (a multiple-item scale desigited to measure service quality in the hotel industry based on five dimensions ; Reliability, Assurance, Responsiveness, Tangibles and Empathy). It was found that travellers, whether on business or pleasure, have high expectations of service quality in Hong Kong hotels. However, there are differences in the various dimensions. 'Responsiveness' and 'Empathy' are more important to business travellers than leisure travellers. In order to compete successfully in the hotel industry, management must know what their customers expect and provide services to meet their expectations. Since there are differences in the levels of service expectation between business and leisure travellers, management should address those differences accordingly.

Korean Outbound Tourism: Pre-Visit Expectations of Australia

In this study Pearce's “Travel Career Ladder” concept was applied to a sample of South Korean tourists to examine motivations for travel to Australia as a holiday destination. Also, focus group interviews were conducted in Korea to assess visitor expectations, motivations and images of Australia. The initial findings from this study indicate that Koreans are primarily motivated to travel to Australia for the chance to experience natural environmental settings. Some aspects of Australia (e.g., Aboriginal history and culture) are little known in Korea but have the potential to attract Korean visitors. The results of this research may enable more effective marketing to Koreans by providing an insight into the most appropriate promotional content and information sources.

Visitor Expectations of Service Quality Ideals Among Hospitality Industry Employees

Visitor expectations regarding service quality ideals as perceived by hospitality industry staff have received relatively little research attention. This study sought to explore perceived visitor expectations among a sample of hospitality industry employees, together with a set of personality, motivation, employment interest and career anchor variables. Major predictors of visitor expectations among hospitality industry employees wwere higher levels of the need for Achievement, Accomplishment Motivation and the career anchors involving Competence and Security. In particular, lower levels of Achievement need, Accomplishment Motivation and the Security career anchor were found to be associated with hospitality industry staff who expect lower service quality ideals among visitors. It was also found that males expected lower levels of perceived service quality ideals, whereas female employees expected higher service quality ideal levels among guests. Finally, implications of the findings for both employees an...

The Age of Aquariums: A Need for Focused Marketing

This exploratory study was undertaken to investigate visitor expectations of aquariums. Specifically, differences between (1) tourists and residents and (2) "experienced " and "inexperienced" aquarium visitors were examined. The data indicate that differences in expec tations exist between groups. The results reveal implications for the marketing of aquariums.

The indicator performance estimate approach to determining acceptable wilderness conditions

Using data from a study conducted in the Cranberry Wilderness Area of West Virginia, United States, this paper describes how a modified importance—performance approach can be used to prioritize wilderness indicators and determine how much change from the pristine is acceptable. The approach uses two key types of information: (1) indicator importance, or visitor opinion as to which wilderness indicators have the greatest influence on their experience, and (2) management performance, or the extent to which actual indicator conditions exceed or are within visitor expectations. Performance was represented by calculating indicator performance estimates (IPEs), as defined by standardized differences between actual conditions and visitor preferences for each indicator. The results for each indicator are then presented graphically on a four-quadrant matrix for objective interpretation. Each quadrant represents a management response: keep up the good work, concentrate here, low priority, or possible overkill. The technique allows managers to more systematically and effectively utilize information routinely collected during the limits of acceptable change wilderness planning process.

Response of national park visitors to the sounds of aircraft overflights

The responses of over 750 national park visitors to sounds of aircraft overflights were measured at six study areas in the Grand Canyon, Hawaii Volcanoes, and Haleakala National Parks. Park visitors were observed as they entered each study area, and were asked to participate in a brief survey as they exited the area. The survey included questions about the visitor’s reasons for visiting the park, and asked visitors to rate their responses to aircraft sounds on five-point scales. Simultaneously, in one to three positions representative of the study area, A-weighted sound levels were recorded at 1-s intervals using extremely low noise instrumentation. In addition, human observers maintained time-synchronized logs of aircraft audibility, types of aircraft audible, types of background sounds, and other factors. Several mitigating variables, such as background sound level and visitor expectations, were tested for their ability to improve the dose-response relationships. Logistic regression was used to generate four separate dose-response relationships, relating two visitor responses (annoyance due to aircraft sounds, and interference of aircraft sounds with natural quiet) to two acoustic doses (percentage of time aircraft are audible, and aircraft A-weighted equivalent sound level). [Work supported by National Park Service.]

Visitor Expectations of Tourism Benefits in Zambia

The author conducted a survey of foreign guests at Mfuwe Lodge in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, to investigate the role of various benefits in visitor expectations of a rewarding visit to Zambia, and to assess visitor satisfaction with the tourism benefits. It emerged that the Zambian tourism product is highly undiversifed. Wildlife, scenery and opportunities for experiencing African culture were the benefits most sought by visitors, and visitors defined the entire tourism product and their experience of it according to those benefits. Long stay visitors and those ages 30-49 displayed the most rigorous demands for a satisfying visit, in terms of opportunities for experiencing African culture travel around the country, and the desire for interesting cuisine.