Influence of Service Valuation and Package Cost on Market Segmentation: The Case of Online Demand for Spanish and Andorra Ski Resorts

Abstract

Ski resorts are important tourist resources in mountain areas. They have a high impact on the environment but also on the development of the territory. Corporate social responsibility management plays an important role in influencing consumer purchasing behavior. This research seeks to understand the behavior of ski tourists and to classify them. Approximately 50,000 online purchases of tourist packages to ski resorts in Spain and Andorra are analyzed in order to describe the different segments of demand in these resorts through a latent class model. The tourists’ age and previous experience, the type of accommodation, and the season—among other variables—are considered to clarify the different classes. Six different segments were found. Some relevant results for the online ski-package market are highlighted, such as the influence of skier’s expenditure on service valuation. Managerial implications, limitations of this study and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness through grants ECO2017-88984-R (E.C.-F. and B.F.-R.) and FIS2017-86497-C2-1 (G.J.).