The Influence of Lifestyle and Environmental Preference on Accommodation Site Choice. —A Case Study of Lushan Hot Springs & Chingjing Area

• Main Authors: Wei-Chen Li, 李維貞
• Other Authors: Chang-Chan Huang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/19505102910844432474

碩士 === 靜宜大學 === 觀光事業學系研究所 === 93 === Most researches of visitors’ choice behavior focus on recreational sites, traveling destinations or accommodation facilities within a specific area. But it is less to consider the choice behavior on accommodation site and factors influencing such behavior. The choice behavior on accommodation site is different from the purchase behavior of general products in that the former relates to the perception and preference of environmental factors to a larger extent than the later. The perception and preference of environmental factors was postulated to relate to personal values and interests which are important components of lifestyle. However, this has not been investigated yet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among lifestyle, environmental preference, and accommodation site choice. Lushan Hot Springs and Chingjing in Nantou County were selected as study areas. During June 26 to August 27, 2004, an on-site questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from visitors to the study areas and 442 valid questionnaires were obtained. Statistical analyses included item analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, chi-square test of independence, logistic regression, and MANOVA. There are several salient findings from the results of analyses: 1.Five lifestyle groups were identified based on cluster analyses. They were labeled as: positive/independent, pedestrian, realistic/practical, positive/practical, and irresolute/ merry. 2.Eleven of the 17 environmental attributes of accommodation site were perceived to be higher in Chingjing than in Lushan Hot Springs. Only two attributes including hot spring spa and night life were perceived to be higher in Lushan Hot Springs than in Chingjing. 3.The relationship between lifestyle and accommodation site choice is not significant. 4.Environmental preference is significantly related to accommodation site choice. Using environmental preference as predictor of accommodation site choice, the accurate prediction rate is 61.4% from a cross table analysis and reaches 67.2% using a logistic regression. 5.Lifestyle is significantly associated with environmental preference. There are significant differences among some of the five lifestyle groups in regard to (a) the perceived importance of environmental factors when choosing an accommodation site, (b) the perceived performance of environmental factors in Lushan Hot Springs and Chingjing, respectively, and (c) the overall environmental preference for both Lushan Hot Springs and Chingjing. According to the findings, it was suggested that the owners of Lushan Hot Springs should take their advantages of hot spring SPA and night life in order to segment their target market from that of Chingjing. Moreover, accommodation owners of Lushan Hot Springs and Chingjing should adopt different positioning strategies. The former should emphasize the image of tradition and nostalgia, while the later should focus on the image of European romance. Since the lifestyle used in this study is a general one and was found not significantly associated with accommodation site choice, it was suggest that a more sophisticate measuring scale of lifestyle needs to be developed in future study. Furthermore, a specific lifestyle, such as a vacation lifestyle developed specifically for domestic vacationers, should be employed, in comparison with the general lifestyle, to investigate the relationship between potential visitors’ lifestyle and their choices of accommodation site.