Cruise Tourism: Impacts and Innovations ~ Role of CSER in Cruise Consumers CBDM ~ CTO CREST Symposium Grenada July 9 11, 2014

Transcription

1 Cruise Tourism: Impacts and Innovations ~ Role of CSER in Cruise Consumers CBDM ~ CTO CREST Symposium Grenada July 9 11, 2014

2 Sheree-Ann Adams Southampton England UK based: Independent Consultant, Researcher & Trainer Grenada Caribbean: Investor ~ Local Tours Operator (Supplier) Adventure Tours Grenada * World Traveller Passion: Cruise Industry

3 Presentation Format Rationale for the study Aim / Objectives Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis Findings & Conclusions Approx. 15 Minute Presentation

4 Rationale for the study

5 Previous Research tells us that E.g. Re: UK Consumers, Miller (2003:17) concluded that, UK consumers are already making decisions based on environmental, social and economic quality for day-to-day products and are keen to transfer these habits to the purchase of tourism products Later research by Miller, Rathouse et al. (2010) that looked at UK consumers understanding of sustainable tourism provided different evidence and conclusions. ~ while consumers themselves are willing to take socially and environmentally responsible actions while at home as part of their day to day activity, they do not want to be burdened with thinking of this while on holiday.

6 Ethical Products Climate Change Carbon Footprint Corporate Social & Environmental Responsibility My holiday and I am going to enjoy it! What time is lunch? Where is the waiter with my drink? Must get a Spice Basket for mum.. I really love the Caribbean don t want to leave!

7 Cruise Industry Context Cruise Companies - Evidence CSER Strategy Environmental Stewardship Programs Certification of Marine & Land Tour Suppliers by 2015 (Sustainable Travel International) ICCL Regulations New Technology such as CSNOx Behavioural Change: A Supply Driven Approach (B2B)

8 When asked Why? - Because today s Consumers demand it.. Consumers make purchases based on personal values (Marilyn Mc Hugh, CS Representative, Cruise Shipping Virtual Conference, Sept. 28 th, 2010) Customers are more aware of environmental issues and demand change (Michael Jones, VP Supply Chain, RCCL, Cruise Shipping Virtual Conference, Sept. 28 th, 2010).

9 IF today s consumers are indeed demanding this change in cruise company behaviour.. Will cruise passengers knowingly book a cruise with a company that does not have CSER Policies & Practices??? My budget is 800. I only cruise the Caribbean I enjoyed last night s Captain s Cocktail Party 7 days on a ship is my limit My cabin steward is really good love the pampering. Only 3 stars and above for me

10 Aim / Objectives

11 Research Aim The research aimed to describe cruise passengers cruise product preferences and attempted to explain the importance levels associated with product attributes (including CSER), thereby determining to what extent cruise passengers incorporate CSER information when choosing a cruise holiday.

12 Research Objectives & Hypothesis Objectives Hypothesis 1: To quantify the significance and importance of CSR/ER to the cruise passenger compared to the identified consumer choice purchase attributes (Price, Quality, Destination, and Duration). Thereby providing an understanding of the relative importance of one attribute in relation to the others in CBDM. Hypothesis 1: In spite of increasing consumer knowledge about sustainable development, cruise consumers do not prioritise a cruise company s sustainability practices over other cruise choice factors such as Price (Money & Value), Quality (Service Level), Destination (Country) and Duration (Time) when booking a cruise. 2: To determine the merit of Corporate Social Responsibility / Environmental Responsibility (CSR/ER) as a component of company (brand) image in cruise consumers willingness to pay for sustainable cruise products based on preference share behaviour. Hypothesis 2: Brand Image portraying favorable lifestyle and sustainable business practices is of greater importance to cruise passengers who would normally book the more expensive cabin categories balconies, deluxe and suites.

13 Research Objectives & Hypothesis cont. Objectives Hypothesis 3: To determine if experienced cruise consumers are more likely to value a cruise company s commitment to CSR/ER therefore through purchase behaviour be able to influence a cruise company s marketing strategy. Hypothesis 3: Repeat Cruise Consumers (i.e. brand loyal and experienced cruise passengers) are more likely to have a holiday choice preferences for companies with CSR/ER policy & practices. As Above (Objective 3) Hypothesis 4: Repeat Cruise Passengers compared to first time cruisers consider a company s CSR/ER policies & practices to be of higher brand image significance.

14 Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis

15 Adams, 2013: Model Specifications Industry: Cruise (Tourism) Target Group: B2C Sample Size: Actual: N= 441 (useable) 502 respondents / 61 incompletes Interview Delivery: CASI (tablet) # Choice Tasks: 13 (including 2 Fixed 11 un-fixed) Hold-out (#): Random/Fix 2 # Est. Parameters: 7 attributes X 7 levels (max.) = 49 # Concepts / tasks: 4 Conjoint methods: STD CBC/HB Number of Choices: 3300 (balanced 300 versions [program default] ~ 300 X 11 = 3300)

16 Respondents Demographic Profile (Gender, Age & Citizenship) Male Female GENDER Frequency Percent % AGE (YEARS) CITIZENSHIP UK Citizen European Citizen Another Region

17 Data Collection Southampton England, U.K.

18 Data Collection City Cruise Terminal

19 Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Ships Collection January December 2012

20 Data Collection ~ The Terminal Lounges using Computer Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI) with tablets / Systematic Sampling

21 CBC Survey Task (Indirect Question Approach)

22 Findings & Conclusions

23 Results & Findings Primary Research Question: Will cruise passengers knowingly book a cruise with a company that does not have CSER Policies & Practices? Answer: Yes 1 in 3 would. Cruise Consumers 2:1 preferred companies with CSER policies and practices over companies that do not have.

24 Results & Findings ~ Obj. 1 & Hypo. 1 However: While the majority of cruise consumers showed preference towards sustainable products they found CSER as an attribute to be of lower importance in overall product value. Hierarchical Bayes (HB) Individual Level Model Attribute Total Importance % Rank Brand (Name) 6.76 (6 th ) CSR/ER (Brand (5 th ) Image) Destination (4 th ) Disruption 2.63 (7 th ) Duration (3 rd ) Price (2 nd ) Standard (1 st )

25 Conclusion 1: * Standard and Price were found to be the attributes of greatest importance followed by Destination (Cruise Itinerary) and Duration (Cruise Length). CSER was however of greater consequence when consumers had to make trade-offs between similar product bundles.

26 Results & Findings

27 Conclusion 2: * Cruise consumers are extremely product value conscious and seek to maximise their utility given the confines of their income, tastes and price of the cruises. Their choice behaviour is rational, most of the time.

28 Results & Findings ~ Obj. 2 & Hypo. 2 I have a preference for the more expensive cabin categories Balconies, Deluxe and Suites. CSER is of greater importance to cruise consumers who book the more expensive cabin categories - balconies, deluxe cabins and suites. Petrick 2005 ~ The cruise consumers who chose the more expensive cabin types were found generally to be older, therefore less Price sensitive and less restricted by income compared to cruise consumers who chose the cheaper cabin types.

29 Interaction between CSER (Brand Image) and Cabin Preferences Average Importances Inside Outside View Balcony Deluxe Suites No Preference in Cabins CSR / ER

30 I have a preference for the more expensive cabin categories Balconies, Deluxe and Suites. When Cruise Price was higher, CSER was of greater significance to the respondents Price & Brand Image In the context of cruise Price, maybe people are willing to pay a little more for companies with CSER policies and practices.. but how much more money cruise consumers are willing to pay remains undetermined.

31 Conclusion 3: * The cruise passengers who booked the more expensive cabin categories (balcony, deluxe and suites) found CSER to be of greater importance when choosing a cruise, therefore based on preference share would likely be most willing to pay more for products with companies that have CSER policies and practices

32 Results & Findings ~ Obj. 3 & Hypo. 3; Hypo. 4 Also found that, the more cruise experience / knowledge consumers had with cruising, the higher the level of importance they associated with CSER when choosing between cruise holiday package options.

33 CSER and Cruise Frequency Repeat Cruisers Preference for CSER Repeat Cruise passengers are more likely to choose cruise companies with CSER policies and practices Cruise Freq. Attribute-CSR/ER No CSR/ER PP Has CSR/ER PP 10 or less Over 25 Total Cruises Frequency D.F Significance p <.01 p <.01 p <.01 p <.01

34 CSER and Cruise Frequency Repeat versus First-time Cruisers Repeat Cruise passengers compared to 1 st time cruise passengers showed greater preference for companies with CSER policies and practices Cruise Freq. Attribute CSR/ER No CSR/ER PP Has CSR/ER PP 1 st Cruise All Repeat Total Frequency D.F Significance p <.01 p <.01 p <.01

35 Conclusion 4: * Results confirmed that on both counts Repeat Cruise consumers (that is cruise consumers who are typically experienced and brand loyal) have a greater preference for companies with CSER policies and practices, therefore as stakeholders Repeat Cruise Consumers should be able to significantly influence a company s CSER performance through their continued association and loyalty to the brand or not.

36 Issue: Final Conclusion As Cruise Ships are increasing in Size (passenger capacity) the number of younger cruise consumers is increasing (CLIA 2011; FCCA 2012) Therefore we can expect CSER to continue to be of marginal importance in Cruise CBDM for many of the consumers.

37 Thank Merci You! Grazie Gracias Xie Xie Dank U

38 References Adams, S. (2013). Role of Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in Cruise Consumers Behaviour Decision Making. Doctorate Thesis Leeds Metropolitan University, England. CLIA, & TNS. (2011). Cruise Lines International Association 2011 Cruise Market Profile Study (Vol. June 2011, pp ). Cruise Line International Association, Inc. FCCA. (2012). Cruise Industry Overview (pp Accessed: 06/03/2013). Florida- Caribbean Cruise Association. Jones, M. (2010). Greening the Supply Chain. Paper presented at the Cruise Shipping Virtual Conference, Online. Mc Hugh, M. (2010). Greening the Supply Chain. Paper presented at the Cruise Shipping Virtual Conference, Online. Miller, G. A. (2003). "Consumerism in sustainable tourism: A survey of UK consumers." Journal of Sustainable Tourism 11(1): Miller, G., Rathouse, K., Scarles, C., Holmes, K., & Tribe, J. (2010). Public Understanding of Sustainable Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(3), Petrick, J. F. (2005). Segmenting cruise passengers with price sensitivity. Tourism Management, 26(5),