Motivations of the heritage consumer in the leisure market: An application of the Manning‐Haas demand hierarchy

Abstract

In this article the author considers motivations for heritage “consumption'’ as perceived by potential consumers. These motivations are defined as desired settings, experiences, and benefits in terms of the Manning‐Haas hierarchy of demand for outdoor recreation. The author investigates how these motivations may be used as a means of segmenting consumers in terms of their likely interest in different types of heritage as leisure experiences. The analysis demonstrates that researchers need to distinguish between the motivations for the consumption of different kinds of heritage and that it is insufficient to consider the market for heritage as undifferentiated in terms of type of attraction. The analysis is also used to show how further marketing insights may be gained from including variables measuring consumers’ interests in the consumption of heritage. It compares the predictive power of, on the one hand, variables measuring self‐rated interest in heritage and reported leisure activity with, on the other, socioeconomic variables, as summary bases for the segmentation of heritage markets.

Keywords:

• heritage
• motivations
• segmentation
• attractions
• Isle of Man