Segmentation based on gastronomic motivations in a coastal destination

ABSTRACT

The objectives of the present study are: i) to identify the segments of tourism demand, based on gastronomic motivations in coastal destinations, and ii) to find the relationship between demand segments and satisfaction and service variables. The investigation was carried out in General Villamil Playas city, a renowned coastal destination in Ecuador. Factor analysis and the K-means clustering method were used to analyze the data. The findings show three segments: “Enjoyers,” highly motivated to eat typical seafood dishes on the beach. “Survivors,” with low motivations for all variables, and who consider local gastronomy only a means to satisfy a physiological need. The third “Experimenters,” have high motivations for all motivational variables and believe that gastronomy, in general, is very important.

KEYWORDS:

• Gastronomic motivations
• tourist motivations
• market segmentation
• tourist satisfaction
• coastal destination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mauricio Carvache-Franco

Mauricio Carvache-Franco is Researcher at Espíritu Santo University, Samborondón, Ecuador. He has a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Management from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain). His research interests include marketing, consumer behavior, ecotourism and tourism marketing (E-mail: [email protected]).

Orly Carvache-Franco

Orly Carvache-Franco is a researcher at  Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil. Master in Business Administration at the University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada. Doctoral student in Strategic Business Administration from Centrum Business School- PUCP- Peru. His research interests center on innovation, tourism and marketing (E-mail: [email protected]).

Miguel Orden-Mejía

Miguel Orden-Mejía is a PhD student at Rovira i Virgili University from Spain, focusing on research related to gastronomic tourism and smart tourist. He is part of the research department of tourism at University of Guayaquil, Ecuador (E-mail: [email protected]).

Diana Zambrano-Conforme

Diana Zambrano-Conforme is a Master in Territorial Analysis and Management: Planning, Governance and Territorial Leadership at Rovira i Virgili University, Spain, focusing on research related to gastronomic tourism, smart destination and tourism research development and innovation (E- mail: [email protected]).

Wilmer Carvache-Franco

Wilmer Carvache-Franco is Professor and Researcher in Faculty of Social and Humanistic Sciences at ESPOL Polytechnic University, Guayaquil, Ecuador. His research interests center on tourism marketing, coastal tourism and festivals (E-mail: [email protected]).