Segmenting American and Japanese Tourists on Novelty-seeking at Night Markets in Taiwan

Abstract

Night markets are an essential part of Taiwanese life. Tourists wish to experience new things and visit different environments away from their homes. Thus, night markets can stimulate international tourists' novelty-seeking motives when visiting Taiwan. This research segments and profiles international tourists based on their novelty-seeking motives in visiting night markets. One hundred and forty Japanese tourists are segmented into three groups: enthusiastic novelty-seekers, local culture explorers and moderate familiarity observers. In comparison, 138 American tourists are segmented into two groups: independence-seekers and adaptable participants. Significant differences between the segments are found in gender, marital status, age, occupation and purpose of travel among Japanese tourists, while a similar situation exists among American groups, except that no significant difference exists in occupation. In addition, statistical differences were found with number of visits and companions on tourists' traveling characteristics when both American and Japanese tourists visited night markets. Furthermore, the differences in novelty-seeking between American and Japanese tourists when traveling to night markets are confirmed.

Keywords:

• night market
• novelty-seeking
• market segmentation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janet Chang

Email: [email protected]