Lifestyle segmentation of tourists: the role of personality

BACKGROUND: The significance of national tourism in the global data highlights the importance of studying the characteristics of Spanish tourists that show interest in visiting Valencia (Spain). Personality traits might influence tourism behavior, and their importance has scarcely been addressed in the prior tourism literature. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify the touristic profiles of national tourists based on their lifestyles and to analyze the influence of personality traits in tourism segmentation. METHODOLOGY: 329 individuals participated in this study, they responded questionnaires about sociodemography, personality, lifestyle and a 3-item questionnaire developed by the authors. We performed analysis to obtain profiles by lifestyle, we carried out tests to study differences in personality traits among profiles and we analyzed the effects of the responses to the author-developed questionnaire and the demographic characteristics of the subjects on their cluster membership. RESULTS: The results show that this market can be segmented into four clusters. We found significant statistical differences in personality traits among profiles. In addition, the authors present an author-designed questionnaire that, together with demographic variables, is able to predict participants’ profiles. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that lifestyle is an appropriate indicator for this market segmentation and the analysis of its relationship with personality provides a deep comprehension of the resulting profiles. In addition, the profile prediction by the responses to the author-developed questionnaire constitutes a new basis for tourism segmentation, as these predictors might be used as “quick touristic classifiers”. IMPLICATIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS: The study of decision-making processes in tourism allows researchers and sellers to predict tourist behaviors and adapt offers to tourists’ preferences and interests.