Abstract (150 Words)
The study examined tourists’ information behavior in the event of a crisis using the Consumer Information Acquisition and Processing Model as a guideline. The data were gathered in June- July 2009, during the hurricane season. Cluster analysis and Discriminant analysis were employed to segment tourists based on personality traits. Three clusters emerged: complacent tourists, risk-adverse tourists, and happy-well informed tourists. The examination of clusters and likelihood of gathering information prior to travel, source information used, and knowledge of hurricanes indicated that the clusters were different with regard to which variables were utilized for information sources; newspapers and the radio, and two demographic variables: gender and ethnicity. Finally, application of the finding is presented.
Segmenting Tourists’ Information Behavior in the Event of a Crisis
The study examined tourists’ information behavior in the event of a crisis using the Consumer Information Acquisition and Processing Model as a guideline. The data were gathered in June- July 2009, during the hurricane season. Cluster analysis and Discriminant analysis were employed to segment tourists based on personality traits. Three clusters emerged: complacent tourists, risk-adverse tourists, and happy-well informed tourists. The examination of clusters and likelihood of gathering information prior to travel, source information used, and knowledge of hurricanes indicated that the clusters were different with regard to which variables were utilized for information sources; newspapers and the radio, and two demographic variables: gender and ethnicity. Finally, application of the finding is presented.
