Methodological Issues Associated With Customer Satisfaction Measurement And Market Segmentation At Water-Based Recreation Areas
Open Access
- Author:
- Burns, Robert Clyde
- Graduate Program:
- Leisure Studies
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 16, 2000
- Committee Members:
- Alan R Graefe, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Robert D Lee, Committee Member
Dr C Gregory Knight, Committee Member
Dr Harry C Zinn, Committee Member - Keywords:
- segmentation
methodology
customer satisfaction
recreation - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT Over the past thirty-five years, recreation satisfaction has been studied by numerous researchers within leisure, marketing, and other paradigms. Recently, there has been a national effort to improve the quality of services to virtually all customers of the federal government. This customer satisfaction effort includes the provision of recreation by federal agencies, such as the US Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and the USDA Forest Service. The purpose of this study was to further explore the nature of customer satisfaction at US Army Corps of Engineers outdoor recreation settings. A set of customer service-related research questions was developed to understand the complex issue of customer satisfaction. These questions focused on three distinct levels of customer satisfaction: satisfaction items, satisfaction domains, and overall satisfaction. The first research question examined recreationists’ importance and performance levels across a battery of 19 satisfaction attributes. Both gap scores (difference between importance and performance level) and performance-only items were analyzed to determine their relationship within their respective satisfaction domain and their relationship with overall satisfaction. The next research question involved the relationship of the four domains (facilities, services, information, and recreation experience) under which the 19 importance/performance items fell. The purpose of this question was to examine the relationship between the items and the four domains and the role of each of the satisfaction domains in predicting overall satisfaction. The final level of analysis focused on a single-item, 10 point measure of overall satisfaction. The 19 importance/performance items and the four domains were compared against this measure as an indication of overall trip satisfaction. Furthermore, respondents were segmented into distinct user group categories (ramp use, camping, and day use), as well as socio-demographic sub-groups to determine if there were differences in satisfaction models for these different groups of recreationists. This study was delimited to water-based recreationists who were 18 years or older at ten US Army Corps of Engineers managed lakes across the United States. Just under 3000 face-to-face interviews were conducted during the 1997 summer recreation season (Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend). Overall, participants demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction with the Corps facilities, services, information, and with their recreation experience. The performance-only measures were found to be significantly better indicators of overall satisfaction than the gap sores, and the items were strongly correlated to the four satisfaction domains. The four domains were significant predictors of overall satisfaction and proved to be strong mediators of the satisfaction items in predicting overall trip satisfaction. There was a relationship between a respondent’s self-selected primary activity (ramp use, camping, or day use) and overall satisfaction, with slightly significant differences noted between those groups. However, there was no relationship between the socio-demographic and trip characteristic variables and overall satisfaction. The model of customer satisfaction tested in this study proved to be a valid method of measuring recreational customer satisfaction in water-based outdoor recreation models. Deeply rooted in both the recreation and marketing literature, the model appears to be transferable to other recreation settings (indoor facilities, commercial recreation settings, etc.). This holds promise that there may be an easily understood model of customer satisfaction that may be used by managers to attempt to positively impact the overall satisfaction of recreationists. Further research is needed to verify the appropriate items and domains for different settings and market segments, to ensure that the 10-point satisfaction scale is an adequate measure of overall satisfaction for recreationists across the spectrum of recreational opportunities available, and to better understand the mediation role of the four satisfaction domains related to overall trip satisfaction.