1

יום המחקר והפרויקטיםהמסלול האקדמי המכללה למנהל

2008 לינואר 1

Perceived Risk and the Non-Institutionalized Tourist Role: The Case of Israeli Student

Ex-Backpackers

Galia Fuchs The College of Management Academic Studies , Israel Arie Reichel Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Natan Uriely Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

2

Perceived risk is defined in this literature as “a consumer’s perception of the overall negativity of a course of action based upon an assessment of the possible negative outcomes and the likelihood that those outcomes will occur” (Mowen and Minor 1998, p. 176).

Literature Review

3

Literature Review (cont.)

Risk perception:

•Physical •Financial •Performance •Social •Psychological•Time•Opportunity loss (Bettman 1973, 1975; Conchar, Zinkhan, Peters, and Olavarrieta 2004; Dowling 1986; Grahame, Dowling and Staelin 1994; Jacoby and Kaplan 1972; Peter and Ryan 1976; Zikmund and Scott 1973)

4

Literature Review (cont.)

Being an integral part of the service sector, tourism is characterized by intangibility, inseparability, variability and "perishability“ that intensify consumers’ perceived risk compared to products or goods.

(Grönroos 1990; Lovelock 1996; Zeithaml and Bitner 1996)

5

Literature Review (cont.)In addition to the aforementioned attributes the tourism product is prone to influence by particular factors, such as: bad weather, unfriendly locals, airport strikes, distasteful local food, terror, crime, political unrest, disease, and natural disasters.

The research in this area of study suggests that these factors raise the level of tourists' perceived risk. (Fuchs and Reichel 2004, 2006; Mansfeld 1992; Pizam and Mansfeld 1996; Reisinger and Mavondo, 2005; Roehl and Fesenmaier 1992; Seaton and Bennett 1996; Sönmez 1998; Sönmez and Graefe 1998a; Tsaur, Tzeng and Wang 1997; Witt and Mountinho 1995)

6

Literature Review (cont.)

The literature also reveals that tourists' characteristics, such as nationality, previous tourist experience, gender, and quest for novelty, have an impact on their perceptions of risk (Fuchs and Reichel 2004; Seddighi, Nuttal and Theocharous 2001; Reisinger and Mavondo 2005; Pizam et al. 2004; Pearce 1996 ; Sönmez and Graefe 1998a ; Mattila, Apostolopoulos, Sonmez, Yu and Sasidharan 2001; Lepp and Gibson 2003).

Tourists' perceived risk is also identified in the literature as a determinant of visitation patterns in various destinations.

(Sonmez, Apostolopoulos, Tarlow 1999, Sönmez and Graefe 1998b)

7

The first goal of the current study is to identify the various dimensions of backpacking experience risk perceptions.

Second, the study questions whether the risk dimensions

identified in this study would be similar or different to those reported in studies on perceived risk of conventional mass tourists.

The Research goals

8

Third, it is hypothesized that the risk perceptions identified in this study would be heterogeneous as well. In this context, the study examines possible variations in risk perception of backpackers, overall risk and risk-taking propensity profiles across subgroups based on variables such as : gender, previous travel experience, military service, and preference for travel with colleagues.

The Research goals

9

Methodology

To examine the risk perception, background and behavior of backpackers, a questionnaire was used.

10

Methodology

To examine the risk perception, background and behavior of backpackers, a questionnaire was used.

The sampling method was convenience sampling.

579 usable questionnaires were collected.

11

Findings

Out of the 579 respondents,

302 (52.2 %) were male and 277 (47.8 %) female.

The average age was 25. The youngest was 19 and the oldest 39.

The backpackers averaged 14 years of formal education.

Most of the respondents (94.6 %) have served in the military. Among those who served in the military, 204 (37 %) served in combat units.

12

Dimensions of Backpackers' Risk Perceptions

Factor % of Variance Explained

"Site-related physical" 10.53

"Socio-psychological" 9.18

"Physical Harm" 8.92

"Expectations" 8.13

"Socio-political difficulties” 7.96

"Financial" 7.38

"Mass" 5.87

"Self-Behavior" 0.47

13

Findings (cont.)

Dimensions of Backpackers' Risk Perceptions

Factor 1, "Site-related physical" (food safety, food taste, cheating, facilities acceptability, crime and diseases) This factor reflects the risk perception which stems from visiting particular destinations.

Factor 2, "Socio-psychological" ( the compatibility of the trip with the self-image, the backpacker's image in the eyes of his/her family, backpackers’ perception of how the trip might affect his/her future, the way friends think of the backpacker, and the effect of academic, or professional delay on future success). This factor reflects the socio-psychological risk stemming from the backpacker's decision to take the trip.

14

Findings (cont.)

Dimensions of Backpackers' Risk PerceptionsFactor 3, "Physical harm" (car accidents, natural disasters, injury and terrorism). This factor reflects the risk perception of possible physical harm.

Factor 4, "Expectations" (expectations that haven't been fulfilled, dissatisfaction with the trip, mistaken choice of the destination, and the trip as a waste of time). This factor reflects the fear that the trip would fail to meet expectations. Factor 5, "Socio-political difficulties" ( political unrest, hostile natives, and strikes). This factor reflects the fear of danger that stems from the socio-political condition of the destination.

15

Findings (cont.)

Dimensions of Backpackers' Risk Perceptions

Factor 6, "Financial risk" ( expected extra expenses, impact of trip on the individual's financial situation, and fear that the chosen destination would be more expensive than other destinations). This factor reflects the financial risk perception in selecting a particular destination.

Factor 7, "Mass risk" ( commercialized and crowded sites).

Factor 8, "Self-behavior risk" (drug abuse side effects and the negative impression his/her conduct might make on locals). This factor reflects the fear of danger due to the backpacker‘s behavior.

16

Backpackers' Features and Risk Perception and Propensity Profiles

17

18

19

Military Service

The discriminant analysis of the two groups of combat vs. non-combat experience was carried out on male soldiers only. The analysis did not yield significant results.

20

Types of trip and risk perceptions

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

Discussion and ConclusionsThe factor analysis yielded eight factors reflecting backpackers' experience risk perceptions.

These factors distinguish between two main issues.

The first relates to the particular backpacking form of travel (Site Related Physical , Physical Harm , Socio-Political , Financial Risk , Mass Tourism ).

The second, social-personal concerns related to the backpackers' social environment (Socio-psychological , Self-behavior, Expectations).

28

Discussion and Conclusions (cont.)

In comparison with institutionalized mass tourists, backpackers seem to put more emphasizes on issues related to the social environment and personal internal processes. Both backpackers and institutionalized mass tourists were concerned about the ramifications of their trip on their reference group's opinion.

29

Discussion and Conclusions (cont.)

The similarity of backpackers’ experience to risk factors reported in the aforementioned tourist behavior literature, together with the factor structure similarities between the two populations, supports a thesis that tourist experience risk perception is a multi-dimensional concept and that backpacking is becoming more institutionalized (Hampton, 1988; Loker-Murphy and Pearce, 1995 and Schvvens 2002).

30

Discussion and Conclusions (cont.)

The study's findings indicate that backpackers' experience risk perceptions vary across gender, past backpacking experience, and idiosyncratic Israeli background variables like preference for fellow travelers.

To conclude, this study contributes to the literature on risk-perception of tourists, and to the study of the backpacking experience.

31

Limitations

The results reflect the experiences of Israeli backpackers who were not randomly sampled.

It is an ex-post facto analysis.

32

Future Research

Future studies can focus on risk-reduction strategies employed by backpackers as well as by other segments of tourists.

Given the social and economic importance of the backpacker segment, it is recommended to further investigate the concept of their perceived risk of the backpacking experience by utilizing quantitative methods and representative samples in various nations.

33

Motives Standardized Coefficients

Extreme Sports 0.73

Spiritual growing -0.40

Tracks 0.29

Detachment from the Israeli society -0.22

Experiencing with drugs -0.22

Entertainment 0.18

Detachment from modern life -0.18

Time off 0.14

Parties 0.13

Personal coping 0.13

Seeing new places 0.07

Checking the possibility of living else where 0.07

Encountering new experiences 0.05

Meeting locals -0.02

Getting acquainted with new cultures -0.02

1 – Far East backpackers Centroid – 0.31

2 – South America backpackers Centroid 0.40

Discriminate Analysis of Far East Vs. South America Backpackers – Motives for the Trip

34

Discriminant Analysis Results of Far East vs. South America Backpackers Risk Dimensions

Risk Dimensions StandardizedCoefficients

"Mass" 0.49

"Socio-psychological" 0.46

"Socio–political" -0.28

"Financial" -0.27

"Expectation" 0.21

"Behavioral" 0.20

"Site-related physical" -0.08

"Physical Harm" -0.02

1 – Far East backpackers N=233 Centroid 0.18

2 – South America backpackers N=179

Centroid –0.2418

35

Discriminant Analysis of Far East vs. South America Backpackers – Risk Reduction Strategies

Risk Reduction Strategies Standardized Coefficients

Searching for information in stores and meeting places of backpackers

0.83

Searching for information in travel guides 0.58

Searching for information on the Internet 0.45

Gathering information from travel agents 0.32

Gathering information from friends 0.28

Cooperative decision making 0.18

Consulting with people who had previously visited the destinations

0.14

Limiting the duration of the trip -0.13

Reducing the cost of the trip 0.06

Avoiding dangerous destinations 0.05

Searching for information in magazines 0.02

1 – Far East backpackers N=233 Centroid –0.24

2 – South America backpackers N=179 Centroid 0.32 19

36

Thank you for your attention