The concept of value and its dimensions: a tool for analysing tourism experiences

The concept of value and its dimensions:

a tool for analysing tourism experiences

Martina G. Gallarza and Irene Gil

Abstract

Purpose – This work aims to introduce the usefulness of the concept of value for tourism research both

conceptually and empirically. Destination and tourism services can be better understood if analysed

through the multidimensionality of value, as the tourist can simultaneously experience several factors:

affective and cognitive, social and personal, active and reactive.

Design/methodology/approach – From literature review, Holbrook’s conceptual framework (definition

and typology) is chosen to investigate the dimensionality of consumer value in a travel-related context

(students’ tourism behaviour). An empirical investigation on one of his conceptual axes – the relativistic

character of consumer value – is presented.

Findings – Several research questions are proposed regarding the relativity of value, using the

t-test contrast of hypothesis: dimensions of value (efficiency, quality, play, aesthetics and social value)

and a measure of overall perceived value are tested as being personal (they vary across people),

comparative (with differences among objects) and situational (specific to the context).

Research limitations/implications – The results presented can fully confirm the relativistic character of

value dimensions; hence, the value concept is useful for analysing tourism experiences. Nevertheless,

the analysis is made interpersonally. Real intrapersonal measurements on these variations with

longitudinal studies are recommended for further research. The scope of this work could be broadened

by testing additional axes of Holbrook’s typology.

Practical implications – Tourism managers should regard the helpfulness of perceived value as a

segmentation tool. Because of its multidimensionality, different facets of services value can be

enhanced for different consumers, reinforcing in this way the strategic usefulness of value.

Originality/value – Although Holbrook’s types of value have been the subject of several conceptual

debates there are very few empirical works on it. Any multidimensional approach to value shows the

richness and complexity of the value concept, but Holbrook’s dimensionality is particularly interesting

because it encompasses and interrelates all relevant facets of the tourism experience.

Keywords Consumers, Value analysis, Tourism, Individual perception

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Grounded on fundamental marketing principles, the concept of customer value has been

revisited and refined by academicians and practitioners over the last 30 years. As occurred

in the literature on quality or customer satisfaction during the 1980s and 1990s, the services

literature has tried to achieve a consistent theoretical and conceptual development of the

value-concept. In addition, for practitioners, value has far-reaching implications for

marketing management. Consequently, what first attracts the attention of any marketing

researcher interested in the concept of value is its increasingly unanimous recognition as an

imperative focus for both practitioners and researchers (Cronin et al. 2000; Day, 1999;

Heskett et al. 1997; Parasuraman, 1997; Woodruff and Gardial, 1996). As many others, Lai

(1995, p. 381) considers that ‘‘creating superior customer value is a necessary condition for

a company securing a niche in a competitive environment, not to mention a leadership

PAGE 4 j TOURISM REVIEW j VOL. 63 NO. 3 2008, pp. 4-20, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1660-5373 DOI 10.1108/16605370810901553

Martina G.Gallarza is

Associate Professor of

Marketing, Facultad de

Estudios de la Empresa

Catholic University of

Valencia San Vicente Ma´tir,

Valencia, Spain. Irene Gil is

Professor of Marketing,

Marketing Department,

Universitat de Vale`ncia,

Valencia, Spain.

The authors are grateful to the

Spanish Ministry of Science

and Technology for financial

support for this work (I þ D Plan

Nacional SEJ2007-66054).