Goal and objectives of the dissertationGoalThe goal of this study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument that would offer tourism managers and planners a useful tool in understanding and planning for memorable tourism experiences (MTE).ObjectivesSpecifically, this study sought to answer the following research questions:1. Does the MTE scale developed in this study yield an appropriate level of reliability and validity?2. Are there relationships among the constructs in the proposed model?3. How well does the construct model fit the data when tested using the analysis technique of structural equation model?MethodologyParticipants and ProceduresAn empirical evaluation of the developed instrument was undertaken using data obtained from U.S. college students at a large Midwestern university. The students were enrolled in 12 classes spread across different academic majors. The participants were first asked to recall their MTE and to evaluate all 85 items on a seven-point Likert-type scale, on which 1 represented I have not experienced at all and 7 represented I have experienced very much. A total of 730 survey questionnaires were handed out and 536 copies were returned, representing an overall response rate of 73.4%.Development and validation of research instrumentIn refining the scale, both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) as well as reliability tests were conducted. After the number of factors was identified and the problematic items were removed based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the covariance matrmatrix examine whether the scale items were structurally consistent with the embedded theory or with any a priori logic of scale design. Before the CFA, the sample was randomly split into two 250-case subsamples using SPSS routine for random case selection. One sample was used for calibration and the other for validation.Structural Equation ModelingAfter the convergent and discriminant validity are identified, a further examination of the causal relationships between the derived constructs and other constructs or variables of interest was performed to see if the derived constructs behave in the way stipulated by the underlying tenets guiding the MTE scale development. The resulting data further provides critical indication of construct validity. Researchers regarded this test as a process to assess nomological validity of construct (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988; Campbell, 1960; Chen & Hsu, 2001).ResultsPurification of Measurement ScaleIn assessing the quality of an item, the itemto- total correlations were examined. This is a commonly accepted procedure in developing a scale (Choi & Sirakaya, 2005). In order to purify the scale, items that were poorly correlated (r Exploratory Factor AnalysisEFA was followed by a rotation with both orthogonal (VARIMAX) and oblique (OBLIMIN) methods. Results from two different methods showed similar structures with the same value of explained variances. The results obtained from principal components analysis with an oblique rotation method was used for the data analysis in order to permit the obtained components to correlate and, therefore, followed the assumption that MTE components are related yet distinct from each other (Lee & Comrey 1979). In deciding to retain an item, both factor loading (r > 0.4) and the communality (r>0.5) of each item were examined. Employing a combination of Cattell (1966) scree test and theoretical basis of the scale (i.e., eigenvalues greater than 1), the EFA of the MTE scale extracted seven factors accounting for 74. …

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Development of a scale to measure memorable tourism experiences.

The quality experiences provided to customers, which are indeed memorable, directly determine a business’s ability to generate revenue (Pine and Gilmore 1999). However, the extant tourism literature has provided limited explanation of the factors that characterize memorable tourism experiences. Thus, the goal of the present study was to develop a valid and reliable measurement scale that will assist in understanding the concept and in improving the effective management of the memorable experience. Following Churchill’s (1979) recommended process, we developed a 24-item memorable tourism experience scale that we believe is applicable to most destination areas. The scale comprises seven domains: hedonism, refreshment, local culture, meaningfulness, knowledge, involvement, and novelty. The data support this dimensional structure of the memorable tourism experience as well as its internal consistency and validity (i.e., content, construct, convergent, and discriminant validity). Theoretical and managerial imp...

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Development of a Scale to Measure Memorable Tourism Experiences

The truth about tourism

https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/management/research/wctr/Documents/ATR1644[1]%20Hopeful%20Tourism%20Author%20Copy.pdf

HOPEFUL TOURISM A New Transformative Perspective

This paper is a longitudinal study of 140 articles on residents’ attitudes to tourism published in Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research from 1984 to 2010. Content analysis was used to determine the nature of the articles and the research approaches used. Although most articles were atheoretical, over the survey period an increasing proportion of studies made use of a variety of theories drawn from other disciplines to investigate the topic. The majority of studies were quantitative in nature, while a few studies used qualitative and mixed-methods approaches. Based on the results, some implications for research design and possibilities for future research are discussed. The paper concludes that studies on the topic have evolved from being low on methodological sophistication and theoretical awareness to being high on both aspects. Research on this topic has reached a stage of active scholarship in theory development followed by empirical testing. The study's limita...

K Hollinshead

Papers

Tourism and the forbidden zone: the underserved power of qualitative inquiry