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520 satisfaction, customer
activities and other elements important in planning
a holiday. These factors also influence tourists'
behaviour and are determinants of satisfaction.
This can be investigated under the rubric of several
disciplines, including concepts and theories of
economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology
and ethnographic domains of enquiry. All
contribute to understanding the individual, group,
crowd, community, society and place. In turn,
the complexity of interactions that determine levels
of satisfaction include the nature of involvement,
the role of risk, stress, frustration, fulfilment and
anticipation.
The psychology of tourism, including attitudes
of tourists and residents, and consumer behaviour
and values, are among important themes contributing
to an understanding of this subject.
Concepts used to explain tourist behaviour linked
to satisfaction include Maslow's theory of human
needs, which is one of the best known theories of
motivation. Personality constructs of tourist behaviour
such as allocentric/psychocentric model �see
allocentric) relate satisfaction to marketing
purposes, by segmenting markets according to
personality profiles. Allocentric tourists prefer
exotic destinations and unstructured holidays,
and psychocentrics prefer familiar destinations
and packaged tours. Stress models such as the
irritation index seek to explain the cumulative
effects of tourism development over time. As a
community is stressed by tourism, poor host±guest
relationships can be expected. Destination life
cycle theory further explains impacts on these
relationships and on tourist satisfaction. Expectancy
theory which relates to motivation in the
work environment has relevance to customer
satisfaction. If tourism does not provide adequate
rewards and motivation to staff, this will translate
to a mismatch with customer expectations of an
industry in which the notion of service quality is
paramount.
Anthropological theories of acculturation and
others involving tourist±host transactions and the
development of service economies explain adaptations
and sociocultural changes which accompany
the evolution of tourism systems in response to
tourists' needs. The service economy is focused on
providing for the needs of transient, leisured
strangers. Satisfaction varies considerably on
whether the tourist is seeking authenticity or
staged experiences. Commoditisation of host±
guest relationships is central to the loss of
authenticity. Many techniques are employed to
research satisfaction, either as marketing research
to enhance economic viability, or from
more academic perspectives of understanding the
host±guest relationship and sociocultural impacts.
Further reading
Pearce, P.L. �1982) The Social Psychology of Tourist
Behaviour, Oxford: Pergamon.
Ross, G.F. �1994) The Psychology of Tourism, Elsterwick:
Hospitality Press.
Ryan, C. �1995) Researching Tourist Satisfaction,
London: Routledge.
satisfaction, customer
ROBYN BUSHELL, AUSTRALIA
In social psychology and marketing, customer
satisfaction represents the positive result of the
consumption of goods and services. Customer
satisfaction results when the tourist's expectations
are met. It is linked to other factors of behaviour
such as motivations, attitudes and the service
encounter. While some of these depend on the
performance of the industry, many �such as
weather) are outside its realm of operation.
MARTINA GONZALES GALLARZA, SPAIN
scale of development
Scale reflects both the size and rate of tourism
growth and development. This can be measured
by infrastructural development, capital investment,
tourist arrivals or employment generated.
It is usually argued that the social, cultural and
environmental impacts or costs increase with
scale and that local control over development
declines, although this last feature depends on the
initial ownership of resources and on start-up costs.
DAVID WILSON, UK