Departamento de Matemática (DMAT)
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Browsing Departamento de Matemática (DMAT) by Author "Amaro, Suzanne"
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- A closer look at Santiago de Compostela's pilgrims through the lens of motivationsPublication . Amaro, Suzanne; Antunes, Angela; Henriques, CarlaThis study aims to identify pilgrims’ motivations to undertake the Camiño de Santiago and examine differences regarding socio demographics and other characteristics. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from pilgrims that had travelled the Camiño de Santiago. A total of 1,140 valid responses was collected from 45 different nationalities. The results indicate that pilgrims are mostly motivated by spiritual aspects, by wanting new experiences and for the nature and sports experience. Interestingly, religious motivations are the least important. The study also found that motivations differ according to several factors such as gender, nationality and the way the pilgrims undertook their journey. The findings of this study offer a better understanding of modern pilgrims, providing useful insights to stakeholders.
- Comparing Millennials With Their Predecessors Regarding Online Travel Behaviours: A Logistical Regression Modelling ApproachPublication . Amaro, Suzanne; Henriques, Carla; Duarte, PauloMillennials, also known as Generation Y, are characterized by their use of technology, which is an integral part of their lives. Research has shown that they are different from earlier generations regarding their behaviours and attitudes. This article investigates and compares the behavior of Millennials with those of previous generations using data collected among 1,732 Worldwide Internet users. In order to understand what differentiates Millennials, this study considers several characteristics related with the way travelers use and perceive online resources to exchange information and buy travel products. Logistic Regression was applied to identify which factors independently discriminate between the two groups and the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, known as AUC, was used to assess the discriminative ability of the model. To select the variables to be considered in the multivariate logistic regression modelling stage, a univariate comparison was conducted. All significant variables were included in the multivariate analysis, significant being measured as having a p-value<0.05. Furthermore, because some non-significant variables may constitute an important contribution in the presence of other variables, all variables with p-value<0.1 were also considered for inclusion in the regression model. Forward step analysis was then used to find the final model, identifying a set of variables that independently contribute to differentiate the two groups. A distribution-free approach which aims to find the best linear combination that maximizes the AUC was also applied. The study found that, when compared with their predecessors, Millennials are more involved with travel social media and have a higher estimation to purchase travel online. Millennials behaviours may be an indication of the way people will behave in the future (Bolton et al., 2013). Therefore, it is crucial that Marketers and retailers better understand this young generation. This study provides useful insights, with indications of which factors matters most to Millennials in the online travel domain.
- Do consumers judge a book by its cover? A study of the factors that influence the purchasing of booksPublication . Leitão, Luís; Amaro, Suzanne; Henriques, Carla; Fonseca, PaulaResearch addressing the critical success factor of books and how people choose them is scarce. This study examines the factors that influence consumers when purchasing fictional books and explores whether there are differences between purchasing books for personal use or as gifts. Furthermore, it also studies mpulsiveness regarding the purchase. A quantitative empirical analysis was conducted based on 487 valid responses obtained through an online questionnaire. The results of this study show that approximately one third of books are purchased as gifts, women buy and read more books than men and higher educated and older consumers tend to read and buy more books. The purchase is less impulsive when the book is a gift and women are more impulsive, when buying for themselves. In the decision-making process, the features most valued in a book are: the "Title”, "Synopsis”, “Subject covered in book”, “Recommendation of family and friends” and “Books with discount/on sale”. Twenty-four items were considered based on these features and the same factor structure was found for both buying books for personal use and as gifts. Consumers tend to value more the “Recommendation of family and friends” when buying a book for themselves rather than as a gift. However, “Author and book recognition” is more important to the consumer when the book is purchased as a gift. The findings of this study provide important insights regarding consumer preferences, which will be useful for marketers to define strategies. Moreover, by comparing the factors that influence people to buy books for themselves as opposed to buying them as gifts, bookstores can strive to satisfy consumer demands, by conceiving and implementing new ideas in order to increase their book sales.
- Motivation-Based Segmentation of Visitors to a UNESCO Global GeoparkPublication . Amaro, Suzanne; Balula Chaves, Naír; Henriques, Carla; Barroco, CristinaGiven the sustained growth that Geotourism has experienced worldwide, it is crucial to gain a better understanding of geotourists. Therefore, this study aims to examine visitors’ motivations for visiting geoparks, segment them accordingly, and characterize each segment. An online questionnaire was developed to collect information from visitors of the Arouca Geopark—UNESCO Global Geopark and was completed by 607 who had visited this park at least once. Respondents were asked about their motivations for visiting the park using 18 items that were combined into fve dimensions through exploratory factor analysis. These dimensions (Escape, Relaxation and Enjoyment, Novelty Seeking and Nature, Knowledge, Socialization, and Sports and Adrenaline) were the basis for a cluster analysis that revealed four segments of visitors: the Want it All Geotourists (representing 27% of the sample), that have the highest levels for all motivations; the True Geotourists (19.9%) which highest levels of motivations were on the three motivations that typically defne a geotourist: nature/adventure, knowledge seeking, and socialization; the Sensation Seekers (34.4%) whose strongest motivations were sports/adrenaline and escape from routine; the Accidental Geotourists (18.6%) who scored lowest for all motivations and are motivated essentially by the escape from routine and by nature/adventure. These segments were then further profled based on other variables such as age, gender, satisfaction, and quality of experience. The segmentation and description of each segment found in this study provide a better understanding of the typology of visitors to geoparks, which is crucial for better management of such places.
- Segmenting Travelers Based on the Use of Travel Social MediaPublication . Amaro, Suzanne; Duarte, Paulo; Henriques, CarlaThe popularity of social media among travelers has been highly recognized by research addressing this issue. Research has mainly focused on the role and impact of social media on travelers’ travel planning process and there is consensus that travel decisions are highly influenced by social media websites. Yet, little attention has been paid to the differences among travelers regarding their use of social media for travel purposes. Based on the use of travel social media websites, cluster analysis was employed to identify different segments among travelers. Furthermore, the study profiles the clusters based on demographic and other travel related characteristics. The findings of this study are important to online marketers to better understand traveler’s use of social media and their characteristics, in order to adapt online marketing strategies according to the profile of each segment. Given the popularity of social media among travelers, it is imperative that researchers and practitioners continue to deeper the understanding of social media users. The study provides practical and theoretical contributions. Future research is also suggested in order to further develop the contributions and take in account the limitations of this study.
- A utilização dos Mídia Social para efeitos de viagem: Uma abordagem a partir da análise de agrupamentoPublication . Henriques, Carla; Amaro, Suzanne; Duarte, PauloAs decisões tomadas no processo de compra de viagens são cada vez mais influenciadas pelos mídia social. Deste modo, é crucial que as empresas turísticas conheçam os seus potenciais clientes quanto ao seu perfil de uso de mídia social, por forma a adaptarem as suas estratégias. Neste trabalho, recorrendo a técnicas de análise de agrupamento, identificam-se cinco segmentos entre os viajantes, tendo em conta a sua utilização dos mídia social para efeitos de viagens.