Bikini or Burkini? The role of swimwear and age as determinants of beach interaction with others

Abstract

The paper examines the influence of age and similarity in appearance to other customers on one's attitude to a resort, patronage and interactive intentions. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten resort guests, followed by a factorial between-subjects experiment on 189 young females using written scenarios along with sketches. The data were analysed from a dual-perspective depending on the subjects' preferences for either a burkini or a bikini by means of MANCOVA. The patronage and interactive intentions to other customers among those who preferred bikini swimsuits were found to be influenced by similarity in appearance only when unknown customers were young. The attitude to the resort and patronage intentions among customers who preferred burkini swimsuits were found to be unaffected by differences in appearance. Burkini-wearing females considered similarity in appearance as most important, followed by the age of unknown customers when they formed their interactive intentions toward others.