Exploring the factors affecting cruise passengers’ perceptions of value for money expressed in online reviews

Abstract

The complexity of cruise tourism is high, and various factors determine the product value. Value for money has an important effect on cruisers’ choices. This paper comprehensively discusses the effect of ship attributes and onboard and onshore experience on cruise passengers’ perception of value for money. This discussion is helpful for cruise companies to identify key attributes and subsequently implement improvement strategies. Taking nearly 100,000 items of tourist review data as samples, this paper primarily discusses the effect of cruisers’ nine-dimensional experience on the perception of value for money and the differences under different market positioning gleaned from content analysis, regression analysis and multi-group comparison. Results show that embarkation, cabin, dining, entertainment, service, fitness, activities, public room and shore excursion experiences have a significant effect on tourists’ perceptions of value for money. From the perspective of brand positioning, the situation of a luxury cruise is quite different from that of a standard and premium cruise, whereas the standard and premium cruise are similar. Furthermore, unlike standard and premium cruises, the physical attributes of luxury cruises such as ship size and launch year have no significant effect on tourists’ perceptions of value for money. Research results will help cruise companies improve tourist satisfaction and value for money based on market positioning and key attributes.