Exploring the Negotiation Thesis Application Among Ski Resort Tourists: A Segmentation Approach

The negotiation thesis offers a framework for understanding the participation decision making of tourists. Unlike previous studies that investigate the causal relationship between constraints and tourists’ revisit intention, this study identified distinct segments of ski tourist based on the relative strength of constraints experienced and then investigated their decision-making process across a sample of 1,348 tourists of ski resorts. Chi-squared automated interaction detection analysis revealed that the decision-making process regarding intention to revisit a ski destination varies between highly versus less constrained ski tourists, indicating different relative strengths of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and structural constraints and different interactions among them when predicting revisit intention. On a practical basis, albeit the vast majority of participants were willing to repeat its visit, we offer customized per segment recommendations on increasing frequency of visitation and spending levels.