Comparing Motivations and Intentions of Potential Cruise Passengers from Different Demographic Groups: The Case of China.

Abstract

The cruise industry is the fastest growing leisure market in the world. As an essential component, the cruise market in China is growing rapidly over the recent years with the introduction of favorable government policies, new cruise terminals, and increased cruise awareness of customers. Unfortunately, only few studies have investigated the perceptions of Mainland Chinese consumers toward such industry. Hence, by adopting qualitative and quantitative research methods, this study explored how the motivation and intention of potential cruise consumers differed in terms of their demographic background. Travelers from different age, income, and marital status groups demonstrated varying cruise motivations and intentions. The influences of motivation factors on the cruise intention of consumers were also explored. Both the theoretical and practical contributions of the study were put forward accordingly.