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Journal of Marketing Management, 2015
Vol. 31, Nos. 910, 10651089, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2015.1035309
Cultivating group-oriented travel behaviour to

major events: assessing the importance of
customer-perceived value, enduring event
involvement and attitude towards the host
destination
Jamie Carlson, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle,
Newcastle, Australia
Philip J. Rosenberger III, Newcastle Business School, Ourimbah, New
South Wales, Australia
Mohammad M. Rahman, School of Management, Shandong
University, Jinan, P.R. China
Abstract Major events, such as the Olympics and Glastonbury music festival,
attract tourists and result in increased consumer spending in host
economies. The purpose of this study is to gain insights into the key
determinants driving future intentions of travel consumers to participate in
group-based travel to major events. An integrated theoretical model is
empirically tested with 424 travel consumers who have had prior
experience travelling in a group to a major event. The results substantiate
the model showing that customer value perceptions of a past group-travel
consumption experience conceptualised with multiple benefit dimensions has
the largest relative effect on future intentions to engage in group-travel
behaviour to major events, followed by attitude towards the host destination
and enduring event involvement. The results provide managers with holistic
insights into components that are used as the basis upon which group-travel
consumers develop their choice behaviour which can be used to effectively
cultivate more attendees to major events.
Keywords customer experience; customer-perceived value; enduring

involvement; major events; tourism marketing; group-travel behaviour; attitude
towards the host destination
Introduction
Major events, such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Formula 1 Grand Prix
and Glastonbury music festival, are important tourism activities and are catalysts for
increasing destination visitation (MED, 2011; Yoon, Lee, & Lee, 2010), helping
2015 Westburn Publishers Ltd.
1066 Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 31
bolster visitation outside peak holiday seasons, improving a destinations image and
position in the travel market and fostering destination development (Martin & Barth,
2013; Tourism & Transport Forum [TTF], 2014). Major events are a significant
driver of demand to the economy of host destinations, leading to increased
accommodation, food and recreational activity spending (Byrd, Beedle, &
Cardenas, 2014; Dwyer, Forsyth, & Spurr, 2005; Getz, 2008). For example, over
20062011, 9% of visitors to North West England and 11 % of visitors to Scotland
included attending a festival as part of their visit (VisitBritain, 2013). Illustrating the
impact of major events with global reach, the 2012 London Olympics cost the UK
government 10.3 billion and returned 15.4 billion (HITC, 2012); the 590,000
international visitors spent an estimated 1,290 each, on average, compared with
650 by other visitors (The Telegraph, 2012). Furthermore, major events are an
integral part of international visitation to Australia, with 15 % of all international
visitors (898,400) attending a cultural or sporting event during their trip in 2012
2013. These visitors generate higher yield, staying and spending more than twice the
average of all international visitors (TTF, 2014).
Whether it is in informal groups of immediate family members, other family
members or friends or in formally organised tour groups, past studies suggest that
group-based travel accounts for a sizable portion of tourist trips (e.g. Hyde, Decrop,
Dunne, Flanagan, & Buckley, 2011; Wu, Zhang, & Fujiwara, 2011). For example, in
2010, 5.9 million non-business visitors to the United Kingdom travelled in a group
(i.e. not alone, no spouse or children), stayed 37.1 million nights and with equating
to 2.9 billion spent during their visit (VisitBritain, 2010). Furthermore, 60% of
tourism travel within New Zealand is group based (MED, 2011), accounting for the
majority of New Zealand event-based tourism travel (A&A, 2010).
Despite the practical significance of group travel to major events, scholarly
understanding is limited regarding the determinants that influence consumers to
specifically travel in groups to major events. For instance, the emerging research
has revealed that group travels perceived benefits include: the opportunity for social
interaction; avoiding loneliness; companionship; spending time with family and
friends; safety; assistance; access; cost savings; being guided by experts; exploring
ones own identity; sharing experiences (often with like-minded people) and learning
how to be travellers (Curtin, 2010; Park, Reisinger, & Kang, 2008; Regan, Carlson,
& Rosenberger, 2012; Yarnal & Kerstetter, 2005). Although these studies make
valuable insights into perceived benefits, more understanding is needed on other
determining factors that affect the consumer decision-making process for group
travel to major events. This is because the group-travel format is complex and
dynamic, since the individual is motivated to engage in this travel format for their
own reasons relating to (1) involvement/interest in the event itself and its destination
image (Regan et al., 2012); (2) consideration of past consumption experiences
involving interactions with many service providers across various service encounters
with other customers and fellow travellers (Yoon et al., 2010), and; (3) the perceived
value derived and interpreted by the group-travel consumer from these consumption
experiences (Williams & Soutar, 2009). Sincethe formation of future attendance
intentions to major events are linked to these determinant perceptions and
remembered past events, a deeper understanding of consumer perceptions and how
consumers arrive at an evaluation of travelling to major events in groups in a unified
framework is necessary for tourism/event marketing managers to better design,
manage and market a compelling total (group travel) customer experience.
Carlson et al. Cultivating group-oriented travel behaviour to major events 1067
Scholars in marketing management have particularly called for greater research

emphasis on holistically understanding and interpreting customer experiences (MSI,
2015; Tynan & McKechnie, 2009), and the customer-focused view of value in the
experience that extends well beyond the service organisations zone of influence
includes anticipated and remembered consumption experiences, rather than the more
traditional service-provider view restricted to isolated service encounters focused on
an offering (c.f. Grnroos, 2012; Helkkula, Kelleher, & Pihlstrom, 2012; Tynan,
McKechnie, & Hartley, 2014). Yet, there have been limited efforts to conceptualise
and empirically test holistic, integrated models of the group-travel customer
experience which focus on the determinant factors (beyond expected benefits) that
influence consumers to travel in groups to a major event. In response to these
evolving characteristics of the tourism industry and gaps in the literature, we
attempt to offer a more in-depth understanding of the relevant determinants that
group-travel consumers use as the basis to engage in this form of leisure travel to
major events. Drawing on prior streams of research in consumer behaviour, services
marketing and tourism marketing, we posit three relevant determinant factors that
focus on the consumers experience including (1) value perceptions of a previous
group-travel consumption experience to a major event, (2) their level of enduring
event involvement and (3) their attitude towards the host destination to explain
what influences travel consumers to engage in group-oriented travel to major events
in the future.
To this end, this article is structured as follows. First, we review the marketing and
tourism literature domains to articulate each of the key determinants of group-travel
behaviour intentions to major events. Second, after constructing an integrated
theoretical framework, we subsequently report on the results of a study conducted
with travel consumers with past group-travel experience to major events to
empirically test the capacity of the framework to predict future group-travel
behaviour to major events. Finally, we conclude the article with a discussion of the
theoretical and managerial implications and directions for future research.
Conceptual foundations and hypotheses
In this section, we first provide a literature review of relevant consumer behaviour,

services marketing and tourism marketing research that highlights the antecedent,
and pivotal, roles of customer-perceived value, involvement theory and attitude
towards the host destination that underpin this research to explain consumer
behaviour in the context of group-travel event tourism. We then construct a
holistic, integrated conceptual framework with associated hypotheses upon which
empirical testing is then undertaken.
Perceived value of the group-travel experience to a major event

Understanding perceived value is a particularly relevant concept for tourism
marketing managers, since such insights can strengthen a tourism products features
and predict tourist purchase behaviours (Petrick, 2003). Importantly, tourist
operators, event-management and destination-marketing organisations need to
acknowledge what their customers value in order to be competitive (Prebensen,
Woo, Chen, & Uysal, 2013). Perceived value has been described as a dynamic
variable, experienced before purchase, at the moment of purchase, at the time of use
and after use (Sanchez, Callarisa, Rodrguez, & Moliner, 2006). Marketing
management scholars have also noted that, rather than strictly focusing on the core
service experience, it is important to examine value perceptions as a process that
includes remembered consumption experiences, that is, value in the experience
(Helkkula et al., 2012; Tynan et al., 2014). In this sense, value can be formed, fail
to be created or destroyed by the experience (Tynan et al., 2014).
Despite the growing coverage of customer-perceived value over the past decade,
researchers have advanced various definitions. For instance, perceived value has been
defined as the consumers overall assessment of the utility of a product based on the
perception of what is received and what it is given (Zeithaml, 1988, p. 4). In this
context, it has been treated as a uni-dimensional construct including give (e.g. payment/
effort) and take (e.g. quality) aspects together. However, studies addressing perceived
value by the customer have suggested that the construct is too complex to be
operationalised as uni-dimensional and solely utilitarian based (e.g. Woodall, 2003),
where it loses conceptual richness. Scholars suggest that consumers in the tourism,
hospitality and leisure industries do not assess value in purely economic terms and that
a broad view of consumer value with multiple components is more appropriate
(Bradley & Sparks, 2012; Gallarza & Gil Saura, 2006).
In taking the multidimensional perspective of value, marketing scholars view
perceived value as the customers perception of the benefits or advantages arising
out of a customers association and use with an organisations offering (Bradley &
Sparks, 2012; Holbrook, 1999; Woodall, 2003). For instance, Woodruff (1997)
defines customer value as a customers perceived preference for and evaluation of
those product attributes, attribute performances and consequences arising from use
that facilitate (or block) achieving the customers goals and purposes in use situations
(p. 142). Following the multidimensional approach to conceptualising perceived
value, Sweeney and Soutar (2001) advanced the perceived-value scale (so-called
PERVAL scale) based on Sheth, Newman, and Grosss (1991) consumption-values
work, which identified four dimensions: emotional value, social value and two types
of functional value (price/value for money and performance/quality). In a similar
fashion, Petrick (2002) developed a scale measuring the perceived value of
restaurants, identifying five dimensions: quality, emotional response, monetary
price, behavioural price and reputation.
In recent years, perceived value assessed as a post-purchase assessment of a
consumption experience and its relationship with future consumer behaviour has
been the object of attention by researchers in tourism. For example, Gallarza and Gil
Saura (2006) distinguished five value dimensions relating to benefits including
efficiency, quality, social, play and aesthetics relevant to student travellers. In a
later work, Williams and Soutar (2009) found that a five-dimensional model of value
including functional, value for money, emotional, social and novelty aspects had a
positive influence on adventure-travel intentions. In investigating festival-visitor
behaviour, Gursoy, Spangenberg, and Rutherford (2006) found that hedonic
(emotional) value explains festival attendance better than utilitarian (functional)
value. Reflecting the trend towards increasing complexity in dimensionality,
Bradley and Sparks (2012) argue that value is multi-determined, where consumers
anticipate and derive value through many sources, including product search,
marketing messages, word-of-mouth advice, product purchase and direct
experience and usage, amongst others. In sum, based on this collective research, we
argue that the nature of the group-travel consumption experience to major events
dictates that some portion of value creation will happen solely due to the group
nature of the travel format and the interactions that take place amongst the group
members (e.g. emotional, social), as well as any potential functional and financial
benefits that occur within the tourism experience, such as with the event itself and
related tourism infrastructure (i.e. transport, attractions and accommodation
facilities).
Despite this coverage of value in the literature, there currently exists no agreed
typology of customer value to investigate the value perceptions derived from a group-
travel consumption experience in the event-tourism context. Therefore, for the
purpose of this study, we follow the approach of Sanchez et al. (2006), Bradley and
Sparks (2012) and Sweeney and Soutar (2001), whereby value as a construct is
directly related to the perceived benefit or advantage one derives from a use
situation that motivates future behaviour. It is a subjective, contextually based,
comparative judgement that varies widely between individuals and between groups
(Bradley & Sparks, 2012), accrues from customers experiences and interactions with
the firm and others in an experience environment (Chen, Drennan, & Andrews,
2012) and can be characterised as an experience (Tynan et al., 2014; Vargo & Lusch,
2008). As the consumer evaluates not only the consumption experience but also the
purchase experience (Sanchez et al., 2006), we conceive of perceived value in the
context of this study as value derived by the customer of a past group-travel
consumption experience encompassing interactions with service providers and
other travellers to a major event, which is likely to be a critical determinant of
future decisions to travel in a group to a major event. Subsequently, we
conceptualise perceived group-travel value as a multidimensional construct with six
dimensions as described below (and graphically illustrated in Figure 1).
Social value
Social value is defined in this study as the perceived utility derived from the
association with one or more specific social groups in the group-travel experience.
In other words, value in the group-travel context is understood as being an
interactive experience with a particular social dimension (Gallarza & Gil Saura,
2006). In group-oriented event tourism, factors such as interactions and socialisation
between people travelling together, whether this is between passengers and the tour
guide on an organised travel package or amongst friends/family, may create social
value (Chen, 2013; Lo & Lee, 2011). Findings by Kahle and Riley (2004) in the
sports-events context note that events provide opportunities for groups to socialise
and that this enhances the overall experience. Their study found that the enjoyment
of the event is emotive and often heightened through group interaction.
Emotional value
Emotional value is a socialpsychological dimension that is dependent upon a
products ability to arouse feelings or affective states (Sheth et al., 1991; Sweeney
& Soutar, 2001). Emotional value is, thus, defined in this study as the utility that is
derived from the feelings or affective states that are generated from the group-travel
experience. Prior consumer behaviour research has demonstrated the importance of
the hedonic component in the experiences of buying and consuming in leisure,
Figure 1 Graphical model and results.

Note: * = significant at t > 1.96, p < 0.01. ** = non-significant at t < 1.96. Overall
perceived value of group-oriented travel behaviour is configured as a hierarchical
component, second-order construct.
Social value
Control variables**
.23* Age, Income, Gender,
Emotional value Prior group-travel experience,
Homophily
.23*
Monetary value .22* Perceived Value

of Group Travel
H1: = .22, 3.06*
.21*
Functional value
Enduring Event Group Travel
.17* H2: = .16, 2.39*
Involvement Intentions
Novelty value R2 = .27

.15* H3: = .16, 2.50*
Attitude Towards
Convenience Host Destination
value
aesthetic, creative and religious activities (Carlson & OCass, 2011; Havlena &
Holbrook, 1986; Holbrook & Batra, 1987; Williams & Soutar, 2009). Emotional
responses are likely in group-oriented, event-tourism experiences, including not only
the emotional highs of excitement, entertainment and escape that are associated with
the attendance at a major event (Gursoy et al., 2006; Lee, Lee, & Choi, 2011; Lee,
Petrick, & Crompton, 2007), but also the interactions that take place with fellow
travellers (Sparks, Bradley, & Jennings, 2011). Emotional value is, thus, likely to be a
key component in the consumption of group-oriented travel experiences to major
events.
Functional value
Functional value represents the perceived utility acquired from an alternatives
capacity for functional, utilitarian or physical performance (Sheth et al., 1991).
Common functional-value attributes include quality, reliability and durability
(Williams & Soutar, 2009). Accordingly, for this study, functional value is defined
as the utility derived from the perceived quality and performance of the group-travel
format. Therefore, we argue that, in the group-travel context, the quality of hotel
accommodation, airline/rail/car travel, event facilities and attractions visited and the
like may all influence functional value perceptions (Gursoy et al., 2006; Sanchez
et al., 2006; Sparks et al., 2011). For example, in a group-travel situation, there could
be a choice made for a better quality of travel and/or accommodation than in the
individual-travel context.
Novelty value
Novelty value is defined in this study as the utility derived from the arousal of
curiosity, novelty and desire for knowledge generated from the group-travel
experience. Novelty value is created when a product arouses curiosity, provides
novelty and/or satisfies a desire for knowledge (Sheth et al., 1991). Prior studies in
the adventure-tourism context have found novelty value to be a key component of
the adventure-tourism experience, as it includes the novelty of the activity and the
destination (e.g. Williams & Soutar, 2009). Furthermore, novelty, uniqueness and
seeking new knowledge are significant motives for travel due to tourists desire for
exploratory, novelty-seeking and variety-seeking behaviour (Crompton & McKay,
1997; Nicholson & Pearce, 2001). Therefore, novelty value is likely to be a key
component in the consumption of group-oriented travel experiences to major events.
Monetary value
Our conceptualisation follows Sweeney and Soutars (2001) argument that there can
be multiple functional value components, one of which captures monetary (or
financial) value and has been adopted by other tourism-value studies (e.g. Cheng &
Lu, 2013; Gallarza & Gil Saura, 2006; Sanchez et al., 2006; Sparks et al., 2011). This
dimension resembles the basis of the uni-dimensional view of value i.e. value for
money in terms of what I get for what I paid (e.g. Zeithaml, 1988). Monetary
value is accordingly defined in this study as the utility derived from the reduction of
perceived monetary costs by the group-travel format. Travel as part of a group has the
potential for monetary savings through things such as sharing the costs of
transportation, accommodation and food compared to travelling alone. Therefore,
the money saved by participating in the group-travel format is valuable to the travel
consumer.
Convenience value
Another functionally related value dimension is convenience value, which is defined
in this study as the utility derived from the ease of planning and organising the trip
when travelling as part of a group. We argue that the consumer makes a joint
evaluation of the ease with which the tourism product was planned and purchased
(Sparks et al., 2011). We view convenience value as being separate to the functional
value dimension (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001), which we see as referring more closely to
the quality, reliability and performance of the tourism infrastructure associated with
the group-travel format. Whereas, convenience value refers specifically to the notion
that a group-event travel experience provides advantages in the ease and speed of
planning and organising a trip to a major event (Sparks, Butcher, & Pan, 2007). In
doing so, the group-travel consumer is achieving this aspect of the task effectively and
the convenience gained by the group-travel format is considered advantageous and
valuable to the travel consumer.
As noted earlier, value as a construct in this study is directly related to the
perceived benefit or advantage one derives from a past group-travel experience (i.e.
a use situation), and is something consumers prize over other things that motivates
future behaviour. Petrick (2004) suggested that the perceived value of visiting a
destination or engaging in a specific type of travel strongly influences the future
intentions of travellers to re-engage in a similar travel experience. Recently,

marketing and tourism researchers have begun to address the need for a
multidimensional value perspective and have examined its direct relationship with
other post-consumption constructs, such as behavioural intentions. For instance, in
marketing, studies have shown support for the multidimensional construct of
perceived value influencing behavioural intentions across different service industries
(Floh, Zauner, Koller, & Rusch, 2014; Ruiz, Gremler, Washburn, & Carrin, 2008).
In the tourism context, Williams and Soutar (2009) found that three value
dimensions had a strong, positive influence on behavioural intentions (including
recommending the tour to others and participating in another tour in the future) in
an adventure-tour setting, whereas Gursoy et al. (2006) found that hedonic
(emotional) and utilitarian (functional) value influence festival attendance. Further,
Yen and Teng (2013) found that perceived value (including functional value, value for
money, emotional value, social value and novelty value) influenced behavioural
intentions to participate in film tours in the future. Based on this evidence, we
argue that a multidimensional conceptualisation of perceived value of a past group-
travel experience is formed by six dimensions (i.e. social value, emotional value,
functional value, novelty value, monetary value and convenience value). These value
dimensions directly related to the perceived benefit or advantage one derives from a
past group-travel consumption experience, and motivate future group-travel
behaviour. On this basis, we hypothesise that:
H1: Perceived group-travel value (configured as a multidimensional construct)

positively influences group-oriented travel intentions.
Enduring event involvement

Product involvement has been long recognised as a psychological variable that
explains individual differences that influence consumption-related behaviours
(Zaichkowsky, 1985). Conceptualised and measured in a variety of ways, product
involvement is generally related to self-relevance (Coulter, Price, & Feick, 2003).
Involvement is the extent to which the consumer views the object or activity as a
central part of their life, and sees the object or activity as meaningful, engaging and
important to them (OCass, 2000; Zaichkowsky, 1985). Consumers involved with a
product derive a great deal of pleasure from it (Laurent & Kapferer, 1985; Thorne &
Bruner, 2006). Highly involved consumers are more likely to pay greater attention to,
and exert more effort in, processing personally relevant information (Mittal & Lee,
1989). For the purpose of this research, we adopt enduring involvement as the
theoretical underpinning of the involvement construct in relation to the focal
object of interest in this study, which is the event.
Enduring involvement with the event refers to a consumers general, long-run
concern with a product (Richins, Bloch, & McQuarrie, 1992) that is independent of
a specific situation or circumstance (Laverie & Arnett, 2000). In the tourism context,
tourist products are, by nature, highly engaging and involvement is considered in all
stages of the tourist buying process (Seabra, Abrantes, & Kastenholz, 2014), where
enduring involvement has been found to influence travel intentions in different
contexts, such as natural attractions and casinos (e.g. Carneiro & Crompton,
2010). High levels of enduring involvement are likely when an individual perceives
an activity to offer hedonic benefits, such as attending a major sporting event, a
cultural festival or a music festival (Jang, Lee, Park, & Stokowski, 2000; Laurent &
Kapferer, 1985; Laverie & Arnett, 2000). For example, enduring involvement with
an event, such as a festival, can lead to heightened relevance to the consumer, where
they even purchase their tickets before any headline acts are known (Gration, Raciti,
& Arcodia, 2011). In this sense, visiting the destination associated with the
involvement object (i.e. event) can be perceived as a sort of pilgrimage (Lee, Scott,
& Kim, 2008). On this basis, an individuals ongoing interest with an event makes
them more likely to attend it (Pope & Turco, 2001).
Despite the volume of literature that has focused on involvement in the marketing
and tourism domains, research that empirically investigates the relationship between
enduring involvement with the event and consumers intentions towards group-
oriented event travel has been limited. What does exist suggests that domain-level
(i.e. category) enduring event involvement has a positive influence on group-travel
intentions (Regan et al., 2012). Qualitative work by Kyle and Chick (2002, 2004) of
campers attending a rural, agricultural encampment and fair in the United States
found that informants social networks both inspired their involvement with a rural
county fair and were also the primary reason for their continued involvement (Kyle,
Absher, Norman, Hammitt, & Jodice, 2007). On this basis, drawing from the
arguments found in leisure and tourism marketing, and consumer behaviour in
particular, we posit that an individuals level of enduring involvement with an
event (i.e., the event being the object of interest) will influence the likelihood of
their travelling as part of a group to attend a large-scale event (i.e. a stimulus
environment related to the object of interest).
Relevant to the group-travel context, the involvement literature suggests that there
is a socially situated aspect to enduring involvement that can play a role in facilitating
involvement, such as the anticipated development or reinforcement of friendships or
family bonds (Coulter et al., 2003). This can be seen to refer to the social worlds (c.f.
Scott & Godbey, 1992) we situate ourselves within, where the social ties to a leisure
activity, such as going to a festival, can act as a form of social bonding (Jun et al.,
2012). This is because an individual who has an on-going enthusiasm and interest
towards a specific large-scale event (such as the FIFA World Cup or Comic-Con
International sci-fi/comic convention) will be more likely to attend the event of
interest in a group of like-minded friends or enthusiasts than those consumers who
are less involved in that particular event (Kyle et al., 2007; Kyle & Chick, 2004),
especially if there may be some potential stigma attached (Kozinets, 2001). Given
the social-situated nature of group travel, we, therefore, argue that highly enduring
involved consumers with an event will be more likely to engage in group-oriented
travel. Thus,
H2: Enduring event involvement positively influences group-oriented travel

intentions.
Attitude towards the host destination

Tourist behaviour can be expected to be partly conditioned by the image that
they have of destinations (Li, Cai, Lehto, & Huang, 2010), that has been argued
as a central factor in understanding the destination-choice processes of tourists
for major events (Gibson, Qi, & Zhang, 2008). As individuals do not decide the
events location, the destinations image may act as an important determinant in
their potential participation in group travel to an event, particularly for those

major events that are not fixed to a destination every time the event is held. On
this basis, destination brand image, as perceived by travel consumers, has
become an increasingly significant component of event tourism and attendance.
The destination environment provides a myriad of informational cues that
consumers can use to form an impression of the typical visitor to that
destination where the event is to be hosted. Some of these cues include the
natural landscape, historic points of interest and tourism infrastructure (Sirgy &
Su, 2000). In this regard, the attitude towards the host destination of major events
can attract participants, spectators and tourists (Chalip, Green, & Hill, 2003).
Destination image is thought to represent a compilation of beliefs based upon
information processing that determine feelings about the destination that
subsequently lead to visit intentions (Baloglu & McCleary, 1999). In this sense,
there is an effort to reinforce the positive (and mitigate the negative) attitudes and
affective aspects of the destination hosting the major event to encourage event
participation. Prior empirical studies have shown that a favourable attitude
towards the host destination was predictive of motives to event participation
(Funk & Bruun, 2007; Gibson et al., 2008; Kaplanidou & Gibson, 2010;
Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2007; Regan et al., 2012). On this basis, we argue that
consumers with a favourable attitude towards the destination hosting the event
will be more likely to engage in group-oriented travel behaviour to the major event
in the future. Thus,
H3: Attitude towards the host destination positively influences group-oriented

travel intentions.
Methodology
A self-administered, web-based survey was used to collect the data to evaluate the
hypothesised relationships. Data collection involved an online panel survey,
conducted by a reputable market research firm, of randomly selected members 18
+ years of age in Australia who had travelled as part of a group to a major event
involving at least an overnight stay within the previous 12 months. Respondents
nominated a major event that they had travelled to in the past 12 months and
answered all questions with respect to travelling to, and attending, the nominated
event.
Construct measurement
Perceived group-travel value was operationalised as a multidimensional construct
assessing aspects of travelling in a group to a major event in the future. Twenty-
three items adapted from a variety of studies (e.g. Sanchez et al., 2006; Sparks et al.,
2011; Williams & Soutar, 2009) tapped six perceived-group-travel value dimensions:
social value (four items), functional value (four items), novelty value (four items),
monetary value (four items), emotional value (four items) and convenience value
(three items). Four items measuring enduring event involvement were drawn from
Regan et al. (2012), and four items measuring attitude towards the host destination
were drawn from Funk and Bruun (2007). Following related research by Bradley and
Sparks (2012) and Williams and Soutar (2009), all items used a seven-point, Likert-
type response scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Two seven-point,
Likert-style items adapted from Regan et al. (2012) and Kim and Chalip (2004) were
used to measure intentions to travel in a group to a major event next time, and, to
travel with the same group to a major event in the future (1 = extremely unlikely,
7 = extremely likely). To control for consumer heterogeneity, age, gender, income,
prior group-travel behaviour and homophily (which denotes the individuals attitude
towards the similarity of the travel group and was measured using three items drawn
from Ayeh, Au, & Law, 2013) were included in the model to ensure that the
empirical results were not due to covariance with other variables.
Results
Respondent profile
In this study, 424 completed responses were collected. The sample comprised 52%
female (48% male) respondents, with ages ranging from 18 to 79 (mean = 44 years),
53% being tertiary educated and with a variety of occupations represented
(mode = professional, 31%). The average income was AUD 40,00160,000, with
half (51%) earning more than AUD 60,000 per year. Respondents travelled with
friends only (41%), family only (30.2%), family and friends (23.4%) and packaged
tours (5.4%). The median group size and trip length were four people and three days,
respectively. A variety of major events were attended by respondents in the past 12
months, representing music (28.8%), sport (31.8%) and cultural and other events
(39.4%), with the event having been attended twice on average. Regarding travel
frequency, respondents made, on average, approximately three leisure trips in the
past year involving an overnight stay.
Empirical results and findings

Structural equation modelling (SEM) using partial least squares (PLS) was employed
for analysis of the survey data. PLS-SEM is ideal for studies with smaller sample sizes
(e.g. less than 500) (Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2014) and is more suitable to the
investigation of relationships in a predictive, rather than confirmatory, fashion
(Fornell & Bookstein, 1982), such as predicting the determinants of group-oriented
travel intentions to a major event. Furthermore, PLS-SEM allows for the
simultaneous analysis of reflective and formative constructed models (Hair et al.,
2014; Tung & Carlson, 2013). This is particularly the case where a second-order,
formative latent construct (in our case, perceived value of the group-travel
experience) is formed by six first-order, reflective latent constructs (i.e. social value,
functional value, novelty value, monetary value, emotional value and convenience
value).
In regard to model specification, we modelled the second-order construct by using
the hierarchical component model, where the indicators of the first-order reflective
constructs are repeated to measure the second-order formative construct (OCass &
Carlson, 2012). Considering the methodological works of Lee and Cadogan (2013),
it can be argued that it is appropriate to conceptualise the perceived group-travel
value construct as a formative, hierarchical latent variable because, conceptually, the
six identified dimensions are distinct in nature and are not interchangeable. This idea
is analogous to the understanding of Sheth et al. (1991), who propose dimensions of
customer value, where a decision may be influenced by one or all of the value
dimensions, where a change in one of the dimensions is not necessarily
accompanied by changes in all other dimensions. For instance, a decrease in
convenience value can occur separately and would not necessarily be accompanied
by a change in perceptions of functional value, monetary value or any of the other
salient value dimensions as perceived by the customer in reflecting upon a past group-
travel experience.
We conducted our analyses with the statistical software SmartPLS v2.0 (Ringle,
Wende, & Will, 2005), using a two-step procedure of first evaluating the measurement
model and then estimating the structural model. Whilst the measurement model
results are akin to that of principal component analysis, the path coefficients
calculated in the structural model can be interpreted in a similar fashion to that of
beta (path) coefficients in an ordinary-least-squares regression (Vock, Van Dolen, & De
Ruyter, 2013).
Given that a single source of information can introduce spurious relationships
amongst the variables, there is a need to test for possible common-method bias. As
this study collected data via single-source methods (self-report scales), testing for
common-method bias was warranted. To evaluate possible common-method bias, we
conducted Harmons one-factor test (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff,
2003), where all items, presumably measuring a variety of different constructs,
were subjected to a single-factor analysis. Evidence for common-method bias exists
when one factor accounts for most of the covariance. Using this approach, six factors
were extracted with eigenvalues > 1, and the variance explained was 71%. The first
factor accounted for 44% of the variance, with the second factor accounting for 10%
and the remaining four factors sharing 17% of the variance. As one factor was not
present (nor a common factor underlying the data), and as the majority of the
variance was not accounted for by one general factor, this suggests that common-
method bias was not an issue.
Assessment of the reflective measurement model

To examine construct reliability, the internal consistency was examined using both
Cronbachs and composite reliability. The measurement models internal
consistencies exceeded the recommended benchmark, with values clearly above the
common threshold of .70 (see Table 1). Likewise, the Average Variance Extracted
(AVE), which captures the portion of the reflective indicator blocks variance that the
associated construct can explain, exceeded the common threshold of .50 for all
reflective constructs (see Table 1). Overall, a good internal consistency of all scales
received support. Convergent validity, which detects whether the measures of a
construct are more correlated with one another than with measures of other
constructs, was also established. All indicator loadings for the assigned reflective
constructs had significant and high values (> .80), which are above the
conservative threshold of .70 (see Table 1).
Finally, discriminant validity, which determines whether the constructs are distinct
constructs, was clearly confirmed according to the FornellLarcker criterion (see
Table 2) (Hair, Sarstedt, Ringle, & Mena, 2012). With the FornellLarcker
criterion being satisfied, the square root of the AVE of each reflective construct has
Table 1 Outer model results.
Group-travel value dimensions:

Dimensions and manifest variables Loading t-value
Social value AVE: 0.83, CR: 0.95
I felt a sense of harmony with others in the group 0.91 71.18
I felt a sense of sharing 0.90 61.79
I felt a sense of camaraderie 0.90 68.67
I felt a sense of belonging with others in the group 0.92 75.52
Functional value AVE: 0.76, CR: 0.93
The standard of the trip was outstanding 0.88 52.75
The trip was done well 0.90 72.81
The trip was of an acceptable standard of quality 0.86 40.41
The trip was well organised 0.83 28.23
Novelty value AVE: 0.66, CR: 0.89
It satisfied my needs for a unique experience 0.85 40.83
It satisfied my curiosity 0.78 26.71
It was an authentic experience 0.84 45.62
We did a lot of things on the trip 0.80 29.93
Monetary value AVE: 0.84, CR: 0.95
It was a good return for the money 0.90 51.74
It offered value for money 0.91 66.24
It was a good purchase for the price paid 0.93 107.01
It was reasonably priced 0.92 65.77
Emotional value AVE: 0.81, CR: 0.94
It gave me feelings of wellbeing/enjoyment 0.89 64.70
It was exciting 0.86 49.14
It made me feel happy 0.92 103.82
It was fun 0.92 82.56
Convenience value AVE: 0.78, CR: 0.92
Planning and booking the accommodation was hassle free 0.80 30.86
The trip was easy to organise 0.92 92.45
It was simple to arrange the trip 0.93 91.70
Attitude towards the host destination AVE: 0.73, CR: 0.91
Gloomy exciting 0.90 60.83
Unpleasant pleasant 0.89 56.18
Sleepy arousing 0.80 30.69
Distressing relaxing 0.82 28.99
Enduring event involvement AVE: 0.83, CR: 0.95
The major event means a lot to me 0.94 120.57
The major event is significant to me 0.95 172.83
I consider the major event to be a relevant part of my life 0.89 58.85
I am interested in the major event 0.86 40.24
(Continued )
Table 1 (Continued).
Group-travel value dimensions:
Dimensions and manifest variables Loading t-value
Future travel intentions AVE: 0.83, CR: 0.91
How likely is it that you will travel in a group to a major event 0.94 106.92
next time?
How likely is it that you will travel with this same group to a 0.88 39.08
major event in the future?
Note: AVE = average variance explained; CR = composite reliability.
to be greater than its correlation coefficients with the other constructs; this means
that the shared variance for each latent construct and its associated indicators is
confirmed as being higher than the shared variance with other latent variables. As
such, the results in Table 2 confirm discriminant validity amongst the reflective
constructs of the study.
Assessment of the structural model

The model parameters, as depicted in the Figure 1, were estimated using PLS-SEM,
with the focus here on the inner-model results as they relate directly to H1, H2 and
H3. An examination of the model was undertaken via the path coefficients and
associated bootstrap critical ratios (t-values), the regression weights of the formative
constructs, the average variance accounted for (AVA) and the magnitude of the R2,
which indicates the amount of variance in a construct that is explained by the
predictor variables (De Vries & Carlson, 2014). Some scholars suggest that the
recommended R2 benchmark should exceed 0.10 (cf. Falk & Miller, 1992);
however, a value of 0.20 is considered high in consumer behaviour studies (Vock
et al., 2013).
The results presented in Figure 1 indicate that each of the six dimensions (social
value, functional value, novelty value, monetary value, emotional value and
convenience value) makes a significant contribution, with statistically significant
coefficients (t-values > 1.96) for each dimension forming a perceived value of
group-oriented travel and, thus, supporting the configuration of the perceived-
value construct. In H1, we predicted that the perceived value of the group-travel
experience has a significant, positive influence on future group-travel intentions.
The results provide evidence supporting H1 ( = 0.22, t = 3.06). In H2, we
predicted that enduring event involvement has a significant, positive influence on
future group-travel intentions. The results supported this hypothesis ( = 0.16,
t = 2.39). In H3, attitude towards the host destination was predicted to influence
future group-travel intentions, with the results supporting this prediction
( = 0.16, t = 2.50). In summary, the results of the direct effects of the
conceptual model confirmed our hypotheses, H1H3, with the explained
variance in group-travel intentions accounted for by perceived value of group-
oriented travel, enduring event involvement and attitude towards the host
destination being R2 = 0.27.
Table 2 Discriminant validity assessment for outer model reflective constructs.
Dimension 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Convenience value 0.89 (0.92)
2 Emotional value 0.54 0.90 (0.94)
3 Functional value 0.68 0.65 0.87 (0.93)
4 Future travel intention 0.32 0.43 0.37 0.91 (0.91)
5 Monetary value 0.62 0.56 0.62 0.35 0.91 (0.95)
6 Novelty value 0.47 0.73 0.60 0.30 0.57 0.81 (0.89)
7 Social value 0.55 0.65 0.62 0.44 0.56 0.65 0.90 (0.95)
8 Attitude host destination 0.48 0.58 0.59 0.41 0.51 0.59 0.47 0.85 (0.91)
9 Enduring event involvement 0.36 0.62 0.49 0.40 0.40 0.59 0.55 0.45 0.91 (0.95)
Notes: Diagonal entries are square root of AVE and composite reliabilities in brackets; all others are correlation coefficients.
Carlson et al. Cultivating group-oriented travel behaviour to major events
1079
Discussion and implications
The focus of this research was to examine an integrated theoretical framework that
showed the perceived value of the group-oriented travel experience, enduring event
involvement and attitude towards the host destination influence travel consumers to
engage in group-oriented travel intentions to major events. The empirical analyses of
424 travel consumers who have had prior experience travelling in a group to a major
event support all of the proposed hypotheses. In doing so, the study provides holistic
and contextualised customer experience insights into how these factors, working
together, contribute towards cultivating group-travel behaviour to major events,
which acknowledge the tourism-consumers service experience as a complex and
dynamic process that is not only uniquely related to the service offerings of service
providers but also considers the interactions and experiences shared with others
(Chen et al., 2012; Tynan et al., 2014).
The findings show that the group-travel consumers perceived value formed by
a range of dimensions derived from a past group-travel experience to a major
event, level of enduring involvement with an event and their attitude towards the
host destination act as important determinants in the prediction of future group-
travel behaviour intentions to major events. Furthermore, the perceived value
(consisting of six dimensions) derived from a past group-oriented travel
experience to a major event had the largest relative effect on participating in
group-travel to a major event in the future, followed by enduring event
involvement and attitude towards the host destination. Our findings further
support the important roles that enduring involvement with the event and
attitude towards the host destination play in the formation of group-travel
behaviour to major events, as they both exhibited a positive and significant
influence on future group-travel intentions.
Our findings clearly suggest that a simple, uni-dimensional measure of
perceived value is inadequate for capturing the complexities in how customers
perceive group-travel value to major events. Our study suggests that consumer
perceptions of value of a past group-travel experience to a major event are
influenced by a range of factors that should be considered by event and tourism
marketing managers and operators in the identification, measurement and creation
of customer-perceived value. For instance, building and extending on the work of
Gursoy et al. (2006), Sanchez et al. (2006), Williams and Soutar (2009) and others
on the multi-dimensional modelling of perceived value, our results suggest that
social and emotional value (i.e. hedonic) are the strongest drivers of overall
perceived-value-of-group-travel perceptions. This suggests that fostering social
interactions (e.g. encouraging positive impressions and social approval) and
positive emotional states and feelings are ways to improve perceived-value
perceptions for the group-travel context.
Following these were functional and monetary value (i.e. utilitarian), which
suggests that group-travel still needs to deliver on the quality, performance and
value-for-money expectations for group-travel consumers. In other words, not only
should group travel deliver monetary value (i.e. cost savings), but it also needs to
provide functional value, such as in the quality of the accommodation. Finally,
novelty and convenience value were not as strong predictors of perceived value,
but are still significant and relevant factors to consider as a basis for marketing
management decision making. Consequently, practitioners are encouraged to take

into account all of the aspects of value identified, and support and enable their
creation when designing, communicating and managing the event-tourism
consumption experience to the group-traveller market. For example, practitioners
in the event-tourism context may need to change and adapt their product to create
and embed new and novel consumption experiences for consumers who regularly
travel in groups and, possibly, to the same event each year to ensure they obtain
novelty value. In summary, the findings of this study echo Tynan et al.s (2014)
original premise that practitioners should be challenged to embrace the customers
perspective on value and recognise that value can be formed, fail to be created or
destroyed by the experience.
This study found that a positive attitude towards the destination hosting the
major event influenced future intentions to group travel to the major event. Major
events can attract participants, spectators and tourists (Chalip et al., 2003; Regan
et al., 2012), but event tourism also relies upon a persons attitude towards the host
destination. In short, a positive image can help destinations to develop and retain
customer loyalty in a sustainable way (Zhang, Fu, Cai, & Lu, 2014). This may be
particularly the case where the major event is located in different cities and
countries (e.g. the Olympics, FIFA World Cup) versus events anchored to a single
destination (e.g. Glastonbury music festival, Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix at
Monte Carlo, ANZAC day at Gallipoli, Turkey). Therefore, destination image
management is paramount in the group-travel context and should be used when
marketing a major event, especially where there are generally held favourable
attitudes towards the destination, such as London, Tokyo or Sydney (Regan et al.,
2012). Further, marketing communications must strive to effectively create,
maintain and improve the perceived image of the destination, by seeking to
illustrate how the emotions and feelings that form the attitude towards
the destination can be evoked and triggered by the destination offerings (Zhang
et al., 2014).
The study also found that enduring event involvement plays an important
influencing role. These findings support previous literature that demonstrates a
positive relationship between involvement and participation in specific activities
and recreational behaviour (Carlson & OCass, 2012; Carroll & Alexandris, 1997;
Funk & Bruun, 2007). Marketing efforts for music and comedy festivals, for
example, would benefit most from seeking to encourage enduring involvement to
the point where highly involved fans purchase their tickets before any headline acts
are known (Gration et al., 2011). This could also include targeting segments of the
event tourism market with high and medium levels of involvement with the event
through effective promotions that emphasise attending with like-minded friends. For
example, festivals with on-site camping, such as Glastonbury, could devise emotional-
based promotional campaigns that link the hedonic benefits of the event experience
with the social-world context of group travel, whereby the group experience becomes
a form of social bonding (Jun et al., 2012). This could also be achieved through
festivals utilising promotions on social media that tap into the social and emotional
value dimensions, for example, competitions to win a back-stage pass for the group to
the festival, such as posting the funniest group photo of a group of friends on
Instagram or Facebook or tell us in 25 words or less why your mates are the best
ones to share a muddy tent with.
Limitations and future research
As the current study is exploratory in nature, there are limitations and considerations
when seeking to compare and generalise these findings, which also provide avenues
for future study. Firstly, respondents nominated a large number of distinct major
events held in different destinations covering a variety of different categories that
they attended. Consequently, this heterogeneity may have attenuated the
relationships between the constructs of interest in the study. Therefore, future
research could consider focusing on conducting exits surveys on a single major
social event in order to control for the potential influence of event type, with a
number of such studies conducted to capture different major-event categories (e.g.
music festivals, sporting events, cultural festivals), so as to identify similarities and
differences. This will allow better insights to be gained in order to enable tourism
practitioners to efficiently target group-based, event-travel consumers.
Secondly, the constructs of perceived value and behavioural intentions in a services
context are intangible, elusive and difficult to measure, particularly in a tourism
context (Williams & Soutar, 2009). Although an empirically tested scale was used,
there is a possibility of unreliable responses. This has particular relevance where
retrospective sampling has been relied upon by consumers to recall past travel-
consumption experiences to complete the questionnaire. Although checks were
made to ensure the validity and reliability of responses, some responses may not
reflect the true perceptions of respondents. Future studies could measure actual
behaviour at the time of event consumption by way of an exit- or intercept-survey
approach.
Thirdly, the variance explained by the predictor variables on group-oriented travel
intentions was 27%. Consequently, this points to the need to identify other factors
that can explain that proportion of criterion variance left unexplained. One plausible
additional factor is the extent to which there is a match between travelling in groups
to major events and the travel consumers self-concept or desired social image (e.g.
Gration et al., 2011). Furthermore, the role of consumer personality traits and the
need for socialisation and high optimum stimulation levels may influence future
group-travel behaviour, particularly in a hedonic-centric tourism product of major
events and the high degree of participation and engagement that they can generate.
Future investigation could also focus on how travellers affect one another indirectly
by being part of the environment or more directly through specific interpersonal
encounters. These interactions and relationships are highly relevant, because they can
significantly influence the level of value perceived by customers as part of the broader
customer experience of group travel.
Fourthly, as this is one of the first studies in this area, further research is also
needed to explore the perceived-value construct in more detail in the group-travel
context. For instance, whilst the value framework used in the present study was
contextualised towards group travel for major-event tourism, there may be other
specific value dimensions that are relevant to group-travel event consumption that
could be incorporated into the value model. Despite these limitations, the insights
provided in the present study should help event managers in developing and
designing effective event marketing programmes that are tailored to suit the needs
of various market segments.
Contributions and conclusions
This study makes three important theoretical contributions to understanding group-

travel consumption experiences to major events in order to cultivate group-travel
behaviour intentions to major events, which is a rich and important sector within
tourism, but one that has not been extensively studied. Firstly, this study
conceptualises a novel theoretical framework that integrates, and extends,
customer-perceived value theory, involvement theory and destination image theory
to provide deep customer experience insights into the components that are used as
the basis upon which group-travel consumers develop their future group-travel
behaviour to major events. Secondly, by taking a holistic and contextualised view of
value in the experience from the customers perspective by adopting the recently
proposed customer-dominant logic (Helkkula et al., 2012; Tynan et al., 2014), the
study empirically validated the proposed conceptualisation of the perceived value of a
past group-travel experience that was configured as a multidimensional construct
formed by six dimensions, i.e., social value, emotional value, functional value,
novelty value, monetary value and convenience value. The contextual nature of the
group-travel format are evident in our study, resulting in the dimensions of social and
emotional value (i.e. hedonic) followed by novelty value being among the stronger
drivers of the higher-order overall perceived-value-of-group-travel construct. Equally,
the more utilitarian dimensions of perceived value of the group-travel experience (i.e.
functional, monetary, and convenience value) are still significant influencers in terms
of the creation of customer perceived value for this context.
Thirdly, the study identifies perceived value of a group-travel experience, enduring
involvement with the major event and attitude towards the host destination as
significant determinants of group-travel behaviour intentions to major events. In
doing this, the study successfully shows the relative effect of each of the
determinants on future group-travel behaviour to major events, with the perceived
value of group-travel notably being the strongest predictor.
In sum, the findings offer important insights to theory and practice for the design,
management and marketing of major event experiences to group-travel consumers to
contribute to the effort in attracting and cultivating a greater number of patrons to
destinations hosting major events. We trust that the study encourages other marketing
management researchers to investigate further determinants that underpin consumer
decisions to participate in group-based consumption experiences.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.
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About the authors

Jamie Carlson is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Faculty of Business and Law, the
University of Newcastle, Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Business with Honours I, and a PhD
in Marketing. His research interests include consumer behaviour, service performance and
branding. His publications appear in journals including the Journal of Marketing Management,
Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Consumer Marketing,
Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Managing Service Quality and numerous others.
Corresponding author: Jamie Carlson, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle,

Level 3, University House, Corner King and Auckland Streets, Newcastle 2300, Australia.
T +61249215578
E Jamie.Carlson@newcastle.edu.au
Philip J. Rosenberger III is a Lecturer in Marketing at the Faculty of Business and Law, the
University of Newcastle, Australia. He holds a PhD in Marketing along with a Master of
Business Administration from Erasmus University, Rotterdam. His research interests include
product and retail innovation, branding and sports marketing. His research publications appear
in Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, International
Journal of New Product Development & Innovation Management, Australasian Marketing
Journal, Sport Marketing Quarterly and others.
Mohammad M. Rahman is a Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Management, Shandong
University, P.R. China. He holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing), Masters of Business
Administration from the University of Houston, U.S. His research interests include tourism
marketing, international marketing, consumer behaviour, networking, SMEs and the
resourced-based view.
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Journal of Marketing Management, 2015

Vol. 31, Nos. 910, 10651089, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2015.1035309

Cultivating group-oriented travel behaviour to

Keywords customer experience; customer-perceived value; enduring

Scholars in marketing management have particularly called for greater research

Conceptual foundations and hypotheses

In this section, we first provide a literature review of relevant consumer behaviour,

Perceived value of the group-travel experience to a major event

Figure 1 Graphical model and results.

Monetary value .22* Perceived Value

Novelty value R2 = .27

intentions of travellers to re-engage in a similar travel experience. Recently,

H1: Perceived group-travel value (configured as a multidimensional construct)

Enduring event involvement

H2: Enduring event involvement positively influences group-oriented travel

Attitude towards the host destination

their potential participation in group travel to an event, particularly for those

H3: Attitude towards the host destination positively influences group-oriented

Empirical results and findings

Assessment of the reflective measurement model

Table 1 Outer model results.

Group-travel value dimensions:

Assessment of the structural model

Discussion and implications

management decision making. Consequently, practitioners are encouraged to take

Limitations and future research

Contributions and conclusions

This study makes three important theoretical contributions to understanding group-

No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.

OCass, A. (2000). An assessment of consumers product, purchase decision, advertising and

About the authors

Corresponding author: Jamie Carlson, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle,

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