AIO and staycation okie

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Using Lifestyle Analysis to Develop Lodging Packages for Staycation Travelers: An Exploratory Study

Alexandra James, Swathi Ravichandran, Ning-Kuang Chuang & Edward Bolden III

To cite this article: Alexandra James, Swathi Ravichandran, Ning-Kuang Chuang & Edward Bolden III (2016): Using Lifestyle Analysis to Develop Lodging Packages for Staycation Travelers: An Exploratory Study, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, DOI:

10.1080/1528008X.2016.1250240

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Published online: 14 Dec 2016.

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Using Lifestyle Analysis to Develop Lodging Packages for Staycation Travelers: An Exploratory Study

Alexandra James a , Swathi Ravichandran b , Ning-Kuang Chuang b ,

and Edward Bolden III c

a Park Event Coordinator, Walt Disney World, Kissimmee, Florida, USA; b Associate Professor of Hospitality Management, Hospitality Management, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA; c Educational Research and Assessment Specialist, Information Technology Services, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

ABSTRACT

When the U.S economy experienced a downturn in 2008, an

alternative to travel known as a “staycation” became popular.

This study investigated the lifestyle profiles of staycation

tra-velers by using Activities, Interests, and Opinions statements to

segment staycation travelers Because the largest percentage

of staycations is taken by the Millennial generation, students at

a university in northeastern Ohio were surveyed An

explora-tory factor analysis revealed six factors followed by a cluster

analysis, which revealed four clusters Travel packages that

hotels could create to market to members of the four clusters

were created Limitations and future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS

AIO; lifestyle; millennial; segmentation; staycation; travel packages; vacation

Introduction

When the U.S economy experienced a downturn in 2008, it affected the localpeople, businesses, gas prices, and the ability to travel and spend money onluxury goods (Fox, 2009) Since it would be “un-American” not to travel,people had to find alternative solutions (Sharma, 2009) One alternative totraveling became something known as a“staycation.” The term was first used

in 2003 by Terry Massey in the Myrtle Beach Sun-News He was describingthe nine days he spent at home in Myrtle Beach watching sports and setting

up a nursery for a new baby he and his wife were expecting (Doll, 2013).Although a number of different definitions are available, this study uses thedefinition provided by Yesawich (2010) which states that staycations involve

at least one overnight leisure trip/vacation within a 50-mile drive radius oftheir home

Due to the increasing popularity of staycations, cities and states havebegun promotions to attract customers and keep people spending theirmoney in the country instead of overseas The United States wants to givepeople the feeling of “being away” while staying in their home state or city

CONTACT Swathi Ravichandran sravicha@kent.edu Associate Professor of Hospitality Management, Hospitality Management, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.

According to Bracco (2013), tourism bureaus were promoting package tions to people in their city and surrounding states which centered on localtourist attractions such as the zoo and museums.

vaca-The demand for staycations increased after the recession hit the U.S.economy Local tourism is often overlooked by marketers; however, whenthe recession started, staycations were marketed to the middle class becausethey were affordable and within driving distance (Kay & Yawei, 2010) Thedistance between the destination and the consumer has a significant impact

on the number of travelers going to that specific location (Crampon, 1966).The goal of this study is to understand lifestyle patterns of staycationtravelers in order to be able to segment the market and create customizedpackages for each segment The specific research objectives are as follows:

(1) To understand the lifestyles of staycation travelers using the Activities,Interests, and Opinions (AIO) model

(2) To segment and profile staycation travelers; and

(3) To create staycation packages for each of the identified segments

Because the idea of staycations is relatively new, empirical studies onconsumer behavior for this market are unavailable To keep up with people’swants and needs, lifestyle segmentation can be conducted and used to enhancethe quality of the product and provide a more in-depth view of the variablesinfluencing consumers’ behavior (Gonzalez & Bello,2002) Price is one of theunderlying factors of taking a staycation, but marketers need to understand theother variables that influence the consumer’s decision to travel locally ratherthan take a traditional vacation (Fox, 2009; Kruse, 2009; Stein, 2012).According to Thyne, Davies, and Nash (2005), the assumption in marketing

is that consumer’s lifestyles will greatly impact and influence their tion behavior If lodging providers were to use lifestyle segmentation, it couldprovide “useful information on the specific consumption [in certain] contextsand general consumption patterns” (Scott & Parfitt, 2005, p 137)

consump-The widely used activities, interests, and opinions (AIO) model developed

by Plummer (1974) to segment the market comes with many benefits It canprovide new definitions to common demographic and product usage termsbecause it demonstrates the diversity of the definitions by adding anotherdimension to the target market (Plummer, 1974) It redefines the targetmarket and can uncover information that would not be found otherwisesuch as merging certain demographics together to create a new marketsegment (Plummer, 1974) Gathering lifestyle information from consumerscan also create potential for new products Since the data can show the needsand types of people and the potential population of the market, the existingproducts can be examined to see if it is meeting the consumer’s needs(Plummer, 1974) It can also explain why a product is doing well or poorly

on the market Understanding a segment’s lifestyle and usage patterns allowsmarketers to realize why consumers use or do not use a specific product(Plummer, 1974).

Understanding AIOs of consumers can be used to create unique packagesthat suppliers (in the case of staycations, lodging providers) can use to targetconsumers (Suresh & Ravichandran, 2010) Due to staycations becoming amore popular option for travelers, it is clear that more information abouttravelers’ needs is essential to better target and serve them in the future

Literature review

Staycation

Staycation characteristics and definitions

Americans have been taking summer vacations since the early 1900s and itstarted out with auto-camping Soon it turned into more extravagant tripswhere people would fly to their destinations instead of drive (Fox, 2009).Starting in 2008, since many Americans could not afford a typical vacationdue to a receding economy, increasing gas prices, and unaffordable air travel,people began taking what is called a“staycation” (Travel Agent, 2011) Due tothis, more cities began targeting local consumers by advertising and promotingwhat they have to offer and making this a more appealing option for travel.Staycation is defined as“a vacation in which the vacationer stays at home, ornear home, while creating the environment of a traditional vacation” (Wixon,

2009, p 2) Vackova (2009) provides a similar definition stating a staycation iswhere travelers stay at home rather than travel to another destination and usethat time to explore the local environment; such as staying in a city hotel orexploring the countryside near their home According to Yesawich (2010),research was conducted by the Ypartnership/Harrison Group to find out ifpeople were actually taking staycations The study concluded“one in four U.S.leisure travelers with an annual household income of more than $50,000 took

at least one overnight leisure trip/vacation within a 50-mile drive radius oftheir home during the previous 12 months as an alternative to vacationing in afarther destination” (Yesawich,2010, p 25) On the other hand, Sharma (2009)stated when taking a staycation, the family’s home undergoes various changes

to accommodate a vacation-style environment that includes days free of choresand packed with activities In this case the distance is minimal and thestaycation takes place directly at the family or person’s home rather than anoutside environment It is to be noted that existing definitions of staycationsare from industry sources as opposed to academic sources

For the purposes of this study, the definition provided by Yesawich (2010)will be used The decision to adopt this definition was made based on areview of existing literature and feedback from lodging industry experts who

served staycation travelers It is conceivable that staycations can involveinternational destinations for border regions; e.g., a trip to Niagara Falls forthose living near the US-Canada border.

Staycation market

The market for staycations became more prevalent in 2008 when the sion started Vacations are on the rise, 2011) Local tourism is often over-looked by marketers but when the economy dipped into a recession, themiddle class was the first group to be targeted for staycations because theywere affordable and within driving distance (Kay & Yawei, 2010).Ypartnership/Harrison Group 2010 Portrait of American Travelers pollfound that staycations were popular among adults living together who arenot married, with 37% taking at least one staycation in 2009 versus 25% ofthose who are married (Yesawich, 2010) Of the adults polled 32% who hadchildren took at least one staycation in 2009 compared to 21% withoutchildren (Yesawich, 2010) This poll brought in some insight as to who thestaycation traveler market may be; those who are single or have a family withchildren

reces-In 2015, about 68% of U.S travelers are planning domestic trips, makingstaycations a viable option for those on a strict budget and those who wouldrather take more shorter frequent vacations than one long one (TripAdvisor,

2015) Overall, travelers are choosing cheaper accommodations (22%), ning shorter trips (21%), and eating out less (17%) to help reduce their travelbudgets (TripAdvisor, 2015) According to Tuttle (2012), the U.S TravelAssociation conducted a survey which found that more than a third ofrespondents said that they would be driving to closer destinations to save

plan-on gas Even though gas prices were increasing, it did not stop people fromtraveling; rather it caused them to change their travel arrangements

College student travel

Field (1999) stated that many portions of the travel and tourism industrydevote significant resources to the college student market, as they continue tosearch for new customers According to the National Center for EducationStatistics (n.d.), approximately 20.2 million students attended Americancolleges and universities in 2015, resulting in an increase of 4.9 millionsince fall 2000 Kim, Oh, and Jogaratnam (2007) stated that it is necessary

to understand travel motivations and patterns and decision-making behavior

of the college student marketing because this segment has more time to travelduring spring, summer, and winter breaks; they also make significant finan-cial contributions to the tourism industry Young travelers, in 2012, spent

$217 billion of the $1.088 trillion tourism dollars worldwide, according to astudy by the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation(Mohn, 2013) According to the same study student spending increased by

40% since 2007, despite the global economic climate Students were alsofound to have varied needs with respect to services desired (Mohn,2013).Shields (2011) found that college students’ wanderlust continued to inspiretheir future travel behavior; the financial commitment for the desire to travelwas particularly strong for female college students Richards and Wilson(2004) analyzed survey data collected by the International Student TravelConfederation and the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education andfound that students were frequent travel consumers with previous experi-ence The authors also concluded that student travelers had a desire toexplore other cultures and liked activities such as visiting historical sites,dining at cafes and restaurants, and shopping In an attempt to understandthe motivations and holiday activities of the student travel market, Bicikova(2014) conducted a cluster analysis and found the existence of four distinctclusters Research related to travel motivations and behaviors of collegestudents is still evolving, necessitating further study of this profitable andniche market segment (Bicikova,2014; Kim, 2003; Shoham, Schrage, & VanEeden, 2004).

Promoting staycations

States have begun marketing historic sites and events to keep people’s moneywithin the country and use it to get the economy back on its feet (Cole,2008;Snyder-Bulik, 2012) Also, the United States is attempting to give people thefeeling of “being away” while staying in their home state Most states havecreated a tagline to attract visitors, such as Illinois’ “Mile after magnificentmile” or California’s “Find yourself here” (Snyder-Bulik, 2012) Providingservices and attractions that other states cannot offer will set that state apartfrom the competition

According to Bracco (2013), tourism bureaus are promoting vacationpackages to people in their city and surrounding states which center onlocal tourist attractions such as the zoo and museums Hotels are offeringstaycation discounts and partnering with local businesses such as the Priory’sHotel in Pittsburgh, PA (Bracco,2013) The Priory’s Hotel has been offeringstaycation packages since 2008 making planning easier for the travelers(Bracco, 2013) Fairmont Hotels used social media to promote “Spring is agreat time for a staycation Did you know many hotels offer special residentrates/discounts for locals?” (Bracco, 2013) Forming partnerships with localbusinesses can help promote the area and generate more interest Forinstance, the Utah Valley visitor’s bureau had offered a “Ski & Stay” package

at Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort which included 20% off hotel and 10%off lift tickets (Bracco, 2013)

Local travel within the U.S has also prompted restaurant chains to adoptthe staycation idea too According to Kruse (2009), chefs have been respond-ing to staycations by offering specials inspired by American cuisine and local

favorites For example, Red Lobster created dishes that included New Orleansshrimp jambalaya and a Maine lobster-and-crab bake Even Steak N Shakemarketed to staycation travelers by featuring the Wisconsin ButterySteakburger and a Western barbecue-and-bacon Steakburger in the summer-time (Kruse, 2009) It gave consumers the feeling of eating food from adifferent part of the country in their hometown IHOP encouraged people

to take staycations and submit them into their “Staycation Stories” contestfor a chance to win a “Hawaiian Pancation” trip (Kruse, 2009) Celebratingprevious staycation adventures for a chance to win an out-of-state vacation isboth creative and beneficial to IHOP

Kotler and colleagues (2014) identified four segmentation bases includinggeographic, demographic, behavioral, and lifestyle While geographic seg-mentation involves dividing the market into geographic units such as states,regions, cities, and neighborhoods, demographic segmentation divides themarket based on factors such as age, life cycle, gender, and religion.Behavioral segmentation divides the market into groups based on factorssuch as usage rate, user status, and loyalty status (Kotler et al., 2014).Although classical segmentation methods such as utilization of demographicsprovide a lot of personal details about the consumer, they fall short ofidentifying motivations that drive consumer behavior (Bruwer & Li, 2002).Lifestyle segmentation

As discussed earlier, although there are different approaches that can betaken when segmenting a market (Assael & Roscoe Jr., 1976), this studyfocuses on psychographic or lifestyle segmentation Kotler and colleagues(2014) stated that marketers are increasingly segmenting the markets byconsumer lifestyles Psychographics relate to data concerning lifestyles ofconsumers and their activities, interests, and opinions (AIOs), which can

help marketers understand the way of life of consumers (Moutinho, 2000).Wells and Tigert (1971) were the first to use Activities, Interests, andOpinions (AIO) rating statements to better understand the lifestyles ofconsumers in specific markets (Plummer, 1974) The AIO model can helpcreate new products and explain why certain products are successful orunsuccessful (Plummer, 1974) Using this model can help marketers under-stand a target market that is unfamiliar or new and understand what theirwants, needs, and lifestyles are in order to create successful products Sincethe staycation market is relatively new and unfamiliar, the AIO model canidentify the lifestyle of this specific target market.

AIO segmentation in travel and tourism

Konu (2010) studied the lifestyles of Finnish tourists in order to determinethe potential of creating a wellbeing tourist segment, as well as find anystatistically significant differences between the segments The AIO model wasused to classify tourists into potential segments based on 24 lifestyle ques-tions Once the data were collected the following six segments were identi-fied: sport and nature people interested in technology, home appreciatingtravelers, family and health oriented sport and nature people, culture appre-ciative self-developers, material wellbeing appreciatives; and people indiffer-ent about traveling and social issues (Konu, 2010) Overall, understandingthe various differences and similarities of the segments is beneficial becausemanagers can see the potential for new customers Being open to new ideascan lead to a profitable market segment for the company and help them growtheir customer base Using AIO can help managers and marketers discoverthese potential customers and be successful

Using AIO can increase creativity in marketing, better position a product,and select the most appropriate media channels to target consumers(Berkman & Gilson, 1974) Another benefit to using AIO is it helps market-ers weigh the pros and cons of targeting a new market segment The analysiscould reveal that a particular market segment is unlikely to use the product

or service which would save time and money for marketers For example,Todd and Lawson (2001) did a study on consumers in New Zealand visitingart galleries and museums using AIO to learn more about the visitor andnon-visitor segments as well as determine how these visits fit into eachsegment’s lifestyle The researchers sent out questionnaires to a randomsample and identified seven segments; active ‘family values’ people, conser-vative quiet lifers, educated liberals, accepting mid-lifers, success-drivenextroverts, pragmatic strugglers, and social strivers (Todd & Lawson, 2001).Next, the segments were analyzed by their visiting behavior; never, yearly,monthly and weekly Understanding how often the different segments visitthe art galleries and museums could greatly influence the marketing strate-gies used to target them (Todd & Lawson, 2001) For example, some

segments, such as conservative quiet lifers, may not visit museums or artgalleries because it is not conducive to their lifestyle They prefer to stay athome and not look for entertainment outside their home or enjoy socialevents (Todd & Lawson, 2001) Knowing the lifestyle of this particularsegment makes it very clear it would not be a profitable market to targetand that efforts should be put somewhere else Analyzing the other sixmarkets will provide insight as to which markets to focus on especiallywhen the market is unfamiliar.

Moscardo (2004) also studied a newer segment involving the lifestyles of1,258 park visitors to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in the north-eastern part of Australia and compared their service quality ratings andoverall satisfaction Surveys were distributed in departure lounges in theCairns Airport and only visitors were asked to participate in the study Thesurvey comprised of five sections related to regional travel behaviors, rain-forest site visitation, rainforest travel features, satisfaction and socio-demo-graphics (Moscardo, 2004) Activity, interest, and opinion statements wereused to determine rainforest travel features and create segments Four groupswere identified and compared resulting in differences between the groups onthe variables studied For example,“Wilderness Adventurers” preferred phy-sical activities and escaping from other people whereas “Just PassingThrough” preferred to socialize with friends and family and had a lowerappreciation for nature (Moscardo, 2004) Most visitors had a high satisfac-tion with their rainforest experience and perceived quality

Lee and Sparks (2007) studied the differences in lifestyles and travelbehaviors between two groups of Koreans: those living in Australia andthose living in Korea A survey was distributed in public places to collectresponses from these two groups and 554 usable surveys were analyzed Thesurvey included 33 travel-specific lifestyle items selected from AIO state-ments used in previous literature (Lee & Sparks,2007) The items were rated

on a 7-point Likert scale measuring the mount of agreement/disagreementwith the statements The data revealed seven factors that were divided intofour segments: culturally safe travelers, non-sports activity seeking travelers,independent active travelers and group travelers (Lee & Sparks,2007) It wasfound there were significant differences between the two groups of travelers.For instance, Koreans in Australia took more frequent and longer holidays,and preferred independent travel whereas Koreans prefer to travel in groupsand take holidays for less than a week (Lee & Sparks, 2007) Gathering thisinformation on the two groups could help marketers extend their markets tomulticultural countries by understanding the needs and wants of neighboringcountries (Lee & Sparks, 2007)

Chen, Huang, and Cheng (2009) focused their study on Taiwanese lers and understanding their vacation lifestyle Surveys were distributed tothose tourists visiting the Ken-Ting National Park in Taiwan and 420 usable

trave-samples were collected The survey included 37 AIO statements regardingvacation characteristics that were measured on a 6-point Likert scale (Chen

et al.,2009) The responses produced five factors which in turn created threeclusters: family oriented travelers, stylish travelers, and social oriented trave-lers The three groups had statistically significant differences in the followingvacation characteristics: frequencies of international travel, the averageexpenditure of accommodations per night and hotel preference (Chen

et al., 2009) The authors suggested tourism marketers use this information

to better market Taiwanese tourists and focus on the important variables thatthe tourist segments desire (Chen et al., 2009)

Matzler, Hattenberger, Pechlaner, and Abfalter (2004) studied the influence

of lifestyle on guest satisfaction among skiing tourists, more specifically inAustria and Italy The sample was randomly selected from German speakingskiing tourists in 10 different resorts in Tyrol, Austria and South Tyrol, Italy.The survey was self-administered and produced a sample size of 1,042 tourists(Matzler et al., 2004) The survey included socio-demographic information aswell as 24 AIO lifestyle statements The analysis revealed seven distinct groups

of skiing tourists according to their lifestyles: pleasure seeker, work-oriented,couch potato, family oriented, committed helper, the average, and cultureinterested (Matzler et al., 2004) It was found satisfaction among tourists wascorrelated to the overall satisfaction with the destination In addition, it is notenough for marketers to only measure customer satisfaction, but also under-stand their lifestyles in order to identify the most attractive market segmentsand increase customer satisfaction (Matzler et al.,2004)

Benefits of lifestyle segmentation

Psychographic data can predict consumption and/or buying behaviors ofconsumers making it easier for marketers to direct their promotions to aspecific market (Bruwer & Li,2007; Moutinho, 2000) The more a companyknows about their consumers, the more effectively they can communicateand market to them (Schewe & Calantone, 1978) Psychographic segmenta-tion can also lead to more effective positioning of the company and placesimportance on how consumers spend their time, their interests, and attitudestowards various types of products (Moutinho, 2000) According to Thyneand colleagues (2005), lifestyle segmentation is more beneficial than segmen-tation based on demographics because it lets marketers understand themotivations that drive their choices and goals they have set for themselves.Wedel and Kamakura (2000) stated that psychographics or lifestyle canprovide insights into consumer behavior by utilizing multiple psychologicaldimensions including how s/he lives, things s/he is interested in and his/heropinions on diverse topics Using the lifestyle variables for segmenting themarket can provide insights for marketers as to how leisure time is spent andwhat type of vacationers exist It can also classify the differences in tourist

consumption behaviors for each segment because it shows the personalitytraits of the consumers through their lifestyle choices (Chen et al.,2009) As aresult, lifestyle information can be used as a predictor of travel behaviorwhich otherwise would not have been found through demographic informa-tion Also, studying lifestyles can help predict behaviors of leisure travelers,concentrate on the most profitable groups, target new market segments, andeven determine hotel choices made by consumers (Gonzalez & Bello, 2002;Ignatov & Smith, 2006; Millar & Mayer, 2012; Tkaczynski & Rundle-Thiele,

2013; Zins, 1998)

Critiques of lifestyle segmentation

Lifestyle segmentation is useful for communication purposes in marketing,but it can also be seen as too general to predict specific behavioral differences(Moutinho,2000) Another issue with lifestyle segmentation is the trade-offbetween the general application of the results and the need for a morespecific analysis (Scott & Parfitt, 2004) Segmentation developed throughgroupings or cluster analysis are not usually generalizable beyond the originaldata Instead of using a system for marketing in general, lifestyle segmenta-tion provides insight to problems that are highly situation specific.Sometimes researchers can develop a framework from the groupings orclusters for a classification that relates to a wider theory (Scott & Parfitt,

2004).with lifestyle segmentation, the benefits, as discussed earlier, are dant to marketers

abun-Rationale for the study

After reviewing the literature on staycations, it is evident that very little researchhas been conducted on the lifestyles of staycation travelers (Alexander, Lee, & Kim,

2011; Bracco,2013; Cole,2008; Fox,2009; Kay & Yawei,2010; Kruse,2009; Martin,

2012; Sharma,2009; TripAdvisor, 2015; Tuttle,2012; Vacations are on the rise,

2011; Vackova, 2009; Wixon, 2009; Yesawich, 2010) Even though staycationsbecame popular after the recession hit the American economy in 2008, statisticsshow many travelers are still considering taking a staycation even as the economyrebounds (Martin, 2012) This shows that staycations will not be a trend butbecome more of a lifestyle for Americans creating a need to study the staycationtraveler’s lifestyle in order to properly segment and market them According toPant (2014), staycations are very popular still among travelers because it isinexpensive and does not involve heavy planning like a traditional vacation

To date, there are no empirical studies on the activities, interests, andopinions of staycation travelers, leaving hospitality and tourism professionalsand researchers unfamiliar with this market segment Since the staycationmarket is somewhat unfamiliar, using the AIO model will provide insightsinto the wants, needs, and lifestyle characteristics of staycation travelers in

order to properly segment the market and create travel packages for lodgingproviders to offer (Plummer, 1974) A better understanding of staycationtravelers, in this case, through lifestyle segmentation, has numerous consu-mer behavior research implications including (a) identifying specific marketsegments based on identified lifestyle dimensions of staycation travelers(Kucukemiroglu, 1999); (b) identifying placement and tone of promotionalmethods to reach specific target markets (Todd & Lawson, 2001); and (c)studying variation of satisfaction levels based on lifestyle groups (Fuller &Matzler, 2008).

In addition to adding to the scant literature on staycations, lodging providerscould benefit from this research by knowing how to design packages targeted tostaycation travelers because it generates revenue for the local economy andforms partnerships between local businesses (Bracco, 2013; Bronner & Hoog,

2012) Gaining a better understanding of the term‘staycation’ can help ers decide which strategies to use such as source of media, type(s) of activities tofocus on, and willingness to pay by consumers (Alexander et al.,2011) Also,understanding the distance traveled by staycation travelers can make marketingmore effective and aimed directly at the market segment (Alexander et al.,2011).Due to its popularity, it is evident that more information is needed on thismarket segment which would help marketers and industry professionals servethese travelers better in the future

market-Methodology

Sample selection

Although there are multiple definitions of staycation, for the purposes of thisstudy, a staycation is defined as an overnight leisure trip/vacation within a 50-mile drive radius of the traveler’s home taken during the previous 12 months as

an alternative to vacationing in a farther destination (Yesawich,2010)

To gather data on staycation travelers and understand their lifestyle, asurvey was distributed in-person to a convenience sample of college students

at a Midwestern university College students are an appropriate sample tostudy staycation travel behavior for several reasons They are budget con-scious, travel shorter distances for trips more frequently, and may be single

or married with or without children (Best Universities.com,2011; Yesawich,

2010); all characteristics of staycation travelers In addition, according toYesawich (2010), 37% of staycations were taken by the Millennial generation(18–30); an age group represented by college students Because it is acknowl-edged that lifestyle segments can vary by generation (e.g., Valentine &Powers, 2013; Wright, 2006), this study focused only on the Millennialgeneration The “Myth” of Millennials’ homogeneity and distinctiveness(Henderson, 2010) may be determined by the choice of specific groups as

populations of study—such as college students (Bakewell & Vincent-Wayne,

2003; Cowart & Goldsmith, 2007; Martin & Turley,2004; Noble, Haytko, &Phillips, 2009) Specifically in a travel context, past studies (e.g., Hahm,Upchurch, & Wang, 2008; Shields, 2011) have employed college studentsampling to represent Millennials

Chen and Kerstetter (1999) stated that the student segment of the leisuretravel market is not only vast, but economically important While a note-worthy multimillion dollar business, the student travel market has not beenresearched sufficiently (Chadee & Cutler, 1996) Little is known, in general,about travel patterns of college students (Shoham et al.,2004)

Instrument design

In order to create the AIO statements for the survey, two focus groups wereconducted to identify the top lifestyle dimensions for staycation travelers(Matzler et al., 2004; Vyncke, 2002) Nassar-McMillan and Borders (2002)stated that focus groups were a particularly effective way to develop surveyinstruments because they minimized bias in the selection of specific surveyitems Suresh and Ravichandran (2010) utilized this method to developsurvey items in a study involving lifestyle analysis of wellness tourists Inaddition to the focus groups, past research related to student travel motiva-tions and behavior was consulted (Bicikova, 2014; Kim, 2008; Kim et al.,

2007; Richards & Wilson, 2004; Shoham et al., 2004)

The focus groups in this study consisted of students from a Midwesternuniversity with junior, senior, or graduate standing from a variety of majors.Each group member was given a handout with a table listing the activities,interests, and opinions variables and sub-variables as stated by Plummer(1974) Both of the groups were briefed on the research objectives and thevariables and sub-variables of the AIO model The group members were alsobriefed on the definition of a staycation and the reasoning for the study Groupmembers were asked to name one item under each category directly related tostaycation travelers (Lin, 2003) Each focus group had between 6 and 12participants, which is an acceptable number (Guest, Bunce, & Johnson, 2005;Morse,1994) The first group unanimously decided on the main activity being

“entertainment” and interests being “food.” There was some debate on theopinions dimension but the group came to the conclusion of“culture” becausethey felt people wanted to immerse themselves into their surroundings whiletraveling The second focus group agreed with the first group identifying

“entertainment” as the main activity and “food” as the main interest Thesecond group identified “themselves” as an opinion because when taking astaycation, travelers would focus on what their wants and needs are Overall,the results showed the main activity was“entertainment,” interest was “food”and opinions were “culture” and “themselves.”

In addition to the AIO statements, demographic information was alsocollected to further define the travelers and segment them appropriately.Responses to the AIO statements were completed using a 5-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

Data collection

A pilot study was conducted utilizing 20 upper-level undergraduate students andgraduate students to obtain feedback on the clarity of questions Overall, ques-tions were perceived to be clear and applicable to the study’s goals To collectdata from university students with different majors across campus, variousstudent groups on campus containing junior, senior, and graduate studentswere contacted to explain the purpose of the study Only these students werecontacted because the researchers felt they would have more access to theresources needed to take a staycation compared to underclassmen The studentgroups’ permission to distribute the surveys during the last 10 minutes of themeeting was sought Distributing the surveys in the classroom where the meet-ings were held produced a potentially larger sample size and higher response rate(Reisinger & Mavondo,2004) Of the 397 surveys distributed, 390 were returned,yielding a 98% response rate Of the 390 surveys, only 297 were deemed usablefor the study due to incomplete responses or respondents not meeting therequirement of being a junior, senior, or graduate student

Data analysis techniques

Once the surveys were completed, data was tallied and organized for analysisusing two steps: factor analysis and cluster analysis Factor analysis identifiedthe underlying dimensions in the data by condensing the specified variables.Next, the data from the factor analysis was used in a cluster analysis tocompare the groupings of the data Matzler and colleagues (2004) recom-mended using hierarchical and nonhierarchical methods to identify clusters.The hierarchical method determined the number of clusters, and the nonhier-archical method improved the relationship between the points in the clusters(Matzler et al., 2004; Milligan,1980) This study used both methods to clusterthe groups and later create travel packages for lodging providers to market

Results

Demographic characteristics and descriptive statistics

Participants surveyed in this study included 94 male and 206 female students(see Table 1) The majority of the respondents were between 18 to 24 yearsold (89%; n = 267), single for marital status (92.7%; n = 278), and junior

students (42%; n = 126) For “Family Life Cycle,” 80.7% (n = 242) reported

“young single” with the next largest group being “young couple (no dren)” at 14.3% (n = 43) of the sample About a two-thirds of the respon-dents (65%; n = 195) had taken a staycation within the past year The averagetrip length was about 2.6 days with the average distance traveled being

chil-48 miles and the average budget approximately $240

It is acknowledged that there were more female respondents than male.This is consistent with several past studies (e.g., Moore & Tarnai, 2002; Sax,Gilmartin, Lee, & Hagedorn, 2008), where women were found to be morelikely to participate in surveys compared to men While employing studentsampling, Underwood, Kim, and Matier (2000) also found that, no matterwhat type of survey, women respond to surveys more than men It should benoted that, as required by the Institutional Review Board, every effort wasmade to recruit a diverse group of participants

Respondents were asked to identify which source(s) were mostly enced for vacation information The most frequently referenced sources werethe internet (n = 198), followed by friends and/or relatives (n = 187), tele-vision (n = 18), newspaper (n = 16), and others (n = 10) The total frequen-cies for all the items will be more than the sample size due to respondentsselecting more than one answer Finally, frequencies of responses related to

refer-Table 1 Demographic characteristics of respondents.