Customer Value Satisfaction and Intentio
Customer Value Satisfaction and Intentio
Dr Paul Williams
The present study examined the relationships between customer value, satisfaction and behavioural
intentions in the relatively under-researched area of adventure tourism. The study used a
multidimensional “customer value” framework to assess the impact of value on a number of value
dimension on post-consumption constructs. Four hundred and two respondents provided their
perceptions of the value of a soft-adventure tourism experience in Western Australia and it was found
customer value had a strong, positive influence on satisfaction and intentions in such a tourism setting.
In addition, customer value had an indirect influence on customer intentions, with customer
satisfaction mediating the relationship between the two constructs.
Keywords
Customer value; Satisfaction; Intentions; Adventure Tourism
INTRODUCTION
There has been significant growth in the demand for adventure tourism products and services in recent
years, creating new and exciting research opportunities (Sung, Morrison and O’Leary, 1997).
Adventure tourists seek novel, challenging and exciting consumption experiences while holidaying.
These travellers tend to be young, educated, affluent, active thrill seekers who spend significant sums
of money in their quest for adventure (Christiansen, 1990; Tsui, 2000). However, little is known about
adventure tourism consumers’ specific behaviours. What do they want from their adventure
experiences? How often do they want to undertake such experiences? What gives them satisfaction?
What makes them come back for more? Many of these questions have not been addressed by empirical
research and the present study attempted to fill some of these gaps by investigating adventure tourists’
and the impact their value perceptions had on satisfaction and future intentions.
Value is a critical element in consumers’ consumption and decision making behaviour (e.g., Zeithaml,
1988; Sheth, Newman and Gross, 1991; Bolton and Drew, 1991; Sweeney, Soutar and Johnson, 1999;
Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). However, it has received considerably less attention than either service
quality or satisfaction (Woodruff, 1997) and researchers have devoted little attention to the
examination of central questions about the nature of value (Holbrook, 1994), which is surprising as
value is a richer and more complete measure of customers’ overall evaluation of products or services
than is quality (Woodruff, 1997) and deserves a more thorough investigation. The present study,
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which is discussed in subsequent sections after a short literature review, was an attempt to fill this gap
in a tourism context.
A LITERATURE REVIEW
Researchers have found confusing and conflicting relationships between service quality, value,
satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Indeed, Cronin, Brady and Hult (2000) noted a significant
divergence of opinion about these relationships, while Chang and Wildt (1994), found value was
mediated by quality and price and positively impacted on purchase intentions. They also found that
price had a direct (negative) effect and quality had a direct (positive) effect on purchase intentions.
There is also a widespread recognition of a link between customer satisfaction (including perceived
quality and perceived value) and re-purchase intention (Rust and Oliver, 1994). Similarly, satisfaction
is seen to be positively influenced by perceived value (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Woodruff, 1997) and
perceived value is negatively impacted by perceived price (Zeithaml, 1988; Chang and Wildt, 1994;
Sweeney, Soutar and Johnson, 1999). Thus, while there are some differences a consensus has
emerged that:
• Customer satisfaction is associated with value, which is influenced by service quality, as well
• One determinant of satisfaction is service quality and another is perceived value (Fornell,
• Service quality affects satisfaction (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985; Cronin and
Taylor, 1992).
• Cognitively-orientated service quality and value appraisals precede the emotionally orientated
In tourism, where service-based experiences predominate, there has been a lack of empirical research
into the relationships between value, satisfaction and behavioural intentions (Baker and Crompton,
2000), although there have been many customer satisfaction studies (e.g. Ryan, 1995; Chadee and
Mattson, 1996; Baker and Crompton, 2000). In tourism, like most other services, the consumption
experience is complicated by intangibility, dynamism and subjectivity (Botterill and Crompton, 1996;
Jayanti and Ghosh, 1996). Tourism consumption experiences include a complex mix of functional,
objective and tangible components (e.g. travelling, eating, drinking, and recreating), but also include
subjective, hedonic, emotional and symbolic components (e.g. enjoying, laughing, socialising and
having fun). Several studies have examined the heterogeneous nature of tourism consumption
experiences (e.g. Botterill and Crompton, 1996; Urry, 1990; Ryan, 1997), but there is a lack of
understanding about the nature of these experiences or their relationship with marketing constructs,
With this in mind, a multi-dimensional customer value framework appears to provide a way to unravel
some of the issues inherent in tourism consumption. The present paper discusses a study that assessed
the relative impact of different aspects of customer value on satisfaction and future customer
intentions. While the traditional utilitarian value dimension was included in the study, several socio-
psychological value dimensions were added (social value, emotional value and epistemic [or novelty]
value) as it was expected these additional dimensions would provide a better perspective of value in a
tourism context.
As already noted, the present study used a multidimensional value model as its core framework. The
model was initially suggested by Sheth, Newman and Gross (1991) and developed by Sweeney and
Soutar (2001) into their four dimensional PERVAL value scale. The present study adapted these and
• The consumption value model suggested Sheth Newman and Gross (1991).
• The behavioural intentions scale adapted from a number of prior research projects (e.g.
• Prior research into adventure tourism consumption (Christiansen, 1990; Hall and MacCarthur,
As the study’s interest was adventure tourism, data were collected from customers travelling on four-
wheel drive adventure tours to the Pinnacles in Western Australia, which is a popular destination for
tourists. The tours use specialist vehicles to manage an off-road component, providing a four-wheel
drive facility, safety and recovery gear, qualified drivers and satellite communications. The use of
paying passengers in the present study is noteworthy as many researchers investigating value and
satisfaction have used students as respondents (e.g. Tse and Wilton, 1988; Chang and Wildt, 1994;
Sinha and DeSarbo, 1998), largely due to convenience, time and cost considerations.
It was hoped that real data would improve our understanding of value, particularly in a real market
environment with real buyers and real sellers. As part of the study, respondents were asked about the
value of their experience, their satisfaction with the tour and their future intentions. The items used to
measure these constructs are shown in the Appendix. Approximately 450 paying passengers were
approached at the end of their return journey (but still while they were on the bus) after they had
experienced the tour and 428 questionnaires were collected. After checking the quality of responses,
and removing spoiled or illegible questionnaires, 402 questionnaires were used in the analysis reported
The data analysis followed a two-stage procedure. The first stage involved the calculation of
composite constructs for the various constructs of interest. Confirmatory factor analysis, estimated
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through the AMOS structural equation modelling package (Arbuckle and Wothke, 1999), was used to
estimate one-factor congeneric (composite) constructs that reflected the relationships between the
latent construct and its observed variables (the items in the questionnaire in this case) (Holmes-Smith
and Rowe, 1994; McGill, Hobbs and Klobas, 2003). The major advantage of a congeneric model is
that each item can have a different impact on the latent variable. This allowed for variations in the
degree to which each item contributes to the latent variable, which is more realistic than assuming
equal weights (Holmes-Smith and Rowe, 1994). This has not been the case in similar studies, where
simple summated scales have been used to represent a construct, once internal consistency has been
In the second stage of the data analysis, the composite constructs were used to estimate regressions
that explored the relationships between the various value dimensions, customer satisfaction and future
intentions. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to estimate the regressions
and to assess the magnitude, direction and statistical significance of the suggested relationships and
A summary of the backgrounds of respondents is shown in Table 1. Discussions with the tour
operators involved in the study suggested that the sample reflected their customer base well.
Frequency Percent
Gender Male 159 40
Female 237 60
Age 19 or less 9 2
20-29 123 31
30-39 98 25
40-49 51 13
50 or more 116 29
Country of Origin Japan 187 51
S.E. Asia 65 18
United Kingdom 54 15
Europe 18 5
Other 42 11
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Composite constructs were calculated through the one-factor congeneric procedure suggested by
Holmes-Smith and Rowe (1994). A minimum of four indicators were used to calculate the one-factor
congeneric model for each construct (Bollen, 1989) and the standardised loadings (regression weights)
for each indicator were estimated. While a loading of 0.60 or above is desirable (Bagozzi and Yi,
1988), items with a loading of less than 0.60 were retained if fit indices were acceptable and the
construct’s reliability was above the recommended minimum. However, an indicator was removed
Three methods were used to assess the constructs’ measurement properties. First, composite reliability
was calculated (Holmes-Smith and Rowe, 1994), with a minimum recommended reliability of 0.70
(Hair, Anderson, Tatham and Black, 1998). Second, the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for each
construct was calculated to assess convergent validity, with a recommended minimum of 0.50 (Fornell
and Larcker, 1981) and, third, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated, with a recommended 0.70 minimum
(Nunnally, 1978). As a general rule, it was expected that the three indices should be above their
respective minimum. However, if one was marginally below its minimum, reliability was accepted if
the other two were acceptable. The goodness of fit indices of a congeneric model are also a type of
validity test as, for a model to fit well, the items must represent the same latent trait (Holmes-Smith
As can be seen from Table 2, the recommended minimums for the goodness of fit indices and
reliabilities were acceptable for this dataset and the composite constructs of interest (the various value
dimensions, satisfaction and behavioural intentions). As can also be seen from Table 2, respondents
had positive perceptions about the value received from their tour, with four of the five value
dimensions having means above the midpoint “4” of the scale. The highest-ranking value dimension
was emotional value, with a mean of 5.1 out of a maximum possible score of 7.0. The social value
dimension had the lowest mean (3.0), suggesting respondents did not seek social approval from friends
by going on the tour. The traditional value dimensions of quality and price value were rated highly, as
expected, (4.8 and 4.7 respectively), but interestingly the novelty value dimension, which included
items such as experiencing new places, doing things not able to do at home and feeling adventurous,
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was also rated highly with a mean of 4.8. Respondents were also relatively satisfied, although a mean
of 4.2 could not be considered high. Despite this, respondents had positive intentions.
The initial regressions examined the impact that perceived (or received) value had on satisfaction. The
results of the stepwise regression procedure that was undertaken are shown in Table 3. The regression
was significant (F=315.66, p<0.001), with three of the value dimensions being significantly related to
satisfaction. The adjusted R-squared statistic was 0.77, which indicated that the value dimensions
impacted strongly on the tourists’ satisfaction, jointly explaining 77% of its variance.
The three value dimensions had standardised (beta) coefficients of 0.54 for emotional value, 0.29 for
value for money and 0.17 for novelty value, suggesting that these dimensions had a positive influence
on satisfaction, with emotional value being a more important predictor than the other two value
constructs. The low variance inflation factor (VIF) statistics suggested that multicollinearity was not a
problem and there was no evidence that regression analysis assumptions had been violated.
Interestingly functional value and social value were not significantly related to satisfaction in this case.
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Table 4 shows the results of regressing the value dimensions on people’s future intentions. Four of the
regression equation (F=73.110, p<0.001). The adjusted R square (0.50) indicated that the four value
dimensions included explained half of the variance in customer intentions. The standardised beta
coefficients suggested that the value dimensions had moderate, positive influences on customer
intentions. Emotional value had the greatest impact, as was the case for satisfaction, but the other
dimensions were of almost equal importance, although social value was slightly less influential. Again
The analyses indicated that there were direct, positive and moderate to strong relationships between
customer value and customer satisfaction and between customer value and customer intentions. A
further analysis was used to assess whether satisfaction mediates the relationship between value and
intentions. To test for this mediation, a series of regression analyses were undertaken using the three
The results of the mediated regression analysis are shown in Table 5. It can be seen in Step 3b that the
mediator and the predictor variables were included in the regression simultaneously. When the
suggested mediator was added with the dependent variable there was a significant decrease in
magnitude of the coefficient for the three value dimensions that were significant in Step 1. In other
words, the standardised regression coefficient between the various value dimensions and customer
intentions was smaller in each case when satisfaction was added. It seems that satisfaction partially
mediated the value - customer intentions relationship for epistemic and novelty value and fully
mediates the value - customer intentions relationship for value for money and emotional value.
The present study attempted to clarify a number of the suggested relationships between value,
satisfaction and intentions. The results confirmed the findings of a number of previous studies in
which customer value has been found to be an important antecedent to customer satisfaction (R-
Square 0.77) (e.g. Anderson, Fornell and Lehmann, 1994; Patterson and Spreng, 1997; Cronin, Brady
and Hult, 2000). Similarly, customer value was found to influence customer intentions (R-Square
0.50) (e.g. Bolton and Drew, 1991; Rust and Oliver, 1994; Patterson and Spreng, 1997). It seems that
adventure tour operators who provide value, particularly emotional value, value for money and
epistemic value (novelty), are more likely to have satisfied customers and those customers are likely to
Customer satisfaction was also found to mediate the relationship between three customer value
dimensions and customer intentions. This highlights the importance of measuring the direct and
indirect effects between value and intentions and supported the work of a number of researchers who
have noted this indirect effect (e.g. Patterson and Spreng, 1997; Cronin and Taylor, 1994; Baker and
Crompton, 2000). While these findings confirm the work of other researchers in this area, a number of
was often the case in previous studies. Emotional value, novelty value and value-for-money all
had a significant influence on satisfaction and intentions, indicating that value needs to be
(emotional value and novelty value). The measurement of value in a multidimensional framework
is important. In practical terms, it was clear the 4WD adventure operators need to provide socio-
Emotional value and novelty value were particularly influential, relative to the traditionally used
value for money dimension. Focussing on these value components may become even more
important as adventure tour customers become more discerning and sophisticated (Urry, 1990).
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2. Emotional value was the best predictor of satisfaction and intentions. Four-wheel drive adventure
tour operators need to explore ways of managing tourists’ positive emotions, such as happiness,
enjoyment, excitement, thrills and adrenalin rush. This finding lends support to a number of
studies that have highlighted the relationship between affective states and satisfaction (e.g. Oliver,
1993; Mano and Oliver, 1993; Dube and Morgan, 1996). This result is perhaps not surprising in an
adventure tourism domain, where hedonism and the pursuit of emotional highs, such as
excitement, are key motivators (Christiensen, 1990; Arnould and Price, 1993). Arnould and Price
(1993), for example, found high satisfaction with river rafting was related to extreme positive and
negative feelings, suggesting the emotions that precede and lead to exhilaration and excitement are
often fear, hesitation and apprehension (Priest and Baillie, 1987). Real and perceived risks are key
aspects of an adventure experience (Hall and McArthur, 1991) and the emotion-laden aspects of
risk (fear, exhilaration, excitement) are evident in the marketing literature of most adventure tour
companies. Clearly, the present study suggests that managers need to manage these aspects
effectively if they are to gain the satisfaction and future business of adventure tourists.
3. The study also clarified a number of the relationships between value, satisfaction and intentions
for tourism operators. The tourism industry has long recognised the importance of providing
satisfaction (Ryan, 1995; Chadee and Mattson, 1996; Baker and Crompton, 2000). However, the
present study showed that operators who provide value, through its respective dimensions,
generate greater satisfaction for their products. Specifically, if customers feel that they have
received good value, they are more likely to be satisfied with their experience. Similarly, the
present study reinforced the relationship between value and intentions, suggesting that providing
customers with greater value will lead to more positive word-of-mouth recommendations and
greater spending in the future. There is a strong consensus in the tourism industry that positive
word of mouth recommendations and repeat purchase are important stimulants for future business
(De Ruyter, Wetzels and Bloemer, 1997) and this was evident in the present study.
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CONCLUSIONS
The present study improved our understanding of the value construct and its relationship to
satisfaction and intentions in an adventure tourism context. An existing customer value scale was
adapted and extended to include a range of dimensions applicable to a tourism context. Previous
studies have tended to use simplistic value scales, which were either unidimensional (product is of
good value) or bi-dimensional (a trade-off between the quality of the products and price). The present
study suggests value is more complex, requiring a multidimensional conceptualisation with utilitarian
dimensions (functional value and value for money) and socio-psychological dimensions (emotional
value, social value and epistemic value). The use of a multidimensional value scale provided a richer
portrayal of the dynamics surrounding satisfaction and improved the explanatory power of the value
Consistent quality
Done well
Functional Value Acceptable standard of quality
Well organized
Enjoyed
Good feeling
Emotional Value Feeling of well being
Feel relaxed
Good choice
Recommend to others
Go on other tours in future
Intentions Go on other “adventure” tours in future
Go on other day trips while on holiday in future
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