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Mountain Bikers' Attitudes Towards Mountain Biking Tourism Destinations

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Mountain Bikers' Attitudes Towards Mountain Biking Tourism Destinations MOUNTAIN BIKERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOUNTAIN BIKING TOURISM DESTINATIONS BY JULIE MOULARDE A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Tourism Management Victoria University of Wellington 2015 Abstract This thesis, grounded in consumer culture theory, delves into the sociocultural dynamics involved in tourist attitude content and formation. It addresses gaps in special interest tourism, sports tourism and tourist attitudes towards destinations literatures and further knowledge of mountain biking tourism, a niche, but growing, market. Qualitative methods grounded in interpretivism were used to understand how mountain bikers purposefully traveling to mountain bike tourism destinations form attitudes towards these destinations. Twenty-five mountain bikers from Wellington who qualified as serious leisure participants and had previously travelled for the primary purpose of mountain biking were interviewed. Social influence – through social ties, interactions and subcultural involvement – plays a central role in the respondents’ travel motivations and information search process, and thus influences attitude formation, strength and content. Therefore, the respondents are grouped based on centrality of mountain biking identity and subsequent desire to align with the subculture, and differences in attitude formation processes are highlighted. The respondents hold positive attitudes towards most destinations, emphasizing the need to investigate attitude strength and degree of positivity. Four main evaluative dimensions of attitudes are detailed (adventurous, natural, social and utilitarian). It is established that attitudes towards tourism destinations are (1) a qualitative evaluation of the experience anticipated or enabled rather that a quantitative appraisal of attributes, (2) continuously adjusted from the point of naïve awareness onwards, and (3) most relevant and revealing when operationalised as holistic summary evaluations rather than interrelated components. Based on an increased understanding of attitudes towards mountain biking tourism destinations, their formation and mountain biking subculture, recommendations are drawn to better design, maintain and promote sites. i | P a g e Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Adam Weaver for his guidance and unwavering support through this year. His encouragements and his constant inquiries about the state of my research kept me moving forward. I do not think I would have been able to finish this thesis on time without our weekly meetings. I would also like to recognise lecturers at Victoria University of Wellington who discussed my topic with me and provided clarity in the most obscure moments. Particularly AProf. Karen Smith for helping me narrow down my topic and Dr. Kate Daellenback for providing me with resources on the complex concept of attitudes. Thank you to Megan Key (known as “Masters Mom” in RWW301) for her timely reminders and always providing answers to the most random questions. Without you, and the rest of the staff on level 10, we would surely be lost. I have learned more than I thought I could during the last two years at Victoria University of Wellington. I will dearly (and strangely) miss having access to a world of knowledge through the library. I am grateful for all the people who participated in this research by taking the time to share their experiences and making my work possible. To my family: Thank you for everything you have ever done and continue to do for me, for believing in me when I stop believing in myself, and for loving me always. To my friends: Thank you for bearing with me through this difficult time, I promise to never talk to you again about my research. To the members of the 301 club: Good luck! If I did it, so can you. A last word to thank ACC, a supporter of all mountain bikers in New Zealand. I will always remember typing my conclusion one-handed after breaking two bones in my left hand a month before my submission deadline, but at least I did not have to worry about hospital bills. I cannot wait to be back on my bike to go explore the world. ii | P a g e Table of contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 General introduction .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research background ......................................................................................... 1 1.3 Research context ................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................ 3 1.5 Structure ............................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 2: Literature review ............................................................................................ 6 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Mountain bike tourism and mountain biking tourists ....................................... 6 2.2.1 The rise of special interest tourism ............................................................ 6 2.2.2 Sports tourism ............................................................................................. 7 2.2.3 Mountain bike tourism ............................................................................... 8 2.2.3.1 A developing niche .................................................................................. 9 2.2.3.2 Motivations and characteristics of mountain bikers .............................. 9 2.3 Consumer attitudes .......................................................................................... 11 2.3.1 Consumer behaviour and the consumption process ................................ 11 2.3.2 Definition & conceptualisation ................................................................. 12 2.3.3 Attitudinal models & attitude research .................................................... 15 2.3.4 Attitude formation .................................................................................... 18 2.3.4.1 Functional and constructive views ........................................................ 17 2.3.4.2 Social influence ..................................................................................... 20 2.3.5 Summary ................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Attitudes in the context of recreational sports tourism .................................. 22 2.4.1 A Model of tourist attitudes ..................................................................... 22 2.4.2 Methodologies .......................................................................................... 24 2.4.3 Parallel concepts ....................................................................................... 26 2.4.3.1 Destination image ................................................................................. 26 2.4.3.2 Sense of place........................................................................................ 26 2.4.4 Involvement and its outcomes ................................................................. 27 iii | P a g e 2.4.4.1 Serious leisure & recreation specialisation ........................................... 28 2.4.4.2 Applicability to tourism ......................................................................... 29 2.4.5 Social influence in special interest tourism .............................................. 30 2.4.5.1 Sports subcultures and identities.......................................................... 30 2.4.5.2 Sports subcultural capital in tourism .................................................... 31 2.5 Conceptual framework ..................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................ 35 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 35 3.2 Research Paradigm ........................................................................................... 35 3.3 Research Design ............................................................................................... 37 3.3.1 Qualitative research .................................................................................. 37 3.3.2 Semi-structured interviews and visual stimulus ....................................... 38 3.3.3 The interview guide .................................................................................. 38 3.3.4 Sampling .................................................................................................... 40 3.4 Data Collection ................................................................................................. 40 3.5 Data Analysis .................................................................................................... 41 3.5.1 Analysis techniques................................................................................... 42 3.5.2 Analysis framework................................................................................... 43 3.6 The unique position of the researcher as insider ...........................................
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