Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions and Tourist Behaviors: A ... - Esan

46 Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative ScienceDecember 2011intentions. Such insights enable the marketers to designeffective strategies related to products and promotionsgeared toward different segments.As discussed earlier, culture is the broadest determinantof human behavior and exerts a direct as well asan indirect (through social, personal, and psychologicalfactors) influence on consumer behavior. Tourism istruly a complex global phenomenon and the influenceof culture on behavior is especially salient in the field oftourism compared to other services. Hofstede’s culturaldimensions are very widely acknowledged and referredin this context, and the current study expands our understandingof the applicability of these dimensions tovarious types of tourist behaviors and the underlyingprocesses through which such influences work.FUTURE RESEARCHThere is a wealth of research done in the field of traveland tourism that acknowledges the importance of cultureand compares the behavior of tourists from differentnationalities. However, the research studies that specificallyuse Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as explanatoryvariables for their findings are rather limited. Therefore,there is ample scope for cross-cultural tourism researchusing theoretical frameworks such as those developed byHofstede and his colleagues. Considering the complexityof culture and the complexity of the field of travel andtourism, it is not surprising therefore that the investigationof mechanisms and theoretical processes underlyingthe influence of culture on tourist behaviors has beenrelatively limited. We feel that there is an immense scopefor developing in-depth theories of cross-cultural touristbehavior. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have proven aneffective tool for understanding cultural differences in avariety of fields dealing with human behavior; certainly,the field of travel and tourism will benefit a great dealfrom further research related to the extension and applicationsof these cultural dimensions. The conceptualframework developed in our research provides withsome further insights into the relative dominance of thevarious cultural dimensions in different stages of travelbehaviors. The processes suggested here are, however,contemplative and there is room for further developmentand testing of these and other processes underlyingthe influence of various cultural dimensions on touristbehaviors. This suggests need for both conceptual andempirical research on this subject.ReferencesBeatty, S. E., Lynn, R. K., & Pamela, H. (1991). PersonalValues and Gift Giving Behaviors: A study AcrossCultures. Journal of Business Research, 22, 149-157.Bello, D., & Etzel, M. (1985). The Role of Novelty inPleasure Travel Experience. Journal of TravelResearch, 40, 172-183.Bond & the Chinese Cultural Connection (1987). ChineseValues and the Search for Culture-free Dimensionsof Culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology,18(2), 143-164.Bond, M. H., & Lee, W.H. (1978). Face Saving in ChineseCulture: A Discussion and Experimental Study ofHong Kong Students. In M. H. Bond (Ed.) SocialLife and Development in Hong Kong. Hong KongChinese University Press.Carr, N. (2001). An Exploratory Study of Gender Differencesin Young Tourists’ Perceptions of Danger withinLondon. Tourism Management, 22, 565-570.Chon, K. S. (1992). Self-image/Destination-image Congruity.Annals of Tourism Research, 19(2), 360-363.Crotts, J. (2004). The Effect of Cultural Distance onOverseas Travel Behaviors. Journal of TravelResearch, 43(August), 83-88.Crotts, J. & Erdmann, R. (2000). Does National CultureInfluence Consumers’ Evaluation of Travel Services?A Test of Hofstede’s Model of Cross-cultural Differences.Managing Service Quality, 10(5), 410-419.J. econ. finance adm. sci., 16(31), 2011