Exploring the Utility of Importance Performance Analysis Using Confidence Interval and Market Segmentation Strategies

Authors

  • Jennifer O. Farnum
  • Troy E. Hall

Keywords:

Importance Performance Analysis, Loyalty, Outfi tter Guides, Segmentation, Whitewater Rafting

Abstract

In recreation and tourism industries, importance performance analysis (IPA) has become a widely used technique to determine how businesses are functioning and to guide resource allocation decisions. Despite its long history, IPA has been criticized for a variety of different reasons, causing some to question its overall usefulness. To determine whether IPA is a robust technique able to provide meaningful information about industry functioning, IPA’s utility was explored through two strategies: 1) use of a modifi ed IPA technique that employed confidence intervals (CI) rather than point estimates to establish the stability of attributes’ quadrant locations and 2) use of loyalty-segmented data (high versus low loyalty customers) to explore diff erences in attribute location. Using a survey methodology, 453 whitewater rafting customers from the Salmon River in Idaho and the Arkansas River in Colorado completed importance-performance assessments of 27 specifi c trip attributes (e.g., guide knowledge of the area and to experience challenging rapids) and a measure of customer loyalty. Results from the fi rst strategy (use of CI) showed that 9 of the 27 attributes had 95% CIs that overlapped IPA axes, indicating that a full third of experience attributes could not be reliably located within a single quadrant. For the second strategy (use of market segmentation), t tests were performed to determine whether signififi cant differences existed between high and low loyalty customers in terms of their importance and performance ratings. Results showed that high loyalty customers rated nearly all attributes as signifi cantly more important and better performing than low loyalty customers. However, IPAs constructed for the two market segments demonstrated few diff erences in attribute quadrant locations, indicating that IPA may have only limited ability to make distinctions among market segments or customer types. Taken together, findings from both strategies (modifi ed IPA and market segmentation) do not provide overwhelming support for traditional IPA as a reliable tool for developing management strategies. Recommendations are made for the rafting industry based on the modifi ed IPA.

Downloads

Published

2007-04-18

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 2 (2007)

Section

Regular Papers

License

Sagamore Publishing LLC (hereinafter the “Copyright Owner”)

Journal Publishing Copyright Agreement for Authors

PLEASE REVIEW OUR POLICIES AND THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, AND INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS BY CHECKING THE ‘AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE’ CHECKBOX BELOW.

I understand that by submitting an article to Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, I am granting the copyright to the article submitted for consideration for publication in Journal of Park and Recreation Administration to the Copyright Owner. If after consideration of the Editor of the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, the article is not accepted for publication, all copyright covered under this agreement will be automatically returned to the Author(s).

THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

Assignment of Copyright

I hereby assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript I am submitting in this online procedure and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication.

Reversion of Rights

Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later be rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in “Articles in Press” form, in which case all rights will revert to the Author.

Retention of Rights for Scholarly Purposes

I understand that I retain or am hereby granted the Retained Rights. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, and the Published Journal Article for Personal Use and Internal Institutional Use.

All journal material is under a 12 month embargo. Authors who would like to have their articles available as open access should contact gbates@sagamorepub.com for further information.

In the case of the Accepted Manuscript and the Published Journal Article, the Retained Rights exclude Commercial Use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the Article to book length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works.

Published Journal Article: the author may share a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI.

Author Representations

  • The Article I have submitted to the journal for review is original, has been written by the stated author(s) and has not been published elsewhere.
  • The Article was not submitted for review to another journal while under review by this journal and will not be submitted to any other journal.
  • The Article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
  • I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Article.
  • If the Article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this Journal Publishing Agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.