Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

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Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jort

Perceived value and its impact on travel outcomes in youth tourism

Meltem Caber a, Tahir Albayrak b, *, Duane Crawford c
a
Akdeniz University, Tourism Faculty, Tourism Guidance Department, Campus, Antalya, Turkey
b
Akdeniz University, Tourism Faculty, Tourism Management Department, Campus, Antalya, Turkey
c
Kansas State University, School of Family Studies and Human Services, 303 Justin Hall 1324 Lovers Lane, Manhattan, KS, 66506-1403, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Understanding the tourism-related behaviours and attitudes of the next generations is worth to investigate by
Youth tourism researchers, since their demand structure will shape the future of tourism sector. Therefore, this research
Value particularly focuses on young travellers. In the study, value perception of young tourists about a nature-based
Satisfaction
tourism experience and its influence on travel outcomes, such as overall satisfaction, word-of-mouth (WOM)
Word-of-mouth
Revisit intention
and revisit intentions, are examined by a case study performed in Olympos, Antalya-Turkey. Value construct is
shown to have three components: functional, social and epistemic values. Perceived social value is identified as
the least satisfying dimension of the value. Structural equation modelling results show that value perception
positively and statistically impacts overall satisfaction, WOM, and revisit intentions, while overall satisfaction
has a positive effect on WOM and revisit intentions. The study findings both extend the literature on young
traveller behaviours and suggest useful managerial implications for the nature-based destination authorities.

Management implications (Vukic, Kuzmanovic, & Stankovic, 2015). For example, in a study
(Richards, 2011) young travellers are identified to stay longer in the
• This study aims to show the role of perceived value in youth tourism. destinations; to spend more than international tourists; and to have a
• Perceived social value of tourists is low, while functional and high lifetime value as they often return to the places they have visited in
epistemic values are high. their later life. In another study (Cavagnaro, Staffieri, & Postma, 2018),
• The results suggest that perceived value significantly affects overall investigations on youth tourism are considered noteworthy; because
satisfaction, word-of-mouth, and revisit intentions. they represent a considerable amount of tourism demand and are ex­
• Findings point out the need of value creation for this market pected to develop new attitudes in the society and tourism sector.
segment. Therefore, for the sector companies, supplying a high value However, this tourism form still represents a relatively under-researched
of tourism experience in youth tourism is important. area (Chen, Johnson, & Gherissi-Labben, 2013). Hence, studies focusing
on youth tourism need to further examine young tourists’ travel motives,
1. Introduction interests, experiences, and behaviours both at mass and other forms of
tourism (Boukas, 2014).
Global youth tourism represents 284 million international travellers Perceived value has been recognised as one of the most important
who annually spend almost USD 280 billion (WYSE Travel Confedera­ determinants of tourist behaviours and future intentions (Yi, Day, & Cai,
tion, 2016). A similar phenomenon exists in one of the emerging econ­ 2014). Therefore, understanding young tourists’ value perception and
omies, namely Turkey. According to TURSAB (2015)’s (Association of its relationship with travel outcomes (i.e. overall satisfaction and
Turkish Travel Agencies) youth tourism 2015 report, one out of every behavioural intentions) is critical for the managers who compete for this
four tourists who visit Turkey is young. Similarly, the number of young market segment. Interestingly, value perception of young tourists from a
domestic travellers is 17.1 million which represents 25% of the total tourism experience is scarcely investigated. To the best of the authors’
domestic tourists. knowledge, an exception is Lee and Phau’s (2018) research where the
In general, young tourists have been recognised as an attractive and relationships among perceived authenticity, perceived value, and
powerful market segment which may affect many aspects of tourism satisfaction were investigated in the heritage tourism context. However,

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Caber), [email protected] (T. Albayrak), [email protected] (D. Crawford).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2020.100327
Received 20 October 2019; Received in revised form 28 August 2020; Accepted 2 September 2020
Available online 15 September 2020
2213-0780/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Caber et al. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

they failed to connect these variables with travel outcomes like revisit overall satisfaction with their travel experience to Australia was exam­
and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions. ined and the findings showed a significant difference between pre-trip
In the light of the importance of youth tourism; lack of studies about expectations and post-trip perceptions of tourists. Destination author­
value perceptions of young tourists; and the impact of value on travel ities are recommended to promote adventure and nature-based tourism
outcomes; this study aims to extend our scientific understanding about opportunities for attracting these types of tourists.
youth tourism by investigating the relationships among perceived value, University/college students have attracted a special interest by re­
overall satisfaction, and behavioural intentions (i.e. WOM and revisit searchers in the context of youth tourism. For example, Sarikaya and
intentions). The Consumption Value Theory, suggested by Sheth, New­ McLellan (1997) investigated the factors affecting students’ destination
man, and Gross (1991) was used to measure value perception of young choice. The identified factors having impact on destination selections of
tourists. This theory proposes that “market choice is a function of mul­ the students are as follows: the cost of the vacation and convenience,
tiple consumption values; these values may make differential contribu­ local hospitality and services, entertainment and drinking opportunities,
tions in any given choice situation; and the values are independent” recreation and sporting activities available, and change in their daily
(Phau, Quintal, & Shanka, 2014). Consistent with other studies focused environment. Reisinger and Mavondo (2004) investigated the relation­
on young tourists (e.g. Meng, Ryu, Chua, & Han, 2020), the sample ships among psychographic factors such as cultural values, personality,
frame of this study consists of university students; because they repre­ travel motivation, preferences for activities, and lifestyle in Australian
sent “young educated people and a significant market segment of the and U.S. student markets. While their results support strong relation­
youth tourism sector” (Xu & Tavitiyaman, 2018). ships among investigated psychographic variables, the relationships
The present study contributes to the extant literature by investi­ among the factors differ across the two markets. In another study, King
gating value construct in the case of young Turkish travellers; by and Gardiner (2015) aimed to clarify the typologies of independent
measuring young tourist perceptions and future intentions towards Chinese students travelling with educational purposes. The study results
nature-based destinations and by suggesting market-specific managerial showed that Chinese students were divided into two groups by their
strategies that may meet the expectations of this market segment. The characteristics. One was the backpackers who prefer extended trips to
remainder of paper is structured as follows: the next section summarises multiple destinations, while the other was the travellers who take day
the literature about youth tourism. After the identification of the excursions and short breaks to destinations located close to their place of
perceived value concept, consumption value theory which is used in this study. Similarly, Eusébio and Carneiro (2015) made an activity-based
study is presented in detail. The following section presents the concep­ segmentation of youth tourists in the sample of Portuguese students.
tual model used in this study by discussing the relationships among The obtained four groups were labelled as the culture lovers, fun lovers,
research variables. In the subsequent sections, the method and the sun and beach lovers, and nature lovers. In addition, significant differ­
empirical findings are reported. Finally, concluding remarks and im­ ences were obtained among the groups such as gender, travel motiva­
plications are provided. tions, interactions with locals and other visitors, perceived effects of the
interaction, type of trip, and destination.
2. Literature review
2.2. The concept of perceived value
2.1. Youth tourism
Although perceived value is one of the most studied variables in the
Young people who participate in youth tourism are defined as marketing literature, there is still no consensus about its definition.
teenagers, college students, young adults, or young professionals by Zeithaml’s (1988) definition, which posits value perception as an
Howe and Strauss (2000). According to UNWTO (2008), the young uni-dimensional construct has become a widely accepted viewpoint in
generation aged between 15 and 29 years is categorised under youth the literature. According to Zeithaml (1988, p. 14), perceived value is
tourism. However, there is no agreement about the age scope of young “the consumers’ overall assessments about the utility of a product based
tourists. While some researchers include respondents up to 35 years old on perceptions of what is received and what is given”. Other researchers
into their study as young tourists (e.g. Prayag & Hosany, 2014), others (e.g. Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994) argue that value perception is
limit their sample with university students (e.g. Meng et al., 2020; Xu & rather a multi-dimensional construct. The multi-dimensional approach
Tavitiyaman, 2018). In addition, as emphasised by Farahani and Suk­ seems to be adopted by many researchers working in the tourism field
majati (2011), no consensus exits about the main features of youth (Sánchez, Callarisa, Rodríguez, & Moliner, 2006), mainly because
tourism. Both the traditional age of the market has been shifted to 15 to tourist experiences contain various attributes and uni-dimensional
30 plus years and travel with the purpose of studying, business, back­ measurements neglect the affective, situational, and external attri­
packing, and visiting friends were included into this tourism type in butes of such experiences.
many studies. Despite the inconsistencies about its scope, youth tourism Various perspectives are generated by academics for indicating this
is one of the fastest growing tourism types in the world. Exploring young multi-dimensional structure such as customer value hierarchy, utili­
tourists’ profile and clarifying the market characteristics have been one tarian and hedonic value, and consumption value theory. Babin et al.
of the main scopes of the researchers. For example, Carr (1998) made (1994) proposed that consumer value consists of utilitarian and hedonic
one of the early descriptive analyses of the youth tourism market. He components. While utilitarian value is related to non-emotional out­
summarised the economic, social, and industry-related value of youth comes of an experience; hedonic value is characterised as emotive as­
tourism and concluded that although young tourists had similar char­ pects of a consumption experience. In other words, benefit that is
acteristics in terms of chronological age and personal and social derived by accomplishing a specific task is defined as utilitarian value.
perception, different types of young tourists could be identified. Experimental benefit that is elicited by feelings of fun, fantasy fulfil­
In fact, most of the studies about youth tourism are case studies ment, escapism, and excitement is called hedonic value (Jones, Rey­
performed on young international or outgoing tourists. In one of these nolds, & Arnold, 2006; Stoel, Wickliffe, & Lee, 2004). In the following
studies, Murphy and Pearce (1995) exhibited the young backpacker section, consumption value theory on which the research model of this
travellers’ characteristics in Australia. After presenting the features of study is based, is presented in detail.
young budget travellers, the authors focused on the Annual Interna­
tional Visitor Survey (IVS) data about backpackers visiting Australia and 2.3. The consumption value theory
their travel preferences. By including an additional study’s results, they
showed the importance of this market and varying characteristics of The Consumption Value Theory is proposed by Sheth et al. (1991)
these travellers. In the Cho’s study (1998), young Korean tourists’ and it depicts that functional, social, emotional, epistemic, and

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conditional values guide the consumers’ choice behaviours. Functional customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions by a comprehensive
value is related to perceived benefits of a product’s functional, utili­ research model. Their results show that service quality is a crucial
tarian, and physical performance (Sheth et al., 1991). According to antecedent of perceived value which also has a strong influence on
Denys and Mendes (2014), tourists may obtain functional value from the customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Recently, Kim and
destination attributes such as physical infrastructure, products, food, Park (2017), who conducted a research in Korea with the participation
and activities. Social value is concerned with the approval of product of 254 visitors, aimed to understand the role of perceived value on
attributes by social (reference) groups. In a destination, friendly and community-based ecotourism. Economic, functional, emotional, and
respectful treatments towards the visitors may create high social value social values were identified as the sub-dimensions of perceived value.
perception for the visitors (Denys & Mendes, 2014). Emotional value is In addition, the results show that overall value has an influence on
related to a product’s ability to create positive or negative affective tourist satisfaction which in turn affects destination loyalty. As the
states. According to Denys and Mendes (2014), emotional value can be literature review signifies, perceived value is an important antecedent of
obtained especially from the consumption of hedonic products, like customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions, consisting of willing­
tourism. Epistemic value is related to curiosity, novelty, and cognition ness to revisit and to engage in word-of-mouth communications (Wang
obtained from the products. Phau et al. (2014) state that tourists may & Hsu, 2010).
perceive epistemic value in the case they experience something new or
different. Conditional value reflects the effect of a product’s utility in the
particular situations and circumstances. Since conditional value is not a 2.5. Hypotheses development
value itself, researchers mostly take into account the first four value
dimensions. Moreover, conditional value is considered to have influence The vast majority of the studies in the tourism literature indicate
on other values’ significance only (Denys & Mendes, 2014). significant relationships among perceived value, overall satisfaction,
In the tourism literature, consumption values have been mostly and behavioural intentions (i.e. word-of-mouth and revisit intention) (e.
investigated at various tourist destinations by the researchers. For g. Lee, Yoon, & Lee, 2007; Wang & Hsu, 2010). In one of the early
example, Denys and Mendes (2014) examined the consumption value studies, Petrick (2004) showed that perceived value is an antecedent of
types and their influences on the choice of sea, sand and sun destina­ tourist satisfaction and behavioural intentions (WOM and revisit
tions. Their study results confirmed the multi-dimensional nature of the intention). In another study, Khuong and Phuong (2017) stated that
consumption values. In addition, they highlighted the emotional value perceived value is one of the most important constructs to achieve a full
as the most important determinant of destination selection followed by understanding of satisfaction. In a more recent study related to heritage
epistemic value. In another study, Phau et al. (2014) investigated the tourism, Lee and Phau (2018) affirmed the positive influence of
effect of consumption values on young Australian tourists’ perceived perceived value on satisfaction by collecting data from young tourists.
destination image and destination choice towards Mauritius. By con­ The scholarly investigations on the young tourists’ value perception
ducting an exploratory factor analysis, four underlying dimensions were about nature-based destinations and the impact of perceived value on
extracted for consumption values. One interesting finding was that overall satisfaction and behavioural intentions are still scarce in spite of
emotional and epistemic values were loaded on the same component. such researches having a high potential of contributing to the related
While emotional/epistemic, social, and functional values emerged as the literature. Thus, we firstly hypothesised that in the nature-based youth
significant determinants of perceived destination image; conditional and tourism experiences, perceived value significantly affects overall
social values were determined as the antecedents of destination choice. satisfaction:
Differing from the above-mentioned studies, Prebensen, Woo, Chen,
and Uysal (2012) used the functional, social, and epistemic values for H1: Value perception of young tourists positively affects their overall
measuring the perceived value of destination experience. The authors satisfaction
investigated the causal relationships amongst motivation, involvement,
and experience value of the destination by collecting data from tourists In the tourism literature, value perception is considered as “an
visiting a nature-based attraction in Norway. Their results supported the important factor that makes visiting a place more attractive” for tourists
influence of push motivation and involvement on perceived value. (Murphy, Pritchard, & Smith, 2000). Perceived value is also shown to
Recently, Jamrozy and Lawonk (2017) examined the dimensionality of have a significant influence on visitation intention of tourists in many
consumption values and their effects on purchase intention in an studies (e.g. Phau et al., 2014; Phillips, Wolfe, Hodur, & Leistritz, 2013).
ecotourism setting. By exploratory factor analysis, the authors obtained Although no previous research has investigated the influence of
boredom alleviation and adventure values that emerged specifically for perceived value on revisit intention in the youth tourism context, based
the ecotourism vacations in addition to emotional, social, epistemic, and on the above mentioned studies’ findings, we propose the following
functional values. They also found that emotional, functional, boredom hypothesis:
alleviation, and epistemic consumption values were the significant
predictors of ecotourism purchase intention, respectively. H2: Value perception of young tourists has a positive influence on
their revisit intention
2.4. The relationships among the perceived value, satisfaction and
behavioural intentions In a research conducted in the midscale hotels, Sun and Qu (2011)
showed that perceived value, as an outcome of service quality, had
Gallarza and Saura (2006) categorised value researches into two strong influence on WOM intention. In the context of resort destinations,
main streams: intra-variable and inter-variable. While the first group of Moutinho et al. (2012) revealed that perceived value and satisfaction
researchers focus on identifying the dimensions of perceived value; the were significant determinants of behavioural intentions (consisting of
second group analyse its relationship with other variables. Among the repurchase intention and WOM). Similarly, in a family-oriented desti­
second group of researchers, Chen and Chen (2010) investigated the nation, the influence of perceived value on WOM referrals was
relationships among the customer experience, perceived value, satis­ confirmed in the Kim, Holland, and Han’s research (2013). Based on
faction, and behavioural intentions by collecting data from heritage these, the third hypothesis of this study suggests that perceived value
tourists visiting Taiwan. The results demonstrated the significant influ­ has influence on young tourists’ WOM intention, as below:
ence of perceived value on both satisfaction and behavioural intentions.
In another study, Moutinho, Albayrak, and Caber (2012) examined H3: Value perception of young tourists positively impacts their WOM
the relationships amongst destination service quality, perceived value, intention

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M. Caber et al. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

Tourism literature also contains strong evidence showing that 3.3. Sample and data collection process
satisfied tourists tend to revisit the destinations and to recommend them
to others (e.g. Eusébio & Carneiro, 2015; Marcussen, 2011; Williams & Since university students are the adequate representatives of young
Soutar, 2000). According to previous studies’ findings, overall satisfac­ tourists (Han, Kim, & Kiatkawsin, 2017; Han, Yu, & Kim, 2018; Howe &
tion of tourists significantly affects both WOM and revisit intentions (e. Strauss, 2000), the authors targeted a public university’s students as the
g. Hui, Wan, & Ho, 2007; Meng & Han, 2018; Som & Badarneh, 2011). study sample. The students were contacted at two group tours which
However, to the authors’ knowledge, no research has examined these departed from the university campus 07 May 2017 to Olympos, located
relationships in the youth tourism context. Therefore, the fourth and at the Olympos National Park in Antalya, Turkey. Both tours took 2
fifth hypotheses are proposed as follows: days-3 nights. The tour services include bed and breakfast stay at tree
houses and several daily tours to nearby attractions in Olympos. The
H4: Overall satisfaction of young tourists positively affects their number of the total participants at both tours was 350. Two pre-trained
WOM intention graduate students joined to tours and collected data from the voluntary
H5: Overall satisfaction of young tourists has a positive influence on university students on the last night of the tours. Thus, in this study, a
their revisit intention convenience sampling method is used. A total of 293 completely
answered questionnaires was obtained in the data collection process,
Fig. 1 shows the research model where the causal relationships which indicates an almost 84% response rate.
among the variables are reflected.
3.4. Data analysis
3. Method
First, the demographic profile of the respondents was exhibited by
In the current study, a quantitative research method was followed for descriptive analyses. Second, reliability and normality of the data were
testing the proposed conceptual relationships among the variables. With examined before further analyses. Following Nunnally’s (1994) recom­
this purpose, a questionnaire was designed and a field research was mendation, 0.70 was used as the cut-off value for reliability, whereas
performed on young tourists visiting a nature destination located in cut-off value of 3.00 was used for skewness and kurtosis. Third, for
Olympos, Antalya-Turkey. Therefore, this section begins with brief in­ extracting the components of value construct, a principal components
formation about the research setting. All of the variables were measured analysis was performed; since the perceived value scale was adapted
by scales obtained from the previous literature which are referenced in from a study performed on tourists visiting Northern Norway. In the case
the instruments sub-section. The details about the data collection pro­ of university students as domestic tourists living in Turkey, the structure
cess are given in the sample and data collection process sub-section. The of value construct would be different. The appropriateness of the data
last sub-section presents data analyses used to achieve the objectives of for factor analysis was evaluated by examining the sample size and
the research. strength of the relationships amongst variables using the
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bar­
tlett’s Test of Sphericity. Both descriptive and principal components
3.1. Research setting: Olympos, Antalya-Turkey analyses were performed by the use of PASW (SPSS) Statistics v.17.0
software program.
The area of Olympos is 85 km far from Antalya and is famous for its Fourth, statistical relationships among the variables – as proposed in
tree house pensions and wooden bungalows. In addition to various the research model – were tested using structural equation modelling
nature-based tourism activities, domestic and international tourist may (SEM). SEM was purposely selected for testing the research model by the
explore the ruins of the ancient Lycian site of Olympos at the heart of the authors because it is an effective method for theoretical model tests
National Park and the Chimaera nearby (Fig. 2). where cause and effect relationships among the variables were designed
in the researchers’ mind before the data collection (Hair, Anderson,
Tatham, & Black, 1998). As suggested by Anderson and Gerbing (1988),
3.2. Instruments a two-stage approach, including validation of the measurement model
and testing of the structural model, was used to estimate the research
Perceived value items were adapted from Prebensen et al.’s (2012) model. In the first stage, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed to
study, while three items that identify overall satisfaction were gathered assess the discriminant and convergent validity of the constructs.
from Li, Li, and Hudson’s (2013) work. Both revisit and word-of-mouth Convergent validity of the measurement scales was evaluated by using
recommendation tendencies of the participants as the main behavioural factor loadings, construct reliabilities, and average variance extracted
intentions were measured by items retrieved from Kim, Kim, and Kim’s (AVE) as suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981). The minimum criteria
(2009) study. Scale items are presented in Appendix 1. All variables are of 0.50 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) was used for AVE, which measures the
measured by 5-point Likert-type scales, ranging “strongly disagree” to amount of variance explained by the construct (Hair et al., 1998).
“strongly agree”. Discriminant validity was investigated by comparing the
inter-correlations of the constructs to the square root of the AVE for each
one of the factors. In the second stage, the structural paths were esti­
mated to test the hypothesised relationships among the constructs.
As suggested by Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1993, multiple fit indices were
used to assess the fit of the measurement and structural models, such as
normed χ2, which indicates the ratio of χ2 to degrees of freedom. While a
normed χ2 value below 2 reflects good model fit, some researchers (e.g.
Marsh & Hocevar, 1985) argue that a value between 2 and 5 indicates an
acceptable fit. The other indices used to determine the model fit were
goodness-of-fit statistic (GFI) and normed-fit index (NFI). Although a
threshold of 0.90 was mostly used, many researchers argue that a GFI
Fig. 1. The research model proposing the relationships among perceived value, value between 0.80 and 0.89 represents a reasonable fit (Doll, Xia, &
overall satisfaction, WOM intention, and revisit intention in the sample of Torkzadeh, 1994). Root mean square residual (RMR) and root mean
Turkish young tourists. square error of approximation (RMSEA) with a maximum acceptance

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M. Caber et al. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

Fig. 2. Pictures of the Study Site (clockwise left to right): Olympos National Park and its Beach; Tree Houses, and the Chimaera
(Resource: http://www.tatilana.com/2014/01/olimpos-antalya.html, Retrieved in August 17, 2017).

level of 0.08 (Hair et al., 1998) were also used to assess model fit. supporting the internal consistency of the scale (Hair et al., 1998). While
respondents’ epistemic value perception mean was the highest, their
4. Results social value perception mean was the lowest.

4.1. Demographics 4.4. The test of the measurement model

In this study, male respondents accounted for 57.3% and female A measurement model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis
respondents for 42.7% of the sample. The mean age was 22 years, and prior to the structural model, as suggested by Anderson and Gerbing
most of the respondents were at the age group of 18-25 (84.3%). The (1988). The maximum likelihood method of estimation was utilised to
average monthly income level of the most participants was low (be­ analyse the data. The overall measurement model fit with the total of six
tween TL 1000–3000, 47.5%). Repeat visitors generated a high portion constructs and 21 observed indicators are as follows: χ2 = 481.63 (p <
of the sample (second and more time visits; 68.3%). 0.001), df = 174, χ2/df = 2.76, GFI = 0.87, NFI = 0.96, RMR = 0.079,
and RMSEA = 0.076. As explained in the data analysis section, the re­
4.2. Reliability and normality analyses sults indicate an acceptable fit for the measurement model.
All indicator factor loadings were significant and exceeded 0.50. The
Reliability analyses were used to examine the internal consistency of AVE values were between 0.52 and 0.89, meeting the minimum criteria
items measuring each construct used in the research model. Cronbach’s (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The composite reliability of each measure­
alpha coefficients of the constructs ranging between 0.79 and 0.95 ment scale ranged from 0.76 to 0.99 demonstrating the internal con­
indicated acceptable internal consistency (Nunnally, 1994). The statis­ sistency for all constructs. Thus, conditions for convergent validity were
tics of skewness and kurtosis were used to examine the normality of the confirmed (Table 2).
data. The results showed that the skewness of the items were between As the squared root of the AVE for each construct was higher than
− 1.292 and 0.623 while the kurtoses values were between − 1.241 and inter-construct correlations (Table 3), discriminate validity was also met
1.905. Since these statistics were less than 3.00, normality was not (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
violated in this study (Kline, 2005).
4.5. The test of the structural model
4.3. Obtaining the components of perceived value
As the measurement model satisfied the criteria, the structural model
A principal components analysis was performed for extracting the was tested to assess the hypothesised relationships among research
components of perceived value. In the initial analysis, four items that constructs. The goodness-of-fit indices for the structural model are as
had cross-loadings (“This tour makes me feel adventurous”, “This tour is follows: χ 2 = 543.36 (p < 0.001), df = 179, χ2/df = 3.03, GFI = 0.86,
exciting”, “This tour makes me happy”, and “This tour is educational”) NFI = 0.96, RMR = 0.073, and RMSEA = 0.081. The results indicate an
were eliminated from the further phases. KMO (0.88) and Bartlett’s Test acceptable fit for the proposed structural model.
of Sphericity (χ2 = 2964.01, df = 91, p < 0.001) values showed that Fig. 3 provides the standardised path coefficients, path significances
collected data were appropriate for the factor analysis. The method of and variance explained (R2). The variance explained indicates that
principal component extraction with varimax rotation offered a three- overall satisfaction is influenced by perceived value, explaining 53% of
dimensional solution (Table 1), which explained 74.1% of the total its variance. In addition, perceived value and overall satisfaction ac­
variance. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.74 to 0.92, count for 48% of the variance in WOM intention. Furthermore,

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Table 1 Table 2
Principal components analysis results showing the factor loadings, Cronbach’s Measurement model results showing the factor loadings, average variance
alpha coefficients, explained variances, and composite means of the dimensions extracted, and construct reliabilities of the perceived value dimensions, overall
of perceived value. satisfaction, WOM intention, and revisit intention.
Factor Cronbach’s Variance Composite Constructs Items FL AVE CR
Loading alpha Explained Mean
Functional Value FV1 0.77 0.66 0.99
(%)
FV2 0.74
Functional Value 0.92 30.88 3.34 FV3 0.83
This tour represents 0.82 FV4 0.84
‘value for money’ FV5 0.88
The service fees at 0.81 FV6 0.82
this tour are
Social Value SV1 0.98 0.77 0.94
reasonable
SV2 0.93
This tour is well 0.82
SV3 0.95
formed
SV4 0.82
This tour has an 0.84
SV5 0.69
acceptable
standard of Epistemic Value EV1 0.79 0.52 0.76
quality EV2 0.55
This tour is well 0.83 EV6 0.81
organized
Overall Satisfaction OS1 0.90 0.82 0.93
This tour has 0.79
OS2 0.91
consistent quality
OS3 0.92
Social Value 0.92 28.64 2.47
This tour makes me 0.90 WOM Intention WI1 0.96 0.89 0.94
feel more socially WI2 0.93
accepted
This tour improves 0.91 Revisit Intention RI1 0.80 0.65 0.79
the way I am RI2 0.82
perceived FL: standardised factor loading; AVE: average variance extracted.
This tour helps me 0.92
CR: construct reliability.
to feel acceptable
to others
This tour enables 0.86 Through the participation of 293 young tourists consisting of university
me to impress students who visited Olympos area in Turkey, a survey was performed to
others
examine the relationships among the variables as proposed in the con­
This tour is 0.74
stimulating ceptual model.
Epistemic Value 0.74 14.64 3.90 To avoid possible bias and to determine whether the study sample
This tour provides 0.85 represents youth tourists in Turkey, we decided to compare the char­
authentic
acteristics of the study sample to the population (Sousa, Zauszniewski, &
experience
This tour satisfies 0.74
Musil, 2004). The only official statistic about university students in
my curiosity Turkey reflects that 53.8% of them are male (CoHE, 2019), similar to
This tour makes me 0.75 this research’s finding (57.3%). In addition, previous studies investi­
feel adventurous gating Turkish university students’ profile who participate in youth
tourism were reviewed to show the similarities between the present
perceived value and overall satisfaction explain approximately 66% of study’s results and others. For example, in previous studies male re­
the variance in revisit intention. spondents accounted more than half of the participants. While in the
The perceived value had a positive impact on overall satisfaction (β study by İlbay and Gürel (2015), this ratio was 57.3%, in Polat’s (2017)
= 0.73), revisit intention (β = 0.43) and WOM intention (β = 0.28), research it was 53.5%. Similarities also exist in terms of age distribution.
respectively. Therefore, hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 are supported. Hypoth­ For example, in Polat’s (2017) research, where university students’
esis 4 is also supported as overall satisfaction results in a significant touristic preferences were investigated, 78.6% of the respondents were
increase in WOM intention (β = 0.56). Furthermore, hypothesis 5 is between 19 and 26 years old. In another research identifying the
supported, since the standardised path coefficient from overall satis­ socio-cultural characteristics of university students (Karakuyu &
faction to revisit intention was significant. The result indicated that, Yöndem, 2013), the average age was found as 21.7. Both of these
when overall satisfaction increased by one standard deviation, revisit findings are close to this study’s outcomes. Moreover, Polat’s (2017)
intention also increased by 0.53 standard deviations. research results showed that 55.2% of the respondents had between TL
1000–3000 monthly income. Hence, the present study’s sample appears
5. Discussion and conclusion to reflect the population’s basic demographics except for the other
measures that are used.
5.1. Initial discussion By conducting a principal components analysis, the dimensions of
value perception were extracted as the functional value, social value and
Understanding young tourists’ value evaluations and exploring the epistemic/emotional value. This finding is similar to previous studies
impact of their value perceptions on their satisfactions with a tourism that reflected perceived value as a multi-dimensional concept (Denys &
experience and behavioural intentions towards a tourism destination are Mendes, 2014; Jamrozy & Lawonk, 2017). Moreover, emotional and
important, since youth tourism is one of the most dynamic, rapidly epistemic value items were combined in the epistemic/emotional value
growing, and effective market segments. Thus, empirical studies which dimension in this study, thereby creating a joint epistemic/emotional
examine young tourist behaviour is still an area of research. Therefore, value dimension. This finding is similar to Phau et al.’s (2014) study,
this study attempts to clarify young tourist behaviour by testing a where young Australian tourists’ value perception was investigated. In
research model which proposes causal relationships among the their study, emotional and epistemic values were grouped under the
perceived value, overall satisfaction, WOM, and revisit intention. same factor. Hence, emotional and epistemic values can be seen to

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M. Caber et al. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

Table 3
The results of discriminant validity of the perceived value dimensions, overall satisfaction, WOM intention, and revisit intention.
Mean SD FV SV EV OS RI WI

Functional value (FV) 3.34 0.82 0.81

Social value (SV) 2.47 1.19 0.29b 0.88
Epistemic value (EV) 3.90 0.90 0.43b 0.02 (n.s.) 0.72
Overall satisfaction (OS) 3.56 0.88 0.67b 0.23b 0.29b 0.91
Revisit intention (RI) 3.43 1.02 0.67** 0.13a 0.53b 0.72b 0.81
WOM intention (WI) 3.49 1.01 0.64** 0.33** 0.13a 0.72b 0.60b 0.94

Note: the values on the diagonal in bold are square roots of average variance extracted.
a
p < 0.05; n.s.: not significant.
b
p < 0 0.01;

Fig. 3. SEM Results Showing the Relationships among Perceived Value, Overall Satisfaction, WOM Intention, and Revisit Intention in the Sample of
Turkish Young Tourists
(* denotes p < 0.001).

closely related to each other. conceptualised it as “value for money” (Kim, Holland, & Han, 2013).
In spite of their distinctive demographics, young tourists look for However, perceived value was conceptualised as a multi-dimensional
high value from their travel experiences similar to other tourist seg­ construct having functional, social, and epistemic/emotional facets in
ments. However, they tend to give more importance to psychological this study. As shown in a recent literature review (Shen, 2016), func­
aspects of a travel since their value perceptions are influenced by tional, social, emotional, experiential values and perceived sacrifice
epistemic and emotional factors. Destinations’ infra- and upper- have been the mostly identified perceived value dimensions in many
structural factors -reflected by functional value-are also important for tourism types such as medical, rural, and cruise tourism. Hence, the
value creation in this segment. These findings are similar to Prebensen results of this study support the appropriateness of the Consumption
et al.’s (2012) study, where functional and epistemic value perceptions Value Theory to investigate young tourist behaviour.
of tourists were found greater than social value in the case of This study also extends previous studies by validating the significant
nature-based tourism in Norway. role of perceived value in predicting young tourists’ overall satisfaction
After the identification of the perceived value dimensions, relation­ and behavioural intention in the context of nature-based youth tourism.
ships among the research variables were investigated by structural Although the relationships among these variables were investigated in
equation modelling. Findings showed that perceived value of young different areas, this is the first investigation in the youth tourism field.
tourists is an important determinant of their overall satisfaction and Moreover, differing from many previous studies that measured behav­
behavioural intentions (i.e. WOM and revisit intentions). This is in the ioural intention as a unidimensional construct, WOM and visitation in­
line with the findings of Chen and Chen (2010) who investigated value tentions, which are the subcomponents of behavioural intention were
perception of tourists visiting a heritage destination in Taiwan and the treated as separate variables in this study. This provides more insight
influence of value on satisfaction and behavioural intention. Overall into the behavioural intention of young tourists. For example, the effect
tourist satisfaction is also identified to have a significant impact both on of perceived value on revisit intention was found higher than its influ­
WOM and revisit intentions. This finding shows similarity to previous ence on WOM intention.
studies, whereas satisfied tourists are shown to generate positive
behavioural intentions, such as revisit and recommendation (Hui et al.,
2007; Wan & Chan, 2013). Consequently, the results of this study sug­ 5.3. Managerial implications
gest several theoretical and managerial implications as summarised in
the next sections. Young tourists are mostly the earliest visitors of a destination who
develop and promote the place may become loyal visitors if satisfied
(Farahani & Sukmajati, 2011) and help to boost the local economy (Han
5.2. Theoretical implications et al., 2018). For being successful and competitive in the youth tourism,
destination authorities and tourism company managers should measure
One of the important theoretical contributions of this study is the tourist perceptions about a tourism experience. Thus, the findings of this
deeper investigation of young tourists’ behaviour in nature-based research propose some valuable managerial implications for tourism
tourism which leads to a better understanding of the youth tourism authorities.
phenomenon. Another contribution lies in the identification of The present study’s findings suggest that perceived value construct
perceived value dimensions in youth tourism as an under-studied has three components: functional, social, and epistemic/emotional.
research context. Although perceived value is a vital predictor of According to the results, young tourists’ functional and epistemic/
customer loyalty, most of the hospitality and tourism studies emotional values were high, while their social value perception was

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M. Caber et al. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

considerably low when compared to others. The component of social a complaint management system providing support to solve problems
value reflects tourist perceptions about how they are approved, can be built by destination managers too. Promotional messages of the
respected, and accepted by others. Although travel experience of young destination should be also realistic, since satisfaction is directly deter­
tourists seems to meet their functional values (which are mostly related mined by the expectations shaped by commercial messages. Lastly, the
to ‘cognitive’ sides of value) and epistemic/emotional values (showing results are beneficial for other destinations targeting to attract young
more ‘affective’ sides of value), it failed to meet their social value ex­ Turkish travellers, because the share of 15-29 year olds constitutes
pectations. This may be occurred by generational differences, since 23.2% of the country’s total population (TUIK, 2019), which means a
young people today behave more as individuals and feel themselves high potential of tourism demand.
much more independent than older generations. Thus, social value
expressing the acceptance of someone by others was not identified as an 6. Study limitations and future research recommendations
important dimension of perceived value in this study. Practitioners,
therefore, are recommended to offer alternative and singular activities This study has some limitations that should be mentioned. One of
that may enable young tourists to test their personal skills or boundaries these is that it followed a quantitative research method where only
and to make them feel free at the destination. domestic young tourists visiting a nature-based destination in Turkey
The results suggest that the strongest predictor of overall perceived were targeted. Moreover, all survey participants were university stu­
value is the functional value. This indicates the importance of the infra- dents who represent only one of the market segments in youth tourism.
structures, food quality, and various activities at the destination for Thus, the results should be interpreted with caution.
young tourists. This implies that providing attractive daily activities to In future studies, researchers are recommended to compare percep­
young tourists is necessary to increase their overall value perception. tion differences between young and other age group tourists so that the
In addition to the identification of perceived value components and main elements playing a role in diversifying market segments can be
their influences on young tourist behaviours, the analysis results also clarified and segment-based strategies can be developed for the desti­
indicated that perceived value highly and positively impacts overall nations. In addition, perceptual and behavioural differences between
satisfaction. Thus, service suppliers in the area should focus on high first-time and repeat young tourists may be compared in future studies.
value creating attempts so that they may increase tourist satisfaction. Destination-based or nationality-based comparisons among the young
Pricing policies, standards of the services, and other issues, which are tourists are also suggested to be performed in the future where the re­
important in the tourists’ perspective may be revised and re-designed. searchers may aim to specify the competitiveness capability of the
Since satisfied young tourists are identified to show willingness to destinations in the global youth tourism marketplace. Moreover, a
revisit, the managers in the area and tour organisers may aim to generate mixed-methods approach can be used for exploring the hidden value
a loyal young tourist segment, if they can achieve to make tourists highly components which are specific to young tourists.
satisfied with their travel experience.
The results of this study also implied that WOM intention of young CRediT authorship contribution statement
tourists -as being more credible than commercial promotional messages-
is determined by their value perceptions and satisfactions. Since the Meltem Caber: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - review &
influence of overall satisfaction on WOM intention is higher than editing. Tahir Albayrak: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing -
perceived value, destination authorities are recommended to monitor review & editing. Duane Crawford: Conceptualization, Writing - review
the satisfaction of young tourists from each service encounter and to & editing.
maintain a high level of satisfaction. For avoiding tourist dissatisfaction,

Appendix 1. Survey Items

Perceived Value Scale (adapted from Prebensen et al., 2012)

1. This tour represents ‘value for money’

2. The service fees at this tour are reasonable
3. This tour is well formed
4. This tour has an acceptable standard of quality
5. This tour is well organized
6. This tour has consistent quality
7. This tour makes me feel adventurous
8. This tour makes me feel more socially accepted
9. This tour improves the way I am perceived
10. This tour helps me to feel acceptable to others
11. This tour enables me to impress others
12. This tour provides authentic experience
13. This tour satisfies my curiosity
14. This tour is exciting
15. This tour is stimulating
16. This tour makes me happy
17. This tour makes me feel adventurous
18. This tour is educational
Overall Satisfaction Scale (adapted from Lee et al., 2007)
1. I am generally satisfied with this tour
2. When compared with my expectations, I am satisfied with this tour
3. When considering my invested time and effort, I am satisfied with this tour
Behavioural Intention Scale (adapted from Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2009)
Revisit Intention
1. I consider this tour as my first choice compared to other tours
2. I have a strong intention to join this tour again
(continued on next page)

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M. Caber et al. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100327

(continued )
Perceived Value Scale (adapted from Prebensen et al., 2012)

Word-of-mouth (WOM) Intention

1. I would recommend this tour to other people
2. I would tell other people positive things about this tour

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