Aims and context of research:

Customer satisfaction remains a crucial factor for the long term success of any tourism organisation. (Dis)satisfaction is predominately understood to be as a result of a ‘post-consumption evaluative judgement’ and research in the area of tourist satisfaction to date has tended to follow the positivist and quantitative methods adopted from other industries, employing survey research to elicit satisfaction levels at a specific point in time. However, many tourism experiences are multi-faceted, conducted over extended time periods and are most often, experienced in the company of others. Such methods therefore, may not be the most suitable in understanding the processes involved in customer’s evaluations of their holiday experiences.

The overall aim of the research therefore, is to explore tourists’ evaluations of their package holiday experiences. In doing so the purpose is to gain an understanding of the process of evaluations, the triggers which lead to expressions of satisfaction and dissatisfaction from the perspective of the tourists rather than that of the researcher. From this perspective, (dis)satisfaction is not treated as an uncontested term, rather it is explored in terms of what it means to those involved, and the focus of attention turns to how evaluations of satisfaction or complaint are constructed in interactions with other tourists and in accounts of tourist’s experiences.

Similarly, rather than assume that (dis)satisfaction is a result of a ‘post-consumption evaluative judgement’ the study questions what is meant by the term ‘post’ when holidays consist of numerous elements experienced over a period of time. Therefore the study aims to explore how evaluations are constructed and evolve both during and upon completion of the holiday experience.

The study uses package holidays as a context for the research. Package holidays were chosen as they remain a dominant mode of travel for millions of UK citizens, yet they remain a relatively neglected area within research. Research of tourism satisfaction has so far tended to concentrate on specific elements of the product such as flights, accommodation, amusement facilities. However, package holidays contain many of these elements and are therefore most suited in attempts to gain an understanding of how individuals balance evaluations of numerous elements, over an extended time period and the impact that positive or negative evaluations of a specific element has on subsequent evaluations and on behaviour.

Summary of progress to date:

Two observational field trips have been conducted along with conversational interviews with ten individual tourists. The data gathered has been analysed, the results of which are currently been written into relevant thesis chapters. The initial results highlight that far from simply making post-purchase evaluations, the evaluative process is an ongoing social accomplishment, both throughout the holiday and long after completion. Evaluative talk forms a major topic of conversation within the experience and thus evaluations can be understood as being constructed and negotiated within interaction and for the social work that they accomplish.

Furthermore, when talking about holiday experiences, negative evaluations are carefully managed and individuals work to re-evaluate the notion of ‘felt’ dissatisfaction in the positive presentation of identity. Additionally, individuals routinely juxtapose positive and negative evaluations in an overall evaluative balancing process.

Conversely, in complaints about negative experiences, individuals work towards constructing ‘grievance’ in order that a complaint is heard as legitimate. Complaints are also constructed to demonstrate the ‘seriousness’ of the matter and individuals routinely construct ‘limits of acceptability’ in their complaints in order to legitimise their particular experience as being a ‘complainable’ matter. As in all acts of communication however, the identity of the individual is managed and in complaints, this requires the management of subjectivity and the positive presentation of identity not as a ‘complainer’ but as a ‘temporary complainant’.