Segmentation by character traits: a preliminary empirical assessment for tourism sector products

When we speak of mass consumption nowadays, in actual fact, we mean a cultural sphere capable of generating a specific perspective of the world, a system of values and a framework of personalities, peculiar to the functions of the system of demand; this implies going beyond the idea of the consumer “as a product of and from the organisation”, so as to reflect on the concept of individual identity, in that it is a relevant component in interpreting consumer behaviour, within an interacting circuit. Of course, as has been widely demonstrated, research of consumer behaviour, i.e. the personality, appears to guide what he consumes. However, this variable as far as the context of behaviour is concerned, cannot be separated from the degree of choice exerted that derives from individual necessity to survive in a specific context-environment, and the part, on the contrary, connected to characteristics which are more intrinsic and personal, but also more stable over time. In actual fact, distinctive traits organically structured, or, in other words, natural distinctive features that cannot be easily modified for example in a person’s character. In particular, character traits specify and distinguish people, constituting a “basic item”, an original and congenital structure or framework that cannot be altered by individual choice. Therefore, consumer behaviour can be considered the essence of three interacting spheres: 1) natural distinctive features of the individual, which are not easily altered; 2) personality, the complex of mental, moral and intellectual qualities that distinguish the actor; 3) the social environment, in which a person lives. Amongst these, distinctive traits elements capable of inspiring more stable consumer behaviour emerge. Accordingly, the results of our research establish that since characteristic traits represent an objective limit, intrinsic to the actor’s personality as regards choice, they constitute a fixed sphere, and, as such can more or less guarantee a sort of continuity in consumer behaviour. Consequently, by identifying distinctive characteristic traits, peculiar to the consumer, (e.g. Jung Test about personality) permanent features of mass consumption can be defined, or, in other words, consumer behaviour that is less discontinuous over time and therefore able to generate a lasting and defendable competitive advantage for the organisations. During the field research phase we have assessed the conceptual validity of our model identifying tourist behaviour as an observed variable and its characteristic traits, duly classified, as a latent variable. Applied research will be developed with specific reference to tourism service products since they are the ultimate expression of life style, in the face of which, it is possible to identify an individual generating characteristic trait