Segmenting the leisure services market: portrait of the regional park user

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Segmenting the leisure services market: portrait of the regional park user

Valaikaite Gintare

Svagzdiene Biruta

Abstract

The theoretical discussions of leisure services and market segmentation are examined in theoretical and practical aspects. Motives of visitors to regional parks, factors determining visits to parks are analyzed. According to the authors of the scientific article, knowing the characteristics that describe visitors, understanding the needs of users, it is possible to segment them and thus draw a portrait of the visitor.

Keywords: segmentation, service market, recreation, user portrait, regional park.

Анотація

ВАЛАЙКАЙТЕ, ГІНТАРЕ - студентка магістратури, Литовський Університет Спорту (Каунас, Литва)

ШВАГЖДЕНЕ, БІРУТА - професор, доктор наук кафедри Менеджменту спорту і туризму, Литовський Університет Спорту (Каунас, Литва)

СЕГМЕНТУВАННЯ РИНКУ ПОСЛУГ ДЛЯ ВІДПОЧИНКУ: ПОРТРЕТ КОРИСТУВАЧА РЕГІОНАЛЬНОГО ПАРКУ

Теоретичні обговорення сфери дозвіллєвих послуг та сегментації ринку розглядаються в теоретичному та практичному аспектах. Проаналізовано мотиви відвідувачів регіональних парків, фактори, що визначають відвідування парків. На думку авторів наукової статті, знаючи характеристики, які характеризують відвідувачів, розуміючи потреби користувачів, можна сегментувати їх і таким чином намалювати портрет відвідувача.

Ключові слова: сегментування, ринок послуг, відпочинок, портрет користувача, регіональний парк.

Introduction

Our world is constantly changing, from nature to economy. Therefore, it is not surprising that the leisure business is also changing, and even more so the user of leisure services: his wishes, needs and opportunities are changing due to various environmental factors (Sorrentino, & Caporuscio, 2022). After several years of such restrictions, changes and innovations, the leisure sector has struggled to recover and some businesses have been unable to re-open (Gungordu Belbag, 2022). And this is normal, because leisure service strategies that worked well before the pandemic started to no longer work with today's consumer, which has changed a lot (Sorrentino, & Caporuscio, 2022). Therefore, the question arises: what is the behavior of the user of the leisure service after the COVID- 19 pandemic? To assess the current and near-future prospects of the leisure service, an analysis of the user behavior of the leisure service after the COVID-19 pandemic is required.

Purpose: to characterize the behavior of the user of a modern leisure service.

Tasks: 1. To disclose user behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic; 2. Discuss the reasons why user behavior changes and the need to visit parks.

User behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the pandemic, due to the restrictions imposed almost all over the world, information technologies became rapidly popular (Ahmed, 2021). People began not only to shop online more often, but also to order food and goods to their homes, because it became much more convenient than going to the store with fear. The demand for food delivery service has increased due to the emergence of couriers and home delivery (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020). Also, a large number of people worked and studied remotely from home (Sheth, 2020).

Instead of going to movie theaters or karaoke bars, people preferred to organize movie or karaoke nights at their homes with family members (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020). Purchases of local movie theaters decreased, but purchases of Netflix increased (Gungordu, 2022). According to (Ahmed Ahmed, 2021), as many as 10.1 million new profiles appeared on the Neflix home theater platform during the quarantine period. Also, people's expenses for sports clubs and gyms decreased (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020).

Thus, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer was forced to change himself and to change his established pre-pandemic behavior, which is related to the consumption of goods and services, to continue to live fully without experiencing major financial, social and psychological declines.

Consumer behavior after the COVID-19 pandemic

It has been established that the quality of goods, convenience, performance and location of services are extremely important for the current consumer (Gungordu Belbag, 2022). Online shopping continues to grow rapidly (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020) because it is very convenient for people (Sheth, J., 2020). Some people are returning to live work, while others continue to choose to work remotely from home (Ahmed, 2021). Due to the possibility of working remotely, a more flexible work schedule has appeared, which allows you to take a vacation and work at the same time (Sheth, 2020). There is a noticeable desire of people to move from the city to the countryside where the air is fresh (Sorrentino, & Caporuscio, 2022). And smart technologies have become much more important not only because of the opportunity to work, study, and shop online, but because the number of old people using smart technologies has increased, which expands the choice of consumers (Ahmed, M., 2021). And because users began to pay more attention to the opinions of opinion makers on social networks, they became very important to them, because opinion makers first try the service themselves and share their experience, which allows users to choose services more easily and without high costs (Sheth, 2020). leisure market regional

Thus, after several years of quarantine, the behavior of consumers has also changed in their free, unrestrained life. Some habits gradually started to return to the “normal” habits that existed before the quarantine, other habits were formed during the quarantine, and some completely new ones appeared. In this way, a new user of services gradually appears (Ahmed, 2021).

Reasons that change consumer behavior

The most picturesque and valuable natural and cultural values of the state are protected in state parks and reserves. The important thing is that each area is different. Each natural landscape is different, unrepeatable (Baksyte, Kanopkaite, Rakauskaite, 2013); (Rimkute, 2016). The total area of regional parks in Lithuania is 449.479 ha (Silickaja, 2013).

Of course, it is very important to understand the reasons why service user behavior changes (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020). Such changes in the service user have occurred as a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic, which has strongly affected four key contexts whose changes interact with changes in user behavior (Sheth, 2020).

First, the consumer has changed due to changes in the social context (Sheth, 2020). The second change in the context: in the user's life during the pandemic, smart technologies have widely entered (Sheth, 2020). Another important context is the strongly changing rules that are related to public or shared spaces. And the least predictable context is - natural disasters, pandemics - in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic, which also provoked changes in all the other three contexts (Sheth, J., 2020).

Quarantine policies announced by governments not only reduced the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also reduced people's consumption and changed their consumption habits (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020).

Five national parks and 30 regional parks, which cover 7.5 percent, have the greatest natural tourism potential. territories of the country. 130 nature reserves, 353 natural monuments, and 194 parks protected by the state can also be used for the development of cultural or ecotourism. Using these natural and cultural conditions, it is possible to create and develop products of active recreation, ecotourism, cultural tourism, resort tourism, ethnic tourism, rural tourism.

Thus, there are many reasons, ranging from social to economic, that have forced the consumer to change their behavior (Baksyte, Kanopkaite, Rakauskaite, 2013). Therefore, such restrictions and regulations aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 forced all people to think more broadly and change their behavior (Jo, Shin, & Kim, 2020). Meanwhile, new consumer behavior creates new demands for goods and services, which could be taken into account to further expand and “revive” businesses (Ahmed, 2021).

Conclusions

1. During the pandemic, consumers began to shop, buy food, communicate, work and study online, saved money more, impulsive buying and hoarding appeared, and bought goods and services from local businesses. He moved all entertainment and leisure activities to his home. After the pandemic, performance, quality, location of goods, opinions of opinion makers are important to consumers.

They still avoid buying unnecessary goods and services, continue to accumulate, and improvise more. Consumers behave differently: some continue to choose to shop, work and study online, spend their free time at home, while others: want to travel, go to restaurants, study and work live, as before the pandemic.

2. The main reasons that change consumer behavior are: social context, smart technologies, strongly changing rules related to public or shared spaces and natural, unpredictable disasters, in this case - the COVID-19 pandemic.

The parks in Lithuania are more focused on one entertainment or on a certain theme, and there are no developed themed amusement park complexes in Lithuania yet. Therefore, after a detailed analysis of the activities of three parks: “Europos Park”, “Grnto Park” and amusement parks located in Druskininkai, and after finding out through a survey whether different service packages attract target groups, it would be possible to create a package of services for the successful operation of a themed amusement park.

By examining the best aspects and characteristics of their operations and combining them, a successful theme park operating model could be created.

References

1. Sorrentino, A., Leone, D., & Caporuscio, A. (2022). Changes in the post-covid-19 consumers' behaviors and lifestyle in Italy. A disaster management perspective. Italian Journal of Marketing, 1, 87-106.

2. Gungordu Belbag, A. (2022). Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on consumer behavior in Turkey: A qualitative study. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 56 (1), 339-358.

3. Ahmed, M. (2021). COVID-19 impact on consumer behavior, demand and consumption. International journal for innovative research in multidisciplinary field, 7 (1), 63-67.

4. Jo, H., Shin, E., & Kim, H. (2020). Changes in consumer behavior in the post-COVID-19 era in Seoul, South Korea. Sustainability, 13 (1), 136.

5. Sheth, J. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die? Journal of business research, 117, 280-283.

6. Baksyte, R., Kanopkaite, S., Rakauskaite (2013). Ypatinga Lietuva. Keliaukime po saugomas teritorijas. Valstybine saugomq teritorj tarnyba prie Aplinkos ministerijos. Kaunas: Terra Publica.

7. Rimkute, S. (2016). Protected areas condition and use of seaside regional park, Karkle areas on the example. Doctoral dissertation, Kaunas: Aleksandro Stulginskio universitetas.

8. Silickaja, M. (2013). Teminiai pramogp parkai Lietuvoje: ypatumai ir pletros galimybes. Vilnius: Vilniaus dailes akademija

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