Sightseeing spot satisfaction of inbound tourists: comparative analysis of first-time visitors and repeat visitors in Japan

Purpose This study aims to enhance knowledge on marketing strategies to increase repeat visitors. Furthermore, the authors suggest using appropriate destination information tailored to first-time visitors and repeat visitors as social capital. Design/methodology/approach This study compares the differences in satisfaction between first-time foreign tourists and those repeat visiting. The authors apply a theoretical framework based on optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) and consumer knowledge to determine which actions maximize the satisfaction of each group. Then, the relationships among assimilation desire, differentiation desire and satisfaction are quantitatively analyzed. Findings The results show the difference in the relationship between assimilation and travel satisfaction for first-time visitors and repeat visitors. First-time visitors are satisfied with popular sightseeing spots with higher assimilation level, whereas repeat visitors are satisfied with moderately unpopular sightseeing spots with lower assimilation level. The results clarify that information reflecting only the popularity of destinations is significantly effective for first-time visitors, but unsuitable for repeat visitors. Therefore, it would be possible to propose to repeat visitors a combination of “moderately differentiated” destinations. Originality/value The first contribution is that on the basis of Brewer (1991), the quantitative analysis confirmed that the social identity of an individual changes from assimilation to differentiation with the accumulation of experience until the optimal point is found. The second contribution is that we combined several fields such as ODT (Brewer, 1991), familiarity (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987), trial/repeat behavior (Iyengar et al. , 2015) and reference groups (Peter & Olson, 2010). The third contribution is that the authors proposed marketing strategies on the basis of the empirical analysis to increase the number of inbound tourists.