The Determination of Shopping Satisfaction of Japanese Tourists Visiting Hawaii and the Gold Coast Compared

The objective of this study is to test the relationship between different dimensions of product categories, product attributes, and satisfaction with product attributes for Japanese tourists visiting Hawaii and the Gold Coast region of Australia. A survey of Japanese tourists arriving in Hawaii and the Gold Coast and Japanese tourists departing Hawaii and the Gold Coast was conducted in 1998. In the arrival survey, the importance of 15 product categories was determined along with the importance of 15 product attributes. In the departure survey, 17 elements of shopping satisfaction were collected. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the relationship that the importance of product purchased determines the importance of product attributes, and the importance of product attributes, in turn, determines satisfaction with product attributes. The conclusions are important for determining the best focus for retail tourism marketing aimed at increasing tourist shopping satisfaction.