Perishability, Yield Management, and Cross-Product Elasticity: A Case Study of Deep Discount Season Passes in the Colorado Ski Industry

In September 1998, selected ski resorts in Colorado initiated a deeply discounted season pass program, offering a 75% discount from the previous year’s prices to Front-Range skiers (Colorado residents). The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of this discount program on skier behavior. Specifically, the influence of the discount programs on skier behavior, cross-product elasticity, and market alienation was assessed, comparing the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 seasons. While the results are somewhat confounded by the poor snow conditions of the 1998-1999 season, the discount programs appear to have significantly influenced skier loyalty to the respective resorts. Finally, while declines in destination skier satisfaction with the levels of lift line and slope crowding were also identified, the discounted pass programs do not appear to have directly influenced the destination skiers’ overall satisfaction.

[1]  Robert E. Manning,et al.  Crowding Norms: Alternative Measurement Approaches , 1999 .

[2]  D. Bejou,et al.  A Critical Incident Approach to Examining the Effects of Service Failures on Customer Relationships , 1996 .

[3]  Richard B. Chase,et al.  The Strategic Levers of Yield Management , 1998 .

[4]  D. English,et al.  A Crowding-based Model of Social Carrying Capacity: Applications For Whitewater Boating Use , 1996 .

[5]  S. Kimes.  Yield management: A tool for capacity-considered service firms , 1989 .

[6]  P. Williams,et al.  Ski Channel Users: A Discriminating Perspective , 1998 .

[7]  Richard E. Chambers,et al.  Marketing Leadership in Hospitality: Foundations and Practices , 1989 .

[8]  Earl R. Babbie,et al.  The practice of social research , 1969 .

[9]  John L. Crompton,et al.  A Comparison of Alternative Direct and Discrepancy Approaches to Measuring Quality of Performance at a Festival , 1997 .

[10]  Warren H. Lieberman,et al.  Debunking the Myths of Yield Management , 1993 .

[11]  William J. Carroll,et al.  Evolutionary Change in Product Management: Experiences in the Car Rental Industry , 1995 .

[12]  Robert F. DeVellis,et al.  Scale Development: Theory and Applications. , 1992 .

[13]  Steven M. Shugan,et al.  Strategic Service Pricing and Yield Management , 1999 .

[14]  Bradley M. Braun,et al.  Central Florida theme park pricing: Following the mouse , 1992 .

[15]  Walter J. Relihan.  The Yield-Management Approach to Hotel-Room Pricing , 1989 .

[16]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Tracking the evolution of the services marketing literature , 1993 .

[17]  Z. Schwartz,et al.  Improving the Accuracy of Hotel Reservations Forecasting: Curves Similarity Approach , 1997 .

[18]  B. Joseph Pine,et al.  The Experience Economy , 2020, Journal of Orthopaedic Experience & Innovation.

[19]  Karl J. Mayer,et al.  Yield management in Las Vegas casino hotels , 1997 .

[20]  H. E. Echelberger,et al.  Snow + (X) = Use of Ski Slopes , 1971 .

[21]  Richard Metters,et al.  Yield Management for the Nonprofit Sector , 1999 .

[22]  Sheryl E. Kimes,et al.  Perceived Fairness of Yield Management , 1994 .

[23]  William S. Reece,et al.  Diagrammatic Approach to Capacity-Constrained Price Discrimination , 2000 .

[24]  G. L. Shostack.  Breaking Free from Product Marketing , 1977 .

[25]  Paul E. Spector.  Summated rating scale construction , 1991 .

[26]  L. Schlesinger,et al.  The Service Profit Chain: Intellectual Roots, Current Realities, and Future Prospects , 1999 .

[27]  Samuel E. Bodily,et al.  A Taxonomy and Research Overview of Perishable-Asset Revenue Management: Yield Management, Overbooking, and Pricing , 1992, Oper. Res..

[28]  S N Chapman,et al.  Demand/capacity management in health care: An application of yield management , 1992, Health care management review.

[29]  S. Ho,et al.  Service Quality and Tourism , 1998 .

[30]  Daniel R. Fesenmaier,et al.  Effects of Service Climate on Managers' and Employees' Rating of Visitors' Service Quality Expectations , 1997 .