Title: Sustainability excellence and brand experience in the cruise industry: a cross-cultural comparison

Authors: Nadine Hennigs; Jaehee Jung; Steffen Schmidt; Evmorfia Karampournioti; Klaus-Peter Wiedmann; Franziska Labenz

Addresses: Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany ' University of Delaware, Delaware, USA ' Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany ' Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany ' Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany ' Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany

Abstract: In the tourism industry, consumers with sustainability attitudes are concerned about the environmental impact of their travel and are willing to pay higher prices for products that assure environmental responsibility. In particular, the cruise industry - the fastest growing segment in the travel market - is confronted with increasing public pressure related to sustainability considerations. Nevertheless, sustainability orientation alone cannot be considered as the most important determinant for the average luxury traveller to book a cruise vacation. Especially exclusive cruise trips embody a prototypical form of experiential tourism where the ship simultaneously represents the journey as well as the destination. Against this backdrop, the main focus of this study is on the influence of sustainability excellence and brand experience in the travel and tourism industry. Incorporating relevant theoretical and empirical findings, this study explores antecedents of consumer perception and behaviour in the context of cruise vacations, examines significant differences regarding the relative importance of the identified factors comparing US and German con- and identifies segments of luxury cruise passengers across national borders. The results give evidence that incorporating sustainability orientation and brand experience is a promising way to create successful differentiation strategies for different consumer groups in the luxury travel market.

Keywords: sustainability excellence; brand experience; brand performance; luxury travel market; cruise industry.

DOI: 10.1504/LRJ.2017.086733

Luxury Research Journal, 2017 Vol.1 No.3, pp.240 - 259

Received: 23 Nov 2015
Accepted: 07 Jul 2016
Published online: 24 Sep 2017 *

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