Plog´s Psychographic Model

UNIVERSIDAD INTERAMERICANA DE PANAMÁ

FACULTY OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

SCHOOL OF GASTRONOMY AND HOSPITALITY UIP-GLION.

Introduction to Tourism

Topic:

Plog´s Psychographic Model

Students:

                        Broce, Roxana                            ID. 8-902-1756

                        Orozco, Luany                        ID. 8-902-2192

                        Pinzón, Abi                                ID.

Professor:

Khadine Córdoba

Date:

Panama, January 25th 2016

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION        

I.        Plog´s Model Framework        

II.        Plog´s main groups, characteristics of tourists        

III.        Plog´s Model analysis        

IV.        Importance of Plog´s Model        

CONCLUSION        

REFERENCES        

INTRODUCTION

A tourism typology is a description based on the psychological characteristics of a specific group of tourists. Also the personality traits are linked directly with the tourist behavior. This is the reason why the Plog´s Model Tourism was created.

To demonstrate that the psychographic factors can determine tourists’ options in order to choose a place for vacation; Stanley Plog, an American researcher came up with a theory in which he classifies travelers in two main sectors followed by three sub-sections according to their lifestyle. In total they are five sections composed by the psychocentrics, near psychocentrics, allocentrics, near-allocentrics and mid-centrics.

The most important goal of this research was to demonstrate that psychographics are determinants of their travel patterns and main preferences. Also it was the first model in segmenting tourist in this way, which has helps marketing companies to understand their customers offering them according to their demand better advertising and services.

As usual, there have been many people who have disagreed with the Stanley Plog study. To mention some men who had argue about if this theory is totally true, we had Smith (1990) and Litvin (2006) who says that there are cases in which the personality types and destinations does not match always and that the ideal destination differs sometimes from the recent visited place.

1. Plog´s Model Framework

Stanley C. Plog, an American researcher was working with the airline industry in the late 1960s. There was a problem with a lot of people that did not fly in that moment; they gave Plog the task of finding the answer to the problematic. The main goal of the moment was to turn more un-flyers into regular flyers.

After a lot of research, studying behavior, and interviewing those non-flyers, in 1974 he found that those people were similar on personality tendencies such as territory boundless or travel less throughout one lifetime; general anxieties/ insecurities; and the last one sense of powerlessness which means few control of their fortunes and misfortunes.

He defines those factors or similarities as psychocentrism, which means that those travelers were psychocentric. Also he started to realize that there were another current of active people, self-assure and adventurous ones; then he named this type as allocentrism or allocentric. There are derivatives that from the main groups known as mid-centric, near-psychocentric and near-allocentric travelers. He represented his model as a type of curvy mountain with the two main sides and the derivatives.

In 2001 he reformulated the model by changing the names of the two main groups; the psychocentric are now represented as dependables and allocentric ones as venturers.

1. Plog´s main groups, characteristics of tourists

Psychographic characteristics

Other characteristics of each side of the model are:

1. Psychocentric or dependables:

1. Are inward looking people
2. Do not like to take risks
3. Prefer comfortable accommodations
4. They prefer tourist well known tourist services
5. They re-visit a place if they get satisfied

The psychocentric people or dependables divides into:

• Near psychocentric: are those tourists that seek for common or familiar places, but are more open to the things that surround them and are willing to interact in new activities or being part of the culture.

1. Allocentric or venturers:

1. Unknown destinations
2. Risk takers
3. They do not mind if the need to camp or there is no Wi-Fi
4. Like places with almost no touristic development. Prefer to interact with the locals.
5. They are outward people

The allocentric divides into:

• Near allocentric: they are as regular allocentric ones, but with the different that they want better comfortable spots, with regular installations for tourists.

1. Mid-Centric: This section represents the majority of people in the world, that goes to popular places or not, they participate in activities, have mixed characteristics from the psychocentric and allocentric travelers and they go mainly for leisure purposes.

1. Plog´s Model analysis

[pic 1]

This diagram also shows that the typology of tourist is associated with a destination life cycle, because a type of tourist can determinate a place development.

As you can see in the diagram the allocentrics have a line that is almost completely horizontal. This happens because a little known place is visited by the first adventurers and they spread the news through their relatives.

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