Tell Me Who You Think You Are and I Tell You How You Travel : Exploring the Viability of Market Segmentation by Means of Travelers' Stated Personality

People travel to different destinations for different reasons. In this study, we investigate the viability of market segmentation by personal traits (based on and exemplified by Jungian MBTI variables) of travellers from Switzerland.

We performed a data-driven a-posteriori segmentation by means of k-means clustering. To identify the segmentation power of personal traits, this analysis was complemented with a multiple discriminant analysis as well as a number of contingency tests to identify differences between the segments.

We identified four clearly delimitable segments. They not only differ in terms of the psychographic traits of the segment members but also in terms of their socio-demographic characteristics as well as travel profiles.

Despite a growing body of work on classical market segmentation, there is still a limited number of works on potentialities of psychographic approaches relating to a traveller's traits and/ or personality as a segmentation basis in tourism.