The Difference of Japanese Spa Tourists Motivation in Weekends and Weekdays

The purpose of this study is to reveal the differences in the motivations of Japanese spa tourists on weekends as opposed to weekdays using a factor-cluster market segmentation approach. “Spas (ONSEN)” are some of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan, and tourists visit specific spa destinations to enjoy their unique qualities. In this study, we collected push motivation data from a questionnaire and separated respondents into weekend and weekday samples. The weekend and weekday motivation factors were derived from 54 motivation items through factor analysis. As a result of cluster analysis, weekend tourists were divided into three clusters and weekday tourists were segmented into four clusters. Through a comparison of the results for weekends and weekdays, we find the following. First, weekday tourists have clearer motivations than do weekend tourists. Second, both weekend and weekday tourists seek “soothing” when they travel to spas. Our results have marketing implications for spa operators: they will likely benefit from targeting their promotional strategies to the specific weekend and weekday tourist markets.