Findings and managerial implications

Based on these empirical results, all three variables appear to have a direct effect on farm tourists’ behavioural intentions. Satisfaction was determined to be the best predictor, followed by perceived switching barriers and service value. In addition, interdependences between the three variables were confirmed to improve the model fit. The effects of the three constructs on tourist BI were thus better interpreted.

As found in other tourism sectors, satisfaction is more effective in explaining tourist BI than service value in farm tourism (e.g. Duman and Mattila, 2005; Oh, 1999). In accordance with factor loadings, enjoyment of rural culture and life experience were identified as the strongest predicators among the manifests of satisfaction. As a Western style urban life becomes more prevalent, tourism to rural locations may bring relief to metropolitan residents. They can relax and regain a sense of calm and peace of mind that is not possible in the city. More importantly, the residents may rediscover their roots in the countryside by instigating a ‘‘rural nostalgia boom’’ from the old days. Similar experiences have happened in developed countries such as Japan and Britain (Short, 1991; Thompson, 2004; Urry, 2002). In order to match tourist expectations, farms could be romanticized and commoditised. That is, customers may be drawn based on a sense of nostalgia for older ways of life, e.g. doing chores, making handicrafts/toys and praying for blessings.

Next, food/beverages, as well as educational and outdoor activities were found to be significant, and all had a similar effect on tourist satisfaction, echoing the results of previous tourism studies (e.g. Akama and Kieti, 2003; Qu and Ping, 1999). This largely reflects on the cultural and social values of contemporary Chinese society: eating and drinking is still regarded as an important social event. Also, as the birth rate decreases while income levels rise, more parents are focusing on child education and family health. Conversely, issues pertaining to safety and accommodations were found to be less effective.

Activities on agricultural farms tend to be less dynamic and risky than those on ranches or on forestry and fishery farms. Meanwhile, our survey results indicated that while staying in a farm, tourists often lower their expectations regarding room facilities and service.

Perceived switching barriers were found to be statistically effective in affecting the BI of farm tourists. This signifies the business environment surrounding leisure farms, where competition is substantial. Under these kinds of circumstances, identification of key potential tourist switching factors becomes important to prevent tourists from defecting to a competitor. Statistical analysis identified switching cost as a significant indicator for switching barriers.

Family travel is in particular strongly driven by the cost barrier. To make a cost barrier robust, pricing strategy can be raised as effective measure. As farm travel gradually becomes regular for families, a farm can choose to establish favourable ticketing systems, such as memberships, seasonal passes, or multiple ticket passports. Tourists subscribing to the ticketing systems in return for a

cheaper price per use are likely to recognize the expensive costs associated with a switch.

In addition, perceived risk, habitual domain, and service failure recovery are also notable in terms of reducing farm tourists from switching, although attractiveness of alternatives was of minor significance because the grouped farms were all seen as being of a similar level of service quality. To increase the level of perceived risk, tourists can be advised of the prominent switching risks through several communication channels, including advertising. Habitual domains indicate that the set of ideas and concepts that are encoded and stored in the brain tent to progressively stabilize over time (Yu, 1990). To fix a tourist’s decision-making process and form a habit, the farm may offer some cultural and social events. Religious activities such as a blessing ceremony, cultural folk and theme events, educational tree planting, and gathering with close relatives (an integral part of Chinese culture) may be effective, according to the local anecdotal evidences. As for service failure recovery, strategies may consist of three types of action: apology (acknowledging the problem); assistance (fixing the problem); and compensation (e.g. presenting a small gift such as a trading stamp, or price concession), based on service marketing (Levesque and McDougall, 2000).

In the dimensions of service value, we found functional value to be a strong factor. Improved service quality and/or reduced customer sacrifice may lead to better functional value. Service quality can be increased by enhancing customers’ sense of trust and loyalty (Albacere-Sáez et al., 2007). To do so, farm

staff need to have a professional appearance and to behave in a professional manner. As in other service sectors (Parasuraman et al., 1988), important tasks may include keeping tourists informed of any relevant information; assuring tourists that problems will be taken care of soon; being considerate of tourists’

property; and having tourists’ best interests at heart. To reduce customer sacrifice, price discounts can be offered for large groups, or for groups that visit during off-peak periods. Further, tourist sacrifice should not be confined to issues surrounding out-of-pocket costs. As farms are often located in remote areas, time and effort used to search for and arrive at a leisure farm should be taken into account. Efficient sale channels (utilizing e-commerce or integrating with travel agents) and feeder service (through transport integrations or free transferring) could be arranged to further mitigate tourist costs.

As for the interdependence between the three variables, we conclude that service value is positively associated with customer satisfaction in farm tourism.

Those tourists who feel that visiting a leisure farm is a valuable choice are likely to take that feeling into account when gauging their level of satisfaction. In addition, our results indicate that perceived switching barriers can serve as a moderating variable to be positively associated with service values and satisfaction, as with other service sectors (e.g. Chatura and Jaideep, 2003; Yang and Peterson, 2004). Accordingly, farm operators may use switching barriers as a complementary source to improve tourist satisfaction and service value for customer retention.

Finally, the control variable of first-time versus repeat tourists was

examined and found to be ineffective. This indicates that farm tourists present a rather clear and consistent group, especially true as travel information is widely available, and tourism consumption has become more common in Taiwan.

Travel frequency did not significantly vary responses in this study.