Process Modelling of the cruise passenger travel experience
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School of Engineering |
Doctoral thesis (article-based)
| Defence date: 2025-01-24
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Authors
Date
2024
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
69 + app. 77
Series
Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL THESES, 276/2024
Abstract
Decision making in the service industry, particularly in the experience business such as cruise services, is a multi-criteria and -stakeholder problem. It emphasizes the significance of decision-making models for navigating the unpredictable cruise industry, in which time spans and stakeholders associated with ship design, building and operations vary substantially. It also highlights the necessity for long- and short-term, as well as stable and adaptable, decisions. This thesis proposes viewing decision making as a multi-stage and multi-stakeholder process that involves learning from customer data, understanding data interrelationships and biases, and engaging users strategically. It integrates views from both passenger experiences (lower level, short time spans) and organizational perspectives (upper level, longer time spans). This thesis presents a framework to improve onboard environmental decision making on cruise ships in relation to the passenger experience. A comprehensive model is developed, integrating onboard environmental factors such as ambience, ship layout and design, social interactions, product and service quality, and overall enjoyment in the resulting customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is considered from the perspective of internal responses, including cognitive, affective, physiological and behavioural, and their influence on decision making is discussed. The cruise experience process spans from initial experiences during the purchasing phase of the journey and resulting expectations to the final, post-cruise satisfaction and resulting customer behaviour (e.g., loyalty, including word-of-mouth, recommendation, intention to repurchase, repeat purchase and regret regulation). A holistic understanding and interpretation of behavioural models is vital for making informed decisions in both the design and operation phases of the cruise ship within the experience-based tourism industry. The results derived from the developed model with actual customer data highlight the importance of fully understanding onboard environmental factors and their relation to customer reactions in enhancing the customer experience and satisfaction within the cruise tourism industry. This thesis offers a robust framework for future research and practical applications by synthesizing existing research and developing a comprehensive model for multi-criteria and -stakeholder decision making. The developed theoretical model offers insights for both scholarly research and practical applications in the cruise industry. It aims to assist cruise ship designers, builders and operators in designing and managing their ships, optimizing customer satisfaction and enhancing loyalty.Description
Supervising professor
Romanoff, Jani, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, FinlandThesis advisor
Kujala, Pentti, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, FinlandValdez Banda, Osiris, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Finland
Keywords
decision making: consumer, executive, multi-criteria, multi-stakeholder, onboard environmental factors: ambience, layout, design, architecture, social, service, overall enjoyment, internal responses: cognitive, affective, physiological and behavioural, onboard experience gap, loyalty, data mining
Other note
Parts
- [Publication 1]: Akter, S., Valdez Banda, O.A., Kujala, P., & Romanoff, J. (2021). Understanding Cruise Passengers’ On-board Experience throughout the Customer Decision Journey. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 15(4), 429-435. Sourcework-id: 1d793229-fbfc-4bac-adee-46632ac73f6a. Best paper award received and invited to journal paper from a conference: Akter, S., Valdez Banda, O.A., Kujala, P., & Romanoff, J. (2021). ‘Understanding cruise passengers’ on-board experience throughout the customer decision journey’ presented at the International Conference on Marine Technology and Design, Paris, France, 17–18 May 2021. The primary contributor to the paper was the first author, who developed the idea, formulated the onboard environmental factors' framework, conducted decision modelling, calculations and analysis, established the final conclusions and wrote the paper. Jani Romanoff contributed to the manuscript with valuable comments and suggestions, while Osiris Valdez Banda and Pentti Kujala assisted with valuable comments. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202110069501.
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[Publication 2]: Akter, S., Valdez Banda, O.A., Kujala, P. & Romanoff, J. (2021) ‘The gap between cruise passengers’ expectations and the on-board experience through on-board environmental factors and overall satisfaction’, Int. J. Tourism Policy, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp.371–400. The primary contributor to the paper was the first author who developed the idea of the onboard experience gap, performed the simulations, interpreted the results and wrote the paper. Jani Romanoff contributed to the manuscript with valuable comments and suggestions, while Osiris Valdez Banda and Pentti Kujala assisted with valuable comments.
Full text in Acris/Aaltodoc: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-2021112410336DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2021.10042732 View at publisher
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[Publication 3]: Akter, S., & Romanoff, J. (2024). Cruise passengers’ internal reactions to onboard environmental attributes. Ocean Engineering, 307, 118112. The primary contributor to the paper was the first author, who extended the existing methodology of the internal responses to cruise ships, implemented the model, performed the simulations and interpreted the results, and wrote the paper. Jani Romanoff contributed with valuable comments and suggestions.
Full text in Acris/Aaltodoc: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202405293922DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.118112 View at publisher
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[Publication 4]: Akter, S., and Romanoff, J. (2024) Satisfaction of passengers – process comparison between two cruise ship classes. 15th International Marine Design Conference (IMDC 2024). The primary contributor to the paper was the first author, who developed the idea, conducted the simulations on two processes, interpreted the results and wrote the paper. Jani Romanoff contributed to the manuscript with valuable comments and suggestions.
Full text in Acris/Aaltodoc: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202409256514DOI: 10.59490/imdc.2024.892 View at publisher