Market Orientation as a Strategy for the Rural Tourism Sector: Its Effect on Tourist Behavior and the Performance of Enterprises

摘要

The aim of the present work is to ascertain the importance of market orientation as a business strategy within the rural tourism sector. To this end, we took a business-to-customer (B2C) perspective. First, the adoption of market orientation was measured from the firm's point of view. Second, tourist perceptions were analyzed using two variables, perceived value and behavioral intentions. The sample consisted of 100 rural tourism enterprises and 572 of their customers. The findings reveal that the market orientation undertaken by the firm has a direct effect on its outcomes (its financial results, the improvements to the rural destination, and the more personal, intangible impact on the owner-manager) and on perceived value; and that perceived value has a direct effect on consumers' behavioral intentions toward the firm.