The main purpose of this stage is to conduct a preliminary investigation of the survey subjects to assess the reliability of the scale and eliminate inappropriate scales before conducting exploratory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis aims to reduce and summarize the data. On that basis, the author redefined the research model and completed the official survey.
Step 3:Formal research.
The official research will be conducted on the basis of a survey of businesses and tourism service establishments in Ben Tre province (including in the city and districts). The main subjects of the survey are the management levels at these businesses. The concepts in the research model are evaluated and tested on the basis of survey data with a sample size of 359. Two main contents are carried out in this official research step, (1) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and (2) The research model is tested by linear structural analysis (SEM). The purpose of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is to clarify: (1) Unidimensionality; (2) Reliability of the scale; (3) Convergent validity; (4) Discriminant validity. The method of linear structural model analysis (Structural Equation Modeling - SEM) is used to test the model and research hypotheses.
Maybe you are interested!
-
Official Research Model on Nlct of Ben Tre Tourism Enterprises -
Research on factors affecting domestic tourists' satisfaction with ecotourism in Ben Tre province - 21 -
Research on factors affecting domestic tourists' satisfaction with ecotourism in Ben Tre province - 20 -
Qualitative Research to Refine Model and Build Scale -
Research Model of Factors Impacting Work Motivation of Tour Guide Team in Binh Dinh Province
3.1.2 Research process diagram
The entire research process is described in the diagram:
Step 1
Theoretical overview, proposed research model
Expert Interview 1
Group discussion 1, determining preliminary research model
Second group discussion, adjusting scale and observed variables
Expert Interview 2
Draft interview questions to complete the scale
Summary of opinions
Finalize the preliminary scale and observed variables
Preliminary survey
Step 2
Type of observed variable
Assessing reliability with Cronbach's Alpha
Preliminary investigation N= 244
Variable type, clustering EFA analysis
Step 3
Identify the formal research model
Official survey
Scale fit; composite reliability; variance extracted; unidimensionality; convergent and discriminant validity
Testing theoretical models and hypotheses
Confirmatory factor analysis CFA
Structural Equation Modeling SEM
Official survey N=359
Analysis of current situation and causes of influencing factors
Conclusion and proposed solutions
Figure 3.1: Research process
3.2 Research methods
3.2.1 Qualitative research
3.2.1.1 Qualitative research methods
According to Krueger (1994), the best way to investigate a topic in a social context is through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, as it encourages sharing of experiences. According to Morgan (1997), the factors raised through interviews and focus group discussions will respond to specific information. Fontana and Frey (2000) further contribute that this method provides rich data with detailed information and low cost. Silverman (2001) believes that focus group discussions help group members have flexibility and freedom of speech, at which time the opportunity to solve problems and obstacles is easier. Therefore, in this thesis, the author uses the method of expert interviews and focus group discussions to complete the research model and verify the theoretical foundations in the model to be consistent with the thinking of local business managers. The purpose of the qualitative research in the thesis is to perfect the model and measurement scale in the research to suit local characteristics and was carried out from August to October 2014.
In addition, expert interviews create opportunities for the author to interact directly and suggest many new ideas about the competitiveness of tourism service enterprises in Ben Tre, while receiving reactions and feedback in a controlled and systematic manner. Group discussions encourage members to contribute their opinions about the competitiveness of enterprises based on the synthesis of opinions from expert interviews and to reach common consensus on these factors, which is the foundation for building a survey questionnaire. However, group discussions have limitations such as: lively discussions give rise to many issues that deviate from the research direction or get stuck on one issue; opinions of influential individuals can attract the attention of the entire group. The author overcomes this problem by accurately identifying the interviewer, while avoiding questions that require quick answers as suggested by Fontana and Frey (2000).
The method of conducting is through a face-to-face meeting, documents and questions are sent in advance to the interviewee via email and mail. The average expert interview time for each appointment is from 20 to 30 minutes, following the order of asking questions and clarifying in the form of interviews based on the theoretical basis of each group of factors, the discussion time
Group discussion about 120 minutes. Interviewees are experts at universities, professional management agencies, tourism businesses in Ben Tre province. Because they are the ones who have knowledge, understand the theory of NLCT and have a lot of practical experience at local tourism businesses.
The study interviewed a total of 15 experts, the comments were recorded and summarized by the author (list of experts interviewed and discussed in groups according to Appendix 02). To conclude the issue, it is necessary to exchange and share among experts, so a group discussion among experts is very necessary. The content of the group discussion revolved around the factors affecting the competitiveness of Ben Tre tourism enterprises and the components of each group of factors. The discussion results were very lively and there were many practical contributions to the thesis.
3.2.1.2 Qualitative data analysis methods
According to Mayring (2000), qualitative data analysis is an empirical approach. In this thesis, research data was obtained through expert interviews, then the data was grouped according to research objectives and analyzed in the following order:
- Raw data, at this stage the author conducted expert interviews according to the plan with the important content of the interview questionnaire according to the theoretical model that has been determined (Punch, 2005; Schilling, 2006). During the interview, some movements, reactions and pauses of the interviewee are very important and often provide additional valuable information (Mostyn, 1985; Silverman, 2001).
- Data grouping, collected data will be divided into thematic groups according to research objectives. It is possible to further check the grouping data because it is the foundation of research results and can significantly affect the quality of data (Schilling, 2006).
- Synthesize important opinions, after grouping expert interview data, the author synthesizes which opinions are prominent, which many experts are interested in, the importance of the person giving the opinion to present at the focus group discussion. The results of the group discussion will be recorded in detail with contributions and discussions. On that basis, the author summarizes which factors are important to influence the competitiveness of Ben Tre tourism enterprises that many people are interested in and they are the center of attention (Schilling, 2006).
3.2.1.3 Qualitative research adjusts the research model
Based on the research objectives, the author conducted research on documents and previous research works. The author proposed a model for the research, found out the attributes to build an outline for expert interviews and group discussions. Through analysis and statistics of the
In previous studies (Table 2.3), the author found that there are many factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises in general and tourism enterprises in particular. Depending on the specific conditions of the locality, each study in different localities and at different times, researchers have proven that the influencing factors are different. Especially in studies in the tourism sector, the main factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises are often price competition, product and service quality, marketing capacity, organizational and management capacity, brand, human resources, social responsibility, and destination environmental conditions (policy mechanisms, natural environment). Based on the proposed research model and influencing factors, the author has developed an outline for expert interviews and group discussions. The content of the expert interview and group discussion revolves around the factors affecting the competitiveness of tourism enterprises in Ben Tre according to theoretical attributes and previous studies ( outline of expert interview and group discussion according to Appendix 01 ). The interviewees are experts at universities, professional management agencies, and tourism enterprises in Ben Tre province ( list of interview experts according to Appendix 02 ).
Qualitative research results adjust the model
Synthesizing many opinions of experts and opinions at the group discussion ( details in Appendix 5 ) shows that the majority of opinions agree with the factors affecting the competitiveness of Ben Tre tourism enterprises as proposed in the interview outline including: (1) Price competition; (2) Product and service quality; (3) Marketing capacity; (4) Organization and management capacity; (5) Brand; (6) Human resources; (7) Social responsibility; (8) Destination environmental conditions (policy mechanisms, natural environment). However, in the factor of destination environmental conditions, experts suggest adding the factor of Ben Tre people with friendly and hospitable characteristics, being the homeland of the patriotic heroes "Dong Khoi - Ben Tre". In addition, experts also believe that Ben Tre has an advantage over other localities in the Mekong Delta, which is the homeland of coconut, with typical products from coconut, a clean and green natural environment with rows of coconut trees, so businesses need to have the capacity to take advantage of these advantages. Therefore, the author needs to add this factor to the model, but through group discussion, this factor belongs to the organization and management capacity of the business. In addition, experts also contributed many opinions on the components of each factor, these components will be synthesized and completed by the author in the content of each scale. In summary, the factors affecting the competitiveness of businesses
Ben Tre tourism industry according to experts includes the above factors and adds human factors to the group of destination environmental conditions ( detailed expert opinions in Appendix 03). These are opinions that appear many times, by important subjects such as business directors, lecturers, managers, which are compiled and recorded by the author. The qualitative research results will be a basis for the author to establish a model for the study. This result also shows that the theoretical basis and research models of business competitiveness in chapter 2 are suitable for local conditions and can be applied to local research.
Preliminary quantitative research model
Based on the proposed research model and qualitative research results from expert interviews and group discussions ( details in Appendix 4, 5 ), the research model for preliminary research on factors affecting the competitiveness of Ben Tre tourism enterprises includes: (1) Price competition; (2) Product and service quality; (3) Marketing capacity; (4) Organizational and management capacity; (5) Brand; (6) Human resources; (7) Social responsibility; (8) Destination environmental conditions (policy mechanisms, local people, natural environment).
Trademark
Competitiveness of Ben Tre tourism business
Human resources
Policy mechanism
Social Responsibility
Local people
Destination environmental conditions
Natural environment
Price competition
Product and service quality
Marketing capacity
Organizational and management capacity
Figure 3.2: Preliminary research model
3.2.1.4 Qualitative research results to complete the scale
Based on the preliminary research model, the author conducted expert interviews and discussions.
Group discussion to perfect the scale and observed variables. Also based on the research objectives, the author conducted a literature review and previous research works to find the components for each factor in the model as a basis for building an outline for expert interviews and group discussions. The content of the expert interviews and group discussions revolved around the components of each factor affecting the competitiveness of tourism enterprises in Ben Tre based on the components of the angle scale drawn from the literature review and previous research works ( the content of the expert interview outline and group discussions according to Appendix 04 ). The interviewees were still experts at universities, professional management agencies, and tourism enterprises in Ben Tre province ( List of interview experts according to Appendix 02) .
Price competition scale
Price is the price of goods and services, the price that is recognized by society. Price competition in tourism depends on the corresponding value of goods and services serving the needs of tourists (Dwyer, Forsyth and Rao, 2000). Therefore, the price must be commensurate with the value provided by the product or service and must be perceived well by customers. Price is affected by: Location of the destination, level of safety, quality of service it provides, customer perception (Dwyer and Kim, 2003); Customer needs (Qu, Xu, and Tan, 2002; Tsai, Kang, Yeh, and Suh, 2005); Service level (Mattila and O'Neil, 2003); Service quality (Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1991); Local culture (Armstrong et al., 1997); Customer budget and income (Lockyer, 2005).
Expert interview and focus group discussion questions for this scale are in the Appendix.
4. The synthesis results ( Appendix 5 ) show that most experts believe that the price factor group is very important and sensitive to the competitiveness of enterprises. Prices must be linked to the quality of products and services. For localities like Ben Tre, tourism businesses are mainly small and have not yet been linked together into a chain, so the ability to compete on price is very limited because there are many products and services that they have to rent. To compete, prices need to be compared with competitors, with flexible discount rates for each customer segment. Therefore, most experts believe that it is necessary to add the component of product and service prices of enterprises, which always have discount rates according to the target and number of tourists, to the scale of price competitiveness. The synthesis results show that most experts agree with the components of this group.
The research results show that the observed variables of this scale include:
(1) Price is commensurate with the quality of products and services provided (Dwyer and Kim, 2003; Mattila and O'Neil, 2003; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1999).
(2) The prices of the company's products and services are always competitive compared to competitors (Dwyer and Kim, 2003).
(3) The prices of the company's products and services always have discounts depending on the target and number of tourists (Synthesis of expert opinions).
(4) The prices of the company's products and services are very flexible to suit the needs and income of each customer (Qu, Xu, and Tan, 2002; Tsai, Kang, Yeh and Suh, 2005; Lockyer, 2005).
Scale of quality of tourism products and services
The quality of products and services is measured by the market share of those products and services 4 . Therefore, research and development of new products, control of product quality combined with ensuring the quality of input factors, reliability, and time of providing products and services are important factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises (Barkema, 1993; Levins, 2000; Schweikhardt, 2000; Babcock, 2002). The quality of products and services in tourism depends on the quality of services provided compared to competitors (Lewis and Booms, 1983; Berry, Zeithaml, and Parasuraman, 1990). According to Mattila and O'Neil (2003); Cardozo (1965); Fornell (1992); According to Halstead and Page (1992), customer satisfaction is an important aspect of product and service quality, satisfaction will lead to repeat purchases and business benefits, it is often expressed through the feeling that customers have about a product or service after purchase (Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). Satisfaction with product and service quality also depends on product characteristics, which are the basic characteristics of the product or service (Choi and Chu, 1999; Mittal, Kumar, and Tsiros, 1999; Ratchford, 1975; Ladd and Zober, 1977). According to Ratchford, product attributes can be evaluated objectively such as full equipment, modern rooms, standard facilities, etc., or cognitively such as clean environment, attentive help, polite and cheerful staff, etc. (Oh, 1999; Dube, Enz, Renaghan, and Siguaw, 1999).
Expert interview and focus group discussion questions for this scale are in the Appendix.
4. The synthesis results ( Appendix 5 ) show that most experts believe that product and service quality is an important measure that creates prestige and affects the competitiveness of enterprises.
4 Central Institute for Economic Research and United Nations Development Program, 2002