The Effects of Age Stereotypes on Tour Leader Roles

Abstract

This study explores whether various distance trips and age stereotypes affect tourists’ perceptions of tour leaders’ roles. This research also identifies the moderating effects regarding tour leader age stereotype, age in-group bias, and the respondents’ age on the perceived roles played by tour leaders. A total of 447 subjects participated in the study with a 2 (role-play scenarios: short-distance trip vs. long-distance trip) × 2 (appearances of the tour leader: middle-aged vs. young) between-subjects factorial design. The results showed that the respondents’ perceived roles of a middle-aged appearance tour leader were better than some young appearance counterparts’ components under short- and long-distance conditions. Furthermore, the tour leader age stereotype and age in-group bias could influence respondents’ perceptions of care and interactional and communicative dimensions. In addition, respondents’ age could affect the perceptions of some components of the tour leaders under short- and long-distance conditions.

Keywords

tour leader age stereotype in-group bias role

Introduction

In many Asian countries, including Taiwan, the group package tour (GPT) is one of the main modes of outbound travel (Tsaur and Wang 2009; Wang et al. 2004; Wang et al. 2010). The majority of Taiwanese tourists traveling abroad use the GPT mode and the travel agencies take responsibility for all tour arrangements. According to Tourism Bureau statistics (2012), the total number of people who took travel time abroad was 9,583,873 in 2011; of these, 90% of the tourists authorized travel agencies to arrange their tours, and almost half of the sightseeing tourists participated in GPTs.

The most distinctive feature of the GPT is the presence of the tour leader (TL), who provides various services for the tour participants and has the opportunity for long-term contact with tourists (Wang, Hsieh, and Chen 2002). Wong and Kwong (2004) and Min (2011) clearly pointed out that the quality of the TL/tour guide could be a crucial variable as their presentation can make or break a tour. Heung (2008) also indicated that tourists may rely on the TL to ensure that core service is delivered and to determine how this core service is performed. The exact roles of the TL were not clearly delineated until Cohen (1985) asserted that TL’s roles should include the instrumental, social, interactionary, and communicative roles from the outer- and inner-directed views. In addition, Pond (1993) indicated that the role of the guide includes that of being a leader capable of assuming responsibility. Wong and Wang (2009) pointed out that TLs’ emotional displays are part of their work roles. The multifaceted roles of the TL include acting as a buffer and intermediary between the tourist and the “unknown” and then making the environment nonthreatening for the tourist (Hughes 1991; Schmidt 1979). Moreover, they act as group leader, information giver, and entertainer to promote group interaction (Holloway 1981).

The outbound GPT is generally a long and continuous process entailing long working hours. During the entire itinerary, the TL is expected to offer a twenty-four-hour service throughout the entire tour. When dyadic service encounters occur, a customer will form perceptions dependent on the employee’s personal appearance, their own pre-established expectations, and the surroundings in which the encounter occurs (Lockwood and Jones 1989). When information is scarce, individuals may form impressions and make judgments about the server according to their gender, age, occupation and physical attractiveness (Berger et al. 1977).

Stereotyping is the concept of ascribing characteristics to people on the basis of their group memberships (Oakes, Haslam, and Turner 1994). Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor (1997) and Luoh and Tsaur (2007, 2011) described two possible gender-related/age-related expectations or stereotypes in customer service settings. The first is defined as a “server gender/age stereotype”; the second stereotype is termed an “in-group bias.” Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor (1997) also found an interaction between server stereotypes and genders (servers and/or consumers) that affected views toward some dimensions of service quality provided by restaurants.

Perlini, Bertolissi, and Lind’s (1999) view that “what is aged is less good,” is a kind of age-based stereotype. Although age stereotypes have been debated in many studies (Posthuma and Campion 2009), and the labor force is aging in many industrial nations (Feyrer 2007), service industries in Taiwan may still display age stereotyping concerning some positions. Therefore, age stereotypes are likely to be present in tourist preferences. On short- and long-distance trips, Nicolau (2008) confirmed that tourist characteristics have an effect on distance sensitivity. Bao and McKercher (2008) reported that male long-haul tourists tend to be older and short-haul visitors tend to be younger in the inbound Hong Kong market. McKercher and du Cros (2003) also found that short- and long-haul tourists have different motivations in taking trips. Consequently, it is possible that tourists’ perceptions of the roles played may be influenced by the TL’s age in short- or long-haul trips.

Because age is the most obvious, visible, and noteworthy personal characteristic, consumers may form an attitude or respond to the service provider in a certain way solely on this basis. To date, little research has focused on the aspects of age stereotypes and the TL’s role, despite the importance of tour guiding in delivering a satisfactory tour experience for package tourists (Huang 2010; Huang, Hsu, and Chan 2010). This study, therefore, examined the moderating role of age stereotypes on the relationship between perceived roles played and tourist/TL encounters on short- or long-distance trips. This research explored the following questions: Does a TL’s age affect a tourist’s perception of the role played by the TL under short- or long-distance trip conditions? Does the TL age stereotype or in-group bias influence perceptions of the role played under short- or long-distance trip conditions? Do the perceptions of the role played differ according to the tourists’ age under short- or long-distance trip conditions? In addition to providing information about the effect of age stereotypes on perceptions of TL roles, the results will be a useful reference for service marketing and human resource management in the tourism field.

Literature Review and Hypotheses

The Role of the Tour Leader

A TL is called a tour manager or a tour escort. Sometimes, they may also be referred to as a type of tour guide (Black and King 2002; Leclerc and Martin 2004). The TL is the front-line employee in the tourism industry and is the “face” of a company (Howard, Thwaites, and Smith 2001; Pond 1993). According to the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA), it defines a tour manager/tour director or escort as “a person who manages an itinerary on behalf of the tour operator ensuring the programme is carried out as described in the tour operator’s literature and sold to the traveler/consumer and who gives local practical information” (WFTGA 2003). Practically, a TL plays many roles on a tour, such as narrator, entertainer, leader, salesperson, attendant, coordinator, organizer, consultant and communicator, information giver, and representative of the travel agents. In Taiwan, TLs of long-distance trips usually function as tour guides, too. Likewise, TLs of short-distance trips also need to handle part of the tour guide’s work. Therefore, the role of a TL in this study may also be referred to as a tour guide.

“Role” is a kind of abstract conception about an individual’s behavior mode in an organization (Katz and Kahn 1978; Spector 1997). It is also a person in a position who is expected to adopt certain behaviors (Jex 1998). With regards to the roles of TLs, Cohen (1985) pointed out that the instrumental, social, interactional, and communicative component are a tour guide’s principal roles. Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001) investigated the roles of an environmental interpreter of the indigenous tour at Mutawintji National Park, including the instrumental leadership role; social leadership role; interactionary mediator role; teacher/communicator mediator role; resource management role of motivator; and resource management role. Furthermore, Yu, Weiler, and Ham (2001) proposed a conceptual framework for analyzing the factors contributing to tour guides’ intercultural competence. They indicated that tour guides’ intercultural competence affects tourist satisfaction with regards to the quality of the intercultural travel experience. Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010) proposed 35 performance attributes of guiding, such as “guide must be accessible whenever customer needs them,” “take good care of customers’ needs,” “meeting customers’ psychological needs,” “solving problems and conflicts emerging from tour arrangement,” and “handling customers’ complaints properly.” In addition to the above-mentioned roles, Chen, Hsin, and Shen (2010) indicated that “comforting customers’ emotions is necessary,” and “dealing with changed itinerary” and “handling emergency situations” are also duties and tasks of TLs on the China route.

Age-Based Stereotypes and Roles Played

Stereotyping is a process whereby characteristics are ascribed to people according to their membership of a particular group (Oakes, Haslam, and Turner 1994). In forming impressions of younger adults, age stereotypes have been found to supersede the other distinguishing characteristics (e.g., gender, occupation, and ethnicity) that are normally used. The traditional view is that older people are judged by younger people to be less active and sociable, and are linked to negative concepts such as frailty, slowness, irritability, dependency, withdrawal, vagueness, and stagnation (Braithwaite, Gibson, and Holman 1985-1986). In summarizing 117 previous research articles and books about age stereotypes in the workplace, Posthuma and Campion (2009) found that there was also the belief that older workers were less capable, less motivated, and less productive than their younger coworkers. Likewise, Meisner (2012) demonstrated that negative age stereotyping is much more influential on key behavioral outcomes (i.e., measures of performance and perception) among older adults than is positive age stereotyping. Negative age stereotyping is omnipresent, persistent, and inflexible, and it is more pervasive than positive age stereotyping (Levy 2008; Meisner 2012). These studies concluded that as the saying goes, “what is aged is less good” (Perlini, Bertolissi, and Lind 1999), even though Avolio, Waldman, and McDaniel (1990) found that age and job tenure are positively correlated with job performance. Ali and Davies (2003) also reported that job tenure and performance have a positive correlation. In addition, Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010) suggested that a tour guide’s performance directly affects a tourist’s satisfaction with the guiding service. Although Perlini, Bertolissi, and Lind (1999) asserted that “what is aged is less good,” Quiroga’s (1990) European package tour study pointed out that the gender of the guide does not appear to matter to the tourists, and they considered an age of between 20 and 40 to be ideal for a guide. The reality in Taiwan is that most TLs in the tourism industry are middle aged, primarily because of experience considerations. This phenomenon may reflect the expectations of tourists. Consequently, the tourism industry has traditionally been the domain of senior TLs, particularly on long-distance trips.

With regards to age, Casper, Rothermund, and Wentura (2011) supported the existence of context-specific age stereotypes. Old age is a phase of life characterized by preserved capability and developmental gains (Kruse and Schmitt 2006). The older, more experienced workers often outperform their younger colleagues (Tillsely and Taylor 2001; Wallace 2010). Furthermore, performance often improves with age, and when declines are found, they tend to be small (Posthuma and Campion 2009). Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed based on travel distance differences (Bowen 2001), and the major tour leading roles suggested by Cohen (1985), Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001), Chen, Hsin, and Shen (2010), and Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010):

Hypothesis 1: Under short- or long-distance trip conditions, a tourist’s perception of the role played by a TL, derived from a middle-aged TL, will be better than for a young TL.

TL Age Stereotype

Posthuma and Campion (2009) indicated that certain jobs should be held by employees of a certain age. The perception does exist that certain jobs are more suitably held by employees of a certain age group (Cleveland and Shore 1992; Perry and Bourhis 1998), and that certain ages are normally associated with certain jobs (Lawrence 1988). Luoh and Tsaur (2011) demonstrated that the respondents’ perceptions of the difference in service quality, as delivered by servers with a young/middle-aged appearance, can be explained by a subconscious emotional reaction to middle-aged servers. On the other hand, Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor (1997) asserted that most clients expected mechanics in automotive repair shops to be male and those in fabric stores to be female, according to their experiences and/or stereotypes. This was called a server gender stereotype, and the server gender stereotype effect can be evaluated by surveying respondents via questionnaires (Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor 1997). Likewise, age is also an observable basis on which people form impressions about others (Berger et al. 1977). Based on Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor (1997), Luoh and Tsaur (2011) evaluated the respondents on whether they believed young (or middle-aged) servers were better, and reported that this was an explicit attitude linked to server age stereotyping.

In addition, previous research has suggested that age stereotypes have more influence when the candidate’s actual age does not match the perceived appropriate age for a person holding that particular job (Gordon and Arvey 2004; Ostroff and Atwater 2003; Shore and Goldberg 2005). Therefore, it may be deduced that there are those who believe TLs of a certain age are better at providing a service and may expect a higher level of expertise if a TL of said age (vs. the other) is providing the service. Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed based on travel distance differences (Bowen 2001), and the major tour leading roles suggested by Cohen (1985), Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001), Chen, Hsin, and Shen (2010), and Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010):

Hypothesis 2: Under short- or long-distance trip conditions, a tourist’s perception of the role played by a middle-aged or young TL will be influenced by the TL age stereotype.

How Same Age Affects In-Group Bias toward TLs

Tajfel and Turner (1986), using social identity theory, suggested that people form evaluations of the self, based partially on their membership to particular social groups. People tend to evaluate their own in-groups highly and look down on the out-groups that they do not belong to and, in this way, seek to expand their own self-regard. This phenomenon was revealed in the findings of Kornadt and Rothermund’s (2011) study, that young cohorts gave less positive evaluations of old persons.

Self-report is one way to evaluate this in-group bias effect. Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor (1997) have indicated that in-group bias may influence the evaluation of service quality in certain service settings. A “what is similar is good” effect has been theorized to be in operation in these situations. Both people who had and hadn’t purchased life insurance were interviewed by Evans (1963): it was found that when considering physical characteristics (age, height), personality (political view, smoking), and other factors (income, religion, education), the more similar the salesperson was to the customer, the more likely the customer was to make a purchase. Interestingly, Henss (1991) reported a negative correlation between age and attractiveness for female stimuli, whereas the in-group inclination remained. It was found that in restaurant settings, the attitudes of young consumers toward other patrons were more favorable to younger patrons (Saleh 2000). Similarly, Celejewski and Dion (1998) noted an in-group bias where older workers viewed older people more favorably. DeArmond et al. (2006) also suggested that young people might think that all older people belong to an out-group and are, in their opinion, rigid, irritable, slow, and so forth. Likewise, the self-congruity theory holds for the destinations of tourism (Boksberger et al. 2011). These results showed that in many peoples’ view, an “age like mine” is even better. The existence of an age in-group bias in service marketing is thus supported by these studies: a young/middle-aged tourist may therefore expect higher expertise if they encounter a young/middle-aged TL providing the role. Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed based on travel distance differences (Bowen 2001), and the major tour leading roles suggested by Cohen (1985), Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001), Chen, Hsin, and Shen (2010), and Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010):

Hypothesis 3: Under short- or long-distance trip conditions, a tourist’s perception of the role played by a middle-aged or young TL will be influenced by age in-group bias.

The Influence of Tourists’ Age on TLs’ Roles

Although Kruse and Schmitt (2006) indicated that age stereotypes and age salience did not vary with age and gender, Kornadt and Rothermund (2011) postulated that participants’ age could moderate the effect of domain-specific age stereotypes on life satisfaction, with stronger effects for older persons. In relation to a tourist’s age, Oh et al. (2004) found that age is a useful indicator when constructing profiles of tourist consumers. Hui and Wan (2003) detected significant perceptual differences with regards to Singapore’s image. Furthermore, Sheng, Shen, and Chen (2008) discovered discrepancies in special-interest tour preferences when examining groups with different demographic attributes. It was found that age resulted in a significant difference and there was a negative correlation regarding types of physical adventure. Also, in the Taiwanese outbound market, a tourist’s age is a significant factor influencing shopping preferences and expenditure behavior (Lehto et al. 2004). These results showed that the tourists’ perceptions of roles played would be influenced by the tourists’ age when the role was rendered by a middle-aged or young TL. Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed based on travel distance differences (Bowen 2001), and the major tour leading roles suggested by Cohen (1985), Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001), Chen, Hsin, and Shen (2010), and Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010):

Hypothesis 4: Under short- or long-distance trip conditions, a tourist’s perception of the role played by a middle-aged or young TL will be influenced by the age of the tourist in question.

Methodology

Hypothesized Model

This study aims to explore whether the different ages of the TLs would affect tourists’ perceptions of the TLs’ roles on trips of differing lengths. This research also identifies the moderating effects of TL age stereotype, age in-group bias, and the respondents’ age on the perceived roles played by TLs. The hypothesized model is shown in Figure 1.

Design and Subjects

It is generally recognized in the tourism trade that travel of a distance greater than 3000 miles (or 6 hours’ flight time) is defined as “long-haul” (Bowen 2001). To test research hypotheses under different travel distances, the authors used a 2 (scenarios of role played: long-distance trip vs. short-distance trip) × 2 (appearances of TL: middle-aged male vs. young male) factorial experimental design with between-subjects completely randomized for the study. Based on the methodology of Luoh and Tsaur’s (2007, 2009, 2011) study, the authors recruited 472 adults for the present study from two northern universities and many local communities in Taipei who have traveled abroad in a GPT group. The study sample thus comprised a cross section of people from diverse educational backgrounds, income groups, and socioeconomic groups. The final sample size was 447 (193 middle-aged respondents, age from 40 to 59, with an average age of 48.3 years; 254 young respondents, age from 18 to 39, with an average age of 29.4 years). Cell sizes varied from 110 to 115 subjects.

Selecting the Stimuli Materials

Previous research indicated that physically attractive models might produce higher ad ratings than unattractive models (Baker and Churchill 1977; Joseph 1982). The factor was carefully considered here, and a rigorous procedure was adopted for selecting the servers’ photographs to minimize likely biases. In addition, Johnson and Pittenger (1984) showed that the effect of age and attractiveness were not moderated by the gender showed in the target photos. For the evaluation of age stereotypes, this study therefore restricted the analysis to male targets because of the intended focus.

After interviewing three travel agent supervisors, who are also senior TLs, all of them indicated that, in Taiwan, most of the junior TLs are 25 years of age, and most of the middle-aged TLs are 45 years of age. Therefore, nine young male TLs of average-looking appearance (all ~25 years of age) and nine middle-aged male TLs of average-looking appearance (all ~45 years of age) were randomly chosen. The TLs all consented to being photographed for scientific purposes. Each of them was photographed using a digital camera, and only six photographs were selected for the final analysis. One hundred adults initially ranked the six TLs’ photos for facial attractiveness. The mean scores, based on a scale of one to nine points, were computed for each photo, with higher scores reflecting higher perceived physical attractiveness. Finally, two researchers and two travel agent supervisors selected the two photos deemed as average from the six photographs as the stimulus for the research design (Luoh and Tsaur 2011; Wang, Hsieh, and Chen 2002). Differences in the posture and background of the TL in the 3″ × 5″ above-the-chest photos were carefully controlled. Moreover, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) was computed to test interjudge reliability, indicating that the results were significant (W = 0.150, p < 0.001). The mean scores given for the appearances of the middle-aged male and young male TLs in the selected photographs were 5.51 and 5.28, respectively (p > 0.05).

Scenario Designs

Scenarios were designed by two researchers who majored in travel marketing, two TLs, and one consumer. Written scenarios describing tourist encounters were based on the four role descriptions (instrumental, social, interactional, and communicative roles) of TLs by Cohen (1985) and Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001). Another two role attributes (the roles of dealing with emergency and care) were based on the research of Zhang and Chow (2004), Chen, Hsin, and Shen (2010), and Huang, Hsu, and Chan (2010), and the suggestions of two researchers who majored in travel marketing, as well as those of two TLs. Moreover, based on Bowen’s (2001) recognized travel distances, each scenario dimension included one short-distance trip (5-day tour to Bali Island, Indonesia) scenario and one long-distance trip (12-day tour to France, Switzerland, and Italy) scenario to explore the possible role differences perceived by tourists.

According to the research of Cohen (1985) and Howard, Thwaites, and Smith (2001), along with the suggestions of two researchers who majored in travel marketing and two TLs, the six important role dimensions were explored. The designed scenarios are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1.

The Scenarios of Six Tour Leader (TL) Roles Played.

Components of Roles	Contents	Designed Scenarios of Short- and Long-Distance Trips
Instrumental	Contains the direction, access, and control roles of TL	During the trip, the TL (see photo) leads the group members in the right direction whenever the group arrives at a scenic attraction, pays attention to anyone who falls behind, and reminds everyone to keep his or her personal valuables to hand. In addition, the TL monitors the time that the group stays at an attraction in order to follow the schedule.
Social	Refers to the TL’s ability to perform tension management, morale, and tour animation	During the trip, two group members have an argument, and the TL (see photo) immediately mediates the dispute. In addition, the atmosphere surrounding the group is always good and everyone wears a smile throughout the journey because of the TL, who leads the members to join in with different activities.
Interactional	Pertains to the roles of representation and organization of the tour	Overall, the explanation and introduction of the TL (see photo) enables everyone to understand the local culture and life. In addition, the TL pays attention to the detailed arrangements of food, accommodation, scenic attractions and traffic, and adjusts the schedule according to local conditions.
Communicative	Refers to the roles of selection, information, and interpretation	The TL (see photo) provides appropriate local introductions according to group members’ preferences, as well as correct introduction to attractions to fully convey the local image to the group members. Moreover, the TL’s way of expression when speaking is understandable to the members.
Dealing with emergency	Concerns the role assumed during an emergency situation	The TL (see photo) manages to get another tour coach to keep up with the schedule when the original one suddenly breaks down.
Care	Relates to the provision of caring, individualized attention, and physiological counseling of tourists	A member of the group does not feel well; thus, the TL (see photo) frequently shows concern over this member’s physical condition. Furthermore, the group guide helps elderly members with their luggage, listens to anyone with special needs, and tries to offer services when needed.

Measurement

Based on the aims of this research compared to previous studies (Chadee and Mattsson 1996; Iacobucci and Ostrom 1993; Luoh and Tsaur 2007, 2011; Mohr and Henson 1996), one statement was designed for the evaluation of the six components of the perceived role played by TLs: “How do you feel about this TL?” Each item was rated on a 7-point rating scale ranging from “very poor” to “very good” to measure the six components of the participants’ perceptions. Higher scores signify a better perceived role. In addition, the questionnaire included questions about demographic characteristics, scenario realism (“How realistic do you think the tourist experience was?”), ease of role-playing a tourist (“How easy was it to imagine yourself as the tourist?”) (Luoh and Tsaur 2011; Mohr and Henson 1996), and TL age stereotype (Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor 1997; Luoh and Tsaur 2011).

To prevent possible bias in the respondents as a result of their guessing the aim of the research, the TL age stereotype effect, evaluated by asking respondents whether they believed middle-aged (or young) TLs were better than young (or middle-aged) TLs (versus no difference between middle-aged or young TLs), was assessed after the scenario section (Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor 1997; Luoh and Tsaur 2011). Respondents who believed the former to be the case were characterized as having a TL age stereotype (either middle-aged TLs are better or young TLs are better). Respondents who perceived no difference between TLs based on age were deemed to be not holding a TL age stereotype.

With regards to age in-group bias, the study of age in-group bias also drew on the viewpoints of Fischer, Gainer, and Bristor (1997) and Luoh and Tsaur (2011). First, respondents with a TL age stereotype were eliminated from the analysis. Then, if the respondent with middle-aged (or young age) was more inclined to rate a TL from his or her own age group more highly, in terms of the role played by the TL, the respondent was designated to hold age in-group bias; otherwise, the respondent held no age in-group bias. With regards to age group identification, this study adopted the following age ranges as criteria for inclusion into the analysis of age differences in perceptions of service quality: “middle-aged” (40-59) and “young” (18-39) (Luoh and Tsaur 2011; Thornton and Dumke 2005).

Procedures

Prior to commencing the study, the authors explained that participation was voluntary, and that the study of the roles played would be conducted in travel. Participants were randomly assigned to treatments and were asked to imagine themselves in the role of the tourist as they read the description of a service encounter during either a short-distance trip or a long-distance trip. We asked the respondents to visualize the TLs on the picture as the ones described in the scenarios. The TLs are also acting as tourist guides in this study. Age was manipulated by varying the photos of either a middle-aged or young TL. After seeing the photo and reading about the scenarios, the respondents completed a questionnaire to rate their perceptions of the role played by the TL on the trip. Twenty-five respondents did not complete the questionnaire or were unable to perform the scenario. The final sample size was 447.

Data Analysis and Results

Analysis of Respondents and Scenarios

A chi-square test was used to examine the resemblance of characteristics (gender, age, education, and profession) within the experiment cells. The results showed that the degree of similarity was relatively high (p > 0.05) among the respondents’ characteristics. Thus, the random assignment of subjects to treatment cells had the desired result of equalizing the subjects in terms of their measured characteristics.

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the role-play scale was above 0.90, indicating an acceptable level of reliability. In addition, the participants reported that the scenarios were realistic and that the role-playing was easy for them. On a 7-point scale, the mean realism rating was 4.91 (7 = “extremely realistic”), and the mean rating for ease of role-playing was 5.02 (7 = “extremely easy”).

Influence of Age of TL on Perceived Role Play

Hypothesis 1 predicted that the respondents’ perception of the role played by a middle-aged TL would be better than a young TL under short- or long-distance trip conditions. The hypothesis was tested by using a two-way MANOVA with distances of trips and age of TLs as the independent variables, and respondents’ perceived six dimensions of the roles played as the dependent variables. No significant two-way interaction (distance of trip x age of TL) was found (F(1, 443) = 1.73, Wilk’s lambda = 0.98, p > 0.05). Although the interaction effect was not significant, the results showed that middle-aged TLs tended to be significantly higher rated in some dimensions under short- or long-distance conditions. This interaction may have masked any distance effect. Therefore, additional analyses were conducted in an attempt to understand the responses of respondents under short- and long-distance conditions.

Univariate ANOVAs for the TL’s age effect were then analyzed (Table 2). Under short-distance role play conditions, respondents rated a picture showing a middle-aged TL higher than the young TL only on the dimension of instrument. On the other hand, under long-distance conditions, the results in Table 2 show statistical differences between middle-aged and young TLs on interactional and dealing with emergency dimensions. Therefore, hypothesis 1 was partially supported, valid only for the instrument dimension of the short-distance conditions, and the interactional and dealing with emergency dimensions of the long-distance conditions.

Table 2.

Influence of Age of Tour Leader (TL) on Perceptions of Roles Played.

	Mean Perception Scores of Short-Distance Trip			Mean Perception Scores of Long-Distance Trip
Components of Roles	Middle- Aged TL (n = 110)	Young TL (n = 110)	F	Middle- Aged TL (n = 112)	Young TL (n = 115)	F
Instrument	5.80 (1.02)	5.52 (1.07)	3.98*	5.61 (0.99)	5.50 (1.07)	0.66
Social	6.00 (0.91)	5.82 (1.04)	1.90	5.94 (0.87)	5.75 (0.98)	2.36
Interaction	5.92 (1.00)	5.75 (0.97)	1.69	5.99 (0.87)	5.58 (1.08)	9.91**
Communication	5.96 (0.93)	5.85 (0.98)	0.72	6.03 (0.93)	5.86 (1.02)	1.65
Dealing with emergency	6.02 (1.07)	5.97 (1.02)	0.11	6.17 (0.93)	5.89 (1.23)	4.62*
Care	6.25 (0.79)	6.18 (0.80)	0.35	6.38 (0.83)	6.25 (0.91)	1.13

Note: Each number represents the average of the scores given by the respondents relating to their perceptions of roles played, as measured on a scale where 1 = very poor and 7 = very good. The numbers within parentheses are the standard deviations.

p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

Influence of TL Age Stereotype on Perception of Roles Played

For the TL age stereotype, respondents who held no TL age stereotype made up 46.0% of the total sample while 35.7% of those who were found to hold a TL age stereotype believed that middle-aged persons were better TLs, and only 18.3% respondents who held a TL age stereotype believed that young people made better TLs.

Hypothesis 2 predicted that the respondents’ perception of the role played by a middle-aged TL compared to a young TL would be influenced by the TL age stereotype under short-or long-distance trip conditions. In this hypothesis, a TL age stereotype, wherein “middle-aged TLs are better,” was explored. The hypothesis was examined by a two-way MANOVA (age of TL × TL age stereotype).

Regarding the short-distance conditions, it can be seen from the results in Figure 2 that significant two-way interactions were found in the care dimension, F(1, 169) = 4.35, p < 0.05. On the other hand, regarding the long-distance conditions, F(1, 181) = 0.79, Wilks’s lambda = 0.97, p > 0.05. Therefore, hypothesis 2 was only partially supported. That is, for the short-distance conditions, only the respondents’ perception of care dimension by a middle-aged or a young TL was influenced by the “middle-aged TLs are better” stereotype. However, for the long-distance conditions, the respondents’ perception of the TLs’ role was not influenced by the “middle-aged TLs are better” stereotype.

Influence of Age In-Group Bias on Perception of Role Played

Hypothesis 3 predicted that the respondents’ perceptions of the role played by either a middle-aged or a young TL would be influenced by age in-group bias under short- or long-distance trip conditions. After eliminating the respondents who had the TL age stereotype, the hypothesis was examined by the two-way MANOVA (age of TL × age of respondent). The results showed that under short-distance conditions, no significant two-way interaction was found, F(1, 92) = 1.06, Wilks’s lambda = 0.93, p > 0.05. On the other hand, under long-distance conditions, the results showed that significant interaction was found on the interactional and communicative dimensions, F(1, 105) = 4.12, p < 0.05, and F(1, 105) = 5.47, p < 0.05, respectively (Figure 3). Therefore, hypothesis 3 was minimally supported on the interactional and communicative dimensions under the long-distance conditions.

Influence of Age of Respondents on Perception of Role Played

Hypothesis 4 predicted that the respondents’ age would affect the perceptions of the roles played by either a middle-aged or a young TL for short- or long-distance trip conditions. The hypothesis was examined via the two-way (age of TL × age of respondent) MANOVA. For the short-distance conditions, significant two-way interactions were found on both the instrumental and interactional dimensions, F(1, 216) = 4.72, p < 0.05, and F(1, 216) = 6.48, p < 0.05, respectively. For the long-distance conditions, significant two-way interactions were found on the instrumental, social, and communicative dimensions, F(1, 223) = 4.29, p < 0.05; F(1, 223) = 4.08, p < 0.05; and F(1, 223) = 9.21, p < 0.05, respectively. Therefore, hypothesis 4 was partially supported. The respondents’ age only affected the instrumental and interactional dimensions for the short-distance conditions, and the instrument, social, and communication components regarding the long-distance conditions.

Further comparing the rating results of middle-aged and young respondents regarding the components of roles played, for the short-distance conditions, the middle-aged TL was given a statistically higher rating by the middle-aged respondents on the instrumental, social, and interactional components (Table 3). Equally, under long-distance conditions, middle-aged respondents rated the picture showing the middle-aged TL higher than the young one on all six components (Table 3). However, regarding younger respondents, there were no statistical differences in perception toward middle-aged and young TLs for the short- or long-distance conditions (Table 3). Therefore, once again, hypothesis 4 was partially supported.

Table 3.

Influence of Age of Respondents on Perceptions of Roles Played.

	Mean Perception Scores of Short-Distance Trip						Mean Perception Scores of Long-Distance Trip
	Middle-Aged Respondents			Young Respondents			Middle-Aged Respondents			Young Respondents
Components of Roles	Middle- Aged TL (n = 47)	Young TL (n = 50)	F	Middle- Aged TL (n = 63)	Young TL (n = 60)	F	Middle- Aged TL (n = 50)	Young TL (n = 46)	F	Middle- Aged TL (n = 62)	Young TL (n = 69)	F
Instrument	6.17	5.54	9.62**	5.52	5.50	0.02	6.02	5.61	5.02*	5.27	5.42	0.61
	(0.87)	(1.11)		(1.05)	(1.05)		(0.85)	(0.95)		(0.98)	(1.14)
Social	6.19	5.74	5.40*	5.86	5.88	0.02	6.32	5.87	7.87**	5.63	5.67	0.05
	(0.85)	(1.05)		(0.93)	(1.04)		(0.65)	(0.91)		(0.91)	(1.02)
Interaction	6.21	5.66	8.67**	5.70	5.82	0.43	6.34	5.67	12.92**	5.71	5.52	1.18
	(0.86)	(0.98)		(1.04)	(0.97)		(0.72)	(1.08)		(0.88)	(1.08)
Communication	6.06	5.78	2.12	5.89	5.92	0.03	6.44	5.85	15.11***	5.69	5.87	0.90
	(0.90)	(1.02)		(0.95)	(0.94)		(0.58)	(0.89)		(1.02)	(1.10)
Dealing with emergency	6.21	5.96	1.50	5.87	5.98	0.33	6.52	6.11	5.37*	5.89	5.68	0.93
	(1.00)	(1.03)		(1.10)	(1.02)		(0.65)	(1.06)		(1.03)	(1.37)
Care	6.34	6.10	1.93	6.17	6.25	0.31	6.68	6.41	4.01*	6.13	6.14	0.01
	(0.76)	(0.93)		(0.81)	(0.68)		(0.51)	(0.78)		(0.95)	(0.97)

Note: Each number represents the average of the scores given by the respondents relating to their perceptions of the roles played, as measured on a scale where 1 = very poor and 7 = very good. The numbers within parentheses are the standard deviations.

p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Discussion and Conclusions

The TL serves as the company’s “face” during the tour, and appearance is crucial (Wong and Wang 2009). With regards to age, Boduroglu et al. (2006) indicated that age-related beliefs regarding older adults are similar across East-Asian and Western cultures. In both cultures, stereotypes reflect a shift from more positive to increasingly negative views of mental and physical traits as a function of aging (DeArmond et al. 2006). In a study of restaurant service marketing, Luoh and Tsaur (2011) also came to the same conclusion. However, this study challenges these results and found that a middle-aged TL appearance was actually perceived better in terms of the instrument component than a young appearance TL on short-distance trips, and perceived as better in terms of both the interaction and dealing with emergency components on long-distance trips. The possible explanation for this is that for the TLs to be effective in the instrument, interaction, and dealing with emergency components, they needed to be more experienced. Furthermore, Boduroglu et al. (2006) reported that stereotypes regarding old and young adults were relatively neutral in social and emotional domains. This study also found no perceptual difference between middle-aged and young appearances in terms of the role played by the TLs in the social, communication, and care dimensions.

Williams (1946) indicated that stereotypes can influence customers’ expectations and their perceptions of service providers. In the present study, 35.7% respondents who were found to hold a TL age stereotype believed that middle-aged persons were better TLs. However, this study found that TL age stereotype could influence the perceptions of respondents only for the care dimension under short-distance conditions. Compared to younger people, elderly people have been rated as warmer and friendlier (Cuddy, Norton, and Fiske 2005). In practice, a TLs’ age and experience on short-distance trips are usually less than on long-distance trips. This may be explained by considering the tourists’ “middle-aged TLs are better” stereotype for the care dimension under short-distance conditions.

There are several other variables that can influence age stereotypes. These include the age of the person who holds the stereotype, the influence of job-related information, and the belief that certain jobs are more appropriate for certain ages (Braithwaite, Gibson, and Holman 1985-1986; Shore and Goldberg 2005). Interestingly, McGrane and White (2007) found a significant difference between Asian and Anglo respondents: Asian respondents displayed significantly less implicit prejudice and significantly greater explicit prejudice than Anglo respondents. This is clear dissociative evidence of implicit and explicit attitudes. Furthermore, according to implicit social cognitions of stereotypes (Greenwald and Banaji 1995), the results of this study may be explained by the respondents’ subconscious emotional reaction to different perceptions of middle-aged and young TLs on the instrumental, interactional, and dealing with emergency roles played under short- and long-distance conditions, and the existence of a possible incongruence between the actual prejudices (implicit) and the reported “middle-aged TLs are better” stereotype (explicit). This may perhaps explain why all respondents perceive being middle-aged as more appropriate for TLs, regardless of whether they hold a TL age stereotype or not.

According to Dovidio and Gaertner (1993), the mere act of categorizing others into an in-group versus an out-group could influence the evaluative perceptions of interactive processes. This study did find that the TL’s age in-group bias could influence the perceptions of middle-aged respondents on the interactional and communicative dimensions under long-distance conditions. Middle-aged respondents rated higher scores for middle-aged TLs than young respondents on the interactional and communicative roles. Although social changes have created an elderly stereotype of incompetence, Chen and King (2002) suggested that both young and old adults, in fact, reported a higher level of communication satisfaction with the 70-year-old target than with the 20-year-old. Ota, Giles, and Gallois (2002) pointed to the possibility of negative attitudes to communication between younger and middle-aged adults in Japan. The results indicated the possible existence of middle-aged in group bias. Furthermore, Inbakaran and Jackson (2005) studied resort hotel guests’ selection preferences and found that age has a considerable influence in segmenting the resort clientele. Likewise, Chen and King (2002) indicated that adults hold significantly more positive and fewer negative and neutral stereotypes toward the 70-year-old target person than young adults. That is why this study found that the respondents’ age could influence perceptions of certain role dimensions.

The TLs play a vital role in providing the visitor with a quality experience (Huang, Hsu, and Chan 2010); their service encounter performance will affect a tourist’s perceptions of charter tours (Mossberg 1995). To date, little research has been conducted into service marketing, and there have been few empirical studies on the influence of age on the perceived role played on short or long encounter trips. This study used digital colored photographs and various scenarios based on the six dimensions of the roles played by TLs in order to stimulate the respondents, and to discuss the effects of age stereotypes on the perceived roles played under short- and long-trip conditions. In contrast to the previous research into service quality in fine dining restaurants (Luoh and Tsaur 2011), the results showed that age stereotypes are an important variable in perceptions of some of the TLs’ roles. The middle-aged TLs were not viewed as less competent across the dimensions of roles played. However, the results indicate the presence of some perceptions that challenge the commonly held beliefs regarding age stereotypes. In Taiwan, a TL is considered to be a babysitter who has the highest responsibility and is expected to be commensurately more experienced (Chang 2006), particularly on long-distance trips. Therefore, a middle-aged TL is supposed to have more experience and is preferred by tourists over a young TL. This study provides a detailed analysis of the measurement and operationalization of age stereotypes, and whether age stereotypes hold the TL roles. The results make a worthy contribution to the literature since the research is based on the cognitive structure of consumers’ age stereotypes in tourism, and prove age stereotypes and social identity theory to be a useful foundation in the management and marketing of TLs.

Mak, Wong, and Chang (2011) asserted that good communication skills were one of the important attributes for being a professional tour guide. Lo and Lam (2004) also indicated that personal safety and experience are important selection criteria for the tour guide of all-inclusive package tours. On the basis of these studies and the findings of this study, practical implications and recommendations are discussed as follows. Highly qualified applicants appear to be preferred over poorly qualified applicants. However, a middle-aged applicant may be given priority over a young applicant with the same qualifications. Older long-haul tourists are inclined to have in-group bias. Therefore, it is suggested that more experienced middle-aged TLs should be preferentially hired for long-haul trips or older-people tours.

In a tour, a TL is the key employee of a travel agent and is their representative, being the one who contacts and serves the tourists. In addition, TLs as endorsers for group package tour brochures are more common, and they now use Facebook to promote tours. To simulate these promotion materials, this study used colored photographs as the stimuli materials. The use of colored photographs gave the researchers more control over unintentional expressions, such as stance and facial features. These unintentional expressions would have been far more difficult to control in the live setting of a video recording (Shao, Baker, and Wagner 2004). However, although colored photographs are perceived to be more realistic than drawings, they are also perceived to be less realistic than recordings of live models.

The limitations of this study suggest ideas for further study. The design of this study aimed to explore the influence of consumers’ age stereotypes on some of the altruistic orientation professional roles of the TL in the tourism industry. However, the influence of stereotypes on roles played may well be multifaceted. Besides, the self-interest orientation entrepreneur and employee roles were also asserted by previous research (Hall 1972; Mak, Wong, and Chang 2011). Future research could use independent variables to determine the interplay of gender, age, attractiveness and racial stereotypes on the overall perceptions of altruistic and self-interest orientation roles played. The possible moderating effects of culture and socioeconomic characteristics should also be further explored.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

This study was supported by research grant NSC 96-2415-H-229-001-SSS from the National Science Council, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Author Biographies

Hsiang-Fei Luoh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan.

Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur is a Professor in the Graduate Institute of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan.

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