Nghiên cứu về động lực du lịch đóng vai trò như một yếu tố lựa chọn trường đại học của sinh viên quốc tế: case of Thailand. Push and Pull approachThis study creates various recommendations for both international education servicessector and tourism sector.This study creates various recommendations for both international education servicessector and tourism sector.
An investigation of travel motivation as a factor in international students’ choice of a foreign university: A Thai case study Laddawan JIANVITTAYAKIT Mahidol University, Thailand icljv@mahidol.ac.th And Frédéric DIMANCHE SKEMA Business School, France f.dimanche@skema.edu Full Paper Submitted for presentation and publication to the 4th International Colloquium on Tourism & Leisure To be held in Bangkok, 6-9 July 2010 June 20, 2010 Contact Author: Laddawan JIANVITTAYAKIT An investigation of travel motivation as a factor in international students’ choice of a foreign university: A Thai case study Introduction International student mobility International student mobility is an increasingly important market for both the international education services sector and the tourism sector According to OCED (2007), international student mobility has grown from 0.61 million worldwide in 1975 to 2.73 million in 2005; this represents more than four-fold augmentation The international students market is likely to increase to about 5.8 million by year 2020 (British Council, 2004) The youth and student travel market has been recognized as a growing segment in the global travel market and a significant contributor to the economy of the destination country (British Council, 2004; Kim, Oh, & Jogaratnam, 2007; Llewellyn-Smith & McCabe, 2008; Mazzarol, 1998; OECD, 2007; Richards & Wilson, 2003; Shanka, Ali-Knight, & Pope, 2002; Ward & Masgoret, 2004) According to the UNWTO (2008), the youth and student segment has grown 3-5% a year globally and spending increases by 8% a year, which is growing faster than other travel segments The youth and student segment now accounts for over 20% of international tourist arrivals, and the expenditure of this segment is more than any other group of international travelers The significance of international student mobility is well recognized in the education sector and is extremely attractive to a country because of its knowledge-intensive, high value-added, and its ability to offer long-term benefits (British Council, 2004) Besides the education sector, the international student segment affects various sectors that have to be taken into consideration, especially the tourism sector, since the international student segment, as a niche market, has a significant contribution to the domestic tourism while doing their study in the destination country (Shanka et al., 2002) Furthermore, OECD (2009) reported that the popular country destinations worldwide are USA (20%), UK (11%), Germany (9%), France (8%), Australia (6%), and Canada (5%), and the countries that sent the most students aboard were France, Germany, Japan and Korea in the OECD area, while China and India were the two biggest source countries worldwide OECD (2009) also indicated that international students studying abroad are most likely to learn English in their home country or wish to improve their English language skills through immersion and study abroad especially in the Major English Speaking Destination Countries (MESDCs), such as USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada Motivations in Students’ Decision Making Process The significant growth of international student mobility has been influenced by various driving forces supporting and persuading students to study abroad, such as globalization of economy and society, internationalization of higher education (Jolly, 1997; OECD, 2007), demand for broader cultural experience and language training (Williams, 2008), and extension of new technology (Jolly, 1997; Llewellyn-Smith & McCabe, 2008; OECD, 2007; Shoham, Schrage, & Eeden, 2004) International students’ motivation to study abroad is multi-dimensional which is influenced by various factors The motivation factors that influence international students’ decisionmaking process are multifaceted because it is a combination of push and pull factors encouraging students to study abroad and, then, attracting students to a destination Jones (2006) states that learning about the factors that international students have considered when making a decision to study abroad and their experiences when they were studying in the destination country is very important The interrelation between push motives and pull motives, in other words the linkages between motivations and destination choices, is widely studied in order to understand decision-making components The perceived destination attractiveness is an important element of travel decision-making and the tourists’ choice of destination is considerably influenced by perceptions of and satisfaction with that destination (Shanka et al., 2002) The argument of primary students’ motivations has been discussed Ritchie and Priddle (2003) suggest that the university student segment is primarily motivated by education and learning; educational attributes are more important motivational factors than general destination and tourism attributes in encouraging students to study in a foreign country and also in choosing a destination Additionally, Richie (2003a) classifies university/college students and exchange students as the “education first” type, which is primarily motivated by education and learning while tourist experiences may be secondary to the educational aspect or intentions On the contrary, Llewellyn-Smith and McCabe (2008) argue that exchange students should be classified as “tourism first” educational tourists, with travel being the primary motivator and education secondary In addition, they also suggest the criteria for the “education first” and “tourism first” segments of educational tourism market probably need to be reassessed Moreover, Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) examine three distinct stages of international students’ decision making-process when selecting a final study destination In the first stage, students must decide to study internationally, rather than locally This can be influenced by push factors within the home country After a student has decided to study abroad, the second stage is to choose a host country At this point, pull factors of country destination become important to make one host country relatively more attractive than others Then, the third stage is the selection of host institution A variety of additional pull factors make a particular institution more attractive than its competitors As a result, countries and universities are increasingly devoting marketing efforts to attract international students A few researchers have investigated the international student phenomenon (e.g., Llewellyn-Smith & McCabe, 2008; Michael, Armstrong, & King, 2003; Ritchie & Priddle, 2003) However, much is yet to be understood about international students’ motivations and decision-making processes to choose a university in a foreign land The purpose of this study was to investigate travel (pleasure travel) motivation as a factor in international students’ choice of a foreign university Methodology The study was conducted on the population of international students who were studying at the Mahidol University in Thailand The entire international student population of International College, Mahidol University was selected as the sample population of this study The convenience sample technique was applied in this study A sample of 153 international students, defined as students who are not permanent residents of their country of study or alternatively students who received their prior education in another country of study (OECD, 2007), was drawn for this study A structured questionnaire was sent by email to ascertain the respective roles of international students’ travel motivation factors and academic motivation factors in their choice of a foreign university The questionnaire was developed to compile data in terms of travel and academic motivation factors, travel behavior, and socio- demographic of respondents The final sample of 132 international students who had active email addresses generated 117 responses The response rate was 88.63% The responses received were coded in the SPSS version 17 At the first stage, respondents were asked to express their attitudes with each statement by using the Likert attitudinal rating scales range from = “Not important at all”, = “Somewhat unimportant”, = “Somewhat important” and to = “Very important” Thirty travel motive factors and thirty-two academic motive factors were identified in this part The standard deviation (SD) and frequency were used to describe the basic features of the data gathered In addition to the scaling technique, the multiple-choice questions, which required respondents to choose only one answer, attempted to understand specific attitudes toward travel and academic dimensions Afterwards, an exploratory factor analysis via principal component analysis with the Varimax was conducted to underlie the importance of travel motivation factors and the academic motivation factors that lead international students to choose Thailand as a study destination Four dimensions of variables – which are “travel push motivations”, “academic push motivations”, “travel pull motivations”, and “academic pull motivations” – were used to conduct factor analysis separately Findings and Discussions The demographic profile of respondents showed that 52.1% of the respondents were female, and the ages of respondents ranged from 17 years to 30 years More than half of the respondents (60.68%) came from Asia, followed by North America (20.51%) and Europe (18.80%) An investigation of choice of study destination showed that most of respondents (65.8%) chose a destination country before choosing a university, which is relevant with the work of Mazzarol and Soutar (2002), who indicated the second stage as a selection of a host country and followed by a selection of a particular institution Respondents indicated that tourist attractions in Thailand (29.9%) was the influential factor in making a final decision to study in Thailand, followed by reasonable cost of study and cost of living (22.2%) Those who indicated other factors (30.80%) specified that family/friends suggestions (11.97%) and partnership with home institution (10.26%) made them choose to study in Thailand The travel and academic push motivation factors are both important in students’ internal socio-psychological characteristics and these encourage students to decide to study abroad The investigations of push factors motivating the decision to study overseas highlight three travel push motivation factors (table 1) – which are “desire to travel”, “exploring other environments and social interaction”, and “relaxation and fun” – and three academic push motivation factors (table 2) – which are “expected experiences and benefits”, “knowledge development”, and “future career path and educational perception” – these account for the significantly high mean scores (above than 3.0) It is notable that the “desire to travel” factor is ranked the most influential factor in encouraging students to study abroad, followed by the “exploring other environment and social interaction” factor These two factors are core-driving factors to decide to study abroad rather than in their home country, which is consistent with the work of Jones (2006), Llewellyn-Smith and McCabe (2008), and Williams (2008) Investigations of pull factors motivating a choice of study destination emphasize three travel pull motivation factors (table 3) – which are “financial issues”, “tourist attractions”, and “safety and infrastructure” that account for the significantly high mean scores (above than 3.0) in choosing a university in Thailand as a study destination The three travel pull motivation factors are highly influential in the stage of selecting a host country The “financial issues” factor, which consists of cost of travel, cost of living, and value for money in Thailand, is seen as the most important factor in students’ choice of Thailand The perception that Thailand is a good-value for money destination is generally well knows This finding is consistent with other studies (Rittichainuwat et al., 2001; Sangpikul, 2008; Siriangkul, 2005) stating that the positive image of Thailand as a good-value for money is a strong factor in attracting tourists to the country In addition, Jones (2006) found that reasonable cost of living was the highest influential country characteristic when making a decision to study in Thailand Additionally, the “tourist attractions” factor is also considered an influential factor in students’ choice of a destination country Students placed importance on the tourist attractions in Thailand, such as natural scenery, landscape, cultural, and historical attractions Students also specified that tourist attractions and reasonable cost of living and cost of study led them to make the final decision to study in Thailand This result is relevant with students’ travel behavior engaging in travel activities Almost all students have traveled while studying in Thailand to various regional destinations On the other hand, academic pull motivation factors not play an important role in attracting students to choose Thailand (table 4) The findings show that the “reputation of institution” factor is only one influential academic pull factor The reputation of an institution consists of academic reputation and quality, reputation for innovation in research and teaching, reputation for quality and expertise of faculty/staff, and facility and services for international students The institution’s international alliances and partnerships factor is relatively important for exchange/visiting students in order to select a university to undertake their exchange Since exchange students undertake a study abroad program as a part of exchange agreement between their home university and a host university they have a limited choice of study destination Table 1: Travel push motivation factors Travel push motivation factors (Reliability Alpha) Factor loadings Factor 1: Exploring other environments and social interaction (0.69) Experience of living in a different country 0.67 Exploring international environment 0.68 Exploring other cultures and food 0.67 Learning more about the host country 0.64 Opportunity to interact with local people 0.58 Meeting new people and making friends 0.39 Factor 2: Escape and independence (0.60) Living away from home 0.80 Independence 0.72 Need a break from everyday life 0.56 Factor 3: Relaxation and fun (0.32) Rest & Relaxation 0.84 Opportunity for fun 0.44 Factor 4: Desire to travel (0.39) Finding excitement 0.75 Desire to travel 0.65 Factor 5: Self-esteem (0.42) Being able to talk about my travel experiences 0.76 Going places that I have not visited before 0.74 Cumulative variance explained (%) Eigen value 16.85 2.53 3.23 28.07 1.68 2.97 38.37 1.55 3.00 48.60 1.53 3.38 56.92 1.25 2.99 Mean Table 2: Academic push motivation factors Academic push motivation factors (Reliability Alpha) Factor loadings Factor 1: Parental influence and educational difficulty in home country (0.69) Parental influence to study abroad 0.83 Academic program being unavailable in home country 0.77 Difficulty to gain entry to particular study 0.67 Factor 2: Expected experiences and benefits (0.72) Educational experience of studying in a different country 0.88 Expected benefits of studying abroad 0.76 Factor 3: Future career path and educational perception (0.66) Global work force 0.80 Better overseas academic courses 0.66 Better career opportunity 0.61 Desire to learn a foreign language 0.54 Factor 4: Knowledge development (0.44) Self-development 0.74 Opportunity to increase knowledge 0.64 Experiencing different teaching methods 0.51 Cumulative variance explained (%) Eigen value 17.75 2.13 2.54 35.26 2.10 3.46 52.01 2.01 3.02 64.61 1.51 3.14 Mean Table 3: Travel pull motivation factors Travel pull motivation factor (Reliability Alpha) Factor loadings Factor 1: Tourist attractions (0.62) Natural scenery and landscape in Thailand 0.72 Simply enjoying sun, sand, and sea in Thailand 0.68 Tourist attractions in Thailand 0.65 Cultural and historical 0.31 Factor 2: Safety and infrastructure (0.63) Safety & security 0.80 Good infrastructure 0.68 Low racial discrimination 0.41 Factor 3: Environment and facility (0.71) Thailand’s friendliness and welcoming 0.81 Thailand’s warm & sunny climate 0.71 Tourism facilities 0.70 Factor 4: Financial issues (0.63) Cost of travel in Thailand 0.82 Affordable cost of living in Thailand 0.66 Value for money as a tourist in Thailand 0.66 Factor 5: Reputation and knowledge of country (0.50) Knowledge and awareness of Thailand 0.61 Reputation or profile of Thailand 0.42 Cumulative variance explained (%) Eigen value Mean 13.14 1.97 3.05 26.13 1.95 3.00 38.94 1.92 2.82 50.87 1.79 3.23 62.13 1.69 2.97 Table 4: Academic pull motivation factors Academic pull motivation factors (Reliability Alpha) Factor loadings Factor 1: Reputation of institution (0.73) Academic reputation and quality of institution 0.73 Reputation for innovation in research and teaching 0.63 Reputation for quality and expertise of faculty/staff 0.60 Facilities and services for international students 0.58 Factor 2: Recommendations and advertisement (0.76) Parents’ or friends’ recommendations 0.79 Advertisement, promotion, and marketing efforts 0.64 Counselors’ or agents’ recommendations 0.63 Alumni base 0.63 Factor 3: Cost of study and academic quality (0.77) Reasonable cost of study 0.88 Quality and availability of courses and programs 0.52 Recognition of the institution’s qualifications in home country 0.48 Quality of education in Thailand 0.47 Thai university’s recognition of your previously 0.44 Scholarships for international students 0.35 Factor 4: International strategy and environment (0.71) University’s international strategic 0.75 International student population 0.62 Campus atmosphere 0.49 Ease of obtaining information about Thailand 0.44 Factor 5: Convenience to start program (0.83) Possibility to start at institution 0.68 Ease of applying for student visa 0.51 Cumulative variance explained (%) Eigen value Mean 13.96 2.79 3.03 27.72 2.75 2.66 39.04 2.26 2.95 50.33 2.26 2.88 60.53 2.04 2.80 Conclusion This exploratory study finds that travel motivation factors play an important role in international students’ decision to choose Thailand as a study destination Both travel push and travel pull factors are highly influential in motivating students to opt to study abroad and in attracting students to choose a destination Students are not only seeking education related opportunities from their study abroad, tourism related opportunities have also become influential factors in students’ perception Moreover, a variety of tourist attractions in Thailand are also remarkable magnets attracting students in relation to their travel push motivation factors A comparison of travel motivation factors and academic motivation factors, finds that travel push motivation factors and academic push motivation factors are relatively similar in the level of importance in students’ driving force factors to study abroad Students placed as much importance on tourism related push factors as influential as academic push factors While among the pull factors, travel pull motivation factors are higher influential factors in selecting a destination country rather than academic pull motivation factors Thailand has strong image and reputation as a favorable travel destination, which can be considered a competitive advantage of the country to attract various markets to choose Thailand as a destination country However, Thailand’s academic related attributes are not influential to persuade students Thailand’s reputation of international education services does not influence students’ choice of study destination country However, the academic pull factor take part in the final stage of students’ decision-making process in selecting a host institution, whereby students choose their host institution by considering institution characteristics The reputation of the institution is the most important factor when students consider a choice of their host institution Institutions need to keep improving the academic reputation and quality in order to increase their acknowledgment in the international market As a result, the travel motivation factors can be considered as the primary motivation factors, while the academic motivation factors are secondary factors for international students in choosing Thailand as a study destination Recommendations This study creates various recommendations for both international education services sector and tourism sector Improvement of academic reputation and quality The reputation of the institution is the most important factor when students consider a choice of their host institution Institutions need to keep improving the academic reputation and quality in order to increase their acknowledgment in the international market Institutions may consider working on the university ranking indicators in order to be ranked high The university ranking provides international reputation that is tangible and measureable to institutions Moreover, the improved reputation is not only for promoting institutions itself, but it also benefits the educational reputation of the country Since Thailand’s international education services are not yet as competent as their North American or European peers as a study destination, it is a critical issue for the international education services sector to create an image of Thailand as a favorable study destination providing a good quality of education in international students’ mind Improvement of source of information The source of information about studying in Thailand needs to be improved The Tourism Authority of Thailand as a destination marketing organization (DMO) should be a center of information to facilitate international students in obtaining information about Thailand as a study destination The specific information for the international students segment should be added in the “special interest” marketing campaign section in order to promote the international education services and educational tourism and to promote Thailand as a favorable study destination Expansion of international alliances and partnerships Institutions should expand international alliances and partnerships with foreign institutions to increase opportunities for augmenting international reputation, getting more exchange students coming to the country and developing further collaboration between institutions Reinforcing attractiveness by using tourism attributes Besides the characteristic of institutions, it is necessary to reinforce the image of the country as a favorable destination by using tourism attributes to attract international students As a part of an advertisement, the country profile and tourist attractions can be shown as supportive information to make a country more attractive as not only a desirable study destination, but also an opportunity for students to travel while studying Since the desire to travel and the tourist attractions factor are highly influential in students’ consideration, the information in this area should be provided to the target market along with the academic information, especially during exhibitions or road shows Development of collaboration between two sectors The collaboration between the international education services sector and the tourism sector is necessary to promote Thailand as a favorable study destination to the global market Institutions can ask for cooperation with the Tourism of Thailand in organizing road shows in foreign countries in order to promote Thailand’s international education services Moreover, destination managers should provide special packages or promotions for international students through institutions This is not only to increase travel activities of students, but also to increase opportunity to satisfy students needs while studying in Thailand; as Yoon and Uysal (2005) suggested the appropriate destination attractions and activities should be allocated and delivered to tourists in order to enhance destination competitiveness If tourists are satisfied with their travel experiences, they are willing to revisit destinations and recommend them to other people Finally, the relationships of push and pull motivation factors should be considered in order to develop a marketing strategy attracting international students The resources in this study presented the importance of travel motivation factors taking part in students’ decision to choose Thailand as their study destination The desire to travel as well as value for money and tourist attractions are shown as highly influential in motivating international students For international education executives, this study reveals various factors to improve market strategy; and for destination managers, this is a new opportunity for the tourism sector to augment tourism activities in the country Limitation of the Study This study was restricted in terms of the time period, which took place in a one trimester The limited international student population led to a small size of respondents For future research, it would be advisable to conduct research for the whole academic year, not only in one trimester, and to expand the population to cover graduate students in order to reach more of the target population and to provide more insights into how international students are attracted to the destination References British Council (2004) Vision 2020 Forecasting international student mobility a UK perspective British Council Carr, N (2003) University and College Students’ Tourism In B Ritchie, Managing Educational Tourism (pp 181-225) Clevedon, UK: Channel View Hair, J F., Anderson, R E., Tatham, R L., & Black, W C (1998) Multivariate Data Analysis: With Readings (5th Ed ed.) 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