Segmentation

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Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 93–111, 2005 Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0160-7383/$30.00

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2004.05.001

MARKET SEGMENTATION
A Neural Network Application
Jonathan Z. Bloom University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Abstract: The objective of the research is to consider a self-organizing neural network for segmenting the international tourist market to Cape Town, South Africa. A backpropagation neural network is used to complement the segmentation by generating additional knowledge based on input–output relationship and sensitivity analyses. The findings of the self-organizing neural network indicate three clusters, which are visually confirmed by developing a comparative model based on the test data set. The research also demonstrated that Cape Metropolitan Tourism could deploy the neural network models and track the changing behavior of tourists within and between segments. Marketing implications for the Cape are also highlighted. Keywords: segmentation, SOM neural network, input–output analysis, sensitivity analysis, deployment. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ´ ´ Resume: Segmentation du marche: une application du reseau neuronal. Le but de la ´ ´ recherche est de considerer un reseau neuronal auto-organisateur pour segmenter le marche ´ ´ ´ touristique international a Cape Town, en Afrique du Sud. On utilise un reseau neuronal de ` ´ retropropogation pour completer la segmentation en generant des connaissances comple´ ´ ´ ´ ´ mentaires basees sur une relation input–output et des analyses de sensibilite. Les resultats ´ ´ ´ du reseau neuronal auto-organisateur indiquent trois groupes qu’on confirme visuellement ´ en developpant un modele comparatif base sur l’ensemble des donnees d’essai. La recherche ´ ` ´ ´ a montre aussi que le Tourisme Metropolitain du Cap pourrait utiliser les modeles de reseau ´ ´ ` ´ neuronal et suivre la trace du

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